Just wondering what spring rates yall are running and on what car and the weight of your car.

Kerry

ME 90 hatch SM car with B20
WAS- 500front 550rear did not like
NOW- 550front 500rear getting better
PLAN ON- 500front 450rear

 

600 front, 1000 rear. Custom valved Koni adjustable shocks. I like it a lot.

Note: this is not an autocross car. It is a road race car.

 

89 Hatch with D15B1, autocross, 15x7 w/225/45-15 Kumhos.
18mm OEM front sway
22mm ST rear on middle setting
Zeal B6s
12K front (670)
8K rear (445)
going to try 110 N/mm front (629)
then going to try 90 N/mm rear (500)
then 100 N/mm front
then 95 N/mm rear
and so on... till I like the rotation.

 

With the exception of Shultz, I want to know:

Do you guys who autocross run in perfectly smooth lots where a 550 ~ 600+ lb. spring is going to be "skip proof" over shitty pavement?

We have shitty lots here in NJ, so smooth surfaces like the one I experienced at FedEx field in MD is a once a year treat for me.

Anthony "Mario" Crea

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by honda93 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">With the exception of Shultz, I want to know:

Do you guys who autocross run in perfectly smooth lots where a 550 ~ 600+ lb. spring is going to be "skip proof" over shitty pavement?

We have shitty lots here in NJ, so smooth surfaces like the one I experienced at FedEx field in MD is a once a year treat for me.

Anthony "Mario" Crea</TD></TR></TABLE>

I run higher than that in my R...a lot higher. My car does not 'skip' over rough surfaces at all. It's all about shock valving.

 

Some of the lots are smooth but that lot is small, The runways that we run are all chopped up. On the runway I am concerned about the rear tires loosing contact with the ground. That is the main reasion that I am thinking about going with 500 front and 450 rear, and if I need more rotation in the rear I would set the rear bar on the middle setting and stiffen the koni's.

 

I would not run those rates for autocross on OTS konis. I ran 450/600 on track and they were not as well controlled as i would've liked them to be on mid-corner bumps. But other than that... the setup was alot of fun. I had previously run 375/450, and while the car was better controlled over bumpy ****, it didnt seem to handle as well as the 450/600 combo. I would've loved to had the shocks revalved and gone 600/900+.

If your car is skating over rough pavement its a shock problem, not a spring rate problem.

 

93 Civic Si
330f/400r
GC
Agx
Azenis

Some other basic stuff.

I love these spring rates for an autox car and daily driver.

 

94 civic, 2230 lbs (without my fat ***)

672lb front/580 rear

i have the occasioanl skipping problem at the same lots as honda93, but on the smooth stuff it is clear sailing...

 

1850 pound hatch
OTS Konis
500f no bar
400r 22mm bar
20x9.5x13f slicks
20x8x13r slicks

Next year will go up ~150lbs all around with revalved Konis and car will weigh 1680.

 

i run more spring then todd00 does in a lighter car and don't have _any_ "skipping" problems. i'd run more spring if i had a cage.....

nate

 

nate-you also have the shocks to run that kind of spring.

94 Integra RS
380f/450r OTS koni's
26mm front 19mm rear sway bar

in the offseason i'm going to 400# in the front and adding GC's upper shock mount to get some travel back.

&lt;-----saving every penny for Advance Designs

 

650F/800R on a 2450lbs Integra with custom valved Advance Design shocks.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Todd00 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
It's all about shock valving.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I agree 100% no skipping to be had on my setup either.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by carl_aka_carlos &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
&lt;-----saving every penny for Advance Designs</TD></TR></TABLE>

You should have drove my car in Topeka... tried em out and stuff.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by carl_aka_carlos &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">nate-you also have the shocks to run that kind of spring.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah, i kinda take it for granted that not everyone has the shocks to handle the higher spring rates.

speaking of shock valving, an interesting note about the AD's that can be interpreted however you want. Shenefield told me he is going back to koni's and that he doesn't like the AD's. I drove Shenefields car once on the road (the frankencivic with the AD's) and i did not like the "feel" of the shocks at all compared to the revalved koni's. matt likes the feel. i'm slower then matt and chris.

nate

 

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

yeah, i kinda take it for granted that not everyone has the shocks to handle the higher spring rates.

speaking of shock valving, an interesting note about the AD's that can be interpreted however you want. Shenefield told me he is going back to koni's and that he doesn't like the AD's. I drove Shenefields car once on the road (the frankencivic with the AD's) and i did not like the "feel" of the shocks at all compared to the revalved koni's. matt likes the feel. i'm slower then matt and chris.

nate</TD></TR></TABLE>

I think what Chris S. was referring to (we discussed this at the Pro Finale while watching Mccormick's Civic in the open Challenge). He thinks the AD might have more valving then then he would like for his setup. If I remember he was running shocks full soft all around on the car (compression and rebound) and still though it was a little too much.

