Stiffer Springs w/out drop?

[Chris Corolla S]

Is there any way to get a stiffer spring rate without afecting ride height?
Is this one of the applications for Coil-overs? I know they have adjustable height with the same rate so I assume you can acheive stock height with them, is this true?

Also how can I find out my stock spring rate in order to compare it to aftermarket springs?

4.7 inches is my stock clearance and that's basically low enough for me on the street.

[Xenon]

I'm not sure about stock hieght springs but I know you can get Eibach Springs with a 1" drop and they would be a lot stiffer than your springs.

A a 1" drop will be barely noticeble, are you willing to pay the money for that mod though?

Plus if you're really looking for stiffness, I would recommend getting performance struts.

[boroEF]

yes, coilover sleeves will have much stiffer rates and can be set at stock ride height...

stock springs have low low low rates...incredibly low.

the apexi springs i have on my car now are already embarassingly low: 3kgmm front 2kgmm rear... and if aftermarket is this low, then imagine how low stock would be...i compared my car to stock ae92s and in terms of stiffness, mine is wayyyyy stiffer.

anyhow i know ractive coilovers are 450lb/inch springs....which converts to who knows what...u either divide by 22.xx or 26.xx, i forgot....anyhow, it's a faily decent rate.

but if stiffness is what u want to acheive, why not just get some better struts? stock struts arent great...

[Chris Corolla S]

Yes, I do intend to get some performance struts.
As I understand it though, this will mainly stiffen up the damping. The initial suspension movement created by a bump or hole is mainly dictated by the stiffness of the springs right? It's mostly the rate at which the suspension travel returns to nuetral that is affected by struts as I understasnd it.

Right now the car's lip barley slides over curbs when
I park, Even the Eibachs are actually a 1.25 inch drop, bringing me down to 3.5 inches of clearance. I am very utilitarian and with my old car I drove through an ocasional field, or shitty dirt road and I want this car to be capable of that.
Eh... I would like a Tein/Tociko set-up but it seams the stiffer the springs, the lower the drop. The Teins are like 2+ inches of drop

Edit: Someone over at VVT-1 said TOMs makes a stiff spring with 0 drop for the Corolla, but so far I have only found TOMs for 93-97 Rollas...

[Chris Corolla S]

O.K. well at first I though this was leading me towards coil-overs, but now after looking in to that I have more questions.

I've heard that you need a camber adjustment kit for anything more than a 1.5 inch drop, and that you need alignment after any drop. So with coilovers, what do you do when you adjust them? If I am at stock height, then i want to crank them down for Auto-X, will I need to take it to the shop to get realigned and the camber set? And then do that again after?? That sounds like a royal pain in the ass to me. Plus I've heard that Coil-overs are harder to install and sometimes involve cutting The more I look into this, the farther i get from making a desicion it seems

I guess springs would be more plug and play and after you set it up your golden... Feh

[Xenon]

actually I think it's anything over a 2" drop where you need a camber correction kit, I have a 1.6" drop and I didn't need it.

[prana]

I am very utilitarian and with my old car I drove through an ocasional field, or shitty dirt road and I want this car to be capable of that.

ever considered maybe buying a truck??

eibachs would be your best bet to stiffen the spring rate with the least amount of height. but thats the thing about a stiffer spring rate, you usually will have to drop it some.

also your question on the coilovers alignment...thats why i just got lowering springs cause when you change the height with coilovers the camber will be off... hence the invention of the camber plate

[boroEF]

blah blah no need camber correction kits if ur even 2 inch drop. so long as u align the car properly u will be ok. my friend's ef is 3inch drop on coil overs and he tracks and streets the thing at the same time....he has no camber wear...u'll only get that if u have improper toe and caster.

springs dont only stiffen up the compression of the suspension, but they also speed up the rebound.....

what hi-po struts will do is slow down the compresion and slow down the rebound.....so it still will stiffen up the car and reduce body lean.

say there was a corolla s with tokico blues and stock springs and ur car was beside his..if u push ur car down by hand and then go push his, u'd notice a big difference in stiffness...so if height is a concern, go for struts.

now if u must spend money, i'm sure u can import some toms over here if not....get coil overs and raise it to stock height-i actually know someone who does that.

[Xenon]

Do they make coil-overs for his car

[Chris Corolla S]

Bitchin' thanks for the borinfo!

I can just get some sweet struts when the time comes and then worry about the springs later

I want coil-overs though. Combined with adjustable struts they would be ideal. Then I could have it all mooshed out for pimpin' on the street and then slam it when it's time to get serious.

[Chris Corolla S]

Oops posted at the same time they sure do. Ground Controll makes them and probably others

Edit: well not the same time, I was distracted by the Lakers getting the ROYAL BEAT DOWN by the Spurs

[Xenon]

Well then, if you ant stock height then coil-overs are your friend...

[Chris Corolla S]

Werd

[Chris Corolla S]

Drop Zone makes coilovers for my car that adjust from 0 to 4" drop. They are only 178 US$ for a set of four but this seems really cheap. Anyone familiar with the brand?

Damm now i'm finding dropzones for $250/set, maybe the one site just has great prices...

Skunk2 makes a set for my ride they sound like they have an agressive spring rate and adjust up to 3" but they are $400+
They seem nicer than the Ground Controls though for a similair price.

[Chris Corolla S]

Skunk-2 springs are CNC hot rolled using SUP12 alloy spring steel, heat treated, stress relieved, pre-set, phosphate treated, powder coated, and finally printed with the Skunk-2 logo. Hot rolling produces a spring with a consistent grain structure that is extremely resilient and will not deform or change rate. The combination of hot rolling and using only the highest quality alloy wire results in a spring with superior performance and ride characteristics. For increased strength, the dual spring perches are CNC machined from hot forged AL6061-T6. SkunkWorks Coil-Over kits allow you to adjust your ride height anytime you want. They provide more suspension travel and therefore will ride better than a normal lowering spring, even at extremely low settings.

Now I found these for $320 They sound nicer than Ground Coontrol definitely because Ground Control just uses Eibach springs and Skunk2 makes their own. The application guide also said i would not need a camber kit