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Good question - I''ve read so much debates around this that it gave me a head ache.
What it appears to be was that the racing community in the states actually ran soft springs up front as opposed to what the Japanese did.
The arguments for Harder springs up front ran all the way from differing driving styles to Japanese race cars running larger front wheels (or smaller rear wheels), which negated the understeer effect, but in general, running stiffer springs up front encouraged understeer which was, in a way, good for the common street driver.
I just ran whatever came out from the manufacturer.
Not sure if its been noticed though but the real japanese coilovers setup for racing in a FWD typically have a very small difference between the front and rear - e.g. Toda N1s, HKS Hipermax Pros, where the difference is typically only about 2kg presumably to just compensate for the weight of having the engine up front. So really, its quite balanced.
Yeah, seems like there is a lot of speculation on the topic.
It just makes more sense to me for a stiffer front, due to the engines location.
Why does the dc2 have a spring rate which is firmer on the front, but the dc5 has one that is firmer on the rear?
All TEIN is made in Japan (according to the box which my Tein Monoflex came in).
the reason i think for why tuned (and stock) dc2rs runs harder springs at the front compared to the back whereas tuned dc5s tend to run much firmer rear springs is due to the dc5's basic suspension design, having a mcpherson strut front and double wishbone rear as opposed to the double-wishbone all-round for the dc2r. the nature of a typical mcpherson strut design requires a comparitively softer spring than the double-wishbone design, which explains why tuned light little honda's often run 16 or 18kg/mm springs whereas tuned s15's (having mcpherson strut design) weighing several hundred kilos more seldom run more than 12kg/mm, usually more like 8kg/mm..
"What's the point of racing a car that doesn't look cool?" - Nakai-san, RWB
Stock DC2R's run: Rear
4.4 kg/mm Front
2.5 to 4.4 kg/mm
Yes, I find it strange dc2r's run stiffer rears.. due to engine location and the body leaning forward when braking/cornering. I just can't get my head around it.
David
'00 DC2 Integra TypeR SOLD
'78 SB2 Civic "Hondamatic"
'07 GD3 Jazz
Stock DC2R's run: Rear
4.4 kg/mm Front
2.5 to 4.4 kg/mm
Yes, I find it strange dc2r's run stiffer rears.. due to engine location and the body leaning forward when braking/cornering. I just can't get my head around it.
I just realised that i know nothing about coilovers. We are talking about the DC5 running stiffer rear kg/mm because of the mcpherson/double wishbone suspension it has - correct?
I just realised that i know nothing about coilovers. We are talking about the DC5 running stiffer rear kg/mm because of the mcpherson/double wishbone suspension it has - correct?
That is correct . The rear suspension has a much lower wheel rate, or effective spring rate, when compared to the front on a DC5. Thus a setup with equal front spring rates front to rear on a DC5 will actually be softer in the rear. Sucks for us .
fyi spoon use prog.rate lowered springs to replace stock springs, however in their coilover units they use linear-rate springs (like most other coilover manufacturers, but not all..)
also we have not discussed that some manufacturers supply the coilover unit with a helper spring to keep it captive at full droop..
"What's the point of racing a car that doesn't look cool?" - Nakai-san, RWB
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