Compression/Bump - when the damper goes into a compressed state.
Rebound - when the damper returns from a compressed state.

The most common type of damper is the "Single Adjustable". What that means is whilst you have the ability to adjust the Bump & Rebound they are controlled in unison. Other damper packages like the 2-way and 3-way systems allow you more adjustability by separating the Bump & Rebound giving the user much more control over the way the damper operates. 



How do the adjusters work?

It's fairly simple in principle, but without going into too much detail the adjuster controls the rate at which oil inside the damper flows.. the smaller the hole the slower the damper operates, on the flip side the larger the hole the quicker the damper operates. There are hundreds of videos on youtube available to watch should you need more information. 

Each of the adjusters usually have a (+) & (-) on them but if these have worn off then it's best to establish what direction of rotation does what. It's not always the case, but a clockwise rotation of the adjuster is usually (+) and a counter clockwise rotation is usually (-). You can test this out by going from one extreme to the other and bouncing on the car to see how it responds. 


 
"From Hard" or "From Soft"?

Another term you might hear when talking about setting up dampers is "from hard" or "from soft". So what does that actually mean?, well it's reasonably simple, you have to start counting your "clicks" from somewhere, either from full hard (+) or from full soft (-). Nitron for example; recommend that their dampers should be adjusted from the hardest setting, so that would be referred to as "from hard". Gaz Shocks recommend their dampers are adjusted from the softest, so that woul be referred to as "from soft"

*It's always best to get clarification from your damper manufacturer to find out their procedure. 



What "Clicks" do we set the dampers to? 

One of the reasons why it's difficult to give an answer on this is that not all dampers are created equal, some come with the same amount of adjustability some don't. Dampers sets can differ in the amount of clicks front to rear and different manufacturers can differ that range again. As an example Nitron usually have about 22 clicks, while Gaz Shocks have a little more. Technically the higher the number the more finer the setup can be tuned, but the questions has to be asked; can there be too much adjustability? 

We all love to discuss suspension settings with our fellow enthusiasts and I find the best way to talk about damper setup is by referring to the range in a way that makes it irrelevant how many clicks you have. For instance you could say it's a 4/1 ratio, for each 4 clicks on the rear its 1 on the front, you can work this out after your initial setup. 

We are going to presume that the new dampers have been installed, the ride height and geo have been setup and the car is ready to go.. 



Initial Road Setup 

Set both front and rear dampers to 50%

Starting on the rear

We are going to try establish the point of when the rear tyres are just about to loose traction, if the dampers are too soft the car will just squat, too stiff and the tyres will just loose traction and spin. The ideal here is as much traction as possible but without too much squat

(Squatting - When the car accelerates the weight is transferred rearwards, that transfer is visually represented by the rear of the car wanting to sit right down on its wheels)

From a standing start accelerate with reasonable pace and see what the rear of the car is doing.

If the wheels just break traction and spin you need to soften the dampers, alternatively if the car hooks up with ease then you want to stiffen the dampers until you start to loose traction.

Once you are happy you have achieved the desired results soften the damper by 1 click.

We can now start working on the front of the car. 

This part requires driving the car and is purely a matter of taste. 

If the car is understeering - Soften the dampers 
If the car is oversteering - Stiffen the dampers

(Understeer - the under-rotation of the car with high steering angles)
(Oversteer - the over-rotation of the car with little steering angles) 


Track Setup

On track the work the dampers have to do in controlling the weight transfers are far higher than when driving on the street, and because of this the dampers need to be adjusted to be able to control that transfer of weight. Ideally weight transfer needs to be kept to a minimum, unfortunately we can't eradicate it completely so we have to control what transfer there is.

Start by turning all the dampers up by +3 clicks (if it's a smooth track you could go higher initially)

If the track is a clockwise circuit then do a further +1 click on the left of the car
If the track is counter-clockwise then a further +1 click on the right of the car

Keep increasing until the car starts to become loose enough you don't truly feel comfortable and then dial it all back by 1 click.  As always with changing conditions on circuit throughout the day you may need to keep fiddling to make sure its performing how you want it to. 

A perfect setup does not exist, car setup is all about compromise, when you change one atribute to acheive a specific result you are altering another you have to find a balance which suits you.  






Speed is a by-product of control.