Maybe the difference is in the race tires? I tend to run light shock up front and moderate shock in the rear (the rear gets increased at topeka). Maybe I it works cause I'm a little undersprung for race tires? Who knows! You'll have to drive the car sometime Nate... Maybe some event when we try the Hoosier's on yer car too?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Watkinsm3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You'll have to drive the car sometime Nate... Maybe some event when we try the Hoosier's on yer car too?</TD></TR></TABLE>

*drool* i need to send you an e-mail with some event dates....

nate

 

90 Civic Si Hatch (road raced)

weight: ~2000lbs (I weigh about 175, so just barely making the min weight of 2175!)

450F / 550R with Koni Yellows
I have the Suspension Techniques rear sway and no front sway.

I am pretty happy with the setup for now, might try stiffer rates next year.

 

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

*drool* i need to send you an e-mail with some event dates....

nate</TD></TR></TABLE>

Now yer talkin'! I've got these Hoosiers I've gotta burn up before winter sets in and they become useless.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by solo-x &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i run more spring then todd00 does in a lighter car and don't have _any_ "skipping" problems. i'd run more spring if i had a cage.....

nate</TD></TR></TABLE>

You higher than 850 in the rear now? I know you run more in the front than I do, but I didn't think you were over 850 in the rear yet.

how's that chassis holding up again? lol.

 

one think to think about is that koni's are a rebound intensive shock. maybe chris's AD's don't have enough rebound in them?

and remember, while it is all about shock valving, it is still totally about driver preference. hence, i'll never ever go with as heavy of a spring as nate runs, yet we have essentially the same car (mine has more power tho )

 

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

yeah, i kinda take it for granted that not everyone has the shocks to handle the higher spring rates.

speaking of shock valving, an interesting note about the AD's that can be interpreted however you want. Shenefield told me he is going back to koni's and that he doesn't like the AD's. I drove Shenefields car once on the road (the frankencivic with the AD's) and i did not like the "feel" of the shocks at all compared to the revalved koni's. matt likes the feel. i'm slower then matt and chris.

nate</TD></TR></TABLE>

Nate last I spoke to Chris after driving his car in STX he was going to use higher rates (even front to rear) on the AD shocks to see if that fixed the "feel" problem. We also chatted about higher rates while doing a test and tune at Beaver Run.. while that was in the rain it was hard to gauge comparisons between the ADs and some Konis on a similar set-up civic we drove as well.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by carl_aka_carlos &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">one think to think about is that koni's are a rebound intensive shock. maybe chris's AD's don't have enough rebound in them?

and remember, while it is all about shock valving, it is still totally about driver preference. hence, i'll never ever go with as heavy of a spring as nate runs, yet we have essentially the same car (mine has more power tho )

</TD></TR></TABLE>

a 3-cylinder geo metro has more power then my car! a homeless guy on a bicycle beat me out of a traffic light the other day.

i left out the word "slightly". i haven't gone over 800lbs yet, though it is tempting to at least try it. another idea for next year to to soften everything up and raise the car a little. 550/700 is one number i'm kicking around. of course, the car isn't that far off handling wise that changing the springs like that will find me .5 second. i think i'll actually see a bigger gain by swallowing my pride and doing an evo school.

nate

 

550f/650r in a 2550 lb. ITR for the track (still learning 1st year with FWD)
stock bars
Custom valved Advance Design shocks
Skunk 2 A-arms and Ingalls rear upper link
Michelin 225/50/15 Sport Cups on 15x7 Team Dynamics wheels

Slowly increasing rear stiffness as one moves up the learning curve.
Moving towards 650f/950r with Mugen 26mm rear bar and bushings, plus wing.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by honda93 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Do you guys who autocross run in perfectly smooth lots where a 550 ~ 600+ lb. spring is going to be "skip proof" over shitty pavement? </TD></TR></TABLE>

This is an excellent point Mario. I autocrossed the GS-R recently on a bumpy lot. It was actually airborne over one of the larger bumps.

 

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

This is an excellent point Mario. I autocrossed the GS-R recently on a bumpy lot. It was actually airborne over one of the larger bumps.</TD></TR></TABLE>

topeka is my gauge, as well as peru. neither one of these places gave me a feeling of "going airborne". the street is a different story, but even then, i feel like the car is still planted, it's just my butt that's gone airborne.

i know of _many_ people that run a much higher natural frequency then what i run. most of the EP cars have well over 500lb/in rear wheelrates, one particular car (4th this year in EP) has a 600lb/in rear wheelrate and only weighs a touch under 1900lbs. billy brooks is using 800/1000 in his 2700lb 2.5RS with no problems either. i think carl nailed it. it's really about personal preference.

nate