You're more than welcome to come codrive with an ex-Central Florida Region member if you like

edit: oops, looks like Uuuloser has you all wrapped up instead

oh and Mikey, you need a softer front bar, waaaaaay softer ...

 

Just send me a PM and we will work out the details. I know you are use to getting paid... But you better bring your checkbook this time.

 

 

Has anyone seen a dyno of the Koni Sport?

Enquiring minds want to know...it could be very interesting. Who knows, you might see more Bilsteins being built

 

what-evah ....

 

Well, if the front Konis are being run full stiff by everyone and the rears anywhere from 75-100% stiff by most, wouldn't that indicate that they are at the end of their ots, factory valving bandwidth and that there could be upside in expanding the envelope?

 

I didn't run my fronts full stiff rebound either, guess I'm the odd one out on all accounts

 

You may be odd, but not necessarily out.

Mike, if someone told you that everyone is running the fronts full stiff and the rears at 75-100% stiff, they lied, were misinformed, or believe that everyone must do what they do.

 

OK, saying "everyone" is always asking for it...generalizing is dangerous. But, the two guys out here that I talk to and respect their opinion and have also had the best results of anyone running the RX8 nationally both tell me they run the Konis full stiff f/r. If that's the case, given that they are winning with that setup, couldn't that indicate that a "stiffer" shock could be continuing to go in an effective direction?

The reason I threw out Bilstein is because it is easy to diy change valving/shim stacks and they now have a 9-way adjustable ots shock.

 

no may be about it ...

this thread reminds me of Smokey Yunik's monkey see monkey do philosophy

if the fastest monkey on the track puts a 5 lb bucket of horse sh-t over the left rear wheel all the other monkeys will do the same without verifying it makes any difference ...

 

Yeah, but I'm talking about putting a 7 or 8 lb bucket of horse puckey over my left rear wheel...totally different circumstance

 

that's just saying that if a little bit of rebound is good, then a lot more must be much better

Mike, you've gotten a lot of good info from a lot of people. Just pick your starting point and work from there. Remember to listen to the car instead of the forums and you'll be fine.

 

You just do whatever you need to do to make those POS H tires work and keep your new codriver happy.

Did you order your Racingbeat front bar yet? Braun wont be happy with anything smaller than whats on your motorhome.

 

Already tried the one off the Winnebago...too loose, need more bar...

 

If we go to a bigger front bar, it won't be that much stiffer than stock...and, at this point, it's a big IF.

Lots of people have gotten stock class cars to work very well with big rebound stiffness, so that wouldn't be unprecedented. Also, since we don't know what the numbers are on the ots Koni, who's to say that we are adding "massive" rebound? Adding low speed compression is also something to consider...particularly with the bigger tires.

 

LOL, I disagree completely ...

furthermore, big rebound increases and max shock rebound settings are not necessarily the same thing, it means nothing without shock dyno curve references ...

 

While I do not want to turn this into a pissing match over who has the best/what is the best setup for an RX8 clearly Wood is missing some key points. Sure Joe and I have, as well as a few others, had some success and like the Konis on full stiff. The problem is beyond the full stiff OTS koni and 245 V710s the similarities end. Joe's and our alignments are worlds apart and that alone is enough to make a big difference in how our two cars work.

So lets say for the sake of argument that my car is the end all be all and the fastest you will get an RX8 to go in its configuration. When you take the single most import part of the car, and the only part that connects it to the track, and make a big change to it I would expect the car to require a massive change in setup. You want to try to replicate a certain level of performance but are going to change the most important part of the package. If the H is up to the task or not is another matter.

At this point in time you are starting from scratch. While to date there has been little if any success with the H on the RX8 to try to apply the setup we have used on the V710 is as useful as putting H's on a bone stock car. You are going to have to figure out what those tires need to work with the car. Good luck.

 

I'm also not looking at starting a pissing contest, by any means. I also am very aware that we are bringing a huge variable into play with the Hoosiers. Heck, plug the driver into the equation, next, and let's see how good replicating one guy's setup works for another...

What I was looking to do is start a discussion about why people are doing what they are doing with the 8, what they saw as the shortcomings given stock class rules, and what they thought were the workarounds . I also came back to this thread specifically to see if fastmike's request for shock dyno charts for the Konis ever led anywhere.

Ultimately, I was looking for information about cause and effect to consider...

 

I was not implying you were trying to start one, that just tends to happen with this kind of thread, TRX8 and I have been there enough times.

I have no problem sharing my setup.... However how/why I got there is to long of a conversation and somehow I always end up finding myself having to defend my choices, so I wont go there.

I am sure with some time and the right choices you will be able to get the car to work, and you now have a great resource to help you with that.

btw the only cause and effect that matters is the clock.

 

^makes sense.

You know, a few years ago, I remember reading this whole "debate" about stiffer springs vs. bigger sway bars as two, determining ways of approaching suspension setup. The funny thing was, both experts had long track records of great success in road racing. So, what's the takeaway? There's more than one way to skin a cat

So, when people share their ideas or theories, I'm glad to have more to think about and more possible solutions to try to solve problems that come up as I try to get my car the way I want it.

 

Just take your lumps this season and buy our car at the end of the year. It will save you a lot of work.

 

No thanks...on both counts.

Besides, my car is leased...if I wanted to own a RX8, I would have bought one

 

Sorry, should have been more specific, we ran a much stiffer bar than you indicated and never would have even considered rear toe out, which IMO the RX-8 absolutely hates/should not be used. In general, I rarely agree with your setup assessments, to me that's funny, but it's not intended as a degrading or insulting laugh, rather I find it funny that we can often be so polar on our opinions ...

 

So, did anyone that has off the shelf Koni's care to share their dyno curve?

 

there's no point sharing dyno curves, you need to run them on the same dyno using the same technique/procedure/setup if you want an accurate comparison