Coilover height adjustment - impact to weight distribution

[Master Apex]

I have KW V3 on my AP2 and been happy with it.

Having done several track events, I want to take advantage of the adjustability (bump, rebound and height) to tweak the car response during apex to exit.

During the process, I also notice that eventhough the rear perch settings (distance from the bottom of the spring to the bolt) are equal, one side of the car (the rear passenger) is sitting lower than the other side (driver side) measured from the ground to the fender lip or the gap between the fender on the tire.

It is a simple process of raising the perch on one side so the result is increased gap or increased height on that side. So, now I have equal height on both sides but the perch settings are actually different (one side has longer distance from the bottom of spring to the bolt). This is the opposite of the original where I had equal perch settings but unequal ride height.

This got me thinking about weight distribution and corner weighting.
I am assuming that the reason for the original height difference is due to the uneven weight between left/right (driver/passenger) sides.
If I increase the perch on the passenger side to increase the height, does the weight sitting on the passenger side increase or decrease?

Thanks.

[repiv]

Lifting or lowering by a finger width on any corner shouldn't affect the weight on that corner. It's not like you're jacking it up several inches.
Are you sure you want to make the ride height "even" from left to right. The S2000 was designed to have uneven ride height because the car is generally tracked with only the driver. People have always noted that even a bone stock S2000 sits just a tiny bit higher on the left side than the right on left hand drive cars.

[mlc]

This got me curious. I just went out and measured my car. Bone stock MY00. The drivers side is 3/8" higher then the passenger side in the rear. It is only 1/8" difference in the front.

Kevin

[Master Apex]

Thanks for the feedback.
Yes, I am only talking about ~ 1/4 inch difference.

If it has negligible effect on weight distribution then I should do the adjustment since it will look better (more symmetry) IMHO.

Do you think it will affect the coilover travel distance? Spring rate is the same but the perch is higher ....

[repiv]

If it has negligible effect on weight distribution then I should do the adjustment since it will look better (more symmetry) IMHO.

But that's not the way Honda designed the car. The handling of the S is based on this height differential, but if symmetry is more important to you, then nothing else really means anything.

[rodney]

Lifting or lowering by a finger width on any corner shouldn't affect the weight on that corner. It's not like you're jacking it up several inches.

you are so wrong, i can't even begin to tell you how off base you are. ANY ride height change, whether it be 1mm or less will affect cornerweights.

[repiv]

you are so wrong, i can't even begin to tell you how off base you are. ANY ride height change, whether it be 1mm or less will affect cornerweights.


I shall withdraw my post as it was reactionary and unfriendly, perhaps somewhat confrontational. I've thought better of it. I shall only say that, rather than just coming on here to tell me how wrong I was, how about you try to help "asin" with some information that would be educational and useful. Why not provide him with data to advise him of what he should and shouldn't do and why. That's all we try to do here ......... help one another. Unless, of course, you just get off in coming here only to sell stuff and tell people when they are wrong without saying why.

[repiv]

Lifting or lowering by a finger width on any corner shouldn't affect the weight on that corner. It's not like you're jacking it up several inches.
Are you sure you want to make the ride height "even" from left to right. The S2000 was designed to have uneven ride height because the car is generally tracked with only the driver. People have always noted that even a bone stock S2000 sits just a tiny bit higher on the left side than the right on left hand drive cars.

I still stand by this statement. I still wouldn't recommend making the car "even". That's not the way Honda designed it to be. It may not significantly affect "weight distribution", but it will affect the way the weight transfers in turns.

[rodney]

in a nutshell, you should not adjust coilovers "blindly". when you do not use scales, it is a crapshoot.

think of cornerweighting like a chair. if one leg of the chair is slightly longer, there will be more pressure on that leg when you sit on it. on the flip side, the shorter legs will have less weight. when you cornerweight you adjust the "legs" so you get a 50/50 weight distribution (RF + LR = LF + RR) with driver. this will allow equal cornering in both directions.

cars are more complicated then chairs, but essentially a proper cornerweighted off the shelf production car will not have even ride heights. there is many a procedure in setting cars up, and i have my own that i developed racing over the past 10 years. just google "cornerweighting" and you will find a lot of results. i suxz0r at typing....

[repiv]

Thank you. As a "layman", I found this particularly helpful:

http://www.moose-motorsport.co.uk/suspension_tuning.html
http://robrobinette.com/corner_weight.htm
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/understanding-corner-weights/