Quote:
Originally Posted by fistpoint
Are you sure?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but MacPhersons have only one direction of travel while the other setup has upwards and downwards motions? Driving the '00 Civic Si at high speeds over the slightest bumps resulted in a single bounce, the RSX bounces 2-3 times in the same situation. I always assumed it was the different setup moreso than just being a different car. The Si was a better feeling car.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryephile
There are a couple things incorrect with your comment. Mac struts of course have compression and rebound travel, as designed by the suspension engineers. How much and where its positioned relative to the ride height depends on the specific car model in question. Regarding the ride bouncing, you're describing an ill-matched damper curve to the spring rate, which has nothing to do with MacPherson strut vs. SLA.
The Si was designed as the sporting model of its lineup, so it has greater damping force in general. The RSX had to bridge this gap between quasi-luxury and sport-ish, so it had less damping in a low-cost attempt to improve ride quality on rough surfacing. The result is the RSX will be less composed at higher speeds and during high-force transitions.
You can't typically generalize a cars behavior solely on its fundamental suspension layout [there are exceptions, but they are rare in modern production cars]. BMW and Porsche swear by Mac Struts and have used them for a very long time. This FR-S/BRZ uses a Mac strut up front and a multi-link in back [despite Subaru calling it "double wishbone", it's more complicated than that].
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You also have to consider the RSX has a much stiffer chasis. Stiffer chasis reduces the need for stiffer springs or damper therefore improving ride quality while maintaining decent handling. This of course, all at street legal speeds.