MartyMarGSR

Out of the experienced Solo II autocrosses here, how much of a drop did you put on your car and with which springs?

I just put on some h&r race springs which are quite stiff and koni yellow sp3 shocks. My car is slammed though from the race springs but the other springs were a lot softer to.

How low did you guys go?

MattG

My car is jacked up compared to some, with less than a 2" drop. Its probably more like 1.5". the springs are ERS with GC sleeves. If you slam an integra you start to have funny suspension geometry. However, with the OTS race springs you should be OK.

Rodney

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MartyMarGSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

How low did you guys go?</TD></TR></TABLE>

one word: CORNERWEIGHT thank you, thank you....

Watkinsm3

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MartyMarGSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
How low did you guys go?</TD></TR></TABLE>

In my eyes most lowered hondas are prone to the front suspension bottoming out and creating an understeering pig if the appropriate steps are not taken to ensure this doesn't happen.

Now...I havn't measured since I corner-weighted but I believe its lowered about 2-2.5 inchs. Maybe a hair more? I have to drive the car up on blocks to get the jack under the car with street tires. This is with shortened shocks and HEFTY 650/800 springs to keep the car off the bumpstops.

carl_aka_carlos

1.75-2 inches for me....you need to make sure you run a stiff enough spring to keep the front off the bumpstops though. something higher than 350. i run 380 and had to raise the front and i will also be purchasing the GC upper shock mount so I can get back another 3/4inch of compression travel up front.

although now that i think about it you'll probably hit coil bind in a progressive spring like the H&R races before you hit the bumpstops so you should be fine

Neo

I'm not exactly sure, but I'm lowered around 1.5 to 1.75 inches all around. Haven't had the nerve to go any lower for fear of running up against the bump stops, developing "push" problems, and scrapping/denting the header and exhaust. Would love to get some more negative camber by lowering the car more (the outside edges of my front tires are screaming, too), but not at the expense of those other things.

MartyMarGSR

well heres what my h&r race and koni's combined to drop my car.

Im on the middle perch in the back, and one perch down from the middle in the front. (I have the 5 perch sp3's)

Only time it rubs is if I have the wheel turned and hit a bump, then I have direct contact with the fender since its so low. Other than that, i havent had rubbing issues really. We'll see if thats different once I fix my camber on saturday tho...

carl_aka_carlos

i would raise the front up one perch IMHO. you may run into bumpsteer issues

GSpeedR

I have the GC upper mounts and I was playing around with ride height a few days back. I'm lowered about 2.5" which is probably a bit too much as I'm worried about tire/fender contact. I will be measuring the available shock travel in a few days. I wish I had access to some scales...

SPiFF

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MartyMarGSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Does this car turn at any speed above 5mph?

I have about a 2 finger gap up front with 400# linear rate springs. Any lower I would run out of travel on OTS Konis at full load with sticky tires.

carl_aka_carlos

yeah, i can stuff two fingers under the fender as well, with 380 linear springs.....definetly raise that bish up!

1GreyTeg

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MartyMarGSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Out of the experienced Solo II autocrosses here, how much of a drop did you put on your car and with which springs?

I just put on some h&r race springs which are quite stiff and koni yellow sp3 shocks. My car is slammed though from the race springs but the other springs were a lot softer to.

How low did you guys go?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I actually Raised my car

It looks like 6 or 7 inches When you're as phat as I am you need the extra clearance, Just in case the course is bumpy.
Stock suspension of course.

goern-R

[QUOTE=MartyMarGSR]

Do you actually auto-x that way? If so, what are your spring rates with that setup? I have about a 1/4 inch clearance from the top of the tire to the fender and I'm afraid to go any lower with 8k springs up front.

I've never had mine cornerweighted, but have experimented with alot of different heights and, maybe it was in my head and maybe it was the resulting camber I gained, but it seems that the lower I went the better it felt (more in quicker transitions than sweeper type turns).

