Shocks are a complicated item on full scale cars and even more complicated on full scale racing cars! Do we really want to take R/C racing to that kind of level? motor Cross etc. Guys on bikes are tying not to break ankles! We are not (unless you don't like marshalls
).
I'm very impressed on my return to RC racing on the quality of new kits and the low price! The MIP option does not look to be a big price tag and will fit right in... all is good so far.
So are they backward? I think not. What is the shock trying to do? Well firstly it's trying to keep the car stable and control the spring so the tires stay on the ground and you get maximum traction. Thus on a sudden hit (upward movement) the spring collapses - if there is to much resistence in the shock/spring combo the suspension wont react fast enough and the tire will bounce over the obsticle resulting in loss of control. Not enough and the suspension will bottom out sending the energy though the chassis and also causing bounce and loss of control. Following upward movement the shock must then control the return rate of the spring to slow it down otherwise you get bounce again. What MIP is trying to do in the image is to let the suspension absorb the upward movement quickly and control the downward movement more progressively.
Thus for tracks with big jumps you could use much heavier oils as there is more flow on the upward movements (through the hex sides and piston holes), without losing finer movements on say moggles or pavers etc. In Aus there are no dead flat sections. The car does not necessarilly need to return to ride height at a blinding rate, other wise it will hop off the surface of the track once again losing traction and control.
The more time the tire is in contact with the surface more traction you have = more acceleration/more steering etc...
In the end it is another tuning option to boggle your brain on that quest to fine tune the car. For me not crashing will be a good start!
