ride height settings

1JZtezza

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Something of interest for 'tezza' owners.Thanks to Adian.Anybody else wanna add and share are all welcomed!


Originally Posted by 1JZtezza
hi Adian,

Thanks for the great reply.Maybe I may start a new thread under Altezza forums with some references to what is written in the 'race track junkie' thread and the links you sent.
Not that many track kaki altezzas-most are new to the track(on track)

Thanks again

Quote:
Originally Posted by adian
Hey man..

Yes yes, ride height and rake makes quite a big difference.

We did discuss it on ZTH on the RaceTrack Junkies forum. Here's a link to the discussion:
http://www.zerotohundred.com/newforu...ml#post3666780

and then further discussions with reference to how it will affect the geometry here:
http://www.zerotohundred.com/newforu...ang-sic-7.html

Generally, you would always want the car to be level. It's about 'corner-weights', and trying to adjust where you want the weight of the car to sit.

Altezzas are about 50-50 in dynamic weight distribution.

By having a lower front, means you push some of the weight to the front, ie say 52-48.
This leads to more understeer, as your front tyres will be overworked in comparison to the rear tyres (recall the basics: Traction Circle). Yes, the car will of course track a bit straighter, but unless you're into straightline drag-racing (which from your posts I notice you're not! hehe! You're a track addict!), then there's no reason why we'd want to have a lower front than the rear.

With a level car and 50-50 weight distribution, I get the car to handle as it is meant to handle: turn-in when you want it to, rear-end loses traction gradually so you can control it, and adjustable on the throttle.

Also with a level car, you can use the brakes to 'rotate' or 'yaw' the car as you turn-in to the corners with a trail-braking technique. If you use a front-heavy setting (lower front), trail-braking will not have as much an affect, as your front will understeer and the rear lacks the weight to 'yaw' the car using momentum.

Lastly, with after-market suspension, they tend to have a higher rear because they need to engineer into the product the fact that it is a road car, and the owner will sometimes carry 3 adults and luggage in the back! This is to provide clearance. I'm not kidding: when I was in R3, we would engineer all our R3 suspension kits and springs with slightly higher rears in order to accomodate this need!

Hope all that shit I explained helps. I'm really interested to meet the 'track-kaki' Altezza owners. If any of you are catching up pls feel free to SMS me. My hp is 012 688 1200.

ciaoss..

/adian

Quote:
Originally Posted by 1JZtezza
Hi adian,
I noticed you set your ride height(between front and rear) to be level ie the door sill or floor pan to be level; rather than front lower a bit than the rear as most after mkt non-adjustable susp do.Any particular reason??
I use Tein flex and also set the same and find that this gives a more responsive steering and better handling.front lower seems to track straighter and understeer a bit when off-throttle.
Would appreciate your inputs or experiences.
 

ALiAS

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wooooo.... that's one good info... thanks bro...
a noob question... does this means that if we make our ride lower a bit in front, its not good for handling... for a daily driving car, we do bring some adults and luggage at the back, but we also do sometimes 'tekan' [dont deny that, come on... you guys are driving ALTEZZA la weh]

** looking for a sport spring for my car... any suggestion.. currently using TRD absorber and standard spring...
 

adian

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Alias: It is never as simple as that. Pls dont make the mistake of coming to a quick conclusion as such, especially as it works differently for different cars and for different uses.

Generally for road-going cars, or 'super street' I believe the term is nowadays, stick with the basic settings. If you buy after market springs to use, then the point here is that the rear will generally be a little bit higher to compensate for luggage and passenger carrying.

If you put on height-adjustable coilovers, then you have the option of adjusting the ride height. You never want to go too low, anything more than 40mm or so will mess up your Roll Centre height, which will lead to your car rolling more rather than less, even though you have lowered it's Center of Gravity. You would still want to have it a little bit higher at the rear, because you drive it on the road most of the time. Measure with a tape. Have it about 10mm - 15mm higher than the front should be fine, without too much detriment to weight distribution.

