$lacker

iTrader: (9)

I've mostly heard that you go for stiff springs/soft bars or soft springs/stiff bars for effective car control.
I'm looking to do autocross on 285 Hoosier A7s, and in shopping for Ohlins (to replace my existing coilovers) I was told that because I have lots of grip and a thick bar (Tripoint adjustable), stiffer springs than usual would be appropriate for best handling.
Does that make sense to anyone else? It was the first time I'd seen it suggested to mix stiff springs and a stiff sway bar together for optimal handling.

It's an FD that I mostly drive to/at/from autocross events

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

the sway bar IS a spring, however it is only active when the car is rolling in a corner.

the best way to look at it, is to find a suspension calculator that can give you the spring rate at the wheel, called the wheel rate. you can then look at the wheel rate with a stock sway bar and then with the tri point bar.

i'm not sure about the FD, but with most cars the sway bar actually has a pretty small effect, so it doesn't matter too much. it more to balance the car out than anything else

http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets.html

peejay

Ooh, nice website!

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

it really is. the only thing i'd quibble with is his assertion that the natural frequency should be 2.2 F and 2.5 R. it is a good starting point, and the F and R spread will, give or take, give you a flat ride over bumps. the part where i quibble, is that that number is always right, its a good start, but i (and others) have successfully run much higher than 2.2/2.5.

our approach is to just add spring until the car goes slower, and then lower the rate, if you compute the HZ of the suspension we're closer to 3 than 2...