Young Version — August 1999
An archive project by Flock MFGNew issue alerts →
About this issue
The August 1999 issue of Young Version explores drift setups versus grip tuning through 22 shop demo cars, including S15 Silvias from Mine’s and Kazama Auto. Features cover front-wheel-drive builds taking on high-powered 4WD rivals, choosing a first drift car, and reviving a used AE86 Trueno on a ¥1 million total budget. Suspension fundamentals, engine-oil selection, rotary maintenance, new-parts tests, and reports from Hiroshima and California round out this look at Japan’s late-1990s tuning scene.
242 available scans from Young Version — August 1999, in right-to-left reading order. Japanese OCR and English translation drafts are available throughout. Drafts have not received exhaustive image proofreading; unreadable source remains recorded in the archival data.
Page 61 — English draft translation
Because the base valve creates resistance, the shock can withstand high pressure without needing high-pressure gas. Lower gas pressure gives a softer ride. However, if the shock is laid sideways or upside down, gas can enter the working area and it may stop functioning. Unlike a monotube, the sealed oil cylinder is inside, with a separate outer chamber, so it is more tolerant of external impacts and less likely to be damaged.
The gas above the piston is under very high pressure. If a strong impact occurs, the lower chamber may give way and the piston can move downward even though the oil has not moved. Air can then enter the upper chamber. To prevent this, high-pressure gas is used. That increases resistance during compression, giving a firmer ride. On the other hand, even a small piston movement displaces oil, so damping is produced readily, and heat resistance is an advantage.
The shock you choose depends on how you drive. As the shock compresses (the rod moves into the cylinder), oil from the lower chamber moves to the upper chamber through small, narrow holes in the piston between the two chambers. Valves cover the top and bottom of those holes. When force is applied, the valve flexes open so oil can pass, creating resistance. A shock absorber uses that resistance to control movement. Is that clear so far? The basic mechanism stays the same, but there are two main designs: monotube and twin-tube. As the names suggest, a monotube has one cylinder and a twin-tube has two. The key difference is where they make room for the volume of the shaft entering the cylinder. A monotube has a floating piston. As described above, oil can't be compressed, so when the shaft enters, the floating piston moves down by the same amount. Compressible gas is below it, absorbing the volume displaced by the shaft. In a twin-tube, oil is sealed in the inner tube, which contains the piston. A base valve at the bottom lets oil move into the outer cylinder as the rod enters. Gas in the outer chamber compresses. Shock construction is complicated, but compare the two types using the photos and descriptions above.