- Mon Nov 04, 2013 8:59 pm
#338387
AutoXRacer wrote:I am a fairly skilled driver and i'm use to no shock travel.
I have owned my civic for almost 2 years now so I am familiar with the car, and I have driven the thing pretty damn hard, just never in an AutoX or Circuit form.
I am just curious if some other members are familiar with different spring set-ups and which is preferred. For some reason 10kg/8kg just sounds to soft for my driving technique. But again I have never used custom springs in such a light car.
I am just wondering if anyone has some experience with different spring rates.
In my experience with 8 years of autox and an instructor for NCCBMWCCA and WDCR-SCCA, VERY and I mean VERY, few people truly know their car and their skill level. Trust me, I can't count how many people come to a school or an event with a big ego but find out very fast that they have no clue about car control. I'm not saying you don't know anything, but I have to go by my experiences.
10kg/mm and 8kg/mm equates to about 550lbs/in and 450lbs/in. Those rates are actually right around on point for your car. There IS such thing as too stiff for a car. And that can be very noticeable in autox. Body roll isn't necessarily a bad thing..
I have a '95 Civic EX that I had set up to be as competitive as possible for SCCA-STC class. For about a year I ran OTS Koni Sports with Ground-Control coilovers with 450lbs/in front and 550lbs/in rear springs. I later had the Koni's revalved to their Race specs and went up in spring rate to 650lbs/in front and 800lbs/in rear. Or about 11.5kg/mm front and about 14kg/mm rear. I've since acquired a more competitive car so I do not compete with this '95 anymore. BUT, if I had to do it over again, I would LOWER the spring rate down probably somewhere in the 500lbs/in front and 600lbs/in rear range, or about 9kg/mm front and 11kg/mm rear.
The thing you have to keep in mind is that when it comes to autox, there is no exact formula for car setup. It is all dependent on other car suspension mods, TIRE!!(big deal!), course/pavement(extremely variable but important), and most importantly driver skill and technique. So no matter what anyone tells you, you cannot bet that that setup will work for you. The only way to know if to try out different setups, tweek and tune until you find what works for you.
IMO, like I said with re-doing the setup on my '95, I would suggest something around 500lbs/in front and 600lbs/in rear(about 9kg/mm front and 11kg/mm rear). If you're set on the 12/10 numbers, switch them. Do 10 front and 12 rear. I ONLY advise this if this is REALLY going to be a track car for you. This type of setup, with your other mods, could be dangerous on the street. And I know how many people say "track car only" but never track it and just drive like assholes on the road... So make a wise decision.
For what it's worth, go with Koni and Ground-Control. Leaps and bounds better performance and tune-ability than the Skunk2 crap.
Just my .02.
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