Originally Posted by
wingracer
I was not comparing, merely mentioning it. There is plenty of data out there supporting the statement that rear NF slightly higher than front NF yields a smoother ride (except when heavy damping, say 70% of critical or more is used, then higher front NF is usually better). Are there other reasons to do it or other reasons to not do it? Sure but that doesn't change the theory or the data.
There is also lots of info out there that is completely backwards from reality so be careful with what you are looking at. Skepticism is often the very first reaction many people have to a technique they've never seen before. Especially with all the wrong information passed as fact on the internet, even on reputable sites. I encourage thinking for yourself and coming to your own conclusions.
A person I learned a lot off of is a gentleman named Paul Yaw. We are both rotary engine people. When I first talked to him about 15 years ago, he got me thinking very differently. He has nothing to do with rc as far as I know. He makes what are probably the best fuel injectors in the world and has always taught that testing, not opinions or what others think, is what matters. I've also learned that lots of people who are supposed to be experts are really just passing on opinion to others with nothing to back it up and are wrong a surprising amount of time.
Fortunately with rc cars, you can try things out for yourself very easily so try it and draw your own conclusions. The good news is that if you disagree you can always go back to doing things your way. A gentleman Paul knows named Jim Susko is probably one of the smartest people when it comes to suspension tuning and geometry design and he's the one I've learned track car tuning from. Here's a quote from one of Paul's writings examining a Mazda Miata suspension spring rate compared to some Bilstein shocks for the same car.
"I have no real insight into their design approach, but it's hard to believe that both Mazda and Bilstein put serious effort into this and came up with the same ridiculous results."
"Fact is, almost all cars are built to a price point, and compromises have to be made. In my opinion Mazda made the right compromises and came up with a very cool car. And if the car was perfect none of us would have anything to play with right?"
If you'd like to read the full article complete with some test charts showing some neat spring rate information, check out his website at
www.yawpower.com. Scroll down and read the post from October 20, 2010. It is actually quite applicable to this thread.