Originally Posted by
ruebiracer
This is also something I never really tested out or found anyone, who could explain to me. Interesting question also for me.
Maybe some advice by buggy drivers? It seems that newer Tamiya buggy shocks have no bladder anymore and are bleed shocks, as the ones in the 417V5. At the time of my last Buggy (Top force evo), we built them according manual. Maybe the change in the buggy thinking can give us any hints on when we want rebound or when not for onroad?
Br,
Matthias
This post in no way means I'm jumping into this discussion. It's just to, perhaps, give Matthias some insight into his question, but not to give any particular answers. Unless your experiments are conducted on a track that has a lap timer, you'll never have any data that is meaningful. For the most part, in the trials I've conducted, the changes in lap times have been very small. Occasionally there is a difference in how the car "feels" for lack of a better descriptive term. However, sometimes even though the car may "feel" faster, it may actually be slower in lap times, thus the necessity for a lap timer.
The many variables preclude giving any definitive answers. Type of track layout, track surface and temperature, driving style, motor or car speed, etc. What may be good in one situation, may not be desirable in another. I generally use a low rebound(2mm or less) shock cause it's much easier to build consistently, not necessarily cause it's the best.
There may be far more productive areas of experimentation. As many of you may know, I prefer the M03 over the M05 for reasons I won't go into now. I do, however, play with the M05 on occasion. This past Saturday, a one hole change in the front shock mounting position on the M05 netted a 0.5 sec improvement in lap times.This was with a very aggressive driver, new S-grip tires, open type track layout, low to mid grip, newly resurfaced track, in moderate temp with a track temp of 126 degrees F, stock Silvercan motor.