what spring rates u guys runing on your fd
im looking for a street(smooth)drag aplication
im considering gab struts.

 

I'm using TEIN's with 559 lbs/in front and 448 lbs/in rear.

 

I am running 450/250 for road racing after running 550/450 for a while. It is too soft now (have to run the ride height too high to keep from rubbing on hard turns) and still understeers, so I plan to switch back to 550 in front and get some 350s or something for the rear. I think you want soft springs for more traction when drag racing. Stock springs are about 280/200, you might want to try some of those first or get some 350/250 or something like that if you are installing coil-overs. Generally, you want the softest springs you can get away with at your desired ride hieght without rubbing the tires. If you lower the car a lot, you need to go much stiffer than stock. I would think that stock-ish ride height would help in drag racing to transfer more weight to the rear on the launch. There will be less weight transfer if you lower the car.

What GAB shocks are you planning to get? I think super-Rs are best suited for the track (as opposed to street or drag racing), so I wouldn't get those unless you are going to be using the car for lapping. They are very stiff shocks.

-Max

 

well when money permits i will be going ground control with 550/350 rates and koni yellows. i rode in my buddies car and he has the M2 lowering springs i beleive. well its softer than mine. either my springs have been changed(which is weird cause not a damn thing was NONstock when i bought the car) or my suspension is all SNAFU. i dont mind the rough ride. if i want a caddy ride i buy a caddy. my street car will have inspirations to be a track car.
kris

 

The best shocks by far are Belstein. The ones I got were revalved and made infinately adjustable by shok tek in Penn. Cost including shocks was about $225.00 per corner. If anyone needs shok tek number let me know. Go to www.allhandsracing.com and send me an e-mail.

 

uhh stock springs are 106

 

i love it when people can say what eth best stuff is, cause it takes me so logn to figure out what i want

 

when I bought my car it had PFS "comfort sports". I am interested in what your thoughts are on these for drag/street purposes.

My understanding is the first cm. or so of travel is slightly softer than stock and then the progression increases to about 25% stiffer than stock. They feel great at highspeed, but braking isn't the best....

 

Hey Max! I have the same general setup as you - GAB Super-Rs with 550/400 springs. I was originally going to get 550/450 rates, but after you pointed-out the oversteer issues you saw, I went with 400s in the rear. After tracking the car a few times, I am now considering getting 450s for the rear as I'm still getting a fair amount of understeer and not much oversteer in areas that I would expect (e.g. turn 2 at Sears). I'm running a staggered wheel setup with 285/235 Toyo RA-1s.

If you're looking at going with 550s in the front, I would suggest not going with 350s in the rear and try the 400s first. Let me know how it goes!
Dave

 

Uhhhhh, yeah. And inifnitely adjustable Konis cost less than $150 per corner.

 

Max runs a symmetrical tire setup so what understeers for you may not for him.

 

Stock rates are about 280F/200R, which is supposed to end up being 106/106 wheel rate, according to the Yamaguchi book.

I have 450/350 now with a stiffer front bar and I am liking it. I haven't been to the track with this setup yet, though.

Dave, I do run the same width tires all around on track (285), so I am not surprised that the same rates would give understeer with 235/285. If I were you, I might try 255 fronts and/or 265 rear tires before I switched springs. Or perhaps M2 was expecting some stagger with the 550/450 springs for it to work right. You have a lot of stagger, so you might even need to go further, like 550/500 or something.

-Max

 

650 front 500 rear. track duty only. i dont drive this on the street. M2/AD dampers

 

750 front/650 rear
285/30 khumo all around
JIC FLTA2 dampers

not quite dialed in yet.......track use only.


Fabian

 

i belive 106 is the stock spring rate not wheel rate?

 

The stock spring rates are very close to 280 lbs/in front and 200 lbs/in rear. Someone even had them tested on the big list. The Yamaguchi book says the wheel rate was 106 or so, IIRC. I am certain that the stock spring rates were not 106 lbs/in.

-Max

 

To DamonB,

Remember, you get what you pay for.

I had koni's and they are crap. How can you compare something you buy off a shelf to custom valved Belstein? They were valved to my specific car's corner weights? All four corners and cross % were given to shoktec in order to produce the best shocks short of Penske without the $1000.00 per corner cost of Penske.

 

Where do you figure that the Koni cannot have custom valving done? The Bilstein off the shelf is no different than the Koni except that it's non-adjustable. Any number of places can revalve Konis and retain the adjustability function as well as convert them to fully DA if you wish.

FYI you can buy Konis off the shelf AND have Tripoint revalve/rebuild (if needed) for the same $900 you spent on the Bilsteins.

 

I have the tripoint koni double adjustable coilovers. They are 500/325. I have only used them on the street so far and they are a little too soft in the rear for rough roads with 2 people in the car. When I am by myself they are fine and I am hoping that when I get to the tracking phase of my project they will be just right.