I have Tein RA's on a MY02. The car is lowered about 1 inch with a mildly aggressive alignment with the specs taken from these pages. And it is corner weighted. The front springs have been swapped for a softer spring with a spring rate of 8, while the rears are still 10. I did this with the idea that the car would be more compliant on the road, where it is used. I don't track the car.

To help reduce oversteer, would it be beneficial to set the shock stiffness stiffer in the front than the rear, and by how much? What are your recommendations? Also, would a bigger front sway bar be a wise investment, and who would you recommend? I am not looking to track the car, just make it a bit more "sure footed." I just don't want any surprises in a turn.

Thank you,
Charles

 

You are asking about two different things... The stock suspension is more compliant on public roads than something with twice the spring rate. So to answer inline with your orginal idea, everything needs to be softer to be compliant on a road. A stiffer suspension be more likely going to rattle and buck on public roads because its will be fighting against the road imperfections. The Koni yellows are a softer shock than the stock Showa's and that is why many folks entertain the perception that they handle better. Lowering your car further reduces compliance since you will need stiffer springs to keep from bottoming out.

If you want more understeer then you can simply reinstall the 10k rate springs on the front suspension. The RA's with the out of the box springs tends towards heavy understeer with stock sized wheels and tires. Adjusting shock stiffness will only change understeer/oversteer characteristics during a transition, not steady state turning. Since you have some ability to adjust your suspension ride height and you have a second set of springs I would play there. Tweaking your ride height will move your car's center of mass and will allow you to dail in some more understeer/oversteer as you see appropriate. You should be very capable to get things close enough without a new sway bar.

 

Thanks. I knew the coilovers would be stiffer and not as compliant as the stock, but I just wanted a softer rate than 10 in the front. I played with the settings some more. I guess I'll be doing that for a while. Changing the springs in and out isn't an easy option because of the corner balancing.
Thanks again.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by charles02
Thanks.

 

I never said I was trying to change the ride height.

 

You said play with the settings which I thought meant also changing the ride heights which will affect roll centers and handling. Now that I reread it I guess you were just talking about damping...

 

No problem. You're right, though. It could be confusing.