spring rate confusion

[yod88]

so i finally decided to go with GC street coilovers.. my car is a daily driver and has never seen the track, and doubt it will in the near future.. i do however enjoy spirited drives, and hard cornering through the wind roads up here..

ive been trying to figure out what spring rates to go with..and im a little confused..the ride im looking for is something that is aggressive and tight.. but i dont want a too harsh of a ride to make it uncomfortable because i regularly drive at least 1k miles a month.. so basically something that is stiff, but can still handle the regular bumps in new england roads..so what would you guys recommend? i dont really understand spring rates 100% as im new to that..so help on this would be much appreciated

also, i was reading that telling GC that you want shorter struts is a better route to go, because it will make the ride better, because more travel is allowed with a shorter strut..is this something people find best thing to do for a street car such as mine? and would it cost more?
im going to get the top adjust in the rear, so it will cost 1100, increasing the cost makes me think to just go with HR coilovers..

and are camber plates needed on street cars? most of the people i saw that have them were often tracking their cars..so i was not too sure


thank you for all your help

[mweinst]

I have the GC adjusters and springs on my car. I think that my spring rates are 450/550. I live where the roads are fairly smooth, so it works for me. However, in pothole land where you live, I think you will need a softer setup. Just talk to the GC guys and they will try to match to what you need. Also, buy the shorter struts for the front. I have the regular length Konis and I can't lower the front. At the lowest setting on the GC adjusters, I am only slightly lower than stock, which is very disappointing.

[4ZPN]

The street "coilover" is just a spring perch that you put over your front strut housing and a strut insert. This doesn't really allow you to lower the front end any more than a normal front strut. If you get the GC coilovers where you replace your entire strut assembly, then that is shorter and would allow you to go lower.

You don't really need camber plates if you are just driving on the street, unless you need more negative camber. They do have a lower stack height, so it would give you some more suspension travel.

As for spring rates, I wouldn't go any stiffer than 450/550 for what you are describing. I would go softer (maybe 400/500, or less) and run stiffer sway bars. When you choose spring rates, you should also consider how much you want to lower the car. If you plan on doing something stupid and lower your car 2", then you want really stiff springs.

To be honest, if you aren't sure about what you are doing, then I wouldn't get coilovers just yet. The extra flexability of coilovers only means that you have more chances to screw things up. Take the time to learn how everything works together and see if that's what you want. The biggest mistake that I see with coilovers is the desire to "slam" your car. Don't do it.

[yod88]

The street "coilover" is just a spring perch that you put over your front strut housing and a strut insert. This doesn't really allow you to lower the front end any more than a normal front strut. If you get the GC coilovers where you replace your entire strut assembly, then that is shorter and would allow you to go lower.

You don't really need camber plates if you are just driving on the street, unless you need more negative camber. They do have a lower stack height, so it would give you some more suspension travel.

As for spring rates, I wouldn't go any stiffer than 450/550 for what you are describing. I would go softer (maybe 400/500, or less) and run stiffer sway bars. When you choose spring rates, you should also consider how much you want to lower the car. If you plan on doing something stupid and lower your car 2", then you want really stiff springs.

To be honest, if you aren't sure about what you are doing, then I wouldn't get coilovers just yet. The extra flexability of coilovers only means that you have more chances to screw things up. Take the time to learn how everything works together and see if that's what you want. The biggest mistake that I see with coilovers is the desire to "slam" your car. Don't do it.

i dont want a slammed look..i just want to bring the height to get rid of tire gap..so the fender lines sit at the top of the tires in the front/rear

im not installing these myself or anything :stickoutt im going to take it most likely to turner motorsports to get the install done