S2 Ride Height

[GreenV8S]

Kitchski said:

None of the other dampers at a similar price point are any better, for my money, and if you go and spend £2k on Nitrons for a car that predominately drives around on the road, then you're possibly just doing it for 'cool' points

For gentle pootling around town no doubt you're right, but my experience with half a dozen brands driven hard on track is that there is a very substantial difference in performance around this sort of price range and if you're considering a few thousand quid on engine or brake upgrades, a smaller amount on better suspension components (and getting it set up appropriately afterwards) may give better bang for the buck.

I would say, though, that people selling dampers tend not to be suspension/handling experts in my experience and will tend to have a recommended specification for a given type of car which they will propose to everyone, regardless of the owner's requirements. To do this properly, you need to understand how and where the car is used and consider the suspension in the context of the whole car setup..

[Kitchski]

v8s4me said:

When you wind the springs up to increase the ground clearance aren't you also compressing the springs? Doesn't this then reduce the amount of additional compression the spring can provide? If that is the case, how can cranking the spring up be "soft comfy mode"?

You're only compressing the springs if the dampers are topped out. Otherwise they just move up and down relative to the spring seat

[Kitchski]

GreenV8S said:

For gentle pootling around town no doubt you're right, but my experience with half a dozen brands driven hard on track is that there is a very substantial difference in performance around this sort of price range and if you're considering a few thousand quid on engine or brake upgrades, a smaller amount on better suspension components (and getting it set up appropriately afterwards) may give better bang for the buck.

I would say, though, that people selling dampers tend not to be suspension/handling experts in my experience and will tend to have a recommended specification for a given type of car which they will propose to everyone, regardless of the owner's requirements. To do this properly, you need to understand how and where the car is used and consider the suspension in the context of the whole car setup..

Oh absolutely, if you're heading out on the track (and plan to take things seriously) then a proper setup will be a revelation. The difference having something like a remote setup makes is huge, but my point is that for the road, for 95% of people, the £600-£700 price point that Gaz and Protech occupy is fine. There's a lot of poo-pooing some of the cheaper options, and it's completely unjustified IMO.

[cjacks]

Just happen to have the bonnet off my S3. GAZ shocks. Overall installed height (top mount to bottom mount centres) 320mm. Fitted spring length 180mm. Front spring rated at 375 lbs; rebound 10 clicks from soft. I'll post an image when my phone decides to all to the inter web. Hope this helps.

Edited by cjacks on Saturday 23 December 14:24

[GreenV8S]

cjacks said:

clicks from soft

If you're comparing damper settings, it's far better to measure clicks from the fully hard setting. This is against a positive end stop (the valve being fully closed). Quite often you'll find varying amounts of travel between similar dampers i.e. they can be opened differing amounts from the fully closed position, but the fully closed position always represents the same maximum damping setting.

[cjacks]

Here are a couple of images of my car just for comparison (measurements as below). I'm not suggesting that you set your car up like this, but at least you have something else to compare with.



And one of the car to give an idea of of ride height. The bonnet being off will technically make some difference, but I doubt it's much.

[GreenV8S]

cjacks said:

Here are a couple of images of my car just for comparison

That looks spot on to me. It's common to run them lower (and I agree it does look better) but as you have it is about right in terms of the suspension geometry. At rest the lower wishbones should be horizontal, and the chassis rails should be roughly half an inch higher at the back.

[Top Gear TVR]

I have Nitron R1s. They don’t cost anywhere near £2k.

Yes they’re dearer than GAZ. But much better in my experience.

Take the car to someone that knows TVRs. They’ll diagnose what you need very quickly. I can recommend Mat Smith in Downham Market.