This is best answered by reading around forums and gaining information yourself. check out other people setups to see what works and what doesnt.
Common rates are 8/6, 9/7, 12/10 etc… Softer generally being better for a road race setup an stiffer for drifitng. But thats a very general statement. I dont know the factory spring rates. Suspension travel on stock suspension?
Weights range from something like 2650lbs to just under 2900lbs depending on year and trim level.
Traction issues? Sway bars make the most difference in dialing in over/understeer. But of course theres tons of other factors.
Like i said, go read, theres tons of info out there.
thanks for the response. i don’t think i’ll be drifting the car, although i may just try it to see how my suspension idea works. first and foremost the car will be a street car, but i might do a bit of road racing and possibly a couple trips to the drag strip. traction is important in different ways for different needs. i’m aiming for 450-500whp, so i’m leaning more toward keeping it soft. i am running the oem sway bar, but no sway bar in the front. here are some pics of the suspension i’m developing:
holy shiet… I’ve only ever seen in car mounted suspension on a 240 once, that was with it incorperated into the roll cage. I’m not fully understanding how you’ve got this planned out right now, but I can tell you know what your doing. Its usually better to run a stiff sway bar on the non drive wheels, and none or a softer sway on the drive wheels.
What are those coilovers from? and what are you planning to do with the spindles? modified stock spindles or completely custom? Is that an external resivouir on the shock?
Very impressive work, cant wait to see how this goes. You should make a build thread, I’m sure everyone would enjoy seeing a build of this caliber.
WeirTech! I’m so happy that you’ve come to the Nissan side of life.
I love you work, will you have my babies? LOL
Seriously, I’m really excited to see what you do with this car!
As far as something useful to add to this, a common issue with S13’s suspension that I’ve found is wheel hop depending on what you’re using for tires. IIRC the main subframe bushings are the culprit, solid aluminum bushings are available for about $100 a set or you could just make your own on a lathe. If solid bushings aren’t your fancy then you can get aluminum subframe collars that stiffen it up a bit, but not to the extent that full aluminum bushings will.
i’m no mechanic that’s for sure. i’m just a fab guy trying to build an interesting car. this is going to be my first rwd car (also something i know very little about). the down side is that this isn’t a 240. i’m just using the s14 rear end in the car (i don’t think people would be interested in a non-240 build thread on a 240 forum). i just want to figure out how hard or soft i should make the suspension to get the best traction.
i’ve heard about the aluminum replacement bushings. i think that may be a little on the hard side for this application. i may make some poly inserts down the road, but to start the stock rubber should work.
the new coilovers are off an 07-08 cbr600rr. they are adjustable (how much i’m unsure right now). i’ve searched for spring rates on them with no luck. they measure in size very closely to the 400# springs i was running previously - but the car was front wheel drive then. there will be no modification required to the spindles, or any other part of the rear end subframe, etc. this is going to be a complete bolt in suspension. i’ve seen it done on other cars as well where it is welded in, but i want to build it so it can be installed on virtually any car. what appeals to me most about this setup is ease of ability to tune the suspension. i will be able to adjust travel, ride height, compression and rebound very easily whether it be by simple access to the coilovers, or swapping out the cantilevers or adjusting the length of the push rods, or even possibly upgrading the coilovers to an aftermarket one like an ohlins unit. with my limited knowledge/experience with rwd cars this is a big plus with the aim of getting things dialed in just right.
Oh no, RWD Civic FTW. I love that one dude did with the C5 Vette… I was just gonna laugh because 'ludes look just like an S13 Coupe, so it’d be a ton of useless fab work.
Please post more. This thing looks awesome. Every project I see gives me a little more hair on my sack to start chopping up my car.
ok, i’ve done a bit of research and it appears the rear end spring rates from the factory are around 145# or 2.5kg/mm… that seems pretty soft to me, maybe my measurements are off. can anyone confirm?
