I am participating in the rally event for the first time and I wanted to get some opinions on adjusting my dampers... I know my car is not set up for rallycross and really I am just participating for fun..but I was wondering if I could do anything to help I have the KW Clubsports on my 07 WRX. Great coilovers and I would definitely buy em again... Now for something like rallycross, do yo just put both compression and rebound on all the way soft or one or two clicks away from soft? I've heard that full stiff or full soft is bad for valving Also should I raise the coilovers? Right now i am going with the recommended 14.5 in the front and 14 in the rear (got plenty of wheel gap) Are these coilovers just not ideal for rallycross?
hehe, wow you really signed up for it? cool! I'm still weary of the idea of you doing it with those coilovers, yes they are built very well. However, I wonder about that valving not soo much being on the too close to full soft, but the fact that they are road tuned and would (i presume) be more aggressively valved than something suited for gravel. Also there is the actual amount of suspension travel you have, I wonder how often you will be hitting the bump stops in this situation and if that really is a concern.
wow thanks jeff. one of the fastest response I've gotten haha. I talked to Chris, the one that will be hosting the event. He said it is hard packed clay and here's a video that shows the track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlszT2uOoVw Obviously I am not trying to get the fastest time or whatever but if possible, I want to adjust it and make it as optimal as possible. :-/ I hope it won't wear out the coilovers to fast
You should be fine at the middle ga site! Its very hard packed and no very hard bumps. My 15 Sti does just fine completely stock there
How much gap is there from the front lip to the ground? I'd be more concerned with my front-end compressing before a larger bump/dirt-clod and knocking the bumper off it's clips. Losing your front-end is the most common damage out there.
Thanks for the advice bryan and superdude. Didnt know about the bumper thing. So should I put it 2-3 clicks from soft? I may just raise it a little bit
I would think a softer compression will help not only for the 'lessen the damage' but in actual driving, too high compression can make the tire 'skip' over the road surface you are on as the suspension can be too stiff to react. So softening the compression will let the tire conform to the surface better, sure you will feel the car as a little loose as it will weight shift more, but on dirt that may not be a bad thing
be more concerned about actual ride height, wait I missed the 07 part. make sure your exhaust hangers are in good shape, as a matter of fact I drilled holes in the rods and put washers and pins to hold it all together.
IMHO, having run the V3/Tarmac II setup at the recommended ride height now for almost 5 years, it would be like taking my racing road bike to an XC mountain bike trail, it could be done but its really a purpose specific tarmac setup for Street/AutoX/Track. If the ride height was raised, which would really be a necessity as there is only about 4" of static clearance, then the spring rates and damping would still be mismatched for that surface as well as the sway bars would like be too stiff to keep the tires in contact. The alignment would go off as well, unless re-set. A stock setup might be a better starting point as I used to enjoy gravel before I went to Coilovers; I would not do gravel in my current configuration except when it is very smooth KW's have a re-build life, so as they say, the faster you go, the faster they go. The day I can have a second STi, that would be the one to setup for RallyX - The ideal setup would be Drummond Motor Sports Coilovers- like the DMS 30's however I think they may have been discontinued; so today there are probably a number of alternatives that are proven for this application that people who are actually doing Rally X could provide advice on.