HondaRcB

I haven't measured it, but now I'm curious to do so, but have been running at this height with no problems. I'm using GC's with 400F/500R on Bilstein shocks. I've ran 2 autocrosses on this set up and the handling has been an amazing improvement over the stock ITR set up, which I was afarid I'd hurt. I do get a bit or rubbing in the front from the tire hitting the body of the car. I'll be running VIR soon so then we'll really see how she does. I would also like to get back to Beaver Run to compare to the stock suspension.

tegmech

About 1.8" drop on ground controls with front strut tower brace and camber kit. I have ran in 2 events in KC on this setup and it handles like a dream. I have messed around with the ride heights and this seems to work the best. Not going to change a thing after this one. Good luck on your ride

Neo

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HondaRcB &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I haven't measured it, but now I'm curious to do so, but have been running at this height with no problems. I'm using GC's with 400F/500R on Bilstein shocks. I've ran 2 autocrosses on this set up and the handling has been an amazing improvement over the stock ITR set up, which I was afarid I'd hurt. I do get a bit or rubbing in the front from the tire hitting the body of the car. I'll be running VIR soon so then we'll really see how she does. I would also like to get back to Beaver Run to compare to the stock suspension.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

To me, that ride height looks just about perfect -- can still see a small gap between the tire and fender lip. Takes a while for some folks to realize that having adequate suspension travel is so very damn important for good handling. I can't tell you how many sTuNnaHz with cars sLiZzaMeD to the ground I've seen come to an autocross and then leave with their tails between their legs because their car doesn't turn. Sad but true.

BTW, beautiful car. [drool] Mmmmmm, CW ITR [/drool]

fstblkcivic

what set up should i go with? im looking to get 600 spring rates just not sure what brand i should go with? i would like to get the same drop as the cw itr... its perfect<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HondaRcB &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I haven't measured it, but now I'm curious to do so, but have been running at this height with no problems. I'm using GC's with 400F/500R on Bilstein shocks. I've ran 2 autocrosses on this set up and the handling has been an amazing improvement over the stock ITR set up, which I was afarid I'd hurt. I do get a bit or rubbing in the front from the tire hitting the body of the car. I'll be running VIR soon so then we'll really see how she does. I would also like to get back to Beaver Run to compare to the stock suspension.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

MartyMarGSR

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by goern-R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">[QUOTE=MartyMarGSR]

Do you actually auto-x that way? If so, what are your spring rates with that setup? I have about a 1/4 inch clearance from the top of the tire to the fender and I'm afraid to go any lower with 8k springs up front.

I've never had mine cornerweighted, but have experimented with alot of different heights and, maybe it was in my head and maybe it was the resulting camber I gained, but it seems that the lower I went the better it felt (more in quicker transitions than sweeper type turns). </TD></TR></TABLE>

I believe the h&r race are 460 front, 380 rear.
I was able to get it to not rub anywhere noticably when i put the shocks on full stiff, but on the road, it rubs just a tiny bit in the front when taking fast turns on the shocks at full soft. My rear fender was rubbing slightly to, but i fixed that by rolling my rear fenders slightly.

Watkinsm3

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MartyMarGSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I believe the h&r race are 460 front, 380 rear.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Have your Konis been shortened? I'd be VERY weary of running the car that low, with that soft of a spring rate up front, if the shocks have not been shortened. I'd say there is a good chance of the front shocks hitting the bump stops. Chance is is much much higher if you are running "R" tires at an autox. I'd definitely do some testing with some zip-ties to be certain.

phat-S

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MartyMarGSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I believe the h&r race are 460 front, 380 rear.
I was able to get it to not rub anywhere noticably when i put the shocks on full stiff, but on the road, it rubs just a tiny bit in the front when taking fast turns on the shocks at full soft. My rear fender was rubbing slightly to, but i fixed that by rolling my rear fenders slightly.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Are you sure this is objective? I was under the impression that KONI Yellows' rebound adjustment have zero effect on compression. If that is the case and I understand things correctly (which is often not the case at ALL) then I would "assume" rubbing would not be affected by a change in rebound. Again, I don't claim to be correct here but it just doesn't read right to me (please correct me if I am wrong on this).

