slowteg550

I was checking out a friends civic with 18k rated Omni Coilovers on the rear, and you can't budge the damn thing. Why is this better than just removing your rear strut/spring combo and making a solid "strut" out of square tubing? I'm planning to street my car some, but I mean I dont see how the solid suspension could be much harsher than an 18k springrate? Maybe the alcohol is making me miss something important here, but i just dont see it.... anyone?

PIC Performance

The difference is that its still a spring/damper combo, and a solid bar is a solid bar. You will have trouble applying most of the forces that a car's suspension sees during normal operation.

slowteg550

I understand the differences physically, but with an 18k springrate how much of a dampener can it be?

Why couldn't you run your normal strut/spring combo on the street and then switch to a solid bar setup for the track, if you only raced once a month or something like that?

PIC Performance

18k is stiff, but not unheard of. Some guys out there run upwards of 18k springs for road-racing. A big factor in how they perform is the damping as well.
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Why couldn't you run your normal strut/spring combo on the street and then switch to a solid bar setup for the track, if you only raced once a month or something like that?</TD></TR></TABLE>
A solid one-piece something to replace the shock/spring combo will damage the car I'm pretty sure.

RyanR

i run 24k in the rear of my eg and i still get about 1" of travel on the road course.

slowteg550

I still don't understand how it could damage the car. If you make a bar setup for each side, and bolt them in at the 1/4 race track. It seems to me you'd have the best of both worlds, whatever suspension you choose to run on the street and then something with 0 give in the rear. Someone explain to me why this wouldnt work, instead of just guesses?

Big Teggie

You still need to have some suspension travel in the rear. Check out the NHRA rules.

Jaker

So you get pretty quick in the 1/4, say maybe in to the 120-130 mph range. Then you go to a track where the top end is a tiny bit bumpy. On your 1st run with your solid rear suspension, you'll likely end up with the rear end airborne on those bumps. Not a good thing at 130 mph. Good luck controlling that one. However, even with 18k springs in the rear, the suspension will be able to absorb that bump, and allow you to mantain control of the car.

slowteg550

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jaker &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So you get pretty quick in the 1/4, say maybe in to the 120-130 mph range. Then you go to a track where the top end is a tiny bit bumpy. On your 1st run with your solid rear suspension, you'll likely end up with the rear end airborne on those bumps. Not a good thing at 130 mph. Good luck controlling that one. However, even with 18k springs in the rear, the suspension will be able to absorb that bump, and allow you to mantain control of the car. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I guess that makes sense, I never really thought of the insanely high rated springs having any dampening at all, but I guess as little as it may be, it's still enough

frozenb

18k is not that stiff if your shock can handle them. we run 18k on street also, if you had a set of good shocks that can handle them. it's nothing

DLudist

i'm just curious, lets say a car has really stiff rates (18K or so) and it is driven daily, can the car's frame bend whenever there is a slight drop on the road?

slowteg550

it's not gonna hurt the frame

DLudist

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slowteg550 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">it's not gonna hurt the frame</TD></TR></TABLE>

can anybody else confirm this?

slowteg550

assuming you make the correct mounting plates, then it'd be ok. However, there is a safety issue where the rear end could perspectively come off the ground if you hit any kinda dip or bump on the big end of the track, scary if you're trapping 135mph