Just bought new springs

[julian64]

Eibach 450 rears and 500 fronts to go on my nitron dampers.
Running on 18 spiders and S03's

Hoping it won't be too stiff on the road.

[TT Tim]

I run 400 & 500 - I'll be interested to hear your comments, I think you're on the edge of of acceptable for road useage.

Tim

[ridds]

Mmmmmm my favourite subject.

I'm on 500 fronts and 325 rears on my Protechs after Joo's reccomendation. This was a spirited road and occasional track use set-up.

Personnaly, I think the rear is a little soft considering the angle of the rear shock/spring units and the 50/50 set up my car.

However, I'm loathed to change them since as much as I think it feels a little soft on the rear it's very compliant and leads more to understeer rather than oversteer which I think is a bit safer in these things, due to their twitchy nature.

I have the large anti-roll bars front and rear too.

[Ireland]

375 and 350 for me.

They're ideal for the rough roads over here ..... but I did spin BIG TIME at the last track day I went on.

[julian64]

Well currently running 375 on the rear and 400 on the front with arbs all round.

At the recent Brands trackday I was rubbing the side of my rears on the bodywork on the drivers side on the curves.

I took the shocks out and gently jacked the wheel up into the arch to see where it was rubbing. At that point I was expecting to do a bit of wheel arch relieving. I was surprised how far it was tucking up into the bodywork before it rubbed. Thats what decided me to go for the higher spring rate on the rear.

The front has always seemed fine to me, even a bit harsh with the spiders on. Howver I couldn't have the front springs softer than the rears.

375 to 450 seemed a reasonable jump on the rear and the front had to go a minimum of 50 higher?

Nitron chaps were saying that their eibach springs were better than the original springs they gave me, so I'll give em a try and let you lot know.

[ridds]

How much did Nitron charge for them?

[julian64]

eibachs were £54 squid a pop. Seemed like a lot for a spring, but he was generally dissing the other cheaper makes of spring.

[ridds]

Hmmmm, interesting.

[TT Tim]

I think there is mileage in buying a decent spring, but if you're 'playing' with getting the right set-up, spending £20-£25 a corner until you get it right, and buy the better quality ones, is a lot less painful.

I've bought a couple of sets to try.

But maybe that's just my way of looking at things. :-D

Tim

[Brummmie]

450 fronts and 325 rears, and if i wind them up on damping they are too stiff for road use, i back em off about 8 clicks for road. Nitron built mine with custom damping for me, said it was a half way house, as it were.

[dean_ratpac]

i'm looking into changing my springs. I have nitrons fitted, no idea of the springs on there. what would be the standard springs on there?

i live in london, so the roads are like a third world country in someplace, although i;ve just had the rears clicked up a few notches and it feels so much more planted. i had it softened for the N'Burg ring last year.

advice on what to go for would be appreciated!

Cheers
Dean

[julian64]

should be written on the springs themselves from nitron. Were on mine

[Steve_T]

dean_ratpac said:

i'm looking into changing my springs. I have nitrons fitted, no idea of the springs on there. what would be the standard springs on there?

i live in london, so the roads are like a third world country in someplace, although i;ve just had the rears clicked up a few notches and it feels so much more planted. i had it softened for the N'Burg ring last year.

advice on what to go for would be appreciated!

Cheers
Dean

400 front, 325 rear is standard.

[JR]

Steve_T said:

dean_ratpac said:

i'm looking into changing my springs. I have nitrons fitted, no idea of the springs on there. what would be the standard springs on there?

i live in london, so the roads are like a third world country in someplace, although i;ve just had the rears clicked up a few notches and it feels so much more planted. i had it softened for the N'Burg ring last year.

advice on what to go for would be appreciated!

Cheers
Dean

400 front, 325 rear is standard.

A 75%ish f/r ratio suggested by Steve is more normal than some of the very high ratios mentioned above; the 90% ratio is very high at the rear and will lead to struggling for grip at the rear - with I's 93% ratio I'm not surprised that he spun.

[itsallyellow]

Really?

We find the car best with 50/50. Currently 850 all round. However on on lesser shocks the car handles much better with a heavier sprong on the back. early last year we were 750 back 650 front.

Mike

[julian64]

Well to my mind it would be a toss up between fractionally more at the front and similar all the way round.

I came to this after my corner weighting device suggested the Cerb CofG pretty much near the centre of the car. Before that I had assumed all the weight was up front in the cerb but it turns out not to be the case.

Surely that would back up Mikes findings of best with them all the same weight?

[Steve_T]

What I posted are the standard rates that Nitron suggested to me as the basis for a road setup I was contemplating. Brummie has a bespoke setup + a heavier engine in the front which I suspect is the reason for the increase in front spring rate. I mentioned to Guy that I do use the car quite often two up with a bootful of stuff but he didn't suggest increasing the rear spring rate to cope.

[Ab Shocks]

itsallyellow said:

Really?

We find the car best with 50/50. Currently 850 all round. However on on lesser shocks the car handles much better with a heavier sprong on the back. early last year we were 750 back 650 front.

Mike

I would argue that traction from the start and out of corners might be a problem with running 50/50 Mike, particularly on the tighter circuits, as you found last weekend.

Edited by Ab Shocks on Tuesday 21st April 21:09

[ridds]

Ab Shocks said:

itsallyellow said:

Really?

We find the car best with 50/50. Currently 850 all round. However on on lesser shocks the car handles much better with a heavier sprong on the back. early last year we were 750 back 650 front.

Mike

I would argue that traction from the start and out of corners might be a problem with running 50/50 Mike, particularly on the tighter circuits.

Didn't you complain of spinning wheels and no grip off the start line at Cadwell? Those spring rates could well be the problem. No squat or weight transfer to the rear.

[Ab Shocks]

Exactly my point, mind you the cold track temperature was a major factor with the guys on slicks. The MX-5 boys run on road tyres and were 2or 3 seconds a lap faster than the Wedges and M series cars running more power and slicks.