neilg Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Hi guys, now my Blackbird, fab though it is is just too stiffly suspended for road use. My poor old back doesn't like it. I suspect it has the race spec Bilsteins on which coupled with it's light weight makes it a bit of a rodeo ride on a bumby b road. It's great on track but i use it on road as well. It has green springs on the back. You can tell how stiff it is by the fact that the front wings hardly move at all on a b road. My old roadsport was far comfier on the road and the front wings bounced up and down like a good un. So then looking at options. It an ideal world i'd have a set of Nitrons but at £1200-00 a bit pricey for me. Does anyone have any experience of the Avo shocks that Freestyle sell. I obviously want to be able to adjust for road and then stiffen for track. What suspension do you Blackbird boys have ? Cheers in advance Neil ( with a sore back) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7 wonders of the world Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 If your running adjustable dampers why not simply look at the springs rates your running and switch those on the same bodies ? Faulkner springs are circa £25 a corner I'm sure one fo the other BEC guys will be along to suggest a good starting point for spring rates. Too young to be old ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgrigsby Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Might be worth dropping Dave Turner an email (posts as StressedDave) as following lots of messing around with Avo's, Protech etc he's got fed up and just started production of his own design of damper for the company he works for I know he's done a set for one of the se7ens list guys so I'm sure he can help. Definetly worth talking to him if you've thinking about AVO's. Drop me a mail offline if you want contact details. Cheers Rob G www.SpeedySeven.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Molloy Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 My car has Bilstein M1 dampers (which feel very, errm, "well damped"...) and originally had the green springs (250lb front, 215lb rear). Rock hard, good for the nice smooth track, but difficult to hang on when navigating a bumpy B road. I can't afford the oh-so-very-shiny-my-precious Nitrons, but I do fancy something with adjustable damping... Springs are currently 150lb front (std Caterham issue which I had on the shelf, but would have preferred to try 175lb)) and IIRC 120lb linear rear. Red (widetrack) bar on the front, Freestyle adjustable rear. Can't comment about the performance as I haven't had it on the road yet! Anybody care to post their experiences of Protech? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilg Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 How do you know what spring rates you've got? Mine has black springs on the front and green springs on the back. It has an orange front ARB. Mine is rock hard like Mikes, far too hard for the road in fact. Has me bouncing around in the seat and the car becomes air-bourne over the slightest crest. All great fun but combined with some toe out and negative camber it all adds up to a right twitchy handful. When i've got a moment i'll give Gary at Freestyle a ring and see what he suggests. Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Area Representative Richard Price Posted September 3, 2009 Area Representative Share Posted September 3, 2009 Neil, "How do you know what spring rates you've got? Measure them, then use this spring rate calculator here Edited by - Richard Price on 3 Sep 2009 21:38:03 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilg Posted September 3, 2009 Author Share Posted September 3, 2009 Richard, cool !! I'll be out with micrometers and rulers soon as. If it doesn't come out with 1500 lbs then i'm a dutchmen 😬 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grubbster Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 The standard fit CC springs have part numbers on and you can get the rates for these from their online shop. Mostly they seem to be 150 fronts and 120 progressives on the rear. Some manufacturers print on the rates, Faulkners are engraved into the end of the spring (which means you have to remove them to see what they are). I've heard mixed reviews on the Avos, but haven't got any personal experience with them. The principle of being able to simply adjust from road to track use sounds good though if they are reliable. I too have been fiddling around with suspension this year with varying degrees of success (on a K series car not BEC). I now have swidetrack, M1 dampers, 225 springs front and 130 rear. ARBs are Freestyle adjustables both ends set of softest settings. I haven't been very scientific about the assessment but I do like how it feels now - perhaps a little bit stiff on the front over bumpy roads but on track the balance is brilliant. I have also only done a rough ride height and rake setting so I expect things to improve a bit when I get it set up properly. Springs are cheap enough to change and do come up second hand from time to time. Edited by - Grubbster on 3 Sep 2009 23:05:48 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willie. Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 Be careful using the damper control to change the characteristics of the car from "road" to "track". Really damping should be dependant on the spring rate, otherwise you may get some nasty behavior if over/underdamped. Willie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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