Bilstein Damptronic pics.

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by DougW

I still use a slide rule and grid paper don't overwhelm me with technology.
Better?
DougW

You use a what and a what??

[n2oinferno]

I missed all of this somehow. Makes me wish I had one of the twins, and a pocket full of money. Especially since I'm local, so it seems. Ah well, eventually...

[Captain Snooze]

Originally Posted by DougW

I still use a slide rule

I do not jest when I say that's awesome. Old school but awesome.

[DougW]

Originally Posted by Captain Snooze

I do not jest when I say that's awesome. Old school but awesome.

Yea, I got socks older than most of you but really enjoy the enthusiasm and fresh energy. This has been a fun project, makes me want to build another race car again.
DougW
(Used the quote button again)

[Calum]

Originally Posted by DougW

Yea, I got socks older than most of you but really enjoy the enthusiasm and fresh energy. This has been a fun project, makes me want to build another race car again.
DougW
(Used the quote button again)

Ok, how old are you? Not that it would change anything, I'm just curious after your latest comments.

[aCab]

First off, let me apologize to Doug for taking so long to post my thoughts. Between traveling and starting to pack up the house for my move down to Atlanta, I've been quite busy. With that being said, here are my thoughts of the system, driving the car, and of Doug himself (don't worry Doug, nothing bad here...that's for my personal diary ).

To give you guys a little info on who I am, I've got a few years experience tracking and many years experience driving in the mountains in and around Deal's Gap with a variety of vehicles, both on stock suspension, lowering springs, and a myriad of coilover systems. I've competed in NASA Time Trials in my s2000 and my FR-S, and have run Global Time Attack in both as well. While I may not have the setup knowledge that CSG Mike and others have, I do have quite a decent amount of track time (50 days each year the past two years) and a lot of seat time in the mountains (family used to own a store at Deal's Gap). Enough about validating myself, and more about the system.

When I first heard about the Bilstein damptronic system, I was a little skeptical. Surely this system couldn't be much good, I though. Boy was I wrong. They day I met up with Doug, traffic at Deal's Gap was pretty high, and the Tennessee Highway patrol was in full force. Needless to say I didn't get to drive the car on that road, but on a road nearby.

Doug was gracious enough to show me the software that he developed for the Bilstein Damptronics used on this car and other platforms like the GTR and a few Porsches. ***(Sidenote, those who are doubting Doug due to his lack of forum posting experience (quotes, etc)- DON'T. He's the real deal and really knows his stuff. After talking to him for an afternoon, he has more experience in motorsports circles than most of us will ever even dream about).***The software controlling the system is very powerful, yet simple enough to use that I would feel comfortable letting my middle school cousin loose on. Rest assured that if given the opportunity the tune their own settings, any enthusiast with a little bit of knowledge of what the suspension settings do should be ok. In my mind, I sort of equated this system to a Digital SLR camera vs a Film SLR camera (Film being a traditional manual coilover setup). A digital SLR you can put into program mode and can take great photos using settings that the engineers programmed in (stock maps for the suspension). More advanced users can make their own settings to really take advantage of the full system. Ok, enough of my trying to correlate coilovers to cameras. I'm sure you all want to know...HOW DOES IT DRIVE?

In one work - AMAZING. While driving semi-spiritedly on a mountain road in a car that is not your own can only tell you so much, our short drive down NC 28 to Fontana Village really made a believer out of me. Dougs car is currently on the stock FR-S springs, but the damptronics make the car ride nicer than stock when cruising. Big plus there to those looking for a dual purpose setup (communting/dd/track/autox). The real magic happens though when you turn the wheel. Driving on the standard map that Doug had programmed in his car, I could feel a difference as soon as I turned the wheel into the first corner. Turn in was nice and sharp and you could tell that the characteristics of the car had changed from just cruising. After a few turns, I was hooked. The car was nice and supple while going straight, yet turned in and carried itself around each and every corner with confidence. The more I pushed it, the more the car was just there for me. Stable, predictable. It just kept urging me to drive it faster and harder (that's what she said!) I didn't want to get back in my car after the drive was over. As you can see from the plots Doug provided, the car pulled nearly 1G on stock tires just cruising in the mountains while Doug and I chatted about the system. Huge potential with this system and I can't wait to try it out on a road course and at Deal's Gap more in my own car.

