raised the ohlins today, to 26-1/4" ride height
12-29-2004, 03:26 PM
#13
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Done for snow clearance? ....
For my car, with stock wheels, it seemed that 25 1/2 inches front/back was ok.
I raised it to 26 inches for the winter. From what I've read, this seems to be a good setting to get the correct camber for snow (where the cornering forces are lower so roll is less).
I was originally going to go for 26 1/2 inches (stock). The present 26 inch setting is sort of a compromise. Also, the car allignment isn't set up yet so I didn't want to get into fiddling with it too much.
On ground clearance, my thinking is that the S4 is never going to be an SUV. You really cannot jack it up a foot which is what it would take to be able to get through anything. And we don't really have those conditions here in Connecticut anyway (unlike the Rockies). What I want to be able to do is to drive really fast in the snow and have a perfectly predictable car. I'm willing to forego being able to get through anything.
After the winter, I will probably lower it to 25 inches provided the camber doesn't get out of control and I don't see signs of bump steer.
I have 700/800 lb. springs. I set the dampers to STaSIS's "aggressive street" setting and was quite impressed with the feeling in the snow. I found that the snow tyres and lesser cornering/braking limits made the firmer setting feel quite reasonable.
Before this latest storm, I set it to STaSIS's "moderate street" setting. I really do not like it at all. The dampers do not seem able to handle the springs at the front and there is too much bounce. My guess is that a lot of this is style but so far, I really do not like the setting anywhere but firm.
The $64 question in my mind is whether the car would be better off with softer springs in the snow. Then maybe it could handle a softer damper setting. My gut says no.
The other question I'm wondering is whether I might prefer the suspension with even stiffer springs in the summer. I'm thinking yes. But I really have nothing to go by.
Curious what set-up you are using now and what your thoughts are???
Stephen
I raised it to 26 inches for the winter. From what I've read, this seems to be a good setting to get the correct camber for snow (where the cornering forces are lower so roll is less).
I was originally going to go for 26 1/2 inches (stock). The present 26 inch setting is sort of a compromise. Also, the car allignment isn't set up yet so I didn't want to get into fiddling with it too much.
On ground clearance, my thinking is that the S4 is never going to be an SUV. You really cannot jack it up a foot which is what it would take to be able to get through anything. And we don't really have those conditions here in Connecticut anyway (unlike the Rockies). What I want to be able to do is to drive really fast in the snow and have a perfectly predictable car. I'm willing to forego being able to get through anything.
After the winter, I will probably lower it to 25 inches provided the camber doesn't get out of control and I don't see signs of bump steer.
I have 700/800 lb. springs. I set the dampers to STaSIS's "aggressive street" setting and was quite impressed with the feeling in the snow. I found that the snow tyres and lesser cornering/braking limits made the firmer setting feel quite reasonable.
Before this latest storm, I set it to STaSIS's "moderate street" setting. I really do not like it at all. The dampers do not seem able to handle the springs at the front and there is too much bounce. My guess is that a lot of this is style but so far, I really do not like the setting anywhere but firm.
The $64 question in my mind is whether the car would be better off with softer springs in the snow. Then maybe it could handle a softer damper setting. My gut says no.
The other question I'm wondering is whether I might prefer the suspension with even stiffer springs in the summer. I'm thinking yes. But I really have nothing to go by.
Curious what set-up you are using now and what your thoughts are???
Stephen
12-29-2004, 04:00 PM
#14
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yep, raised mainly for drive to MI, but also for VA winter
I'm on my second AWE DTS and they aren't cheap!
Believe it or not, this is as high as the ohlins want to go. I turned the front height adjustment nut until the spring compressed so much that the nut became very hard to turn. I didn't take any spray lubricant because I haven't figured out what to use. Shop air was all I used on the threads. I think I turned the rear adjustment nuts 8-9 full turns. The rears were raised so high I couldn't see any threads below the adjustment nut. It was probably within a few threads of the bottom.
I'm running 650/750 springs. I'm not even sure where I have the dampers set. After installing stage 3 I had to tighten the settings up a few clicks. I went back and forth a few times (relative) to fine tune and forgot where they're set overall.
I agree on the spring idea. The wide damper setting range seems to be much larger than what's reasonable for a given spring rate. I'll probably stay within a range of 5-7 clicks for these springs. You should have no problem going with a stiffer spring. I don't plan on swapping springs because I like what I have.
The beauty of the motorsports is you have a full range of choices. Other suspensions are great, but everyone has slightly different tastes.
Believe it or not, this is as high as the ohlins want to go. I turned the front height adjustment nut until the spring compressed so much that the nut became very hard to turn. I didn't take any spray lubricant because I haven't figured out what to use. Shop air was all I used on the threads. I think I turned the rear adjustment nuts 8-9 full turns. The rears were raised so high I couldn't see any threads below the adjustment nut. It was probably within a few threads of the bottom.
I'm running 650/750 springs. I'm not even sure where I have the dampers set. After installing stage 3 I had to tighten the settings up a few clicks. I went back and forth a few times (relative) to fine tune and forgot where they're set overall.
