Free length of OEM springs
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Joined: May 2001
Posts: 106
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From: Montreal
Requesting help from board members: to those of you who have OEM springs laying around in their garages, please measure the free lengths of the springs, because this information would be very useful to me for the reasons below, and could be useful to others for similar reasons.
I'm considering installing springs of slightly different rates than the OEM's, with marginally different free lengths, in order to taylor the ride height to obtain the results I'm looking for. I'm aiming to keep the stock dampers.
I'm seeking to reduce the oversteer and improve the predictability of my 'oo on the track. On the track I wear 225F & 245R, which reduces the difference between the front & rear contact patches, as compared to the stock S02s.
The general direction I'm looking towards is stiffening up the front springs relative to the rear (by probably increasing the front rate and keeping the rear rate the same) and lowering the rear ride height (+/- 1/2") while maintaining the front as is. I'm anticipating the car to push more on the street with the stock S02s, but it's a compromise I can live with.
In order to order the new springs with the right free lengths, I need to know the EXACT lengths (F&R) of the OEMs.
I'm therefore requesting from the folks who have the stock springs laying around in their garages to please take a minute to measure them, if it's not too much trouble , and post the results. The more results are posted the better, as it will allow differences in springs/measurements to be averaged out.
Of course, any comments on my approach are more than welcome. What I'm trying to do is to improve the handling while remaining as stock, in fact and appearance, as is possible. I shall see, after I make these changes, if adding a stiffer front bar is still required. I would assume that given the limited changes I plan to make, a bigger front bar shall still be useful.
Pierre
I'm considering installing springs of slightly different rates than the OEM's, with marginally different free lengths, in order to taylor the ride height to obtain the results I'm looking for. I'm aiming to keep the stock dampers.
I'm seeking to reduce the oversteer and improve the predictability of my 'oo on the track. On the track I wear 225F & 245R, which reduces the difference between the front & rear contact patches, as compared to the stock S02s.
The general direction I'm looking towards is stiffening up the front springs relative to the rear (by probably increasing the front rate and keeping the rear rate the same) and lowering the rear ride height (+/- 1/2") while maintaining the front as is. I'm anticipating the car to push more on the street with the stock S02s, but it's a compromise I can live with.
In order to order the new springs with the right free lengths, I need to know the EXACT lengths (F&R) of the OEMs.
I'm therefore requesting from the folks who have the stock springs laying around in their garages to please take a minute to measure them, if it's not too much trouble , and post the results. The more results are posted the better, as it will allow differences in springs/measurements to be averaged out.
Of course, any comments on my approach are more than welcome. What I'm trying to do is to improve the handling while remaining as stock, in fact and appearance, as is possible. I shall see, after I make these changes, if adding a stiffer front bar is still required. I would assume that given the limited changes I plan to make, a bigger front bar shall still be useful.
Pierre
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 4,063
Likes: 365
From: Redondo Beach
Honda has a tech sheet that lists the front spring dimensions as:
286.5 x 74.2 ~ 84.7
and the rear spings as:
271.5 x 72.6 ~ 83.1
Unfortunately the sheet is rather cryptic as to precisely what those measurements represent -- they're the in the "Size (design height & i.d.)" section of the form. I'd be interested in hearing your interpretation of them.
Further data points you might find useful:
Front travel:
Full jounce = 59.5
Full rebound = 48.8
Rear travel:
Full jounce = 61.0
Full rebound = 56.2
Good luck.
286.5 x 74.2 ~ 84.7
and the rear spings as:
271.5 x 72.6 ~ 83.1
Unfortunately the sheet is rather cryptic as to precisely what those measurements represent -- they're the in the "Size (design height & i.d.)" section of the form. I'd be interested in hearing your interpretation of them.
Further data points you might find useful:
Front travel:
Full jounce = 59.5
Full rebound = 48.8
Rear travel:
Full jounce = 61.0
Full rebound = 56.2
Good luck.
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