Suspension Reference
 

Ok, so I'm currently in the "research" stage of my modifications to my '84 GS. The car will be bulit for autocrossing, probably in the street prepared category, and for some driving on the street, just for fun. I'm looking for some reference material on suspension. I searched the forums and found this: https://www.rx7club.com/suspension-wheels-tires-brakes-20/suspension-handling-links-180080/ and have read a lot of the material on there. Does anybody else out there have some good links for suspension references? Stuff like picking spring rates, tuning camber, sway bars, shocks, etc? I'm not looking for koni vs tokico but rather more general info so I can come to my own conclusions on what would be best for me.

Also, a lot of people on here seem to really like the REspeed coilovers for the first gen. my question is why coilovers? Do you guys really adjust your ride height often? Or is it because it makes it easier to change springs? Or is it just having cool parts on your car? I'm just curious why coilovers seem to be so popular when picking a ride height and spring rate and putting in performance springs seems so much easier and cheaper?

Josh - www.re-speed.com

I have the Respeed coilovers and highly recommend them. It's not so much about changing the ride height often, but more about getting exactly the ride height you want (for performance, looks, wheel fitment, whatever). You also get to choose exactly what spring rates you want, which is a very big plus.

To be competetive in CSP, its going to take more than just some "lowering" springs. The truth is, most of the so called lowering springs end up raising the ride height on 1st gens. I tried Racing Beat springs a few years back and ended up nearly an inch higher than before.

The biggest improvements on my car came from the coilovers, and the swaybars. I used a Racing Beat swaybar before, but am much happier with the Respeed bar. It's much lighter, adjustable, and much higher quality.

The owner of Respeed is a member of this forum. He is very active in helping to advise and trouble shoot suspension setups. You can PM him for advice (Bwaits) too, just tell him what you want out of the car and he will give you advice on what spring rates to consider, etc. He helped me with the setup of my car and I couldn't be happier.

Feel free to PM me as well if you have any specific questions, and I've got lots of videos in the link in my signature. Good luck. :)



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+1

This is a very good book. If you truly want to start getting into racing setup and vehicle dynamics, this is a very good intro.

Thanks for the replies so far guys, I've heard good things about the book, I'll probably have to get myself a copy!

As far as Respeed goes, I've heard nothing but good things about them, I just wondered what the reasoning for coilovers being so popular was. Lack of good performance springs for the first gen seems like a good reason to me!