hey im kinda new to the roadrace/autoX forum, but im about to pur hase some GC coilovers, and im looking for the best springrate to use. i am going to be using them on koni yellows,and with a ST 22mm rear bar,so i know from a few threads ive read today not to go over 400 lbs/in. this car will be a daily driver, and i dont mind a rough ride, but i want it to be somewhat competent in autox. ive seen most people are using 400lb/in on the rear and anywhere from 300-350 on the front. i was htikning of getting 300F and 400R. this is a 1990 civic SI BTW with a b16 swap which supposedly adds 78 lbs to the font nose, and the rear is stripped interior wise. do u think using that much rear spring wil cause a HUGE amount of lift-throttle oversteer with the 22mm sway bar?

 

and what are u guys suggestions for springrates on daily drivers?

 

If you dont mind the rough ride, 350F sounds about right.

However, unless you will have it corner-weighted, coilover sleeves arent exactly ideal.

 

i understand this. the main reason i am going with GC is becasue of hte ability to get custom weight springs.

 

and what about the rear? should i keep it at 400 with a 22mm sway back there, or will i be slipping everywhere?

 

How much stiffer is that swaybar than stock?

 

not sure. im going from a stock rear swaybar to a 22mm. and 400lb/in srings int he back so far......

 

350F 400R is a nice combo but it will really come down to your tolerance for stiffness on a dialy driver. This will be pretty stiff, but you will probably be able to live with it for daily driver.

 

out of curiosity, could you please explain this response a little more in depth? not the corner weighing part, but, why the coilover sleeves aren't ideal.

 

i run 600 fronts and 700 rears.....i think it is fine!! i don't mind it at all
it is ruff but hey....i like to corner and STREET RACE....

 

I've been in it on the street, wasn't a problem. 5000k rpms and the excessive noise at 60mph sucked tho.

 

You will never get all 4 sleeves to be the same height by eye. Plus, for some reason, my experience with coilovers leaves me wanting. They seem to clunk around a bit much at times.

 

ive had the same experience, but ive decided to do it the right way this time and get the adapters and all. so hopefully, ill get lucky this time and it wont be noisy

 

alright guy i ended up ordering 350F/400R. is anyone running this setup now? and how do u like it?

 

bah, rough ride my ***, i run 700+ in the front and its as comfortable as a lexus, not really but as long as your not a bitch it's fine

 

I don't see why this is a problem. A properly cornerweighted vehicle's static ride height will not be aesthetically pleasing. Each corner will have an tweaked ride height in order to most accurately alter the crossweights. If you wanted to set the car up to be aesthetically even, don't do it by eye. Do it by tape measure on a level surface. Measure from ground to a reference point, ie jacking point. It will take a little while to tweak on the ride heights at each corner to get the car to sit evenly, since changing the height at one corner will effect the height at another, but it can be done without a huge degree of difficulty. Just have to keep going back and forth, fine-tuning the height until it's where you want it to be.

 

That is exactly why doing it by eye wont work very well. Because people will try to get it 'aesthetically pleasing,' the balanced and cornerweighting will not be on ideal.

Edit: WBB, who is speaking from theories of corner weighting and no actual firsthand experience.


[Modified by Wont be beat, 1:17 PM 11/22/2002]