Bambooseven

iTrader: (1)

I'm getting ready to buy my coilovers/swaybar/camber kit in a couple of days (once I figure out exactly what I want). I know what I want if I was going to be building a pure daily driver, or if I were going to be building a pure track car (everything I've found while doing research has shown one or the other). But I'm looking for something right in the middle, a streetable car that will still kick some asphalte on the track. I really have the option to do my setup however I want it. I'm using a progress 22mm rear sway bar and progress coilovers, I need to know what springrates I want to use and order them. they come stock with 350F 250R if you buy their normal setup, which IMO is not acceptable. any suggestions will be apreciated. If you have any questions about my setup/plans that would help you help me just ask.

sorry if I sound like a NOOB, but I did do a lot of research about this beforehand. I'm just looking for other people's input.

Bambooseven

iTrader: (1)

I originally posted this in the roadracing forum because the car is intended to do both race and street, but they kicked it out of there, I guess its not pure race so I can understand. anyway, I'm planning on buying these within the next couple of days and I need to decide what I want them to build for me. any help would be great.

Bambooseven

iTrader: (1)

does 350F/500R w/progress 20mm rear bar sound like too much for the street? cause that is where I'm leaning toward ATM.

LCheung

No such thing as a street/race car. If it's in the middle of the two extreme's it's still just a street car. Whether you want to go extreme is how strong your *** is to take the punishment from the lack of comfort you are about to instill in your car. That 500 lbs rear rate sounds really similar to what my friend had. It's not too bad as long as the roads near your house don't have a lot of pot holes and stuff. He did eventually get sick of it and swap it out though. It gets annoying when even your passenger (possibly a hot date) notices how rough the car is.

Realistically, a well balanced set up and not necissarily THAT stiff (F350/R500) will out perform just plain stiffness on a track. I would say aim to try different set ups. The 2.5" ID springs really aren't all too expensive. And hell in the end you may find yourself using different rates on differen race tracks because of varying surface conditions and traction from different kinds of tires you are running. Maybe get spring rates 250,350, and 450 and try different combos. Get an adjustable rear sway bar as well as you might need that to fine tune the balance of the car.

FrostySol

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bambooseven &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">does 350F/500R w/progress 20mm rear bar sound like too much for the street? cause that is where I'm leaning toward ATM.</TD></TR></TABLE>

500r seems a little high if you want to be comfortable for any amount of time on the street. I'd take it down a little, but the rest sounds fine.

h22John

It,d help to know what kind of car, weight 2 door 4 door hatch?......prob get away with stiffer springs on the 4 door, but not so much a hatch. Also, what tires do you plan on using? That makes a big diff in what rates you should choose, why get really sticky tires if your susp cant use them?...anyway, a little more info would help..........................John

Bambooseven

iTrader: (1)

96 coupe, D-series turbo, 5zigen N1R Div.3 16"s (12.6 lbs) w/ 205/45/16 yokohama AVS ES100's on the street, RSL concept pro 15"s (12.8lbs) for "other then street" use w/ 225/50/15 toyo proxes RA-1's.

anything else that will make your assesments any easier, just ask.

LCheung

H22 John is right, the really high rates will probably make the car a bit edgy. Again I think that balance is more important than the stiffness. And besides on any less than perfect surfaces, such as street, a more compliant suspension is by far easier to drive fast with. And in many cases on less than perfect surfaces a softer suspension is faster. I say go with what's good for 90% of the car's usage and use the dampening and adjustable sway bars to adjust the aggressiveness for the track.

If it doesn't rain much where you are, you might as well get away with running stuff like Azenis and RA-1s on the street. Sure they're louder and wear faster, but it seems like you could careless anyway. With more traction, you can go stiffer and closer to the track setup you wanted.

-Leon

Bambooseven

iTrader: (1)

I'm in southern CA, I very easily could run RA-1's on the street, it's just that I have this brand new set of ES100's sitting in my garage so I figure I should mangle them for a while before I buy another set of tires. Is all you guys are tripping on the 500R? how much would you change it? 350F is what progress sells stock, I would just be changing the rear signifigantly, 250R will not yeild the results I'm looking for and leave me understeering in a car I payed $2000 to make it do the opposite, but 500R is WAY too much? or just a bit on the uncomfortable side? maybe take it down to 450-400 ish in the rear? keep in mind I still have the adjustable sway bar to even things out either way right?

Bambooseven

iTrader: (1)

Ended up ordering a 350F/450R setup w/ the 22mm non adjustable sway bar (they don't make an adjustable one for an EK) and energy suspension bushings (inc. trailing arms and motor mount inserts) should whoop my ***, anybody know a link to a poly bushing instal how to? I heard I couldn't do it without a hydraulic press, but I'm sure a $150 harbor freight one will dothe trick (and a blow torch for the trailing arms). thanx for your input guys.

Tad

well you already made your choice,

but I'd just like to note that no ones going to be able to tell
how much tolerance you have for a stiff ride.

some people(like me) can totally hang with it, and want to "feel the road"
no matter what condition that road is(well the street of SF still pissed me off..
so I moved back to Palo Alto, and now i'm happy )

Point is, only you know what you can handle,

and stiffer springs are usually a good thing in FF cars.

also you were talking about the rear rate, which has the most impact on ride comfort.
remember all the weight is up front, so you dont need as much springrate in the rear.

IMO your springrates are front rate is too soft.
I have 450lb front springs, and my car is dropped so the fender stops right at the tire, 0 tuckage, and the front end slams down too much. I could probly use another 100lbs up front.

but thats me, and i'm runing konis not progress coilovers..

progress knows wut they're doin tho.. ur prolly alright,

h22John

Damn, sorry I did'nt get a chance to get back to ya on this, I was out of town. 350f 450r should be pretty good for auto-x/daily driver, IMO., But like Tad was sayin, no one can tell how much of a rough ride YOU can handle, if it were going to be a straight up race car id run some crazy rates like 600f 800r, hehe. I think on my next set-up I'll be running 450f 500r autox/daily/drag car. It'll prob beat the **** outta me but oh well , thats me. And the progress group does know what theyre talkin about, and i believe you'll have more shock travel with them as opposed to a typical set-up, If i remember right???..anyway good luck and let us know how it goes.........................John

Bambooseven

iTrader: (1)

They are gonna make them this week (as far as I know, some of the parts are backoredered) I'll let you guys know when I get them on and cornerweighted.

will100

i have never worked on a honda suspension. torn apart the front end of an MG once. that was only to bring it back to stock. I want to give my daily driver 93 dx hatch a stiff feel as i tend to load it excessively. it sounded like the people you were going through were making yours to order. does everything have a drop to it? i want to stick to stock hight.

dirty19

iTrader: (1)

There is some good advice up here and its not surprising the Auto X RR guys booted it out of there.
When it comes to a DD and you are putting more aggressive springs in, you take the street drivability away. Unless you enjoy having your fillings fall out, anything over a 350-500 spring the stock ride starts to diminish.
Im sure when you spoke to the Progressive peoples they did tell you the max valving on the shocks they were building for you?
Heed the word and do not go over the max rates.
Its a good way have a shock blow out.
Sway bars.
Unless you want super stiff rear... 22 is good but might be more than you need for DD and ocasional track duty.
Make sure you also purchase a subframe support for it to.
Rear sways tend to tear them out of the car with out one.