So there is no way to change that huh.....

I mean i have never had to turn the steering wheel this much to avoid a simple road bump :D

at least not since the days of my Mitsubish Lancer MX

 

so, total noob question here, but what exactly to the shocks do?? dpe wrote me this awesome explanation and i think i deleted the email!! they control the movement of the springs, right?? how does that translate into what i feel while i'm driving/cornering? will it feel smoother, stiffer, quieter ... all of the above hopefully. it's a daily driver, and i don't want bumps to get any louder, but i definitely err on the side of stiff and sporty (have tein s drop and rb sways right now).

about a year ago i put tein s on with stock shocks. great drop, great stiffness. i think i'll need shocks soon, but i want to see what i should expect. oh, it seems that speed bumps, etc., have gotten louder recently - maybe not, but it seems so - is that a symptom of worn shocks? they definitely got louder/more abrupt right after i lowered it, but it seems worse now...

 

Check your alignment. The RX8 should be anything but unresponsive.

 

He's talking about steering angle needed for turn, not turn-in characteristics. He wants to physically steer less and considering the RX-8 rack isn't that fast I'm pretty sure it's the rack.

 

The better word is the one the Europeans use - dampers. They dampen the spring activity.

You know you've got a bad shock/strut when it: leaks or when you push on the corner of your car and it keeps bouncing (because it isn't dampening the spring activity).

 

thanks savedsol. makes more sense now.

it def doesn't keep bouncing when i push down on a corner. it just seems a little rougher and a little louder inside the cabin going over bumps.

 

Dampers or shocks naturally deteriorate over time. If the car is bouncing up and down after pushing, then they're so far gone it's not even funny. If you suspect they've degraded, the best thing to do would probably be to take a testdrive in a new one and compare it to your car. As dampers degrade the ride becomes rougher, handling suffers, and the car feels more nervous. However, it's a very gradual process so oftentimes people won't notice until after they've gotten new dampers and realized the difference to the old ones.

 

Exactly what you said,

So no one has felt like the rack wasn't as responsive ?? I want the quick jerk turns again but i dont want my evo back tho

(Cake & Eat it basically)

 

I still contend that alignment affects sensitivity as well.

Do you know if your alignment is correct? If not that's a cheap way to see if it improves the responsiveness of the car.

 

Stock 'Sport' Suspension RX-8: 156/113 (F/R)
Mazdaspeed: 280/190 - Drop = 0.8"/0.8" ***** Not Confirmed - Actual rates have tested much lower
Tein S-Tech: 207/145 - Drop = 1.4"/0.7"
Tein H-Tech: 179/129 - Drop = 1.0"/0.3"
Tanabe GF: 179/146 - Drop = 1.4"/1.2"
Tanabe NF: 162/112 - Drop = 1.4"/1.2"
Racing Beat: 187/136 - Drop = 0.5"/0.5" ***** Not Confirmed
Eibach: 180/130 (progressive) - Drop = 1.2"/0.8" ***** Not Confirmed
H&R: 195/141 (progressive) - Drop = 1.0"/1.0" *****Not Confirmed

beers

 

Yeah my alignment is correct and I do strongly believe it is what was mentioned earlier that the ratio is higher so it requires more input on my part, counter-clockwise or clockwise to effect steering movement.

In the Evo, I had very little lock and I noticed from day 1 that with the RX8 I had significant lock and could make turns for the last few years I had never attempted on my Evo.

This is very worrying information for me as the precise jerk movements that I use to avoid road imperfections was one of the main things I loved about the Evo, I wish there were a way to lose the amount of lock on my RX8 to get that quick evasion steering-rack feel back.

 

even with you so used to the steering of the evo, i don't have to turn my wheel very much at all to avoid pot holes, especially going 60+. seems like something you could get over and get used to pretty quickly if you wanted to. i think the steering is very nice, especially with how it is speed sensitive. granted, i was a civic owner before the 8...so what do i know

 

Have you upgraded your sway bars?

I see on RB's website that it increases sensitivity to steering inputs, maybe that's the change I am looking for... not to say I'd be going with RB, as I see almost everywhere that the PT bars > *

 

yes, lowered with tein s springs, stock shocks, and rb sways.

i felt like it was just fine before the sways, but they def helped. i can really feel how level the car stays in turns. the sways just made it feel like the rear wheels just really stick and dig in.

not sure how much this all has to do with steering wheel travel though .... u might just have to get used to that

my gf has a base accord, and i had a civic before my 8 like i said, so the steering on the 8 is great coming from those. i can see that it might be different coming from your old car, but i think if you do a few things to help with overall handling and body roll, you'll really come to appreciate the 8's superior handling and maybe be able to get passed the steering rack...

 

heard you loud & clear...

any reason you went with the springs alone rather than the coilovers...

and the RB sways instead of the PT which I keep hearing are vastly superior?

 

This thread is beyond jacked...

 

yeah, the tein s was just a cheap way to get what i wanted. didn't have money for coilovers, springs were under $150 i think, plus the install - i mostly wanted the visual effect of lowering it, and the handling was a great bonus. i don't track or anything, so i didn't see the need for the extra money.

i haven't heard the pt's are vastly superior. maybe they are, i don't know. did quite a bit of research before i bought ... a lot of people have rb sways and love them. not doubting people like the pt's too, but as far as i know from my experience and people that i read about with rb, they're pretty damn good.

 

yup, way jacked. i think the op got his question answered (?) and we just went off on a tangent!

 

Those are for the springs, I'm looking for the specs on the MS shocks.

 

sorry,

was scanning.

beers

 

Renesis SE3P - Can i ask why you want to know exact numbers?

i'm not sure what the value of knowing the numbers would be...

sounds like what you want is to see a shock dyno. the shock dynos show damping force vs. piston speed. the information in ULLOSE's quote gives a decent summary (in words) of the dyno results. this information is, like you said, in reference to the stock shocks (not "real" numbers).

maybe a decent way to approach this (in the absence of MS shocks) is to get a set of stock shocks and have them dyno tested. then you can adjust the values according to Jason's summary. eibach has shock dynos and they are relatively local for us. maybe if we asked really nicely they'd do it.

 

PM speedemon2 or kwelscott

 

I'm really curious and I've been wanting to know the exact difference in all of them for a while now. This will help me determine which shocks to buy next.

 

Will do.

 

What's the real spring rate on the MS springs? I bought a set of the MS shocks but can't decide if I should also get the MS springs. I want a small improvement but dont want a super stiff ride. I only track my car 3-4 times a year. Thoughts??