Right now i'm looking at different lowering springs for my car.

The top options are, in no particular order,

H&R Race Springs - curious about how these look on the car and how they feel on the street(handling adn ridewise), given their very high spring rate, i would obviously have to get shocks and struts too.

Eibach Sportlines - I've heard a lot of people say that these actually are detrimental to the handling of the car because of how low they are. Also does anyone know the springs on these? Opinions please.

H&R Super Sport Springs - don't know much about these but they look like a good combo of a nice stance and good handling.

Vogtland Springs - don't know a whole lot about these either, but i've seen some pix and they look good.

Eibach Prokit - these are probably the last choice because I am looking for a little more lowering than what these offer.

So...

I am planning on doing some track events with the car, but it is my daily. I'm not super concerned about ride quality, because as it is the ride isnt all that great to begin with. Any pix u may have of the stance of the cars wiht the springs would be greatly appreciated as would be any advice.

Thanks

 

Lowering does not gain you as much help as most people tend to think. And the sacrifices that come with simple lowering (limited to springs and alignment) can exceed the benefit of having a lower CG.

Without getting into all the little details of front roll center height, rear axle roll steer, and front wheel camber gain, let's just say that these things all deteriorate with lowering, and the second inch that you lower the car will trade away more in terms of these geometry factors than the first inch does. The front camber issue you can 'crutch' for the track to reduce front tire outside shoulder wear by setting static camber to a somewhat larger negative value, which will then cause hard braking to wear the front tire inside shoulders faster instead (which will occur all the time, unless you get into swapping between two sets of alignment specs).

Race cars have their suspension geometry optimized at their (low) ride height. Just making your regular production car look like a race car will not make it drive like one. Believe it or not, on a strut-suspended car it is possible for a car on moderately stiffer than stock lowering springs to actually roll MORE than it did when it was completely stock.

I guess that Sportlines or other springs with about the same low ride height do have one worthwhile purpose - on cars built strictly for show they do provide the appearance.


Norm

 

I was also looking into some of the other stuff u were talking about in addition to lowering, such as RLCA and Watts linkage to fix the rear axle geometry. Hypothetically... what would i need to do to correct the front Geometry at that ride height if i were to go that route? Camber Caster Plates? or would it involve diferent arms and knuckles designed to be run at that ride height?

 

It's been said on here a million times (+1 now) that, for the best handling, the lowest you're going to want to go is the Pro-kit springs or other similar springs, and even that is too low for the factory bump stops and suspension geometry.

FWIW, I have experience with the Pro-kit springs and found them (w/D-Spec dampers) to be extremely harsh when taking moderate bumps at highway speeds (70+ MPH). I have also found them to be less-than-ideal from a handling perspective. After the car takes a set in a turn, you are essentially riding on the bumpstops and they make for poor springs. Taking a turn at the limit on a bumpy surface can be extremely exciting when your spring rate goes to infinity.

That doesn't mean that the car can't be driven fast with springs such as the Pro-kits; witness the Shelby GTs in F Stock autocross, but drivers in F Stock aren't allowed to change springs. <speculation>If they got an allowance to change springs, I doubt the winning cars would be running the Pro-kits.</speculation>

All of that said, if looks is what you're after, I think the Pro-kit looks great on the car while still being a capable spring on the street and track; it's just not optimal from a handling/traction standpoint.

 

Lots of good info here -

www.readthesticky.com


Or if that fails, try here -

www.usethesearchfunction.net



HTH!

 

These are questions that don't have any one solid answer. Your spring choices seem to be all over the map. I have no idea what you trying to get done (and what other parts you are considering).

The reason the car doesn't ride all that well now is because the shocks aren't very good. They should be upgraded first, or with the springs, regardless of the springs you pick. H&R Race are very, very aggressive. I can't in good conscience recommend them for a street car. Remember the lower you go the worse the ride, and to some degree the worse the handling as the geometry get more and more messed up. You can fix that stuff with various parts, but will always have a lack of working travel. And as odd as it sounds, you should be concerned with ride. Maybe not so much in the Rolls-Royce vein but a car that doesn't work over bumps (firm is very different than harsh) won't handle well and isn't much fun to drive fast.

What I'm trying to say is your question isn't so basic, and figureing out what works well, or best for your needs is something you should spend some time working out with a vendor, like myself... There are companies that sell parts, then there are folks like me. Yes, I sell parts--but I also use them, and have to make sure the result works well because I can't afford to have unhappy customers......

 

I have to agree with Sam, if I don't, he will prove me wrong again. All joking aside, The H&R race spring is very stiff on the street, you will need a high end shock to control the kinetic energy that is stored in springs with these high of rates. I would actually recommend Koni's no matter what spring you buy. I have used this "general" rule of thumb in all of the road race cars that I have raced/built over the last 25 years. You only need enough spring rate to effectively control brake dive and squat. To much rate will degrade performance. Buy the best shock to control that energy. On the S197 chassis, I believe the front sway bar is more than adequate. Adjust loose/tight conditions with the rear sway bar.