Need help in choosing setup. Stock EK hatch. will most likely be driven 80% DD and the other 20% canyon-driving/spirited driving. Was thinking of getting 350f/350r for spring rates + a sway bar in the rear. Not planning on lowering the car more than an 1.5". Most likely going to run 15x7 wheels with 205/50/15 summer tires.

I was just looking for input to see how this^ would handle 'theoretically'.
I know there are a lot of threads which have probably discussed already, but just looking for quick response/help.

Thanks

 

Check the stickies up top

 

just call ground control and tell them what you are plaining on doing with the car and they will be able to suggest the right spring combo for you.

 

They already have an off the shelf kit. Their recommendation for street or general use is that OTS kit.

350/350 shouldn't be all that bad. But 250 is about as high as you want the rear springs if comfort is a concern.

 

How much would a rear sway affect a rear 350 rate?

 

I'm not sure what you're asking.

 

Handling-wise, how would a rear sway bar affect a car with a 350lb/in rear spring rate? More oversteer possibly?

 

A larger sway bar will stabilize whichever axle it is put on...regardless of spring rate.

A stiffer spring will do the same thing....with or without a sway bar.

So a stiff spring and a big sway bar will both further stabilize whichever axle you put them on.

A larger rear bar and a stiffer rear spring will make the car tend to oversteer more with the same driver input, yes.

Its not possible to pinpoint the exact effect of 350LB springs and a sway bar.

 

Thanks for the input. Another one for you.. Where can the KoniGC combo be had for cheap nowadays? Still thmotorsports?

 

That's where I'd buy em.

 

I have 500# F and 600# R Eibach Race Springs with Koni Race SA Shock Absorbers and GC Sleeves with OEM top hats on my EJ2.

The car handles like a dream. Get a stiffer spring in the rear, stock sway bar up front, and stiffer sway bar in the rear. Running the rates you're suggesting shouldn't be too bad for comfort.

My setup is FAST on a smooth road, but way too stiff for the street. It's my track car, so that's fine with me.

But honestly, if GC has an off-the-shelf street driving kit, just go with that. They know what they're doing and have helped me tremendously with my RSX in the past.

 

So I just installed my kit. The shocks came pretty fast but the sleeves took a little while longer.

Anyway, I had a question about the assembly as a whole.. When i had the car on a lift, installed everything, etc. the springs on all four wheels were loose when the car was up in the air. Is this normal for the KoniGC setup? I didnt mess with the shocks out of the box.. I only lowered it maybe about two inches from stock?
Just wondering if the spring being loose while its in the air is normal...
On the ground everything sits normally.

 

That's normal, yeah

 

Depending on spring rate and desired height...its normal for the springs to dangle.

2" is too low for those shocks. Hopefully you have very high front rates and extended front hats.

Rewind a bit...

Lol. Even at that height, you're *just * beyond Koni's recommendation.

 

I have 380/400 on my teg, and I had 400/450 on my EJ8. EJ8 was just barely daily driveable (for me) on 205/45/16 RE-11s. Handled great, very nuetral feel. Easy to induce the right amount of oversteer but not out of control. Drove that car pretty aggressively on the off/on ramps to say the least lol.

Teg needs higher rear spring rate to keep rear from sagging during drag racing.

 

I only lowered it that much to kill the fat wheel gap. Once I get a proper set of wheels and tires, I'll most likely raise it.

 

A proper set of wheels and tires usually has the same diameter as stock, give or take a small amount.

 

I am only guesstimating off the top of my head when I say 2" down from stock. Right now on my steelies I have just about 1.5-2 finger gap between fender and tire.

 

My fingers are like bananas, bro

 

UPDATE: Was looking into purchasing the GC Top Hats.. Just wondering what the difference is between GC's [RACE] top hats and their standard top hats??

This is how the car sits right now, so I'm assuming I should definitely get em'.

 

With extended hats, your UCA and shock tower can become the new "bumpstops", unfortunately.

Why do you want extended hats? Are you smashing the shock bumpstop all the time?

 

Looks fine to me =/

 

Over large bumps, the car almost feels like its catching air + feels very hard.
I'll send another pic soon because it looks as though I'm on the bumpstop with the car on level ground. (in the front, I'm not too sure about the rears)

 

Here are both the FrontLeft and FrontRight on level ground.

 

Did you cut your bumpstops? Those look like full length.

Cut your bumpstops so that they are about 1.25" length.

Extended hats are not a good solution for street driven cars. The suspension was designed so that the shock would bottom out on the bumpstop a little bit before the UCA smashed the shock tower.

Extending the travel of the shock means that the above relationship is no longer valid.

You need EXTREMELY stiff springs to ride low.

As a guideline, Koni yellows are good for about 350-400LB front springs and 200-300 LB rear springs for your setup. With those spring rates, you should not lower the car more than 1.25 to 1.38" from stock.

If you deviate one value, you will need to adjust quite a few things for the suspension to work properly. Lowering a car isn't as simple as the internet suggests.

Koni and ground control both have recommendations on what parts and products to use for each car. Those values were based on quite a bit of engineering.