I just got the Suspension Techniques sway bar set(pretty beefy), urethane bushing kit, new tie rods... But I was wondering what kinda of spring rates would be ideal for auto x and road racing. I'd like to reduce the understeer as much as possible.....

Has anyone come up with a good front rear spring rate combo that has a nice balance to it? Any ideas and experience on the subject would be great. I did a search but I found nothing for a CRX on this topic.

 

I have set-up a CRX for a friend (future H4 car). playing with the alignment seems to have more affect than the spring rates. but for his car I started him with 450F and 550R, koni yellows. that's it for suspension work.. other than that I set, change the alignment to balance out the car.

 

im running a 25mm bar out back in my crx, you might want to try a run or two with the front bar disconnected that might make it understeer less, but the big bar makes it want to rotate more, its trial and error, ive found what works for your driving style doesnt work for someone elses, also dont pre tension the rear bar just make sure its snug, running such a big bar in the back you might not need higher spring rates in back since essentially thats what the bar is doing for you

 

I have a set of GC coilovers but I havent checked to see the spring rates on them. They are for a B16 CRX setup(thats what I told them when I ordered them).

How big was the difference when you installed the new rear sway bar? Also, would replacing the rear trailing arm bushings with urethane help? Or would it make it worse?

 

Having understeer in a tuned CRX is a thing of the past unless you specifically want it. There is so much info about having a combination of spring rates, a rear sway bar and adjustable shocks for tuning the level of understeer (slower normally but safer for some drivers), neutrality, or oversteer within reason. The adjustability at the back will be used to set the balance for the driver's preference and confidence.

Since your CRX is lighter and more importantly shorter wheelbase than most Civics, Integras, etc., remember that less aggressive spring rates are needed to make the car rotate than what most of the other cars use. It is easy to follow them into a really big spring rate and get an unnecessarily nervous and snap happy CRX that will only cause trouble. Go a bit on the conservative side and you can make a CRX balance be any way you want it.