Setting up for best ride quality on coilovers?

[MIAblu1]

Hey guys, been meaning to ask this for a while but haven't gotten around to it until now. I have BC coilovers with adjustable dampening and I've never gotten around to adjusting them because I really don't know what would be best (softer or stiffer) and if it should be soft on either front or back and stiff on the opposite end. My ride is pretty bumpy and I'm wondering what suggestions you guys with knowledge on this night have so I can dial in the best settings for ride quality. It's my daily driver and I have it down to almost the lowest setting more for the tucked look, don't really go to tracks and what not because there isn't any close by in Miami that I know of. Any way,looking for any suggestions you guys might have for me. Thanks in advance

[Kgolf31]

You probably won't like what I have to offer.

You should set to full soft, depending on what you want to feel and what your spring rates are.

BC dampers typically aren't that best of quality. With that being said, in any coilover kit...the money is in the damper.

A damper can make a car ride, and can destroy it.

I've found that BCs aren't that good at damping spring rates.

The bouncy feeling is when you are not able to effectively dampen the spring. You can try and turn up the rebound a bit which SHOULD help reduce the bouncy feeling....however the ride will be more harsh.

You don't have DAs, do you?

[128Convertibleguy]

Originally Posted by MIAblu1

Hey guys, been meaning to ask this for a while but haven't gotten around to it until now. I have BC coilovers with adjustable dampening and I've never gotten around to adjusting them because I really don't know what would be best (softer or stiffer) and if it should be soft on either front or back and stiff on the opposite end. My ride is pretty bumpy and I'm wondering what suggestions you guys with knowledge on this night have so I can dial in the best settings for ride quality. It's my daily driver and I have it down to almost the lowest setting more for the tucked look, don't really go to tracks and what not because there isn't any close by in Miami that I know of. Any way,looking for any suggestions you guys might have for me. Thanks in advance

Tweaking the damping isn't going to help much. Your basic problem is the high spring rates needed to get that "tucked" look without bottoming out.

It's all tradeoffs. If it is able to go low without bottoming out, it will come with stiff springs. That's the reason the BMW springs are soft, and the ride height high. A low car with a soft ride is physically impossible.

[MIAblu1]

Originally Posted by Kgolf31

You probably won't like what I have to offer.

You should set to full soft, depending on what you want to feel and what your spring rates are.

BC dampers typically aren't that best of quality. With that being said, in any coilover kit...the money is in the damper.

A damper can make a car ride, and can destroy it.

I've found that BCs aren't that good at damping spring rates.

The bouncy feeling is when you are not able to effectively dampen the spring. You can try and turn up the rebound a bit which SHOULD help reduce the bouncy feeling....however the ride will be more harsh.

You don't have DAs, do you?

They're just height and dampening adjustable. And front have the camber adjustment on top. I know I'm not going to have the best ride, especially with my want for the tucked look that I have, I just wanted insight on if I should go softer or harder and if it should be harder or softer up front or in the back.

[128Convertibleguy]

Originally Posted by MIAblu1

They're just height and dampening adjustable. And front have the camber adjustment on top. I know I'm not going to have the best ride, especially with my want for the tucked look that I have, I just wanted insight on if I should go softer or harder and if it should be harder or softer up front or in the back.

As KGolf31 said, you're probably not going to like the answer. There's no easy answer. What is best for ride is not best for handling.

Google <how adjust shocks> to find out what you should do for handling. If you only care about ride and not handling, you could go full soft everywhere, as KGolf31 already said. But that might turn bumpy into bouncy, as the springs overpower the shocks. It could even make the car unsafe, similar to what worn out shocks do.

New softer springs might be a better idea, but then you can't slam the car down. Going back to stock would be the safest choice.

Modding suspension is risky, especially if you do it for appearance. it's easy to wind up with a car that's worse than stock. Lowering a car too much is a common problem.

A professional would be able to give you better advice.

[MIAblu1]

Originally Posted by 128Convertibleguy

As KGolf31 said, you're probably not going to like the answer. There's no easy answer. What is best for ride is not best for handling.

Google &lt;how adjust shocks> to find out what you should do for handling. If you only care about ride and not handling, you could go full soft everywhere, as KGolf31 already said. But that might turn bumpy into bouncy, as the springs overpower the shocks. It could even make the car unsafe, similar to what worn out shocks do.

New softer springs might be a better idea, but then you can't slam the car down. Going back to stock would be the safest choice.

Modding suspension is risky, especially if you do it for appearance. it's easy to wind up with a car that's worse than stock. Lowering a car too much is a common problem.

A professional would be able to give you better advice.

Thanks man, yea I figured it was going to come down to playing with the softening or hardening to find a balance between not too bouncy or too stiff.

[chris82]

You will need a much better damper than BC to run high spring rates and still achieve comfort. It's all about how much fluid the damper can displace. Your higher end dampers can do this very well and displace a lot of fluid. That is why you can run them with much higher spring rates and still achieve a ride that is as comfortable as the lower spring rates someone is running on their Konis; because even when set to a lower setting the damper is still able to control the energy of the spring.

[recce]

I run 17 clicks from soft front and 15 clicks from soft rear. Just nice and firm. My spring rate are 7kg/mm front and 12kg/mm rear.