coilovers height adjustment and spring preload

[illuzi0nz]

is it really that important that height adjustments not change the spring preload in coilovers? ive been researching on here and ozhonda, and i keep reading that certain coilovers are not recommended due to the fact when you change the height, you change the preload, which is not desirable. is this an important trait to look out for when selecting coilovers that will be mostly run on the streets?

im currently looking for a reasonably-priced set of coilovers for my DC5R that will spend pretty much all of its time on the streets. with that said, i wouldn't mind experiencing the track in a couple of years time at least once, once i get uni out of the way, and get some decent mods in. hence i want some coilovers that i can tweak for when that time comes also; doesn't need to be so high-end for clocking quick times, just enough for me to have some fun safely.

ive considered tein ss', but they're a bit out of my budget, plus ive heard they're a bit too soft. buddyclub n+ have crossed my mind, but ive heard the quality isn't very good/reliable. bc (borchan) racing; i have mixed thoughts on - their QA was very poor in their first production batch, but with their most recent batch (gold BRs), i have only read of good reviews about them, even though they're made from the same factory as the first batch (in taiwan ..)

any suggestions/recommendations with justification would be greatly appreciated.

thanks in advance

[tinkerbell]

is it really that important that height adjustments not change the spring preload in coilovers?

yes.

im currently looking for a reasonably-priced set of coilovers for my DC5R that will spend pretty much all of its time on the streets.

maybe reconsider the need for coil-overs then?

with that said, i wouldn't mind experiencing the track in a couple of years time

then buy them in a couple of years time (when you can afford to get proper ones.)

ive considered tein ss', but they're a bit out of my budget,

you need to keep saving then...

[ChargeR]

To start of with my definition of a preloaded spring is a spring that has been compressed shorter than it's free length when the car is off the ground and no load is on the spring. Very few coilovers actually require the spring to be preloaded at all to get to desired ride height. I would never buy a coilover that required the spring to be significantly preloaded to achieve the desired ride height, a coilover that is designed this way is crappy, and should have a shorter spring on it. Droop travel is just as important as bump travel in my opinion, and by preloading a spring you are trading droop travel for bump travel.

For example a Tein SS coilover only has one pair of spring perches that set the ride height, so as you lower the perches and hence the car the available damper stroke in bump is getting less and less, and you are getting more and more available stroke in droop. Note that in this situation with the car up on jacks the spring will be free to rattle around, which isn't a big deal. There is generally no effect on spring preload unless you wind the spring perches all the way to a high ride height and the spring starts compressing with the car off the ground.

With that tirade over I am going to go ahead and disagree with tinkerbell. I don't think that coilovers that adjust height independent of the available damper stroke are essential, which is really what you are talking about here. A large majority of proper race dampers are used with a single pair of spring perches and with no preload on the spring, so that when the car is off the ground the springs are free to rattle around. This generally isn't an issue on such dampers because their available stroke far exceeds the usable range of motion of the suspension.

However this is possibly not true of a lot of cheaper japanese dampers, they will have much less available stroke. So perhaps this is why they have promoted the myth that if you don't have separate spring perches and height adjustment perch on your coilovers then you are doing something wrong.

Also if you can't afford Tein SS then don't bother changing your suspension.

On the subject of BCs, I have a set of them (the old V1s) on my daily a K11 Micra, and honestly they are crap, although the car is pretty dumped so that may be a factor. With rates half as high as the springs on my DC5 (taking into account different suspension architectures and weight distribution) the car has significantly worse ride comfort than the DC5.

[ChargeR]

To put it this way, I would happily trade my Mugen N1 dampers, which are height adjustable independent of spring preload/damper stroke, for a set of Moton 2 ways, which are not.

[Didz]

"Poor people can't afford poor quality"

I am not saying that you are poor, but think about it. Why would you take short cuts on suspension for a car? It is required to turn and stabilize the car.

If you arent tracking your car then I would say dont get coilovers. You dont need coilover suspension to lower your car or givbe it a firmer feel. Consider some Koni Yellow dampers with matched lower springs. I would say Koni are much higher quality than some of the JDM brands. They are also serviceable locally.

Finally, you dont need mods to track. How on Earth are mods going to make your track debut better/safer/more enjoyable? Have you ever been go karting? Did you find that enjoyable? Most of the time those karts only go 60~ kph. If anything, modding your car first would in my opinion, make it less safe. You may build up preconceptions and hopes for certain times and push the car beyond your abilities.

BTW track days are 1 day on a weekend. Pretty sure uni isnt 7 days a week.

[illuzi0nz]

hahaa thanks for replying guys. yeah, i'm still saving up while i find the right coilovers. the car came with king springs on stock shocks, and they ride like crap, and would like to rectify that

well, i found out after posting the thread that tein ss' are like .. 1.8k brand new, which is within limits. can someone confirm this for me? (i've been lazy and haven't called around the suspension places, and just typed it in on ebay and it said the tein ss were like $2.8k, which is out of my budget) for around $2k, what would you guys recommend?

and you're right that uni isn't 7 days a week, but i have 32 contact hour workload though that i don't manage very well + other commitments hahaa

[tinkerbell]

well, if you are installing new sussy to replace old sussy that does not perform the way you like, then this is more of a reason to do it,

and 1.8k sounds about right...

ask this place for a price:

http://www.nengun.com/tein/super-street

[VTECMACHINE]

Have a look at HSD's and stuff like that. If it's for the street, then it doesn't matter mate. Tein SS will still be 'safe', but if you want to slam your car, you screw the preload.
If you are planning to track the car in 2 years, in all honesty, just have fun with the car now and put cheap coilovers on it. You'll most likely look into selling the Integra in 2 years anyways, and look into turbo's and Euro options.

[dc05yo]

hey mate can relate to some of your issues as I'm pretty much in the same situation as you. I've been to wakefield approx 3 times in the last year or so and the number 1 thing I have realised is that mods are pretty much useless without being able to use them at their full potential.
Basically learn how to drive and appreciate your car before you start pumping money into it.
I had pedders springs with the stock dc5r shocks and yes i can agree with you that they felt like shit on the street, however if you're going to go the the track in a few years then just get it then. I raced at wakefield with a stock dc5r+springs and had a ridiculous amount of fun and thats what really mattered.

For the street.. the only reason why i have coilovers because i love being able to dump it and be a hardparker =) oh btw i have buddyclub RSD's on my car and would highly recommend them!