Got it out up here in the frozen north finally and can begin to put down some of my opinion on the DiabloSport branded Shock Controller.
Objective real data is coming once we can get to the tracks. This is my first subjective impression of the device just during street driving. I drove around today, it was 55-60 degrees, not much wind. A great first day of the season, 100% sunshine, and just cool enough to help the supercharger sound great. The car was a pleasure to drive.
This is a stock power Widebody Redeye. The suspension is modified, cradle bushings, all control arms and their bushings. I have OE springs on the rear and KW adjustable on the front set to OE height. Today it had 12” wide rear wheels and 345/30 PS4S BACK FOR THEIR THIRD SEASON AFTER NEARLY 9000 MILES and 11” wide front wheels and new heat cycled 325/30 Cup 2’s. I always said these mods actually make it ride better. Okay, so far so good, now add a different shock controller.
All roads I was on today, I am very familiar with. The controller does a noticeable job. The first thing to notice is two fold. When braking, that front end is more firm. When driving along, the ride is more smooth, without the quicker rebound formerly built into the shocks. The different suspension modes only make slight perceptual changes now while driving down the road. They have different characteristics when you challenge it.
When driving on a very rough road it does make the ride less harsh. We went out on a fairly rough road and tried things at high speeds. While the road was rough and usually would cause some stability concerns, today there were less violent movements transmitted to the body of the car, less dynamics were being transmitted to my steering/hands. It all contributed to having more confidence and maintaining more control of the vehicle. It was more “easy” to drive.
It does good stuff for acceleration. Attempts from a stop today were tough given the bit of dust remaining and the cool surfaces, so the best time to 60 was recorded at 3.7 seconds. That run included a slight spin, so then off the throttle and then slow application of power, but I was able to get things going in second. I may have blacked out for a moment, but someone who was also a 250 lb weight in the car with my 200 lbs may have said something about 11.4/130 or something. I don’t know what he was talking about.
In several pulls at speeds, it does bite down well, I can feel the controller is working that front/rear bias different. It did one thing later in the afternoon that made me believe it was really biting down. Coming away from a stop, I did get WOT in 1st. She made the hiccup! You get that 1-2 hiccup and the drag people tell me it has to be getting good traction. In every pull and some were on purpose high speed to confirm it is ready for my road course fun, it ALWAYS got traction at any speed over 10-15 mph, and it always pulled straight ahead, it never felt unstable. With that, I am confident it can launch out of corners as expected.
In the corners it also felt different. It turns in more easy, it sustains rounding the corner more easy and I can tell it will promote rotation and allow me the confidence to get on the throttle quicker. The controller feels like it is countering some body lean. The vehicle can be driven very, very smooth through corners. Good before, like a dream now. I had a passenger nearly screaming because they looked at the speedo in a corner. I assured him we were well below the vehicle’s capability.
That is enough, it is an absolute pleasure to drive, it is very stable at speeds on even nasty surfaces, it is safer, it is more fun, it does corner better in many ways.
I can tell just after burning a half tank of gas today it will benefit me on the track. We have several track sessions scheduled in May to get good data from including two days at Road America and now BIR in June to get a lap time comparison on my home track. I will also be able to try it with a square OE wheels and 305/35 setup (early Toyo R888R then switch to PZero PZ4) at RA compared to a 12” wide square wheel set-up with tires the same staggered size as today all Cup 2’s.