coilover for drag racing?

[wed3k]

i know skunk2 makes drag coilovers for the popular honda applications. would it complement the accord if i go to a coilover setup and just put it to the harshest/stiffest setting for the rear?

i would like to goto track days with the car as well so adjustability is definitely a plus. the reason being is that i can get some tein SS' for about 500 bucks or go with a new set of omni's for 650.

[vinbon63]

I would think you are right that setting the rear to the stiffest possible should help against squatting. I guess also lowering the front end a little bit more than the rear so when the wheight is transferred you car will stay as flat as possible. I dont know exactly what it was but my friend used to have a highly modded early 90's mx6 coupe and he used some sort of solid rubber coil spacer that he said made a big difference in reducing the rear from squatting. Hopefully this helps a little.

[Ronald_Type-R]

You know, that was exactly what I thought too..You'd think that stiffening up the rear would give you better 1/4 mile because the front will stay on the ground more..Well, that's actually not the case with my car...I was saying in another thread where I got to do 6 runs and ran a consistent 15.5xx...well, on two of the runs I tried softening up my front and stiffening up the rear, and on those two runs I actually got 15.7xx!! And then I switched back to my normal setup and I was back to 15.5xx..

I believe it has something to do with my 3 inch camber up front tho...What happens I think is this..When my rear is softer (my street/DD setup), the rear would squat and the front will lift during launch...BUT!! When the front lifts, the front camber will also decrease, thus giving me a better traction..When I stiffen up the rear, I'm guessing the front doesn't lift as much, and I just don't get the same traction I got with the normal setup?

Anyways, that's just my thoughts..'coz I know for sure stiffening up the rear didn't give me a better time Maybe if you have less camber up front it'd work? Can't say...Oh well, curves > straight!!!!

Ronald

[vinbon63]

You know, that was exactly what I thought too..You'd think that stiffening up the rear would give you better 1/4 mile because the front will stay on the ground more..Well, that's actually not the case with my car...I was saying in another thread where I got to do 6 runs and ran a consistent 15.5xx...well, on two of the runs I tried softening up my front and stiffening up the rear, and on those two runs I actually got 15.7xx!! And then I switched back to my normal setup and I was back to 15.5xx..

I believe it has something to do with my 3 inch camber up front tho...What happens I think is this..When my rear is softer (my street/DD setup), the rear would squat and the front will lift during launch...BUT!! When the front lifts, the front camber will also decrease, thus giving me a better traction..When I stiffen up the rear, I'm guessing the front doesn't lift as much, and I just don't get the same traction I got with the normal setup?

Anyways, that's just my thoughts..'coz I know for sure stiffening up the rear didn't give me a better time Maybe if you have less camber up front it'd work? Can't say...Oh well, curves > straight!!!!

Ronald

Ya I think you are absolutely right about camber angle changes under the shifting chassis load affecting performance. I do remember once reading somewhere that when you are TOO stiff, because the load transfers to the rear so quicky it actually cause a slight loss of traction...but I honestly dont know if this would apply to fwd or rwd. Im assuming this would only make sense for rwd.

[wed3k]

well, in terms of drag racing it would obviously be better to have zero camber or slightly negative because of the front end lift.

i can also manufacturer two types of upper control arms and swap them out for either drag racing or track days. so in manufacturing, i can vary my camber angles. i dont like camber kits, more weak points and shit to break. i know of some civic hatches that actually made a rod in place of the strut so they actually dont run any suspension in the rear.

i have someone looking at my current setup and if he buys, im opting for these used set of tein SS'

[johnl]

Ya I think you are absolutely right about camber angle changes under the shifting chassis load affecting performance. I do remember once reading somewhere that when you are TOO stiff, because the load transfers to the rear so quicky it actually cause a slight loss of traction...but I honestly dont know if this would apply to fwd or rwd. Im assuming this would only make sense for rwd.

Stiffening the rear (either springs or dampers, i.e. bump rate) will increase the speed with which weight will transfer to the rear, but won't affect how much ultimately transfers. At the moment the clutch is engaged it's good to have a 'slower' rear weight transfer to help lessen initial loss of traction. The principle is more or less the same as stiffer springs / dampers increaseing the speed with which lateral weight transfer occurs.

It might be good to run higher rebound damper stiffness on the front to lessen the degree to which the CG rises under acceleration, as a higher CG will increase weight transfer. Since the CG will be well forward, squat has significantly less affect on CG height than an equal (but opposite) front 'rise' will have. However, increasing front bump rate will also increase the speed with which weight transfers from the front...