/adian
 

AE111_SEG

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Folks,
Installed a set of new Tein Super Street couple of weeks ago. Loving every minute of it.
The handling improved tremendously and now I can adjust the ride according to my taste.:rofl:

Currently the Hard\Soft is set to 4 out of 16 clicks. The heights adjust back to original. Or close to original.
My rear is slightly higher to the front. So when I have load the car is flat.

At the moment I like the current setting cos I use the car daily on different roads and speed.
There is a good balance between comfort and handling.:proud:
 
Last edited:

1JZtezza

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Question:EDFC or no EDFC.Spring ratings (eg:6kg,8kg,or 10kg) and spring height?

Anyways the superstreet was supposed to come as 'lowered' by about 30-36mm.You mean you re-adjusted it back to the same ride height as stock?

You look a happy man -good for you!!
 

green

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my super street is about lowered:

front : -20mm(about 2 fingers between tire wall to arches) from oem shocks/springs
rear : -20mm

yes the original settings for tein super street is much lower than -20mm which i had. is about 30-36mm.

however i also plan to readjust rear to be slightly higher due to constant bumps hitting my undercarriage while ferrying passengers behind. perhaps 10mm like adian suggested

I have seen the recommended settings from the tein website. just follow it for sxe10 and u wont go wrong
 

es2611

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Jan 10, 2006
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my super street is about lowered:

front : -20mm(about 2 fingers between tire wall to arches) from oem shocks/springs
rear : -20mm

yes the original settings for tein super street is much lower than -20mm which i had. is about 30-36mm.

however i also plan to readjust rear to be slightly higher due to constant bumps hitting my undercarriage while ferrying passengers behind. perhaps 10mm like adian suggested

I have seen the recommended settings from the tein website. just follow it for sxe10 and u wont go wrong
bro, can u post the link from tein pls. thanks.
 

AE111_SEG

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May 18, 2005
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Question:EDFC or no EDFC.Spring ratings (eg:6kg,8kg,or 10kg) and spring height?

Anyways the superstreet was supposed to come as 'lowered' by about 30-36mm.You mean you re-adjusted it back to the same ride height as stock?

You look a happy man -good for you!!

Yap,
No EDFC. The spring rate is Front=8kg/mm, Rear 6kg/mm. Yes standard it came lowered -30mm Front and -25mm rear. I raised the height back to standard. Actually front slightly lower.
I dont really want to lower my car much... only wanted more firm ride. The Stock altezza shocks
are too soft for any spirited driving.....:bawling:
Initially I was worried coilovers are rock hard. But was surprised the ride is quite comfortable. As you can see from the spring rate it is not very hard so Tein Super street is very good for beginner like me. :rofl::rofl:

Love the Teins ......
 

aycy

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Yap,
No EDFC. The spring rate is Front=8kg/mm, Rear 6kg/mm. Yes standard it came lowered -30mm Front and -25mm rear. I raised the height back to standard. Actually front slightly lower.
I dont really want to lower my car much... only wanted more firm ride. The Stock altezza shocks
are too soft for any spirited driving.....:bawling:
Initially I was worried coilovers are rock hard. But was surprised the ride is quite comfortable. As you can see from the spring rate it is not very hard so Tein Super street is very good for beginner like me. :rofl::rofl:

Love the Teins ......

haha finally.. its a good buy le... so bro. u say 4 click out of 16. the click 4 is closer to the softer or the harder??

---------- Post added at 10:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:49 PM ----------

Yap,
No EDFC. The spring rate is Front=8kg/mm, Rear 6kg/mm. Yes standard it came lowered -30mm Front and -25mm rear. I raised the height back to standard. Actually front slightly lower.
I dont really want to lower my car much... only wanted more firm ride. The Stock altezza shocks
are too soft for any spirited driving.....:bawling:
Initially I was worried coilovers are rock hard. But was surprised the ride is quite comfortable. As you can see from the spring rate it is not very hard so Tein Super street is very good for beginner like me. :rofl::rofl:

Love the Teins ......
my super street is about lowered:

front : -20mm(about 2 fingers between tire wall to arches) from oem shocks/springs
rear : -20mm

yes the original settings for tein super street is much lower than -20mm which i had. is about 30-36mm.

however i also plan to readjust rear to be slightly higher due to constant bumps hitting my undercarriage while ferrying passengers behind. perhaps 10mm like adian suggested

