When it comes to the topic of automotive suspension there are a large number of companies offering systems to improve a cars performance, however there are very few that are proven at the highest levels of motorsports. One company that has proven its ability to design, develop and manufacture dampers capable of delivering what race cars demand on the track is Moton www.motonsuspension.com.
Based out of the Netherlands, Moton offers a range of dampers including 2-way, 3-way & 4-way adjustable. Most people go with 2-way or double adjustable because of the relative ease of tuning optimal suspension performance. 2-way means it can be adjusted for both high speed compression and rebound with 15 and 16 dampers settings respectively. Having this many settings gives the flexibility to tune for bumpy or smooth circuits and wet or dry conditions. The reason we think this is so important is when you have a car properly set up it can go faster and cause less driver fatigue, happy drivers in fast cars win races.
This adjustability is what race teams demand to achieve proper set up in the search for lower lap times. For teams in search of even higher levels of control Moton offers the 3-way and 4-way adjustable dampers providing 6 settings for low speed compression and the 4-way adds 10 settings for low speed rebound. It is difficult to define exactly what "low speed" compression would be useful for, but the piston valves are designed to deal with low speed damper movements separately. Think of it as resistance to the chassis rolling over or pitching. For example, a decreasing radius turn causes the suspension to load up more and more and low speed damping minimizes that compression keeping the chassis more stable flatter.
The rebound side of the equation is not terribly different on the 4-ways. For example, when braking from speed the rear suspension might try to lift and low speed rebound resists this force. This better controls weight transfer and keeps the attitude of the car optimized for better aerodynamics. This also helps when a car is going through a high speed sweeper reducing the amount that a car rolls over, because roll has a negative effect on suspension geometry and center of gravity.
Damper Body
As impressive as Moton's are on the outside - the inside is where all the technology lies. In the body of the damper are the double valve stacks for both compression and rebound. These valve stacks are not pre-loaded and are built up in two phases. The primary valve stack consists of 36mm (compression) and 34mm (rebound) with decreasing diameter support valves. This primary stack controls the low speed damping characteristics and to clarify, a 2-way is not void of low speed damping, but lacks the adjustability of the 3-way and 4-way. The secondary stack is separated from the primary stack by a small shim 0.15mm thick and a diameter of 21mm and limits the opening of the primary stack. This secondary stack controls the mid and high speed damping.
Also in the main body is the rebound adjuster nut. This brass nut is connected to the adjuster knob at the top of the piston rod and allows precisely drilled orifices to be opened or closed one by one. This regulates the flow of oil for different rebound characteristics.
External Reservoir
The external reservoir contains the oil reserve and the gas. On the top of the reservoir is the adjuster knob which controls the blow-off valve and non-return valve. The blow-off valve is designed to handle the large fluid displacements and responds to the smallest movements of the piston rod. The blow-off valve is retained by a stack of Belleville washers and is preloaded by a spring. By turning the knob more preload can be added to the blow-off valve increasing compression damping.
The pressure of gas (nitrogen) in the reservoir can be varied between 87 and 290psi which translates into a corner specific lifting force of roughly 50 to 167 lbs thereby allowing the use of a softer spring. This gas pressure gives engineers the ability to adjust the car for better pitch and squat control.
The gas pressure directly affects how much resisting force the damper will receive upon compression. It is basically a force balance equation - the force input through the damper rod is counter reacted by the coil spring and gas pressure in the reservoir. While the coil springs support the weight of the car the gas pressure provides supplemental support.
Even if you haven't seen the inside of a Moton damper, looking at the outside gives you a clear idea how well their products are designed and manufactured with great attention to detail and finish. Moton offers a large selection of dampers to cover your needs from motorsports to the part time track enthusiast. VRPerformance is proud to be your exclusive Southeast Michigan source for Moton.
| 
