Spring rates for 1UZ RA23

[TTV8RA23]

The car will be 95% road, 3% drag, 2% track. Um i like an average ride firmer than standard but not as hard as the average track/drift car. The roads round here are pretty crap though. a bit wasted and tired at the moment sorry maybe i should be replying this tomorrow

[TTV8RA23]

Oh and thanks toy77 thats the exact sort of answers i have been looking for

[web]

You are asking so many contradictory things. A one size fits all rate does not exist. And it's much a matter of taste what's acceptable for cruise and what's not. So it's hard for anyone but yourself to pick the perfect spring rate for you. Just get one in the ballpark, see how you like it and work from there. It's unlikely you'll buy the perfect spring the first time around, no matter how hard we try.

[bigmat]

for example i have 275lbs and koni coilovers in the front and king lowered in the rear and i have found it great so far but by no means a ride like experaince like a new car. its a sports suspension so it going to be firm and you will feel the polt holes everwhere and you may get a saw back with bucket seats if the road is not that great. if you want a cruiser just put some monroes in it and some new springs and enjoy comfort because if you think your going to get anything else than a semi harsh ride with what i think your going to do you wont enjoy it.

cheers mat

[SillyCarS]

^^ what he said

anyways if you want a cheap alternative in the mean time these "sports" springs that blake ran with his 1g and i had for a short time with my 18rg are just sitting at my place taking up space. $50 and theyre yours and you wont need to mod ur struts

ofcourse this will depend on what wheels and tyres you wanna run cos of clearance issues

[TTV8RA23]

Im not asking for a one size fits all perfect spring rate i want to hear what spring rates guys and girls are running in there car and there opinions on how they handle ride quality handling etc, i realise everyones opinions are different but the more people i hear from the more general idea i get.
I realise it s not going to be a factory quality ride and that im gonna feel everypot hole it is going to be a performance car after all. I realise im not gonna get the perfect spring first time round im just trying to get some recomendations so i can be somewhere not too far off the mark.
Thanks but no thanks SillyCarS Im doing adjustable coilovers all round so wont be going down that route.
Cheers for all the input people.
Simon

[The Real Roadrunner]

the spring weight doesn't make it harsh or stiff so dont think big rates will harm it.

what makes it harsh or stiff is the valving in the dampers, if you want it to be smooth on the street and firm on the track get something with adjustable bump and rebound (preferably seperate) but remember good quality = $$$

the spring rate just holds the weight of the vehicle and isn't going to cause a rough ride.

the rear end layout in an early celica is pretty good from factory and only requires a few minor mods to make it work well.

you don't want any car to try and squat if your planning on getting power down, so you dial in anti-squat (google it) this can be done by simply changing the ride hieght of the car or by moving pivot points in the rear of the car.

if you want it to drive like a camry on the road and then a supercar on the track it can be done, but you will need about 15K to do it.

cheers
linden

[Mr Revhead]

maybe weight transfer would be a better way to describe what you want for dragging then

sorry, but i disagree with you on spring rate.
spring rate = what weight/force is required to compress a spring a certain amount.
eg 450lb springs need 450 lbs to compress 1"
or 8kg springs, need 8 kg to compress 1mm
the higher the rate, the higher the force needed to compress it (im sure you know this)

so if more force is needed to move it, on a rough road there will be less bump absorbed by the springs than if they had a softer rate. therefore ride quality will decrease if you go too stiff.

big rates do affect it on the road, hence why we sell lots of springs to ppl with cheap d2 or similar coilovers. they come with huge rate springs and are almost undrivable on some of our roads. a simple spring change fixes that

mr chapman had it right, soft springs, stiff shocks

[WDE_BDY]

Whakatane roads are fine for stiffer springs, they are a virtual luxury once I've driven through the gorge from Gisborne on some seriously stiff Jap spec suspension.

Callum

[TTV8RA23]

Yeah so i think ill go for a couple of 300lb springs and some adjustable short shock inserts. MR2 ones i think and build my coil overs round that, oh and a pair of keeper springs. And probably a pair of 200lb rears. Does this sound in the ball park to most of you guys for something to start with?

[The Real Roadrunner]

so if more force is needed to move it, on a rough road there will be less bump absorbed by the springs than if they had a softer rate. therefore ride quality will decrease if you go too stiff.

big rates do affect it on the road, hence why we sell lots of springs to ppl with cheap d2 or similar coilovers. they come with huge rate springs and are almost undrivable on some of our roads. a simple spring change fixes that

mr chapman had it right, soft springs, stiff shocks

True but im only recomending a 6-7kg spring for the front and 3.5-4kg spring for the rear which is hardly considered as stiff or oversprung.

its also got the weight of a 1uztt up the front which would have to weigh over 250kgs on its own which is alot more than a std engine for an ra23/28, if it was mine it would be more track orientated and id be going for 8-9kg front 5-6kg rears.

D2 are shit no matter what springs are run on them, put them on a shock dyno and it will show the real story.

Chapman got it right for light cars ie sub 800kg's but this wont work for 1000kgs plus as a 1G bump will have your valves working too hard to last a reasonable amount of time not to mention the jounce rubbers will be working harder than the spring is.

cheers
linden

[Mr Revhead]

ok, i read your last post and wasnt thinking about it in terms of those rates you mentioned elsewhere!

well its kind of relative.... really spring stiffness also depends on the weight of a car
so a pring thast still in a light weight car is softer in a heavier car.
so the heavier the car, the higher rate you need to control it.
im not saying you should fit 200lbs to your V8 XA