Jason Plato Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 Damper time again , anyone any experience of any significant differences between these 2 options ??? Cheers dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 same shocks difirent springs acording to tim ward of caterham fredid=blue> eek.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Plato Posted July 19, 2002 Author Share Posted July 19, 2002 But there are 2 different dampers listed on the parts list , std and race . Both the same price . I assumed that the race spec would have different valving ??? Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miraz Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 The dampers do have different rates - they can be identified by looking at the code number on the damper. Road dampers are stamped 'M0', race dampers are stamped 'M1' - I'm trying a set of the M1 dampers at the momentout of curiosity, although I haven't yet had a chance to use them in anger. Miraz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Plato Posted July 19, 2002 Author Share Posted July 19, 2002 Yeah thought so Miraz , Whats your initial thoughts though ?? - bit too hard for the gentle road use ??? or not a lot in it ?? . Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miraz Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 I've done about 100 road miles with the car full of spare parts, whilst dealing with a brake problem - I really haven't reached any conclusion yet. I'm hoping to stick a few more miles on the car soon - trip to Scotland next weekend, then Finland the weekend after so I should get a better impression soon. Miraz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashaughnessy Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 So Bilsteins don't have adjustable valving then? What's the philosophy behind this? My Spax dampers have adjustable valving which means I can make them comfortable for the road but stiffen them up for the track. Isn't it a bit limiting to have dampers that can't be adjusted? Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Plato Posted July 19, 2002 Author Share Posted July 19, 2002 Adjustable dampers ?? - my theory is that unless you have a very sensitive arse and the knowledge to fully understand the adjustments and their implications , then adjustable dampers may not perform as well as dampers specifically valved for the race cars which run fairly similar springs , arbs and weight as myself . Plus if I had adjustable dampers I would spend half my life in the quest to find the optimum set up for each venue . No knobs = no twiddling 😬 Plus the choices appear to be steel bodied Ledas or such similar @ £650 inc and they are heavy , Nitron @ £850 inc - very nice but twice as good ???? or megga expensive others ...... Where as the Race dampers are £400 inc and "should " be valved correctly needing no twiddling ???? and I can spend the other £450 on more goodies Just my thoughts - I would welcome other comments ............... Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 thanks for that info on damper code i asked for race dampers and paid £100. upgrad on new kit but when i asked tim at caterham he told me they where the same i will make sure they have m1 on them sorry for wrong info dave this has helped me to on my order it dose state race springs and dampers so i will make sure i get them. fredid=blue> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 dave is the parts list on line fredid=blue> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Carmichael Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 I have had my standard Bilsteins on a dyno in the last week and I have seen what race dampers do as well. The philosophy behind non-adjustability is more to do with consistency than anything else. Bilstein's low gas pressure design is very consistent and of high enough quality to last for years without degradation of damping function. The same is not true of Spax and the like. When you adjust the damping, are you adjusting the low speed or high speed? the bump or the rebound? Are you adjusting it because track use makes more use of the slow speed range and if you set the appropriate low speed range the high speed would be horrible on the road where all the bumps would be pummeling you. Caterham had Bilstein valve the dampers to their spec, which stands more chance of being right (if only Caterham know what they are up to) than a damper that tries to be all things to all men with the aid of a little screwdriver twiddling. Expensive race dampers are individually four-way adjustable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Plato Posted July 19, 2002 Author Share Posted July 19, 2002 Fred - the parts list is NOT online AFAIK . Peter - I agree . All the adjustments are only any good if you begin in the middle of the desired range for the specific application and you then know what you are adjusting and what the results are . 4 way adjustable would probably need a very experience engineer , lots of track time - at each venue and a deep pocket . I'm gonna go for the race dampers so that they match and work in tune with the rest of my set up , where as the original dampers are realy only ideal for the std spring settings . Anyone wanna buy a set of std billies off me ????? Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashaughnessy Posted July 19, 2002 Share Posted July 19, 2002 My Spax dampers have only a single adjuster. I don't know whether it adjusts low or high speed, bump or rebound. I arrived at my standard settings on a test day at Oulton Park. An experienced Superlight R race driver helped me out with some advice on different settings and he timed my laps for me, which was very good of him as I was on my own and didn't know what I was doing. With modifications only to the tyre pressures and the damper settings, we made a huge improvement to my lap times and the car's handling was transformed from being quite difficult to being very stable and predictable. I haven't done any other test days since, so I stick with these settings on the race track. On the road, I wind them down to their softest setting and its more comfortable over bumps. I don't drive very fast on the road so I'm not worried about what the dampers are doing for my handling/grip. If I were to splash out on a new set of dampers I would put some more thought into what would be suitable. The Spax dampers (and the springs) were supplied second hand by someone who was preparing the car for me when I first started racing. They were an economy option to replace ten year old springs and dampers of indeterminate type. Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Bees Posted July 21, 2002 Share Posted July 21, 2002 Dave - you can get the std. Billies revalved to the race spec. Talk to Caterham. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Plato Posted July 22, 2002 Author Share Posted July 22, 2002 Hi Mike - long time no talk ?? I've bitten the bullet and bought some new ones ............ I wont be getting any dinner tonite - parcel arriving this morning Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Walker Posted July 22, 2002 Share Posted July 22, 2002 Mike I had my rear dampers overhauled/revalved by Prodrive in Banbury. One of the dampers felt softer than the other on rebound. The cost of this work was almost as much as a new pair of dampers and they still felt unmatched after the work had been completed, I would not go down this route again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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