I'm thinking of buying a set of GC Coilovers.
The rates I wanna get are 550f & 650r

Now when I order them, will Ground control match/valve the Koni shocks with
the spring rates I want ? Will they automatically have the correct custom valved koni shocks with these rates , or will they be just OTS Koni's ?




Modified by Rob. at 8:43 PM 2/10/2006

 

damn looks like u been through alot of suspension already ....stick with ur H&R urlta low coil-overs ..son!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SkipMic2006 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">damn looks like u been through alot of suspension already ....stick with ur H&R urlta low coil-overs ..son!</TD></TR></TABLE>

The Ultra Lows are on the crx.
I'm changing the TEIN SS on my civic.

 

Rob, you buy the GC's in the rates you want. Then buy the OTS Koni Yellows (Which are said to handle up to a max of 600lb before needing a re-valve)

550/600 is gonna be hella stiff for a 88-91 which is a light car, hope this is an auto-x car only or road race car only.

There is nothing GC or Koni do special, if you want a spring/shock matched...then thats coilover territory. The yellows are said to handle the GC pretty well between 300 and 600 since they are adjustable. Its just buy part A and part B, put them together with the cut in half bump stop.

Even if your talking about the deal on here with GC selling a complete assembled set, its still OTS Koni Yellows and Eibach ERS springs (GC)

 

yup. 650lb is too much unless you get it revalve.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sirg-vtec &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yup. 650lb is too much unless you get it revalve. </TD></TR></TABLE>

So basically I just have OTS Koni's ? GC doesnt have the shock valved to match my 650 Spring rate ?

 

GC has nothing to do with shocks. The make a spring and adjustable collar thats it. Then Koni makes the shock. If you want 650, you'll have to have the two Koni Yellows handling that spring rate rebuilt, or since you'll be getting rebuilt anyways, you could take the risk and run them, then if/when they blow, send them to be rebuilt.

GC only makes the spring/collar and could care less what shock its matched too, they make the collar specific to the yellow and thats as far as they go. The rest of the GC/Koni is Koni Yellows.

 

The 650 lbs will be on the rear, not too much weight back there.
I don't think 50 lbs will make a huge difference causing the shock to blow,
I'll just run the rear shocks full stiff.

 

There is no definitative line that says a shock valving is good for a specific spring rate x but not for X+ 50 or 100. There are simply too many variables involved as you drive a car on roads with people liside and driver preferences, not just driving a spring with a shock valving. That said, your 550 to 600 spring rates are certainly going to be in the upper end of the range for the shocks. From my experience, I would say those rates are extremely high for an EF Civic especially if it gets street use as i start CRX and EF Civic racers in ITA or H4 cars off at 400f/600 rear. I have driven my CRX a short distance on the street prior to a track event with 400f/600r and "needlessly punishing" and "bone crunching" are terms that come to mind. My CRX sits outside now on fresh Koni Sports with 400f/325r and it is very good for aggressive street use. I have lowered the rear spring rate a bit in the name of a livable ride quality. Also if you are running springs taht stiff, make sure you have tires that have enough mecyhanical grip for that much firmness. I'm on a set of Yoko all season tires tight now for the winter and I am having some wet and dry traction issues becasue the tires are up to the stiffness of the chassis. Just something to keep in mind.

It is correct that Ground Control is not revalving the Koni Sports although they periodically have us do some revalveing. If you are sure you want to run the car that really high on spring rates, you might consider the Koni RACE units that are already valved for high spring rates and are already shorter as well. they will ride very aggressively inb the street but you nhave already thrown ride quality pretty much out the window with those big rates. So if it is a mostly street car with a bit of competition, I;d say to go with the Sports and consider trimming the spring rates a bit, especially on the rear and a bit on the front. If it is mostly a competition car that may have a day or two on the street then go with the RACE and you are still very, very highly sprung so your tires better be right up to snuff. Since my car is on 400s on the front, for a lapping day I can simply change my rear springs and shocks over to a spare set of RACe with 600 springs and leave the fronts as they are.

Whichever setup you use, don't simply crank the adjustments to the max setting and leave them. I would still start somewhere in the 1/2 to 3/4 total range and see how the car rides and handles for you. Some people make a bigger deal about "gotta match to the spring rates" but in reality that matching is a range of damping that puts you in the ballpark and the rest of the car, use, ride, handling, etc. should be considered for tuning the car to get the best out of it. In my 10 years with Koni, I can't think of any situation of regular driving on the street that any car is best at the max setting all the way around simply becasue the real working range is so large.

Good luck with it. My advice is to consider how you are really using the car and get spring that wiull be inn the ballpark but better on the conservative than the high side. I talk to lots of guys who say "Oh I don't car how it rides. I want it really hard so it will be best handling" but I really think that tends to be the a bit of a lack of understanding and a bit of machismo talking more than the reality of a good performing car, especially on the street. No doubt that it is good to be pretty firm of the rest of the car is up to the task and the roads you are on are not too rough but there is a difference between a good handling aggressive car and a grip challenged buckboard that gets tedious to be in for very long. Be careful.

 

Very informative as always Lee.

 

Wow.. great info Crx Lee

I was running 600 front + 750 rear on my 1989 BMW M3 When I had it.
It was drivem on the street with Bilstein Sport shocks, valved to match.
I didnt find it that stiff, but it made the car handle on rails !

I wanna get stiffer than normal rates, so I can drop that car alot, and prevent bottoming out.

 

ooo man u had an e30 m3!!! thats on my dream list

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Rob. &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I was running 600 front + 750 rear on my 1989 BMW M3 When I had it.
It was drivem on the street with Bilstein Sport shocks, valved to match.
I didnt find it that stiff, but it made the car handle on rails !

I wanna get stiffer than normal rates, so I can drop that car alot, and prevent bottoming out. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Not only are comparing BMW to Honda spring rates not apples to apples, but apples to orangutans! I dare you to find much in common other than four wheel fun cars. Remember that the BMW is a strut front with probably a .85 or .9 to 1 motion ratio and the rear is very mcuh different as well with the spring located totally separately from the shock. Very, very diffrerent cars that should not have any specific nu,mber compared unless you factor in the wheel rates. Also the BMW is probably close to half again heavier too.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vietnameeh &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ooo man u had an e30 m3!!! thats on my dream list</TD></TR></TABLE>

YUP here it is



I have a 4 minute video of it if you wanna see...

 

oo nice are those the gruppe s mirrors or whatever

evo bumper? man thats hot

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vietnameeh &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">oo nice are those the gruppe s mirrors or whatever

evo bumper? man thats hot</TD></TR></TABLE>

They are DTM Mirrors, from 1992 DTM Racing in Germany..I've been an E30 M3 fanatic since 1997 or so. My engine was a 2.5L 4cyl, not the 2.3L






I have all kinds of Videos + Movies from 1988-1993 DTM , live races in German.. great action.

 

Rob, for what it's worth, I just got through with a OTS Koni Yellow, GC install in my '89 CRX Si. My car is mostly a DD so I wanted it firm enough for AutoX but not teeth rattling or back destroying ride. After talking to my AutoX friends I bought 350 lb front, 400 lb rear. The car now has a much firmer but not punishing ride. If I dial the Koni's up to full firm I can corner very flatly but also feel every expansion joint and pebble on the road. For DD I keep the Koni's dialed down to full soft. Sounds like you might like you'd want something a little firmer than mine, 400 lb. front, 450 lb rear might be what you're looking for. 550 lb. f, 650 lb. r will be "race car" stiff and completely unpleasant if you drive this car anywhere but the track,,,,,,,,