Two Guys Rally

Update on New Suspension Parts [ October 2nd, 2008 ] By:Mark Ozimek

I wrote about changing the suspension parts in my S70 a while back due to the damage from the rallycross Charles and I went to. Now that I’ve gotten a little bit of road time and testing with the adjustable shocks, I want to share my findings.

One important thing to keep in mind is that the Koni shocks I got are only rebound adjustable. The resistance to compression is fixed. This means that when they are set more firm, the car has a tendency to get lower over bumps, since the suspension takes longer to expand.

As a fairly obvious trend, the stiffer the setting on the shocks, the slower the car rolled. Hard corners were more predictable on smooth surfaces, but less predictable on rough surfaces. Acceleration and shifting feels much more solid, and really enjoyable.

Overall though, the ride quality near the hardest setting is just too harsh. Althoug the car does roll more with the softer settings, the improved traction on rough surfaces (which Rochester has a lot of) makes the tradeoff worthwhile.

Although I haven’t taken it to an actual race track, this general trend makes me suspect that the firmest setting would be ideal for track use, and the softest setting for rally style environments. Having more total suspension travel would be very nice for rally too, but I made the decision to keep the Volvo on the street, so I’m not too concerned about that.

A question for those of you with rally cars that have adjustable shocks, where do you prefer the damping firmness to get the car to handle the way you like?

Looking Ahead [ April 17th, 2008 ] By:Charles Smith

The point of this is simple: look where you want to go.

1. Look at the part of the road you want to be on.
2. Don’t look at the tree you Don’t want to hit.
3. Look far ahead (you will catch oversteer this way).
4. Looking too close infront of you will slow you down (everything seems faster).
5. Look through the corners (Don’t focus on the apex the whole way)

While this all may sound simple, it has really helped me. Not looking at things I don’t want to hit doesn’t help alone, looking at the places you want your car to be does. Your brain likes to follow your eyes (we are very visual animals), and because of how automated our brains have made driving, our cars also follow our eyes. Ever catch yourself looking off to the side in your car, and your car starts drifting over in that direction even if you’re trying to keep it from doing that?

Looking far ahead also helps our brains out by making everything seem like it has slowed down. This keeps us nice and calm. Our mind being kept at ease keeps us from thinking about how we are going to hit that tree just to our left and lets us focus on driving. This even works in racing video games, so go try it there if you’re skeptical. I first put it to use in Toca Race Driver 2.

Remember, look far ahead! It takes some getting used to but I guarantee it will make you faster on a race course.