what do you guys consider “too stiff” on coilovers for driving around town? i’d always had the idea in my head that 6 (front) and 8 (rear) would prolly be a good balance that wouldn’t drive me nuts with our roads… what are you guys running? and what would u change or are you happy with what you have?
what is the highest number…for my struts i set them at 2 front (4 is max) and then 5 rear (out of 8) but coilovers are differenr
ummm i’m not really sure what the “highest” number is, the highest i think i’ve ever heard is 19, but thats definitly track only crazy stiff lol i’m not talking about “settings” tho, i meant kgf/mm my bad. (go to say… www.tein.com for reference chris, just click on a random car and look at the numbers they give you’ll see what i mean)
i see what u mean…so lets say u have a max setting of 16…personally for street everyday driving i would set it a little above half so ur not stiff than a corpse but u still have a nice feel for spritited driving
i have 1000lb in the rear of my hatch.
jay, i know kris had 6 and 8 on his s13, and said they were too stiff, i dident mind um thats y im pickin um up, but maybe like 5 and 7? if they even do that??
What is tolerable on the streets is also dependent upon tire and wheel choice, due to the spring rate of the tire itself. Run Azenis combined with a high spring rate and you won’t enjoy long drives very much. OTOH, you run something with a nice soft sidewall likea Dunlop Direzza, and you can go fairly high with the springs without being too bone jarring. I’ve driven a CSP-prepped Miata with 9k front /5.3k rear and on the stock-sized 60 series tires and I was shocked at how smooth it rode. OTOH, I really hate Azenis on my car on the street with the Konis and stock springs.
Your tolerance for what is acceptable is also going to be different than others.
I plan to go to 9.8k/6.3k on my car in the future, and I also plan to buy a couple sets of springs in case I’m not totally happy with my choice. For example, I’ll get a set of 550lb, 450lb, 300lb and 350lb. Front and rear are interchangeable on my car, so that gives me alot of options. 550/350 is probably the default setting though.
i got 7k/10k on a 40 series tire. it is “tolerable” for me on the streets but dont get me wrong…on some of the rougher roads in this area i get to hate the spring rate real quick (and makes me wish i was still in phoenix). but the increased stability and absense of roll helps me forget about the rough ride. its all a matter of what you want. i could care less about comfort…i got a conversion van for that.
I agree with neurokinetik, your car, shock, tire and wheel combo will make the “acceptable tolerance” different everytime.
First you need to put some units behind your numbers. What is 6 and 8? 6K/8K? or 600 lb/in | 800lb/in ? Both are different. You should try to find cars similar to yours and take a ride to see how it feels to you. That would be your best way to judge ride quality, otherwise you are just guessing.
I’m running 10Kg /8Kg which translates to about 550 lb/ in front, 409 lb/in rear. It’s very stiff, but not unbearable (as neurokinetic, Itagaki)
On the concrete highways around here though, they are not very comfortable. You will feel EVERY undulation, it’s like riding over mini speed bumps all the time (Janny can confirm this) even under the softest damper settings. If you get a coilover set that can adjust bound and reboiund separately, you can be more precise in dialing in the feel of the car. Mine are ddynamically adjusted together, so that limits what I can do.
I like the stability and the confident feel in the turns, so I am happy with my decision. I will probably be changing my street tire and wheel combo selection for next year (maybe) to smooth things out a bit.
Too stiff for me would be when the tires start to skip over the bumps instead of absorb them. You can get into trouble if that happens.