Stiff or bouncy suspension

[iowaTSIfWd]

I have lowered my car only about an inch and half with Tien S tech springs. Oh and i also bought new tokico hp blue struts. but my ride quality is real crap. Everytime i hit a bump it feels like the back of my car bounces more then anything else. I have heard that the Tien springs are stiff. Has anyone had any experiece with Tien s springs which is what i have on there right now. I wanted a stiff ride which is what i thought i was getting when i bought the springs and struts but i got a real bouncy ride. Are my springs at fault for the ride or is my perception of a stiff ride just bouncy? What are some peoples combos for stiff ride which is what i want? Or do i just need adjustable struts. Thanks

 

[HondaKilla]

Well to give you a simple answer, get better shocks if u want a nicer ride, I'd suggest the Koni yellow's. Now to give u a long answer so everyone can understand. If you've ever thrown a spring down it bounces up and down well if you didnt have shocks on a car, your car would basicly have the same effect. What the shock does is keep it from doing that by controling its travle by being "attached" to the spring (not actually attached but you know what I mean.) So when you put stiff springs on shitty/soft/stock shocks the spring is having the same effect as if you didnt have shocks, just not as severe, due to the shock not being able to control the spring like a stiff adj. shock can. If you upgrade to stiffer springs you should always upgrade to better shocks. If you match them correctly u wont have a "bouncy" ride but you wont have the smoothness of a BMW for example. Depending on how stiff it is you'll def. feel the bumps but wont jump all over the place. Hope this helps you out and others out! Oh and my setup is JIC Coilovers wich I would recommend to ANYONE that has that type of budget! If you think ground control "coilovers" are actually coilovers then your sadly missing out on a true suspension! Coilovers arn't meant to "slam" (although they can), its a completle setup that is matched so the spring and shock can work together to accomplish a true and nice setup, and all the ground controls really do is well, a way to adj. your ride height and thats about the only benefit of them.

 

[kpt4321]

Yup, right on.

What you have with a suspension system is a spring and a damper. If you just had a spring, when you compressed or extended it (like when you hit a bump) it would osciallate and slowly bleed down due mostly to iternal friction within the spring. Now, with a damper, it basically tries to keep the spring from moving, and the amount it tries to keep it from moving depends on the speed.

If you don't have enough damping (like stock struts, or springs that are too stiff) then the spring will oscillate some. That's the bouncyness tyou are feeling.

So, you need softer springs or stiffer struts.

 

[iowaTSIfWd]

Wow thanks for the help. Definatly set me in the right direction. Would you suggest adjustable just for the back since thats where it seems the worst? Thanks

 

[HondaKilla]

Personally I wouldnt mis match things. Id go with adj. all the way around, all the same brand! If you dont have the money to do that right know I would def. wait till you do. If I was to choose an adj. shock I'd go with the koni yellows. Imo, and many will agree, they are about the best shock you can get for the DSM's!

 

[riceburner]

i agree with all the other people but you also asked what are our set ups if we have a stiff ride well i have gold-line spring and kyb agx and the thing rides pretty stiff and glues itself to the corners when pushed a bit cheaper than coil overs but coil overs are defiantly worth the extra dough