I agree on the spring idea. The wide damper setting range seems to be much larger than what's reasonable for a given spring rate. I'll probably stay within a range of 5-7 clicks for these springs. You should have no problem going with a stiffer spring. I don't plan on swapping springs because I like what I have.
The beauty of the motorsports is you have a full range of choices. Other suspensions are great, but everyone has slightly different tastes.
12-29-2004, 04:38 PM
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You are right. The spring rate really is key to getting this suspension right....
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I guess after dealing with the ride height on my 996 Turbo (set to European height which is lower than the North American version) in places like Romania and Turkey, I find the S4 really easy to deal with on a day-to-day basis. It doesn't have the overhang with the low lip spoiler that the Turbo has. I can go over speed bumps here at 50 MPH that I would need to creep over diagonally in the Turbo. No problems with parking garages either and they were a nightmare in the Turbo. Plus, I think I've sort of developed a sixth sense for what is ok and what is not ok.
When I adjusted my suspension higher I could see that there was a limit to how high it would go. They seemed designed basically to go no higher than stock ride height. Makes sense as I cannot imagine many people wanting their cars higher than stock.
I also used compressed air when I adjusted them. I didn't want to apply a lubricant that I thought might cause dirt to adhere. But they weren't as dirty as they are now. If I were to adjust the ride height today I would have to do a lot more work to clean them before doing so.
I didn't experience the difficulty turning the collars. Did you have the front off the ground when you did so (both sides else the anti-roll bar would keep pressure on the springs)? That would make a lot of difference to the pressure.
The springs definitely are the limiting factor to the available range of adjustment. That's one reason that I think that STaSIS's suggested settings are out the window. We all have different spring rates and yet the only provide one set of suggested settings. They don't even say what spring rate those settings are for. As far as I am concerned, with 700/800 springs the "aggressive street" setting does not feel particularly aggressive. "Moderate street" does not feel at all right with my springs. But then I am very sensitive to the turn-in rate, dive under braking, float on the highway and that sort of thing. And I am use to a firm ride from the Porsche.
I've got myself into a little trap. STaSIS promises three months to try out and swap spring sets. But because of other suspension problems it took me most of that time to get them installed and the car back on the road. Now it is winter and hardly ideal conditions to experiment. So I am going to run out of time. :-(
An additional problem is that I have a stock rear anti-roll bar. My feeling now is that this needs to be thicker. That will impact on the spring rates. But again, no opportunity to experiment with the winter upon us (roll bars don't do a lot in the snow because the cornering forces are so much lower).
Anyway, you are right. The spring rate really is key to getting this suspension right. As you say, the range is limited by the spring rate so one needs to have the correct spring rate for the range that they want to use. At least that is the impression I have so far.
Stephen
I guess after dealing with the ride height on my 996 Turbo (set to European height which is lower than the North American version) in places like Romania and Turkey, I find the S4 really easy to deal with on a day-to-day basis. It doesn't have the overhang with the low lip spoiler that the Turbo has. I can go over speed bumps here at 50 MPH that I would need to creep over diagonally in the Turbo. No problems with parking garages either and they were a nightmare in the Turbo. Plus, I think I've sort of developed a sixth sense for what is ok and what is not ok.
When I adjusted my suspension higher I could see that there was a limit to how high it would go. They seemed designed basically to go no higher than stock ride height. Makes sense as I cannot imagine many people wanting their cars higher than stock.
I also used compressed air when I adjusted them. I didn't want to apply a lubricant that I thought might cause dirt to adhere. But they weren't as dirty as they are now. If I were to adjust the ride height today I would have to do a lot more work to clean them before doing so.
I didn't experience the difficulty turning the collars. Did you have the front off the ground when you did so (both sides else the anti-roll bar would keep pressure on the springs)? That would make a lot of difference to the pressure.
The springs definitely are the limiting factor to the available range of adjustment. That's one reason that I think that STaSIS's suggested settings are out the window. We all have different spring rates and yet the only provide one set of suggested settings. They don't even say what spring rate those settings are for. As far as I am concerned, with 700/800 springs the "aggressive street" setting does not feel particularly aggressive. "Moderate street" does not feel at all right with my springs. But then I am very sensitive to the turn-in rate, dive under braking, float on the highway and that sort of thing. And I am use to a firm ride from the Porsche.
I've got myself into a little trap. STaSIS promises three months to try out and swap spring sets. But because of other suspension problems it took me most of that time to get them installed and the car back on the road. Now it is winter and hardly ideal conditions to experiment. So I am going to run out of time. :-(
An additional problem is that I have a stock rear anti-roll bar. My feeling now is that this needs to be thicker. That will impact on the spring rates. But again, no opportunity to experiment with the winter upon us (roll bars don't do a lot in the snow because the cornering forces are so much lower).
Anyway, you are right. The spring rate really is key to getting this suspension right. As you say, the range is limited by the spring rate so one needs to have the correct spring rate for the range that they want to use. At least that is the impression I have so far.
Stephen
