I got a few questions you racers can probably answer for me. I got this information on Summit's websight: I thought the idea was to have less force to extend, thus making the front lift easier. Second, for those that have them, how hard is it to change settings. I assume they are impossible to set without removing them. Lastly, if it is impossible to reset, how would they handle on the street? I mostly drive on the street but I really want to scrape that 12.00. As close as possible, anyway.
Guess I never thought about this before. I am gonna take a stab at this. Could the force of extend as in 90 be simply overcome by the reaction of the actual car when it leaves. So the weight transfer is more rapid with the number 90? Dan
I remember Old Guy (Dave) commenting on a thread similar to this. the " any track condition" part of the description would lead to believe its a streetable shock. I remember Dave saying the 90/10 setup is good for the strip only and would not handle any serious cornering. Maybe the 60/40 setting is the streetable setting.
I bought a set of NOS Hurst Adjustable rear shocks and they have two settings - street and drag. You simply twist the shock to switch between the two settings ...
the 90/10 means that 90% of the damping is compression, 10% is extension. What that means is the front of the car "theoretically" raises quickly, which normally results in quicker weight transfer. As the car leaves the start line and about 15-20' out, it settles back down (this is with a car that 60's in the 1.50-1.70 range) the 90% compression rate resists the force applied to it and allows the front of the car to settle more slowly. That being said, one has to watch out for too quick of weight transfer. On mine, it would rip the front up so fast that the inertia would pull the front wheels right out of the stage beams, and ultimately made the car inconsistent. Also it was wasted energy that otherwise could have been propelling the car forward. I changed the settings to about 60/40 and the 60's dropped from the 1.48-1.49 range to the best it ever ran, 1.39-1.41 range. Instead of ripping the tires out of the beams, it would go forward, but as it was moving the tires would carry about 4-6" under them for 20' or so on a good surface. In other words, 90/10's usually work well on a street-type car that needs the quicker weight transfer, but on an all-out drag car, they might not work so well. This is where adjustable shocks come in handy. Normally on the inexpensive shocks (Competition Engineering, Summit's brand, and a few others) you have to fully compress the shock and turn it a certain number of clicks to get it where it's supposed to be. Of course, it can't be done on the car...but I think Koni and KYB make some externally-adjustable units that CAN be adjusted on the car. I ordered some KYB's for the race mav (M2 front end)...we'll see what they're like.
That would make more sense, but thats the opposite of what the Summit ad says. I'm sure its just an advertising error. So how would 90/10's handle on the street?
Yeah, the 90/10's handle like crap....especially with skinnies and no sway bar!!! Very Scary!!!! My personal favorite are the QA1's, since they have 12 different settings you can adjust for the track and then tighten them up for the street. They also eleminate the need for suspension limiters, they can be adjusted so stiff that they act as the suspension limiter. The best shock is one that compression and rebound can be adjusted independently of each other, none of the above mentioned shocks allow for that. The only ones available to the public that I know of are from AFCO @ $349 each. I think Koni makes some also.....
My car has pretty good weight distribution. 1660 on the front and 1580 on the rear. This year I already have a set of slicks ready to go and I plan on removing the sway bar for race day only. Do you think the drag shocks would be worth the effort? Especially considering how much of a pain in the ass they are to change. I would only install them to race and remove them afterward. As little as I race this car, I would only buy the $42 each ones anyway.
Dennis the way your car runs I think you will be fine with what you have. All these adjustable shocks and stuff in my opinion are for the guys that are looking for every last .01 of a second they can get. I do not think they are very practical for a car that is driven 99% of the time and raced only once or twice a year. SLICKS! Wooooo woooo Dennis is in the low low low 12's and maybe even a 11. I think you will really be surprised what the stickies will do!
