This extract is taken from an article on suspension written by Peter Starr from Starr Technology, a Melbourne based automotive product development company. Peter is a suspension expert who manufactures and wholesales sports suspension packages for a wide range of sports and race cars. We’ve recently fitted Starr Technology suspension to one of our customer’s track cars, and he loves it! The suspension kit we fitted offers substantial set up and adjustment flexibility at a much cheaper price than the usual brands. If you fancy a suspension upgrade it’s definitely worth considering… To give you an idea of cost, the suspension kit below was $3,300 plus the cost of fitting.
All suspension kits are not created equal…
When it’s time to replace suspension components, it’s always worth looking around at the various aftermarket options. Tailor made suspension packages are available that can “improve” or “personalise” a vehicle’s handling, performance and ride quality to match an owner’s requirements.
When it comes to performance suspension, some aftermarket suspension suppliers may simply stiffen up the suspension while still using the factory travel specifications. This may seem OK at the factory ride height, but many owners may lower their ride height to improve the centre of gravity and look. Unfortunately, this will reduce the suspension travel, often ending up with the suspension almost sitting on its bump stops. People often confuse this with stiffness stating that their car handles like it’s “on rails” when in truth it’s actually out of travel. Oh and by the way, both ADR and insurance requirements state that the vehicle must retain at least 2/3rds of its original suspension travel. Which is pretty hard to achieve if it only had 40mm to begin with and you lowered your car 30mm!!!
In order to achieve the best combination of ride and control without the harshness of some other suspension packages, Starr Technology engineer bespoke suspension packages. These tailored made suspension designs take into account your vehicle’s weight, purpose of use, working range, load rates, shock design, suspension travel, spring rates, gas pressure, etc.
Starr packages are designed using the highest quality parts, tolerances, finish and are a mono tube high pressure gas shock incorporating a 24-point adjustment from full hard to soft valving, cold wound oil tempered coils. To set up your Porsche simply use the locking spring seats to pre load the coils while desired ride height adjustment is achieved by simply winding up or down the lower foot mount on the shock’s all threaded tube. This has the added advantage of retaining the same (maximum) suspension travel at any ride height. So what does this all mean? In layman’s terms it simply means that our suspension packages are specifically designed with the correct spring rate for the weight and purpose of the vehicle, the shock absorber is valved accordingly to control both bump and re-bound movement and utilize all the available travel up in the wheel well to soak up the big impacts, whether they be pot holes in a corner on a back road or ripple strips on the race track. This not only ensured maximum grip but gives the driver the confidence to drive or push the car harder without the uncontrollable harsh bouncing or skipping. The result… a faster smoother more controlled car that will be a pleasure to drive!