Ok, after ALOT!!! of searching, i have gotten no where .

Ok ill start with the car.
- 1997 Honda Civic DX coupe
- K20a with the ekk2 mounts requireing the use of the eg crossmember, steering rack, and lca's

Ok so this car is no longer my daily, and I dont really care about how harsh it is on the street. It will be driven on the street about 2-3days out of the week during the summer. But primarilly I am only concerned with heavy duty autox and hpde.

Currently the car has omni power full coilovers with 10kf and 8kr, and no swaybars. Yet for some reason it seems to have slight oversteer, which actually feels pretty nice. Im guessing it was my shitty tires?

But now it is time to upgrade, so i searched and searched. But got no where.
Obviously the setups for hpde/track driving will be different then autox. I want to go with something that is stiff enough for autox, but something that will also not be too sketchy on the track at higher speeds. I see people going with bigger rear rates then front and vice versa, no front sway, and others that run a front sway.
Oh and I also plan on running 225's or 235's, and at ther very least 215's

So right now im thinking that I will start with just a new strut/spring combo and add swaybars into the equation after I see what the coilover setup does for me. So im thinking of getting revalved koni's and gc's, but then im back to the question of do I want a higher rate up front or out rear?


I really need input

 

Correct rates.. is a relative term.. Correct for you is what you should be asking.
Only you can know whats correct for you. Your spring rates are awfully high to begin with...IMO
GC and Konis are good, I have them...There are other brands out there.
I think what your missing here is the ability to pull the trigger and choose something. it can be a daunting task given the prices of these parts. budget can be a big factor in what you choose.
No matter what you read here there is no sure fire way to know whats correct for you.
As you read you'll see a wide spectrum of set ups high in the rear, low in the rear etc...
Start off in the middle , you are probably going to change out your springs many times anyway. Each thing you add will change the car and the way it handles, sometimes for the better sometimes the opposite. BTW GC's and revalved konis you can run high spring rates.
Keep reading you'll find more information in the archives.

 

alright so that is what i was thinking, start in the middle with a little higher rear rate, such as like 500f 650r. And do it on revalved konis, so that I can have unlimited rate choices. Also will koni know what to do when revalveing as long as i just tell them what kind of car it is and what kind of driving im doing?

 

Instead of buying off the shelf yellows and having them revalved, you can just buy the already race valved yellows from them. An example of a part number would be 8041 for the OTS model or 8041-RACE for the SPSS (race) valving. I think you can have them custom valved to a particular rate, but since you don't even know what rates you'll end up with, just get the standard race valving and adjust rebound as necessary for your setup. Also, the range of the SPSS valving is not unlimited. It will function well anywhere in the 500#/in to ~1000#/in range.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FlyZlow &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Instead of buying off the shelf yellows and having them revalved, you can just buy the already race valved yellows from them. An example of a part number would be 8041 for the OTS model or 8041-RACE for the SPSS (race) valving. I think you can have them custom valved to a particular rate, but since you don't even know what rates you'll end up with, just get the standard race valving and adjust rebound as necessary for your setup. Also, the range of the SPSS valving is not unlimited. It will function well anywhere in the 500#/in to ~1000#/in range.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Ditto!

 

Ok cool, do you know where i could pick them up? directly through koni?

 

and also in regards to the rebound, if I go with a 500f 650r or something like that, generally I would want to set the rear rebound stiffer then the front to induce a little more oversteer correct? and also should you use more rebound as the spring rate goes higher? Like if i go 500f 650r and have too much over steer because of the higher rear rate or becaue of an added rear say bar could I put less rebound on the rear then on the front even though the rear has a stiffer spring?

 

well after looking directly on koni's site, they sell the race kit for $1160 for the front and rear. Does anyone know of any distributors that sell for cheaper?

 

koni expensives and 850f/950r to start. see if you can hang on to that.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by chairwitharmrests &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well after looking directly on koni's site, they sell the race kit for $1160 for the front and rear. Does anyone know of any distributors that sell for cheaper?</TD></TR></TABLE>

You may be able to find it a little cheaper, but you won't find them under $1k. That's still cheaper than buying OTS units and having them revalved though. One thing you could do is just go with slightly lower spring rates (say 450f/600r) and use the OTS valving. The OTS yellows valving should be fine with those rates. They may even get up to the 500/650 setup, but IIRC from what Lee has said, that's really at the upper end of their intended use range.

As for the rebound adjustment, for any given spring rate, there is a range of damping that will work. This is where tuning comes in. You have to tweak the setup to figure out just how quickly you want to let the springs unwind. Generally, the heavier the spring, the more rebound damping you'll want, but that doesn't mean that there's a perfect amount of damping for a given spring rate on any setup. Make sense?

 

ok i think ill still go with the races, because it will leave me open to go higher rates later on. But will i sacrifice anything other then money if i run a low rate on the race type?

And i think i understand. Generally you need a higher rebound for a higher rate, but then the specific car, the swaybars, weight, all affect what would be a good setup in the end? So i should generally start with more rebound in the back where the higher rate will be, then adjust from there?

 

bump for more input

 

basically, yes. more in/lb=more rebound. if you go with the double adjustables, you should be fine with whatever rates you start out with.

 

double adjustables being rebound and compression?

 

correct