Quote:
Originally Posted by Tor
Thanks for the explanation. He is actually a Miata guy and also mentioned a Porsche he set up with higher frequency in the rear. Also the stock GT86 suspension has the higher frequency in the rear.
I brought it up here, not specifically in relationship to your coilovers (as it seems almost all aftermarket coilover have the lower frequency in the rear, even if the rear has the higher spring rate), but because there was a discussion here about frequencies etc.
I can put up a post in the suspension Q&A thread, so more can chime in.
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Roughly speaking, there are two schools of thought regarding frequency:
1. The rear should have the higher frequency, because it is traveling behind the front wheels; when you travel over a bump, you want the rear to settle faster than the front so that the car can be ready for another input sooner (turning the wheel, applying power mid-corner, etc.). In general you want both ends of the car to settle at the same time.
2. The rear should have the lower frequency, so that bumps to the drive wheels induce slower motion and thus make the car easier to drive.
I find the latter is common among high horsepower car owners (think Corvette Z06, Mustang GT, etc). There may be some truth to the easy to drive bit, especially depending on tire selection. The tire has its own "spring" rate of sorts and therefore its own natural frequency, and it needs to play well with the suspension frequency you select.
My personal opinion is that it really doesn't matter too much that the rear is faster as long as the suspension is properly damped. Sure, the high HP car might be easier to drive, but that does not mean it is the fastest setup (it might be the fastest setup for a given driver's talent level, but let's stop here before I begin impugning wholesale the talent of Corvette owners).
Note that ultimately, the goal is to keep the tire in its happy place. None of what I said matters if you pick a frequency or car balance that makes the tire unhappy. This stuff isn't easy and that's why race engineers make some decent money into the six figure range.