spring rates question

[Hamsterman]

I am just trying to learn what this means... excuse the ignorance...

does anybody have a good website i could read about this, or feel like posting something up, my question is basically when you are looking at springs or coilovers and they are
"9kg front and 7.5kg rear." etc. or some other combination, what that means and what it matters for...

i would appreciate it

[CrawlingEye]

that's the actually spring rates, the rate that the springs are intended to support.

the point of this is to balance the car to suit different types of racing...

for instance, a drag car, you'll want to go pretty stiff in both the front and the back, but you'll want the rear of your car extremely stiff so you don't have any squat off the line.

similarly, you'll want a bit of oversteer with an auto-x car, I should imagine, so accordingly, you'll need to tighten the apprioriate end of the car.

Wraith should be able to help you out quite a bit.


edit: here's the d2 coilover GB2, I remember there was a lot of good info on coilovers floating around the first and second GB threads: D2 Coilovers Group Buy #2

hope that helps.

[Hamsterman]

i see i see, that makes sense, thanks for the info

i searched for some stuff, but i didn't think the gb thread would have tech info

[Toysrme]

The spring rate tells you how much load it takes to compress the spring X amount of distance.
A 900lb spring means the spring compresses 1" per every 900lbs exerted on the spring.

[Hamsterman]

cool cool, so how would you determine what is best for your ride? What i mean is, do they use an equation or set for the industry standard, or could a car basically just take it as hard as it wants, just knowing that they will be riding on rails?

[CrawlingEye]

that's part of the tuning. there's no real 'set' spring-rate to get. different people get different needs and different feels.

Look at Justin, he'll be running some crazy ass spring-rates that are requiring him to have the strut towers reinforced. You'll likely not need such a high spring-rate, but it just shows, different people have different wants and needs.

[Toysrme]

If you drive on Talledega you want 300lb springs. That would be the correct spring to run! Otherwise find out what the stock springs are vs after market springs.

Keep in mind a lot of springs are progressive. At the beginning of their travel they're not as stiff. That way they maintain some symbolism of ride quality.

[bowlofturtle]

interesting stuff... what would be the most comfortable spring rates on aftermarket springs then. i just want the drop but not all the bouncy and harsh ride.

[Toysrme]

Camry Eibachs. They're pathetic.
A bit stiffer than stock, but only a 1 1 /4" drop. You can't even tell a difference in the front.
That's why I've always said if you want to drop, you have to go something major like Intrax. (It takes more than 1 1 /2" drop before the front even begins to look right)

I think Sean McElligott is about ready to sell his springs for coilovers. He has a set of Eibachs and a front set of Intrax. (the Eibachs didn't drop enough so he mixed and matched) If you want that set and a half you could probably get a good deal.



That's totally my opinion, but I'll allways stand by the fact that 1 1/4" drop is a waste of time.

[cam2Xrunner]

Maybe this will answer some ?'s http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t62858.html

[Hamsterman]

yeah, all this is good info, thanks guys