b'TECH TIP PAGETech Tip 27: As mentioned earlier, shock technologies advance very rapidly. And for good reason. Shocks play such a crucial role to race car handling, tuning, grip & lap times. There is a story in this catalog where Ron worked with a top GT race team, who were previously champions, but a little behind in their shock program. Rons newer tech shocks made their GT car 3.5 seconds faster at Button Willow Raceway in California. They went on to win WERC, USTTC & Trans Am championships with that car on Rons shocks.Autocross has been called road racing in a closet. Everything is shorter straights, corners, chicanes, hairpins, etc. There is less time for the car to react. So, the fastest responding shock has an advantage & running slow reacting shocks is simply dumb. The 3200 series (small body) single adjustable monotube shocks, from Advanced Racing Suspension (ARS)react in 5.3 milliseconds (ms). These shocks were designed by Ex-Indy Car racer Corey Fillip, whose shocks are winning in open wheeled & full body race cars all over.The ARS 3200 series (small body) double adjustable monotube shocks with external canister respond in 4.5 ms. For comparison, the quickest reacting shocks from Fox, JRI & Penske (also with canister) respond in 5.0 ms. Fox, JRI & Penske non-canister shocks respond in 5.5 ms.So why dont we run these ARS 3200 series (small body) shocks in everything?The small body & small piston help achieve the quick response. But the shock body, even with canister, doesnt carry enough oil volume for long usage, like road courses. Like everything in life, racing is about pros & cons, as well as finding the best balance for your usage & goals.Cory & ARS do run these shocks on the front of lightweight (1000-1500#), open wheel cars, where there are worked less & direct air cooled. They also run them in the rear of winning full bodied mid-weight (2400-2900#) cars. Just not the front, or the shock oil will get hot after so many laps, and the valving will fade. Not a problem in 1 lap Autocross. So, win-win for us.Tech Tip 18: One of the simplest & most predictable methods to tune handling balance, are rear wheel spacers. If you have enough tire room & a floater rear end with 5/8 studs, a smart strategy is to build the floater rear end 2 narrower (1 per side, as long as you have the room in the rear fenderwell/tub).Then utilize a set of various width wheel spacers for tuning. Our pro wheel spacer kit comes with 1/4", 1/2", 3/4" & 1 billet aluminum spacers.We dont want to get too far away from the front track width.If your front track width is 58. We often make the rear track width 57 without spacers & run 1/2 wheel spacers making the rear track 58 as a baseline, matching the front. From here, you can tune your rear track wider or narrowerfrom 57 to 59 in 1/2 increments.At a track, if we find we need more rear grip, we simply remove or lessen the rear wheel spacers. If we find we need more front grip, we simply add or increase rear wheel spacers. This simple strategy provides you with a quick, easy & predictable track day tuning tool. We dont use this strategy in the front because it negatively affects the scrub radius.106'