400 and 450 pound springs..... too stiff or what?

[Turbonium]

the set of springs i have are rated at 400ibs and 450ibs. no other dsm springs that i see are anywhere close to this spring ratio, they are all like 260 and 460 or sothing liek that something with a big difference in rate between front and rear. will these springs work ok on my car?? thanks
Ryan

 

[Ballin' GS]

Thats nothin. I see you have the R1 coilovers. Mine are 550 in front and 450 in back ;-). I just got my sprint springs today and i'll be putting those on this weekend because the R1 springs are about 5 inches long and you have about 3/4ths an inch of suspension travel with them...

 

[jtmcinder]

What.

- Jtoby

 

[RamenPride]

Originally posted by Turbonium
will these springs work ok on my car?? thanks

well, they'll obviously work, but the ride is going to be harsh. you could always buy a softer set of springs.

 

[igs]

That depends, too stiff for what? For the street they are ok, for the track they are too soft.

 

[kiakarimi]

i have 500 front 450 rear and its fine. a lil' stiff but thats what i like. Just as long as you have shock with enough dampening to handle those rates. (ie: koni)

 

[Turbonium]

street idc about ride though not one of those things i'me overly concerned with. i wanted to run the 450's in the rear and 400's in the front woudl that work out ok? (i want to increase oversteer) thanks
Ryan

 

[RamenPride]

Originally posted by Turbonium
(i want to increase oversteer)

get swaybars.

i've never heard of running a softer spring in the front, so not sure how that would work

 

[cOiL]

Originally posted by RamenPride
i've never heard of running a softer spring in the front, so not sure how that would work

Now you have. Welcome to the way race cars are built in the United States.

 

[kiakarimi]

from what i understand, its slightly softer in the back is the way to increase oversteer our cars. try switching those rates around (450 front/ 400 rear)

 

[ACM]

The guy who started the thread has a 1G, the people responding all have 2Gs - the suspension systems are very different. The motion ratio in the front of a 1G is about 1:1, compared to a 2G which is ~0.75; I don't know the rear motion ratio of a 1G, but a 2G is ~0.9.

I suspect the rear motion ratio of a 1G is lower than the front, given the design, so a 450lb rear spring is still probably effectively softer than a 400 front.


Charles

 

[RamenPride]

Originally posted by cOiL
Now you have. Welcome to the way race cars are built in the United States.

thanks for the smarta$$ remark

 

[14.5 drift]

Softer in the front harder in the back is how you get over steer, and vice versa. Considering the car is roughly 60/40 weight dist (correct me if i'm wrong) you would want even stiffer springs in the front. Alot og=f the drifters put the really rock solid setup's in the back so the wheels will break loose, and the front tires will stick enough to steer them selves around the turns.

If the 1gen weighs around 2800 lbs with a 60/40 f/r weight dist. then 600/400 would be ideal for a neutral handling car. Seems like the manufacturer of the springs felt that their way of doing things would better to eliminate the under steer characteristics of a fwd car. I bet if you compared the same set of springs to a awd models, the spring rates would be very different. BTW understeer is the devil, unless you can't seem to keep your rear end on the ground but that is very unlikly the case.

 

[Toshiro]

Off the top of my head I would seriously doubt a 1G has more weight in the back than in the front.

 

[14.5 drift]

oops, edited.

 

[Turbonium]

well i got the whole idea from sport compact car actually...... the two eclipses in the ultimate street car challege used a heavier spring in the rear and both pulled around 1g... then another car in the same issue a bmw m3 had like 700 pound springs in the rear and 500 pound in the front. so then i did some research and found out about how the front gains -camber quicker than the rear and -camber=traction correct me if i'm wrong. anyone who thinks o put the heavier spring in the front cuz thats where the engine and weight is, is just using simple logic and doesn't really know with 100% certainty what they are talking about. so i have decided that i will definatly put the heavier spring in the rear, i would liek to hear from someone else who has done this but i'll let you all know how it works out for me. if it turns out the everytime i go to make a turn my car does a barrel roll i will simply switch the springs once you have coil overs it looks like a 1-2 hour job and a alignment which is what 70 bucks? if people didn't try something new we would still be driving around w/ tortion bars. later
Ryan

 

[14.5 drift]

basically your trying to encourage oversteer, wich is fine for a front wheel drive car. Obviously the camber will effect the way the tire bites and can effect how well the tire grips. Irrelevent, though. When you lower your car you will already be gaining the negative camber. Any thing over 2 degrees and tire wear is going to be comprimised. As for putting a stiffer spring in rear seems rediculously uneven, but if thats what is working go right ahead. Personally most of my research has been on my 240 so things are gonna be different for your eclipse though. Sounds like you know what your doing though.

 

[Turbonium]

i'm not sure yet on lowering the car, if i do it won't be more than an inch anyways, i have a fiberglass front and it hits on enough stuff already, i'll let you all know how the 400 front 450 rear turns out. later
Ryan