I got a great deal on some ksports, but the only thing is they are coming off an integra. The spring rates are a little higher than the civic's. The spring rate for my civic would be 10k/6k. Would it be a bad choice to just get the integra coilovers? This is a daily driver, by the way.

 

Too much is all based on opinion. 728lbs up front and 392 rear.
As long as the shock is designed to take those spring rates you will still have a firm ride but I've heard of people running higher rates than that on the street...

 

Yeah, it's a full coilover. So the shocks can handle it. Maybe I should just keep them on semi soft. I'm going to take a test drive with them in a teg first, but i'm sure it will act differently in my civic.

 

if the roads in your area are nice and smooth, it won't be too bad. but personally, those spring rates would be way to high for me to tolerate on a daily driver.

 

I live in Chicago, so there are a few nice roads and a few not so nice roads. I usually drive below the limit so I don't think I would have too much hard contact with bumps.

 

i have off the shelf rates for my ek hatch and i ride them at almost full stiff and i live in PA and the roads suck *** here. its stiff but not bad at all.

 

The Civic sedan isn't too much lighter than an Integra, so the ride should be fairly similar. And for the record, 13/7 isn't all that high, though that is a pretty large difference front to rear.

 

Man, that sounds good. I assume you have 10k and 6k? I was just reading around And I realized that if I have a B series swap the Integra setup would be better to run. I do plan on swapping in the future.

 

i think he means 7k up front and 13k in the rear which is still a big difference. Plus the only time you have a 13k/7k setup is when you have whellie bars in the back of your ride!

 

Nope, It's 13k in the front and 7k in the back. Most companies tend to set up coilovers like this so that novice drivers feel more comfortable with the understeer.

 

wow so you want the front end stiffer than the back! wouldnt that mean you feel more of the bumps in front!

Does anybody else have a setup similar setup like this?

 

Most coilovers are set up so that wherever the most weight is, the higher the spring rate is. For an NSX it's like 12k front, 13k rear. It's not really meant to make it stiff,it's more for supporting the additional weight.

 

Some companies do heavier in the front, some heavier in the rear. I used to have Buddy Club RSDs that were 10F/7R. Now I have Ohlins that are 16F/18R. A lot of the guys racing and HPDEing on track prefer the heavier rear setup. And CRISIS I hate to tell you, but you're wrong. It depends more on which wheels are driving the car. FWD cars tend to have higher rear rates and RWD cars tend to have higher front rates. AWD cars tend to follow the FWD trend, and that works for them apparently. Even a little D-series CRX will have a higher rate in the rear.

 

I don't know, from all the companies I have looked at, it seems that they try to balance the car out. With the exception of purpose made setups. eg. . . drifting, tracking, gymkhana, drag. Those would obviously be setup to favor the purpose of driving them a certain way. But when you get a normal "street" influenced coilover, it tends to balance the ride out. Think about it. FWD=Transmission in front. . . RWD=Transmission in the rear. More weight. I don't want to argue though.

 

And not to mention that most people with RWD tend to enjoy oversteer. The CRX can be an exception because of the wheel base and, like I mentioned in my previous post, what the driving situation is.

 

Most of the RWD applications I've seen do NOT have the transmission in the rear. They have a different overall weight distribution because of the driveshaft, diff, and axles in the rear, but that's it.

You're right that application makes a difference, but don't base your opinions on what is offered by companies. A lot of what's offered does NOT work well, especially a lot of the JDM nonsense. The JDM setups are also tailored to a different overall suspension setup (alignment, wheel and tire choice, etc.) Some people make those work, others don't.

With the exception of very heavy rates, street concepts follow track concepts. Track cars are set up in such a way that they handle WELL, not particularly over- or understeering. There are minor tweaks towards either, to induce certain car behavior in certain situations, but they aren't a drastic change. If the CRX example I gave was poor, what about a long-wheelbase Civic Sedan or Coupe? They also have heavy rear rates. So do Integras and Preludes, for that matter.

 

Eh. . . okay. So do you think 13k front 7k rear is going to be too harsh for my daily driven civic sedan?

 

It'll PROBABLY be fine. That is a bit stiff for the front, but the shocks are going to play a big part in that too, and the Ksports are relatively soft. They'll probably feel the same on your car as on the Integra, so a test drive would give you your answer.

 

rates are also determined by the wheel rate and suspension design. E36 BMWs have inboard rear springs, and run stiffer rates in the rear than compared to the front. although the rear spring rates are higher than the front, the motion ratio is different, and the rate at the wheel is much less than the spring would indicate.

it really depends on suspension design and weigh distribution of the car.