Quote:
Originally Posted by Andyxin
Is there any particular reason factory sets the damper curve that way? It surprises me factory shock is that bad with high grip tires and Toyota didn't consider people would put sticker tires on twins.
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To make it responsive. The downside it is rides like crap. That is the price paid for seeking that low speed damping force (responsiveness) in a simple, low cost OEM shock. This is precisely why nicer cars have adjustable or semi-active damping. To gain responsiveness when the driver wants or needs it (crash avoidance) while still riding nice on city streets.
Higher quality, more expensive to produce shocks can have lower internal friction which makes them more supple and increases grip. They can have more complex valving and piston design which produces greater speed sensitivity. This is shock shaft speed, not vehicle speed. In rare cases, a linear valved shock will deliver the best combination of grip, responsiveness and ride quality. But for most production based cars either for street, enthusiast or actual race use, a double digressive shock will be the most versatile. In simple terms, this is valving that has some firmness when the driver makes a steering or pedal input, but is soft when the wheel hits a sudden sharp bump. Drivers inputs are "slow", or the low (shaft) speed damping regime. Road surface is "high" (shaft) speed damping range.
The OEM 86 shocks are still firm at high shaft speeds and have a bunch of hysteresis. Hysteresis manifest itself as that "jiggly" feeling the car has over tiny ripples on the road yet still allowing the car to wallow in fast turns.. = cheap OEM shocks.
It's a cost thing. If the original target price of the twins was say, $65k they would have some trick alloy bodied, big piston mono tube dampers or maybe even a driver selectable damping force switch like so many higher end cars have now.
On the plus side, the twins have far more low speed damping than any other car in that price range. That's why they are so fun to huck around even on the stock mouth breather tires.
So yeah, we are
really eager to get the Xida protos built and start testing.