This system on Doug's all stock otherwise, automatic FR-S was a joy to drive. Even more so than a stock FRS or BRZ (which is very enjoyable in itself). I can see this system being very popular for those enthusiasts that want a great handling car that doesn't have any compromises on the daily commute to work or long trips. Also, for those enthusiasts like me that get lazy and just drive around on our track settings all the time because we don't want to get down on hands and knees to adjust suspension under the car like some two way or inverted single adjustable setups are. In terms of comfort and handling, there is often a trade off, or at least an inconvenience of having to make adjustments. With this system, I see a non-compromising system that seems actually quite affordable for what it is.

After driving my car on a 2k mile trip with 9k/11k springs on my current setup, I can really appreciate this system. Doug really has a great system that he's developing here and I'm very honored that he took the time out of his schedule to come out and show me the system and let me drive the car. I'm looking forward to working with him in the coming months to really nail down this system. Now if only I can get him to modify a set for my S2000...

If anyone has specific questions about my experience with Doug, the system, or driving the car, please post up and I will try and clarify the best that I can.

Doug, thanks again for the opportunity and I look forward to working with you in the future.

[Anaxilus]

Thanks! Were you able to get any sense of how it would handle mid corner bumps at any decent speed?

[Calum]

Originally Posted by aCab

***(Sidenote, those who are doubting Doug due to his lack of forum posting experience (quotes, etc)- DON'T. He's the real deal and really knows his stuff. After talking to him for an afternoon, he has more experience in motorsports circles than most of us will ever even dream about).***

I don't think anyone is doubting him, and certainly not on something as trivial as forum posting experience. Sorry if I seemed like a d!ck.

[aCab]

Originally Posted by Calum

I don't think anyone is doubting him, and certainly not on something as trivial as forum posting experience. Sorry if I seemed like a d!ck.

I'm speaking from experience...I had my doubts before I started talking to him

[aCab]

Originally Posted by Anaxilus

Thanks! Were you able to get any sense of how it would handle mid corner bumps at any decent speed?

Unfortunately, I did not have the experience of driving over any rough pavement at speed. Knowing how the system works though, I'm not sure how it would handle a mid corner bump. The g forces would tend to push the car in the other direction I would think causing the outer shocks to soften a bit, but as Doug and I spoke about, by the time the computer senses the bump, it's too late for it to react. These will however respond like a normal coilover - in fact, they work as a normal coilover if power is lost.

[7thgear]

1g on street tires!?

we're talking about the Primacy HPs?!

is there video of this? (parking-lot skidpad with documentated radius and out-of car, time-lapsed videos


that's absolutely amazing!

[DougW]

Originally Posted by 7thgear

1g on street tires!?

we're talking about the Primacy HPs?!

is there video of this? (parking-lot skidpad with documentated radius and out-of car, time-lapsed videos


that's absolutely amazing!

This is on mountain banked roads, you wouldn't be near that on a flat skidpad the tire grip just isn't there. No video just the above datalog.
DougW

[aCab]

Spent the day yesterday with Doug and his son installing a set of these on my car. Doug and I were able to go drive on a very fun road near his house. Even with us needing to do a few small things once we returned (system wasn't operating fully during our spirited test drive (fixed easily back at the shop)), the car was very surprising.

On the drive home, once I hit smooth pavement on the the interstate, I literally started laughing - it felt like the car was floating. Very impressed so far and looking forward to testing these more in the coming weeks.

Doug, thanks for the opportunity and the southern hospitality! Looking forward to helping you develop this package.

[DougW]

Originally Posted by aCab

Spent the day yesterday with Doug and his son installing a set of these on my car. Doug and I were able to go drive on a very fun road near his house. Even with us needing to do a few small things once we returned (system wasn't operating fully during our spirited test drive (fixed easily back at the shop)), the car was very surprising.

On the drive home, once I hit smooth pavement on the the interstate, I literally started laughing - it felt like the car was floating. Very impressed so far and looking forward to testing these more in the coming weeks.

Doug, thanks for the opportunity and the southern hospitality! Looking forward to helping you develop this package.

Thanks for the good words, I can't wait until we have a large group running this setup sharing maps and tuning based on tracks. I already have ideas for the next rev just based on our test drive up the mountain (now named "Squirrel hill") this is going to be a fun project over the winter.
DougW