[SILVY968]

Hey,

There are many posts on making our cars stiffer to increase cornering performance, and while I have installed flash's chassis brace and a strut tower brace as well as solid rear end drop links, I wanted to open the discussion about INCREASING ride comfort.
Our cars have always been known for their less-than-smooth ride, I was wondering if there have been any items (shocks) or other tricks with the suspension to improve the ride quality without making the cars to sloppy to enjoy on the occasional spirited drive on public roads with your DD?

Brian

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[flash]

the short answer is yes

the longer answer is that they involve modification to install and are not particularly cheap - they are hydraulic and not gas - i have them on my car, and dan has a set of the same manufacturer, but a different model on his - quite comfy

the only ones that are a direct fit though are gas, which is what makes the ride rough feeling - that inherent preload results in a higher compression rate than what would be "comfortable" to most people

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[Anchorman]

Until I dialed up the stiffness on my Konis, I found the ride to be quite comfortable on street and adequate for DE events. Now that I've stiffened the shocks, it's comfortable but no longer "quite" so. Nevertheless, no complaints from the better half, and that's my standard of whether the car is harsh or not.

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[Lim Yong]

my 2 cents.... progressive springs (stock height) with softer initial rates?

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[flash]

yes, that would help immensely - as i understand it, the 944 cup cars used to do this - i did a somewhat similar thing on the rear of dan's car when we set that one up by using a soft secondary spring - while not truly progressive, the result though is a nice firm ride when you need it, but none of the bouncy harsh stuff you get with gas shocks and stiff springs - we probably could have gotten even better at it, but it would have taken some trial and error, and he lives 400 miles away - the key though was the use of a hydraulic shock - gas just doesn't get it if you want soft and compliant

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[SILVY968]

<!--quoteo(post=67071:date=Feb 14 2009, 02:46 PM:name=Anchorman)-->QUOTE (Anchorman @ Feb 14 2009, 02:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->Until I dialed up the stiffness on my Konis, I found the ride to be quite comfortable on street and adequate for DE events. Now that I've stiffened the shocks, it's comfortable but no longer "quite" so. Nevertheless, no complaints from the better half, and that's my standard of whether the car is harsh or not.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Anchorman,

Can I soften the ride on the Konis in the rear with them on the car? If yes or no how is it done and how do I know where "normal" is?
Thanks
Brian

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[biotechee]

Brian-

My previous M030 coupe wasn't terribly harsh, but then I wouldn't call it 2009 comfortable either.

My cab has a stock suspension and on the drive back from picking it up (2 days to get back home), I found it to be extremely comfortable- I was pleasantly surprised at just how much fun it was to ride / drive. Granted, my 2004 Jetta is a lot more "comfortable", but it has no road feel whatsoever. In the cab (as well as the coupe), I felt much more connected to the road.

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[Anchorman]

Brian, to adjust the rear Konis, you have to remove the lower mounting bolt and then turn that part of the shock - I don't recall which direction has which effect in terms of stiffening and softening, but hopefully someone else will help out on this - "my" adjusting was actually done by RS Barn, so if you contact Pete, I'm sure he can guide you.

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