Quote:
Originally Posted by Speed Junkie
I'll summarize. I was looking to get someone's actual technically-educated driving experience which seems to be the most lacking factor here. From the beginning I made it clear that I was already aware of the main points that would affect the performance of the spring (slider2828 posted a great link). But everyone kept NPC defaulting to "I read somewhere they're amazing!" Lol, I know they're better, but are they really so much better considering the context of the situation (derp suspension geometry 240 with decent coilovers to begin with) much like Def pointed out in the link that slider2828 posted.
Honestly, I probably will eventually get the springs and I'll find out for myself if whatever improvement I feel will be worth $300+. Just not before I get far more important things like knuckles that will make the job of my current springs a lot easier. At least in the front. Speaking of which:
Really? I actually didn't think so. Now of course, being that my car (and any 240 lowered any more than an inch) has such a large roll couple, it rolls way too much even with basic 215 Achilles ATSs. Once I get knuckles and raise the roll center I'll see how much it helps reduce roll on the same tires. From there I'll decide whether or not 8/6 will be sufficient. I want to do occasional track days (not the primary purpose of this car) so the car will have some decent tires on it so naturally it will roll more. I'll see.
I had 10/8 eibach springs on my old Miata and didn't think it was too stiff. And because of the dampening the ride was far better than the 240 now with 8/6 springs (less oscillation both at low speed and high speed travel). But to be fair, miatas have a lower wheel rate than 240s (at least at the front).
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Cool, now we both understand each other let's converse on topic.
I keep on harping on the fact that generic springs can wildly very on their specs, and Fortune suspension company may have actually done a good job picking out their generic springs to sell to the masses that doesn't want to spend extra money on higher standard springs, and who knows, you might have decent springs in your current coilovers and you may not see big improvement with Swift/Eibach upgrade. Now this is where it gets a bit tricky on recommending you personally to buy Swift/Eibach, because you already own the coilovers and you may not see big difference if the springs you already have are actually decent and spec'd correctly.
You can adjust body roll(specifically inertia of body roll)with stiffer springs AND sway bars + lower center of gravity. So I hope that is not the only reason why you want to upgrade springs before you do sway bars(Do you have adjustable sway bars?).
You know better not to compare McPherson to double wish bone, they react completely different you know you it. But since it's brought up let's talk about that and why you didn't think 10kg/8kg was too stiff(mainly because it was on a double wishbone car, and
to clear it up for someone stumbling on this thread years from now that doesn't know what wheel rate is). Double wishbone will accomplish same amount of wheel travel with less compression of strut/springs than McPherson will. Let's say 6 inches of wheel travel is requested, McPherson will need 4~5 inches of compression while double-wishbone will require 3 inches or less to do the same job.(The same reason why we find using a 24" breaker bar easier to turn a tight bolt compared to normal 8" ratchet.) Keeping that in mind let's go back to how off-spec generic springs can be and every millimeter of compression can change the spring rate on them, so even with a stiffer springs double wish-bone car will translate that very differently than of McPherson type. If higher-standards of springs are required to get any variable out of the way, then of course you should be buying Swift/Eibach.
Lame comparison but let's say you know your car will make extra 50whp with E85 tune, and no other changes to the engine, so you fill up your car with E85 that's close to your dyno tuner 50 miles away, you get your car tuned and BAM you are making 50whp extra with E85. You run out of E85 and fill up near your house and now it's only making extra 10whp. What changed? the E85 was not consistent. Just because it's sold saying it's one thing that doesn't mean it's what it is, one of biggest reason why people whom are serious about racing use 1 brand of race fuel, so that it is consistent(insert Swift/Eibach here) and if they are having engine issues they can over look at fuel.
If your end goal of this thread is to lessen your body roll, I would highly suggest you get into adjustable sway bars first before you even mess with anything on coilovers. Yes stiffer springs does help with body roll, but that also comes with harsh ride going over bumps and uneven surfaces. and you even mentioned your primary focus of this car is not track racing, yet if your heart still desire to try out the Swift/Eibach springs, I would recommend that you buy them USED if at all possible.
I'll quote my self, "We still need to talk about actual spring rates and how they should be calculated to be used on a car based on ride height, weight and desired suspension travel." Yet making another full circle of the spring topic and why I think it's important to talk about spring rates to better tune the car for what you want to improve. But how a car should handle is up to the driver and what the purpose of it is. Since we are working with S-chassis here it'll be easy to tell what one may do with such car.
But what do I know, I just roll with Tein S-Tech lowering springs with biggest adjustable sway bars available on my S14.