Broken damper - effect on handling?
Discussion
Quick question - would a broken left hand front damper tend to cause oversteer on right hand turns in a FWD vehicle?
Just had my left hand damper replaced, but had to drive around for some time while waiting for the part (warranty fix). I noticed an increased tendency for the car to oversteer on right hand bends. Not lift-off oversteer, just a gradual breakaway of the rear while still on the gas. Easy enough to catch, but now since the damper was replaced it seems to have stopped. Car is a FWD Civic type R.
Just had my left hand damper replaced, but had to drive around for some time while waiting for the part (warranty fix). I noticed an increased tendency for the car to oversteer on right hand bends. Not lift-off oversteer, just a gradual breakaway of the rear while still on the gas. Easy enough to catch, but now since the damper was replaced it seems to have stopped. Car is a FWD Civic type R.
munter said:
You HAD to drive around in a car you knew had a faulty component that seriously affects the handling and safety of the car? You even drove it hard enough to create oversteer... I'm presuming you have excellent health insurance and life insurance....
Check my profile. For 5 months of the year grip is somewhat limited here. Driving "hard" is rarely necessary when you can spin your studded tyres in all 6 gears on demand. But yes, my insurance is adequate thanks.
Car is 3 years old, damper was replaced along with the steering rack. Apparently it's a known issue. Only symptons were a knocking/creaking noise when pulling away or travelling over bumps and perhaps a small change in handling behaviour (the reason for my initial question). According to the dealer, the damper was "broken". He wouldn't/couldn't expand on exactly what that meant. Since the handling has now improved, I'm assuming the new damper helped. I was hoping to get some insight into what specific aspects of handling a broken damper would affect and why...
Well the more broken the damper the longer the wheel isn't in contact with the ground (as it's bouncing up and down). So in your case the car will effectively balance on the other front wheel and the diagonally opposite rear. So when you put weight on the front (Brakeing, lift off) then one front wheel will have more grip than the other and the car will try to rotate around that wheel. On the power with the broken damper on the outside of a corner it'll understeer.
Oversteer under power on long right handers eh.
Well I guess if it got really soggy under bump, then the rear lateral weight transfer would be quicker, so the rear would loose grip quicker than the front (where it now transfers alot more slowly), and you get oversteer.
OR, it might not go soggy, it might go really stiff, so essentially riding the damper, making the frontal bump or rebound rate much higher!
Who knows what a shafted damper does then?
www.ozebiz.com.au/racetech/theory/shocktune1.html
Looks like your doing a phase 4 exit/steady state (on and off throttle constant radius), so only way to get oversteer in that transition looks to be front rebound+
Hmmm
Dave
Well I guess if it got really soggy under bump, then the rear lateral weight transfer would be quicker, so the rear would loose grip quicker than the front (where it now transfers alot more slowly), and you get oversteer.
OR, it might not go soggy, it might go really stiff, so essentially riding the damper, making the frontal bump or rebound rate much higher!
Who knows what a shafted damper does then?
www.ozebiz.com.au/racetech/theory/shocktune1.html
Looks like your doing a phase 4 exit/steady state (on and off throttle constant radius), so only way to get oversteer in that transition looks to be front rebound+
Hmmm
Dave
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