I have seen the recommended settings from the tein website. just follow it for sxe10 and u wont go wrong
bro please pm me the recomended settings or the website also... thanks
 

AE111_SEG

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May 18, 2005
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Bro,
My setting is 4 click out of 16 which is more to softer side. Very nice setting for KL roads.
Tein SS is very good for first timers or beginners in suspension upgrade. :proud:
 
Last edited:

green

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for all teins

click to the right = harder
click to the left = softer

normally we click all the way to the right then click backwards to the left for your own personal settings

mine is 7 frt and 8 rear which is fine for me. 7 is 1 notch harder in frt than my rear.

as for the settings. go to this website

HOME >> PRICE LIST >> Browse by products >> SUPER STREET DAMPER >> TOYOTA >> PRODUCTS

look for sxe10

but remember these are just a guideline. The stock Tein SS settings of -30mm frt n -25mm is too low for me due to our malaysian high bumps, so i jacked them up to -20mm.

Again, due to my toms underbrace bar which is quite low, it will also hit those pesky bumps if I ferry passengers. talk about my dilemma....

now I just jacked up my rear by 5mm and should be fine now. handling wise it shouldnt have mattered much tho i still need to try it out on the roads.
 

wfhan

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Jan 9, 2004
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Bro,
My setting is 4 click out of 16 which is more to softer side. Very nice setting for KL roads.
Tein SS is very good for first timers or beginners in suspension upgrade. :proud:
so.... meaning that after u be expert or veteran, u'll be going for hardcore suspension !?!
hehee..... :rofl:
 

adian

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Yes the Teins surprised me in their comfort levels! Most coilover type suspension are always over damped!!

Back in my R3 days, I actually met wth Toshio Fujimoto, the MD of Tein at the Tokyo Auto Salon. We got as far as signing an MOU to test out a few Tein sets and have a joint collaboration, and he made a few trips down to see us. Unfortunately, the supply costs were too high to make commercial sense for a Proton enthusiast, so it didn't work out. But the Tein's build quality was very good and durability was close to OEM levels!

The problem is when the coilover suspension tuners dial-in too much rebound. Having rebound damping which is a bit harder on the low-speed damping improves driver confidence, as he 'feels' that the car is 'hugging the ground' as the unsprung weight (the wheel) pulls the car down over undulations. And they also stiffen the low-speed bump settings so that the car doesn't seem to 'fall into corners' when you turn-in.

Too much tho, and the ride becomes a joke (dont have to look far: Honda FD2 Type-R is a perfect example!!). Another example are almost all the locally made and tuned coilovers (Hotbits, Top Perfect, etc).

In the case of luxury cars like Lexus, they maintain the slightly stiff bump damping, but go softer on rebound so the car feels like it's 'gliding' over undulations. Which to some drivers also feels like it's 'wallowy'.

In general, you want to use as soft a spring as possible in order to maximise traction. You want the tyres to flow with the road, to always stick to the tarmac, not bump or skip over the imperfections. This goes too for all forms of competitive driving, be it circuit racing, rallying, or drifting. Unfortunately it has become a trend that the understanding for street racers is "harder is better". Which is the opposite of what you want.

Having said that, for road use and our cars which weigh anywhere between 1350kg to 1500kg (1JZ-GTE conversions wil probably end up weighing that much!) you'd want to run the 8kg/6kg combo that Tein does. With the 1JZ installed, probably 9kg to keep the front hooked up. And dial in some extra compression damping to suit.

Anyone know what the standard spring rate is for the Altezza?



Yap,
No EDFC. The spring rate is Front=8kg/mm, Rear 6kg/mm. Yes standard it came lowered -30mm Front and -25mm rear. I raised the height back to standard. Actually front slightly lower.
I dont really want to lower my car much... only wanted more firm ride. The Stock altezza shocks
are too soft for any spirited driving.....:bawling:
Initially I was worried coilovers are rock hard. But was surprised the ride is quite comfortable. As you can see from the spring rate it is not very hard so Tein Super street is very good for beginner like me. :rofl::rofl:

Love the Teins ......
 

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