i've been thinking about lowering my car once i get a new job and im pretty set on what i want but i've seen ppl talk about spring rates. i just wanted to know what the numbers meant and how they affect the car's ride(stiff or soft). thanks in advance

 

springs are rated in lbs/inch. for example, a spring rated 250 lbs/in means that it would take 250 lbs of pressure on it to compress it 1 inch. The stock integra is like 212 in the front and like 140 in the rear but i'm not sure about the numbers at all. i hope they're close the stock integra springs are too soft for me IMO. other spring rates are skunk2s at 500F/400R (STIFF) , street GCs are 350F/250R (pretty good), H&R sports are 276F and 276R(sittin in my room waiting to be installed), etc.. i'm just throwing out numbers here.

you want it softer in the front and stiffer in the back (doesn't apply to just springs, it also applies to tires, shock settings, suspension setups, etc..) to induce more oversteer as our FWD integras suffer from chronic understeer. for a good, comfy ride you want them soft but in exchange for more body roll and for a good handling ride, you want them stiff in exchange for a bumpy ride. try and find a happy medium. personally i like the h&r sports, which is why i got them now

and then you got linear and progressive spring rates. a progressive spring rate is when the spring has more than 1 spring rate. for example, my springs are rated like 134~447 lbs/inch. That means the initial spring rate is 134 lbs/inch but when that soft part of the coil is compressed all the way, the stiffer, 447 lbs/inch part of the coil starts to compress. an advantage to having progressive rate springs is it makes for a good ride but the handling is subpar.

then there's linear rate springs. Basically there is just 1 spring rate for the whole spring.. it's either the front or the rear on a stock integra that's linear. linear springs tend to handle better than progressive rate springs but you compromise ride quality.

ahh it's getting late now.. i might've forgotten something, someone else fill in the blanks

 

actually u want the front springs stiffer than the rear which prevents the rear from sliding out in hard cornering and to prevent that front end drop during hard braking

 

Depends on the purpose stick! You can start with high enough rates in the front to prevent front end dive. Then if you want something streetab;e rear lower rates are probably better. IF you are a decent driver and want to race the car too I would suggest a higher rear rate to help indue oversteer and prevent the carfrom pushing. You can get adjustable (Compression/rebound) shocks that will alllow for more tuning of the oversteer/undretseer properties as well.

 

I don't know what the roll centers for the front and rear are, but the rather extreme front weight bias alone suggests that the rear springs be softer than the fronts. Tail-swapping oversteer is not the fast way around any road course!

For any street car, I would consider neutral steer to be the limit of desirability (a car with slight understeer would be safer, and could be made to let the tail hang out).

And don't forget, you can always tune roll rates with anti-roll ("sway") bars!

 

It will take more than a sawybar to neutralize a FWD car. a FWD car is inherently going to push and the weight of the engine in the front promotes this. THe rates in the front to support the engine is the same issue as being concerned with brake dive (Weigh distribution) . The weight distributo\ion of an integra is 62% front and 38% rear.

The FWD with this weight distribution is an inherent understeer. Fast way around the track is the shortest line with a fast in fast out. I hardly think that higher rear rates will cause you to take the wrong line and rotation of the car is essential to completing a turn on a road course, auto-x or twisty road.

As for the road course thing. Real time runs much higher springs in the rear of their Integras then in the front (1000ft/lb Front / 1200ft/lb rear I believe but don't quote me) and all those cars see is road courses. I am sure they have done their homework and research and know the fastest way around the track.

It is pretty common now to place higher rear rates in the rear for even street cars and auto-xer's but in much more moderation than a real time Integra.

 

i am pretty sure rtr uses either 900 or 1000lbs springs in the rear

 

1000 in the rear is very possible with 800lb in the front. ANyone got any exact #'s?