Watkinsm3

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by phat-S &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Are you sure this is objective? I was under the impression that KONI Yellows' rebound adjustment have zero effect on compression. If that is the case and I understand things correctly (which is often not the case at ALL) then I would "assume" rubbing would not be affected by a change in rebound. Again, I don't claim to be correct here but it just doesn't read right to me (please correct me if I am wrong on this).</TD></TR></TABLE>

From what I understand (which could be wrong too!) adjusting the rebound on the Konis also has mild effect on compression... not alot at all. But I'd say you are correct. Increasing the rebound too much could result in more problems from the "jacking" effect as the car goes over bumps. You hit a bump and because the compression is relativly unchanged the shock and suspension compress fairly easily. Because the rebound is so stiff the shock does not completly decompress before the next bump witch may for the car lower still. "rinse and repeat" and all of a sudden the car is right on the bump stops (or close to them).

Just some thoughts and ideas/rambling... I'm no shock expert so who knows!

MartyMarGSR

when researching the shocks i got, i was trying to decide between regular 3 perch konis and the neuspeed koni sp3's. I was told the sp3's are shorter than regular konis, thus better for low drops.

Also, to the guy above who said adjusting the stiffness on the koni's wouldnt effect rubbing in my car. When i had them on full stiff, the car basically felt like it had zero body roll compared to full soft, thus, the car's body didnt lean and rub on my tires as i was turning as much.

SPiFF

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MartyMarGSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">when researching the shocks i got, i was trying to decide between regular 3 perch konis and the neuspeed koni sp3's. I was told the sp3's are shorter than regular konis, thus better for low drops.</TD></TR></TABLE>

This is not true. Search in here, you will find the answer. The Nuespeed Konis has a 20mm shorter shaft, but the body is the same length. No additional benefit in travel over the OTS ones.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Also, to the guy above who said adjusting the stiffness on the koni's wouldnt effect rubbing in my car. When i had them on full stiff, the car basically felt like it had zero body roll compared to full soft, thus, the car's body didnt lean and rub on my tires as i was turning as much.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Rubbing is not the issue, bottoming out the shock is.

carl_aka_carlos

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SPiFF &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Rubbing is not the issue, bottoming out the shock is.</TD></TR></TABLE>

rubbing should be the least of your concerns. i'd say you are bottoming out your shocks. i've said it twice and i'll say it again, raise that bish up. it may not be the 'pimp' thing to do but your car will ride better, handle better, and you shocks will last longer and be more effective at dampening the motion of the car.

phat-S

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Watkinsm3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Increasing the rebound too much could result in more problems from the "jacking" effect as the car goes over bumps. You hit a bump and because the compression is relativly unchanged the shock and suspension compress fairly easily. Because the rebound is so stiff the shock does not completly decompress before the next bump witch may for the car lower still. "rinse and repeat" and all of a sudden the car is right on the bump stops (or close to them).
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yah, I think we're both in that "I ain't sure but it seems" vein here but having noted that, I would be suprised (but would be happily corrected) that an Yellow would be valved such that it would "jack" down a 460 lbs./380 lbs. sprung car. On my 944, I have the Yellows up front w/ 400 lbs. springs (and of-course this is an entirely different car to apply this to) and have always had the rebound set a smidge off of full-stiff and never "noticed" any jacking effect (but that's not to say my buttometer would detect this in the first place - it might very well be doing it and I just haven't noticed it). I am just having an problem visualizing changes in the rebound of the shock effecting rubbing - it doesn't jive w/ my understanding of these shocks (which I *thought* rebound/compression were mutually exclusive changes and we cannot change the latter - again, happy to be wrong).

- The guy above