1. Trout2 - 8/6 springs (w/rubber lower mounts)
2. CREEPENJEEPEN - 10/8 springs (w/rubber lower mounts)
3.$lacker - 14/13 springs (w/rubber lower mounts?)
4. Lavitzlegend - 14/14 springs (w/ spherical lower mounts)
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I would also appreciate a pricing quote by PM or posted in the thread if possible.

 

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I have some questions about this. Why are helper springs needed when going over 13kg? Are the stiffer rate springs too short or something?

What is the advantage to a longer shock body?? Typically coilovers on the FD need a shorter shock body so that they dont bottom out the bump stops so quickly when not running crazy amount of preload. I need more shock travel, and it sounds like the long shock body is going the wrong direction?

 

The shock body is longer inside the diameter of the coil spring. This allows for a longer piston stroke, greater oil capacity, and extended spring-seat threading on the body. The increased stroke is largely what necessitates helper springs to keep the main spring seated during full extension.

 

Yes, the helper springs on the higher spring rates are just "needed" so the short high rate springs dont become unseated from the perches when jacking up the car.

The advantage of the longer shock body is more droop travel. The disadvantage of the longer shock body is more droop travel.
Its all in what you want.
Ohlins wanted relatively high spring rates (11k) and short travel to eliminate body roll and especially rear lift on braking and speed the weight transfer and thus driver input through the chassis into the contact patch.

Mazda stock FD suspension wanted lower spring rates (3k front and 2.something k rear) and longer travel for slower weight transfer and letting your average driver feel the weight transfer happen through the chassis via body roll and dive and react to that in time to stay out of trouble.

The Sakebomb long travel with lower rate springs should provide a great balance between stock and Ohlins standard.

If you use the same 11k spring rate and zero rate tender springs I dont see that the long travel shocks would really have any advantage or disadvantage over the standard short length Ohlins.
However, the articulated top spring seats and pillow ball lower mounts do still have a clear advantage in eliminating binding and coil side load over the standard Ohlins design and the extra fluid in the longer shock bodies does provide some temperature/viscocity breakdown advantage.
Though having the piston in the middle of the shock body at rest such as in the standard Ohlins short stroke is most advantageous for minimizing the shock volume change from shaft diaplacement.

Well, that is my opinion.

 

So what you are saying is that the long strokes are more predictable for noobs like myself in terms of weight transfer and?
Mine see only street driving, and im thinking that the long strokes may support this better? Also the ability to "slam" it as the kids say nowdays for shows and such?

 

It ought to let you un-slam it. Most people don't have any trouble getting low, but more trouble getting high.

 

Yeah, longer travel and lower spring rate is going to be more predictable for anyone, noob to elite and should suit street driving even more than the standard Ohlins.

No idea if the SB long travel can go low enough to please all- Ive seen some ridiculously low and sexy looking FDs before.

 

On paper, a longer shock body means less stroke for lowered cars.

I dont have the OG Ohlins, so I can't say where the piston is located in the shock body at ride height.

I was thinking the same thing on the helper springs, but here is Sakebomb's response when I asked them (which still doesnt make sense to me):

"For anything over 13kg springs, you will want a helper. Not required but good insurance to not blow through the fender as we can't set bump stop contact point without a helper. The bump stop will be too far up to stop the car before the wheel hits the fender, so the helper spring will throw away some stroke"

 

In that email, Sakebomb is assuming you set the lower spring perch to standard couple mm preload against the spring and then set the vehicle height with the lower shock mount threads. Doing this you will not engage the bumpstop if the car is lowered beyond provided spec or the spring rate is too high and or too long.

The correct way to set the suspension with a higher rate spring would be to have the lower shock mount in the standard spring location (so same extended shock overall length as provided spec) and then set the ride height by lowering the lower spring mount. This will leave you engaging the bumpstop still at the end of shock travel.

Yes, when you jack up the car the spring will then be loose- thus why you would want zero rate springs to avoid clanks going slowly up angled drives when you 3 wheel or at tech when lowered off the jack.

 

That's in zero ways true. Can you explain what you mean. There's a fixed amount of stroke available before you hit the tire into the fender. Stroke / droop can be set up with helper springs and preload (helpers are essentially negative preload)

Depends on the spring rates and preload. For 11/11kg (standard Ohlins) the shock length is correct. Shock length vs spring rate is a U shape if you plot it... soft springs need a long stroke shock, medium springs (narrow range / window... in this case 11/11) can use a shorter length shock, and then high rate main springs (for race use... 13kg and up) require helper springs to achieve droop travel - again requiring a longer shock. So for a certain narrow spring rate range you can get away with a shorter shock/stroke length... softer or stiffer you need a long stroke shock. Long Stroke shocks have no negative impact at 11/11kg though, and just buy you more droop travel, but compression travel is sufficient. But the spring rate range is narrow... 10kg (with additional preload) to 12kg max.

Well it's not throwing away stroke, but taking stroke from Compression that you can't use, and giving that stroke to droop travel (which is very important for suspension performance).

 

10/8kg if you're looking for a grand touing, or a bit stiffer ride with a litle more track performance at 12/10kg. On my personal daily I run 10/8kg on the street and it's actually VERY comfy and quite nice for occasional track use.

 

What im meaning is... if you take a shock (for example my Tein flex shock). I have about 1" of shock travel before I hit the bump stop. By making the shock body 1/2" longer, I now only have 1/2" of shock travel left before I hit the bump stop. The only fix would be to raise the car up, since I'm only using the last bit of shock travel. Making the shock longer doesnt help there. Do you see what I am saying?

 

Did anyone ever install and have a review you could give? Looks nice, a lot of money. But how does it ride in terms of smoothness or firmness?