FreshPurp

Hey HT'ers,

Getting my suspension set up together and I'm not sure whether I should go stiffer up front or in the rear. I drive the car daily but will be partaking in many weekend track days (road course / auto cross).
Most of the daily set ups I have seen run stiffer up front but many track oriented cars run slightly stiffer in the rear or an even rate.
I don't mind a stiff ride. I take it easy when driving daily. My concern is not sacrificing handling performance. What do you think would most benefit what I will be using the car for? Stiffer front, stiffer rear or equal F & R rates?
I know this is largely based on personal preference but I'd love to hear what you think and why.

Thanks you all for the help.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Do you want more oversteer or understeer on a daily basis?

civexspeedy

Stay safe and get more driving experience before you bump the rear spring rates up.. So I'd say go with a slightly higher rate up front. Just my opinion.

But this is all blind. We don't know what car, what suspension, what spring rates, what tires, what swaybars, etc.. you have so it's pretty hard for anyone to give you a good answer. Even with that, figuring out what works comes down to you getting the car setup and driving it yourself. What works for one, may be way far off from what another person wants. Take any advice with a grain of salt...

FreshPurp

I think I'll play it safe to begin with and keep the front a bit stiffer than the rear.

I have an ek sedan. I will be running a Koni/GC setup. I haven't decided on spring rates yet. As for sway bars, I am planning on having SI sway bar up front and a ITR sway bar in the rear. Haven't gotten to tires yet. Will most likely be a high performance street/track tire for starts.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Stiffer in front = oversteer. Not too safe on the streets.

DC Dan

Lol no, just no

FlewByU352

Why not equal rates front and rear?

00IntegrAllmotoR

iTrader: (1)

Nice try. But you have that backwards.

khmerJimmy

Had to log on and comment on how funny this damn gif is.
Straight up laughed so hard. Made my night haha

ribal_gh

Is it True that stiffer front will cause oversteer???
From what i have read that the stiffer rear=oversteer

Next month ill be purchasing my GC (450F/ 280R) hope that will be a good choice for DD and offers a good handlng.

GagnarTheUnruly

iTrader: (3)

Stiffening the rear leads to oversteer and stiffening the front leads to understeer. Grumblemarc knows this but he made a typo.

It happens that 90's Hondas tend to be pretty neutral when the rates are even, but this is not necessarily the case. The Koni GC off-the-shelf rates (380/250) are definitely understeer rates, although they will not understeer as heavily as stock rates (165/80). The ITR is very neutral at 250/250 although this is a bit misleading as the rear springs are progressive. Sway bars also make a huge difference.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Dur. Yeah. I do. Stiffer/higher spring rate in REAR = oversteer.

blackeg

from my experience, with any drop i wouldnt want my front rate to be less than around 350 to 400lbs or so. rears can be within 100-200lbs of that before you really notice the car over/understeers badly.

ive got some progress csII in the mail. i ordered them with the 350 and 500 springs but ive got extra 450lb springs so ill be mixing and matching to find the right combo. (fyi i do like a stiff ride. take this as you will im not a suspension buff, just my experience from doing this for a while)

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Put the 500 in front. Get a beefy swaybar in the back.

ribal_gh

Any idea how will a civic si 00 rides with Koni/GC (450F/280R) ?
Bieng stock it handles like ****! to much body roll and understeer.

With the above set up i guess it should be way better than stock.
Estimated drop 2 inches.

Are the above rate fine to provide a great handling ?

00IntegrAllmotoR

iTrader: (1)

Your still gona have tons of under steer ....

ribal_gh

So what is the solution!! get softer rates for the front?
I dont want a stif ride that why i dont want to go higher rates in the rear!

But wouldnt it be better than stock??

m_shake

If you don't wanna go any higher on the rear rates, get a larger rear sway bar 24/25mm atleast. Should help with rotation. Or you could just man up and run 450-500 front/rear with a big rear bar as well All comes down to what is comforable for you, i've had no compliants running 500 fr/rr with a asr rear sway on my old 98 civic sedan, but you may have hated it lol. GL mang.

spAdam

iTrader: (1)

This. Save your kidneys and still have a car that corners well. 450/280 with a rear bar is a great setup for a daily.

Also, girls don't like riding in cars that make their **** hurt. Consider that when choosing rear rates

GagnarTheUnruly

iTrader: (3)

A lot depends on ride height. If you are OK with a 1" drop you can get away with 350-400 in front and 250 in back. If I could pick anything I'd maybe go with a 350/300 or something like that, a mild (ITR style) drop, and a stiff rear sway bar. For racing that is too soft, though.

ribal_gh

hahahahah, lool important thing to consider

98civdx

Bigger rear bar, or smaller front.

I would get a subframe brace and a 22mm (ITR/CTR) rear sway bar.
Smaller front bar would require new LCAs, and shock forks.

<-- found that one out the hard way. lol

ribal_gh

That sound great , but badly that in my country i cant find such sway bar.
Im thinking of making my own sway bar based on the same design for the 13mm i currently have

Is that a good idea? or its unsafe to have this done by comparing the design of the 13 mm sway bar.

98civdx

I've never heard of someone doing that, so I couldn't comment.

What aftermarket options do you have? Progress makes a 22mm. There is also Eibach, and suspension techniques.

blackeg

oh they are gonna hurt either way, from the car or from my motorboat!

all i know is that i once had a set of tein basic and their rates are really soft. i hated it tremendously. i like this idea going around of a rear rate around 300lbs and a sway bar