BIG T

So I am wondering if my logic is correct that while you can have stiff spring with better shock, it does not always mean that you will have bad ride quality....

For example I intend to get ground controls and koni yellows but I am concerned about ride quality. However given my previous logic i should be ok assuming the spring and shock are a correct combination.

Does this sound right??

Freemananana

iTrader: (3)

Yup. To a certain point of course. I've heard people who claim a 350/350 set up was more comfortable than the stock 220/120 set up. (rough estimates, iirc)

Making sure the suspension is compatible with itself is important. Too much spring and not enough dampening is usually where people end up at. It leads to a bouncy ride.

Kozy.

On my EK4, it originally rode on Koni Yellows and Tanabe GF210 springs. The springs were, IIRC, around 230lbs at the front and about 150lbs in the rear. The ride was proper ****.

I swapped it out for Spoon gear for the EK9 (that's stuff produced by Showa on the same production line as the Type R suspension to Spoons specs) and the spring rates went up to 350lbs in the front and 310lbs in the rear.

The ride and handling improved.

BIG T

mind this will be on an rd1 crv with
350/450 and yellows

Freemananana

iTrader: (3)

I searched for the stock spring rate on a RD1. 450/350 is what I found. If you switch to 350/450 that wouldn't make much sense to me. It will have an even softer front than stock. What are you trying to accomplish?

BIG T

2" drop, DD, H23 or K24 SWAP, good ride quality with better handling, 95% street driving.

Freemananana

iTrader: (3)

You definitely want to go stiffer if you are going to lower it. It has a B20 right now I assume?

BIG T

u are correct

Freemananana

iTrader: (3)

H2B would be a neat swap. The K24 is stock in newer CRVs so I can't assume that would be too difficult. Either way you will want stiffer springs than stock in my opinion. 600/500 is the only thing I found on a lowered CRV. You can go look in the subforum I guess. Google isn't a ton of help.

1998GsRIntegra

Well...I'm using race valved and shortened koni yellows with gc coils and eibach springs. 750lb front and 850lb rear. Entire car is setup with heim joints and solid bronze bushings. No stock rubber bushings left. Previous setup was stock rubber 16 year old bushings, kyb gr-2 shocks, and h&r sport lowering springs. I swear up and down that the car rides better over small bumps now than it did with the previous setup; and the shocks on the old setup were not blown. Now, large bumps however, are another story. Basically I just try my best to avoid them.

MAD_MIKE

Yup, biggest common mistake with 'ricers' is they will install some cheap lowering springs onto a car without changing anything else. Incorrect damper for the spring rate, and usually they never modify the bump stop to accommodate the reduced travel, thus you have this ill mannered, **** handling, banging off the bumpstops bucket.

BIG T

What is a good spring for my desired attributes

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Can't even begin to tell you because "Good ride quality" and "better handling" doesn't tell us anything. It's too subjective. Any spring can drop you 2".

Typically people that want these things out of a suspension want to ride low and ride like a Cadillac. Not gonna happen. Not even close.

But I see that since you've been here you haven't read any of the stickied posts in gray. You'll find them when you hit the "Back" button on your browser. One of them in particular pretty much answers this question you're asking.

Ride quality and comfort is too subjective. Truthfully I don't know how anyone can even begin to recommend any spring rates. I can say a good starting point is in the range of 350f/250r depending on the manufacturer. Here's the subjective part. The rear spring is the "comfort" spring as I call it. It dictates what kind of ride you'll have. For instance, some people have said a 250lb rear spring was too soft for them while others have said that it is entirely too harsh. It's a crapshoot as to what your *** and spine think of the rates you choose. Whatever

Whatever you do get components that are matched, as mentioned above. Don't try and mix and match from different manufacturers or you'll be sorry.

BIG T

Will I notice the difference btwn kyb gr2 and koni yellows

BIG T

are kyb gr-2 / excel g a decent shock for what i am trying to do, ie i run them on a stock crv, so assuming 350/450 is oem spring rate couldnt i just run an oem style shock like a kyb gr2 / excel g, and achieve similar ride quaility like i currently have, but with slightly lower ride height.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

No. Those are OEM replacement shocks. Unsuitable for lowering.

Freemananana

iTrader: (3)

Stiffer springs make the ride harsher.
Stiffer shocks prevent bounce.

By lowering the car you need stiffer springs or you will bottom out. On the CRV this would be wheel to fender and not motor to ground, just spit balling here.

Going with a stock spring on lowering springs will not last. You need something spec'd for a lower spring. You will stress stock style shocks and they will blow.

Spring rate does not determine the drop. You can get stiffer spring rates and stay at stock ride height, or vice versa. Generally speaking, people get stiffer so they don't bottom out and it shifts the center of gravity. This is a performance thing, so it doesn't really apply if you are just going for looks.

Just get EG coilover sleeves on eBay for $47 and see how they ride with stock shocks.

Shocks and springs should be a packaged decision.

EDIT:

Screw you man. Beat me to it because I'm long winded.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

This is important.

BIG T

So then koni yellows rightfully so are a choice for this application no matter the spring rate just as long a drop is being utilized

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

No matter the spring rate? No! You're asking almost the same question as the first post!

Call these people.
http://thmotorsports.com/
http://thmotorsports.com/contact-us

Design

Technically, almost any weighted spring can be matched against a damper with adjustable rebound, since the spring itself does a majority of the work during compression. I believe the rebound limit for Koni is 600 lb/in, per Lee Grimes.

General "rule" is to double the spring rate for every inch the car is dropped.


Ride quality is more of a function of the system's willingness to react. Stiffer springs simply provide greater resistance to suspension movement. And at some point, moderate to large bumps will result in greater chassis movement/flex, no matter what you do to spring travel or compression damping. Using the formula above, a 200% increase is noticeable but not unbearable to most enthusiasts here. Hell, even GC's OTS rates are 200-250% over stock on many applications.

donut.

Going from Koni Race to JRZ RS Pro suspension, with the same spring rates, the ride quality on my car is ridiculously much more comfortable. I realize its not a fair comparison, but to answer the question..

1998GsRIntegra

Lol, $1300 vs $4800, I would hope it's ridiculously better. At that price you should get a complimentary blow job with your damper purchase

Jokes aside, how long do those go before a rebuild is necessary?

Also a very nice article on dampers here by GRM http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/art...king-behavior/