225/40/18

[DORIGTT]

What do these cars ride like with such low profile tires? Folks from another forum I'm on speaks of the ride quality deteriorating to a near intolerable point with the balljoint front suspension.

[Wally]

Originally Posted by DORIGTT

.... with the balljoint front suspension.

but we have SPRINGS

My front I actually find still too soft and will eventually go with even stiffer front springs.
Just to give you an idea

[SilverBullet]

Running koni yellow adjustables from the top from kerscher and their rear kw coilovers, softest setting at the front and mid at the rear, its comfortable enuf. But when set to the hardest, its a bone shaker!!

[SilverBullet]

Whats the difference between hard shocks (ie koni yellow, pss9..) and stiffer springs? How does one juggle between the two? Thanks Guys.

Originally Posted by Wally

but we have SPRINGS

My front I actually find still too soft and will eventually go with even stiffer front springs.
Just to give you an idea

[Wally]

I think complete books have been written on that subject and complete R&D departments are dedicated finding the 'right' combination...

I' am sure SteveC will have something smart to say about this though

My personal take is that the springs are there to provide the correct stiffness for a given acceptable body movement and the shocks are only there to regulate the rebounce of the springs.
Stiffer spring will mean a fitting shock setting, not the other way around:
When your shocks are going to take over the spring's task, your on the wrong path...which is seen quite often as shocks can sometimes be adjusted but springs cannot, so some people tend to make the shocks stiffer but actually wanted something that the springs are supposed to do for you like less overhang, less diving under braking etc. The resultant stiffer shock setting makes it a bumpy ride with worse handling instead of what was intended...
Adjustable shocks are there to adjust to your spring to, not to make a stiffer suspension!!
Just my personal 2 cents on the subject and way off topic on the subject of low profile tires...

[evilC]

Wally, I think that your analysis of the relationship between springs and damper is right but I think the starting point is 'why have springs?' The spring isthere to allow the car to maintain an even keel across any bump/hole. It needs to be soft enough to allow the wheel to follow the road surface that is hard enough to stop the wallowing and soft enough not to be thrown in the air. The damper is there to moderate the rate at which the spring reacts, too hard a setting means that the bump energy is transmitted to the chassis that can be upsetting, too soft a setting allows the wheel to overtravel and lose traction.

The adjustments on a damper are there to fine tune the spring reaction, mostly in rebound and that is a function of the speed of travel and the type/magnitude of bump encountered. On a billiard table smooth but of tarmac the damper shouldn't be necessary at all.

Clive

[SilverBullet]

Thanks Wally and Clive for the enlightenment.

[Joel]

Originally Posted by DORIGTT

What do these cars ride like with such low profile tires? Folks from another forum I'm on speaks of the ride quality deteriorating to a near intolerable point with the balljoint front suspension.

I was pleasantly surprised by mine when I swapped to the 18" 35 series tyres
I was expecting a horrible rough ride but after nearly 2 years that I ran them I had no real complaints.

Roads with bad corrigations were abit more noticable but the biggest concern was buckling the rim on bad potholes or road joints.

As Wally said on a super it would be alot better, they would absorb the bumps alot smoother.