Just had a question regarding preload. I have function forms typeI on my dc2, but its to stiff. I purchased the off the wall set and they were 11k/10k. I adjusted the damping and the car is lowered with about 1-2 inch finger space all around. Will adjusting both lower spring perches to extend the compressed spring lessen the stiffness? If not, then I'll be looking into getting different spring rates. Any feed back is appreciated. Thanks in advance..

 

It shouldn't. The springs are linear and will maintain the same rates regardless of preload or compression.

616f/560r is quite stiff for an Integra street car.

 

stiff for any street car haha

I had 380/450 f/r rates on my GC's and it was stiff as crap.

 

When you preload a linear spring, all you are doing is increasing the initial force required to move the spring. You can tell it doesn't effect the rate by using Hooke's Law. You have the equation F=KX. "K" being the spring "rate" and "X" is distance compressed from its free length and you are solving for the force "F"

 

as long as you aren't preloading the spring to a point where the compressed length requires more weight than the car is putting on it to move the spring, it shouldn't make much difference in spring rate.

with those types of coilovers, you should only preload the spring enough so that its not loose on the shock. like maybe 1/2". then use the lower mounting perch to set the height. Soft springs can sometimes use some preload (like stock springs do), but its usually not needed with a stiff spring.

Either way, 11k/10k is pretty stiff for a street car. that's 616/560 lbs/inch. for reference, a stock DC2 GSR runs 200/100 lbs per inch.