Inner Workings of a Adjustable Shocks

A shock has a method of handling energy during and after compression and release of a spring. Inside the Industrial shock absorber is a piston moving within an oil filled tube as the car suspension moves. As the piston travels with the cars suspension either up or down in the tube the oil is displaced by the piston and flows through a small hole (orifice) in the piston. In the process of traveling down the tube it resists movement as a function of how big the orifice is. A big orifice equals lower damping, while a small orifice equals more damping. The shocks which come on our cars have a fixed orifice which the factory Velocity and Feed Controllers chassis engineer sized for an “average” driver in average driving conditions. I’m not sure I have ever met an average driver who owned a performance car.