Hamilton

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Hamilton

What is the difference between performance struts and non-performance? just curious because my back suspension sounds like **** when I drive and I want something better then what I have.

mazdaspeedwest

the difference is in the internal valving of the strut. A loose or soft valving will give you a nice cushy ride and medium performance. A hard or stiff vavled strut will have a harsher ride and high performance.

valving is the struits ability to "dampen". So when the strut/spring compresses, the valving determines how fast the compression or decompression moves. a soft strut will compress/decompress quickly, becasue it has less resistance to dampening, where as a stiff strut will compress/decompress slower and with more force allowing it to dampen better.

Now this does not mean, more travel, it's the same travel, just controled differently.

for example, take a 24" long and 3" diameter tube, fill the tube 1/2 way with water, take a hockey puck attached to a stick and try to push the stick/puck down in the tube as fast as you can....this will simulate a performance strut, as it takes more force to push the stick/puck to the bottom. Now, drill a bunch of holes in the puck and do it again....much easier this time right, the water had some place to escape and the force needed to compress the stick/puck is much less.