Came across this pretty in depth guide. Covers most common questions and concepts. https://suspensionsecrets.co.uk/sim-racing-suspension-set-up-guide/
Yes but there is the common mistake (in my opinion): If you decide to run a stiffer spring/wheel rate then the damping will need to be stiffened slightly to compensate too. Let me try to explain this a little: spring rate determines the velocity of the suspension movement. So a stiffer spring means less movement therefore also less suspension movement speed. Dampers damp the speed of the suspension movement. So if you have less movement and less speed, you don´t need so much damping. So stiffer spring rate, you need a softer damper. Please @Alex Hodgkinson correct me if I´m wrong.
Exactly, If spring frequency is increased, the damping ratio will increase therefore, less damping is required to achieve the same ratio.
This is a difficult topic, but I think this is a bit more complicated. Bare with me as I'm not a native English speaker, so some of the technical terms are a bit difficult for me. I personally find the relationship between the spring and its damper to be a quite complicated thing. And the optimal setting depends on a lot of factors. Every spring has its own oscillation frequency and every surface has a different kind of bumpiness and the damper has to be exactly in the right window to reduce oscillation as much as possible while still letting the spring move fast enough to be able to compensate for the bumps. The dampers are mostly there to reduce the oscillation of the suspension in general. Loaded springs tend to oscillate and you don't want this for an optimal ground contact. Stiffening a spring does not dampen it but only harden it. Since it will move less due to being harder and thus being compressed less by a bump, it will move slower, but it is still not more dampened this way. It will still oscillate and do this more violently due to being harder. Maybe oscillation will be shorter, but frequency of oscillation will be higher. So if you losen the damper with harder springs you might end up with a very nervously oscillating spring. I'm also not 100% sure which way is the right one, I just think that the authors of this article didn't pull this advice out of hot air. I'd also be interested in Alex' knowledge about this topic.
Thank you to share ravey1981 For all off us "not set up magician" its great . Coming back to RRE after a too long absence ,try to catch up again.
Not sur you thinking it in a right way. In my mind Spring rate doesn't determine the velocity, but the force [applied to the wheel attached to the suspension] needed for the suspension to move. Under the minimal force the suspension doesn't move (it's goes directly to the chassis), over this value the suspension will move and then absorb the choc. That doesn't mean at all it will move slower or faster.
Swapping springs changes how much the suspension can move. Adjusting damper settings changes how fast the suspension is allowed to move. As already stated here, the purpose of the damper is to control the spring's oscillations. Oscillations are due to how much energy the spring absorbs and releases. A stiffer spring can absorb and release more energy than a softer one, thus the damping rate needs to be increased accordingly.
Is it possible to display the damping ratios in the setup screen or via telemetry export? I'm new to this sim, but not the hobby and am trying to calculate criticals and can't find a way to get these data.