Suspension for autocrossing
10-18-09, 11:04 AM
#1
Suspension for autocrossing
Im new to suspension and auto crossing and am looking on doing some upgrading. I currently have Tokico Illumina 5way's all around. I just bought some coilovers but am not sure of the ebay springs it comes with. Ive been looking around and found different springs available varying by height and spring rate. My question is what is the stock spring rate on the s4 tII's for the front and rear? Also what is recommended for me to use for autocrossing?
After going out there to the SCCA and doing some runs, I couldn't get any front wheel traction for the life of me. Car breaked pretty good but I had to slow pretty far down to get traction. I was currently using Falken Azenis 225's all around. Any help/input to help would be very appreciated, thanks!
After going out there to the SCCA and doing some runs, I couldn't get any front wheel traction for the life of me. Car breaked pretty good but I had to slow pretty far down to get traction. I was currently using Falken Azenis 225's all around. Any help/input to help would be very appreciated, thanks!
10-18-09, 11:28 AM
#2
Looks ahead!
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If you are talking about the car in your sig, I'm going to assume you are in SSM...
First off, slow down. If you are pushing into corners because you are carrying too much speed, all the suspension in the world isn't going to help you.
You are going to get alot of guys coming in here telling you to get (insert shiny cheap coilover brand du jur), but if you are serious about going fast, the following is the way to go:
Koni Yellows, GC sleeves. For the Azenis (or any other similar street tire), something in the 400/300 (f/r) ballpark should work well for you, along with a performance alignment (0 to maybe a lil toe out, ~ -3 degrees front camber). The alignment alone should help your bite on turn in. Once you step up to r-comps or wider tires, its super easy to bump the spring rates a bit (I'm at 650/500 on my OTS Konis, but that is as high as I'd go without a re-valve) to match the stiffness of the race tires. If you end up going higher still, revalves are cheaper than the shocks are new, and Tripoint and others will be happy to valve them to any spring rate you can imagine. Additionally, especially if the car sleeps during the winter, a new set of bushings all around really tightens things up.
If you want to keep your Tokicos for the moment, try to dig up some RSR race springs, they are more than passable for a casual competitor. The stock springs on these things are just not good enough to get you through the slaloms well.
First off, slow down. If you are pushing into corners because you are carrying too much speed, all the suspension in the world isn't going to help you.
You are going to get alot of guys coming in here telling you to get (insert shiny cheap coilover brand du jur), but if you are serious about going fast, the following is the way to go:
Koni Yellows, GC sleeves. For the Azenis (or any other similar street tire), something in the 400/300 (f/r) ballpark should work well for you, along with a performance alignment (0 to maybe a lil toe out, ~ -3 degrees front camber). The alignment alone should help your bite on turn in. Once you step up to r-comps or wider tires, its super easy to bump the spring rates a bit (I'm at 650/500 on my OTS Konis, but that is as high as I'd go without a re-valve) to match the stiffness of the race tires. If you end up going higher still, revalves are cheaper than the shocks are new, and Tripoint and others will be happy to valve them to any spring rate you can imagine. Additionally, especially if the car sleeps during the winter, a new set of bushings all around really tightens things up.
If you want to keep your Tokicos for the moment, try to dig up some RSR race springs, they are more than passable for a casual competitor. The stock springs on these things are just not good enough to get you through the slaloms well.
10-18-09, 01:24 PM
#3
+1 on slowing down.
My suggestion would be to learn to drive autox first, then decide what mods to do.
The best way to spend your money at first would be to go to at least the first 2 Evolution classes.
http://www.evoschool.com/
The few hundred you spend there will make you much faster than any mods to your car will.
My suggestion would be to learn to drive autox first, then decide what mods to do.
The best way to spend your money at first would be to go to at least the first 2 Evolution classes.
http://www.evoschool.com/
The few hundred you spend there will make you much faster than any mods to your car will.
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