which rates are best for daily drive on the 91 wagon?

949

looking into some coilovers and im able to choose between some spring rates. i prefer something close to stock feel but wont bottom out. its a daily driver and will not see any track time. i do drive agressive on the streets tho. but the streets have lots of bad roads like pot holes and such.

here are what is offered.
they can be in any combo. it doesnt matter what the fronts and rears would be.


fronts selections are:
340 lb/in
380 lb/in
430 lb/in


rear selections are:
250 lb/in
350 lb/in
430 lb/in

i was thinking of doing 340 fronts and 250 rears.
concerned that the rears would be too soft because the wagon rears are heavier.
but i have no experience with the wagon suspension to make an informative decision.

another combo i was thinking of was 340 fronts and 350 rears.
i dont know what that would do to the ride being most of the time the fronts have stiffer rates for the heavier engine.

what do you guys recommend?

JGRAFF

I'm in the process of buying coilovers too. And everything that I’ve seen for daily driving (no track time) is a 350 front and a 250 rear.

For example here is the explanation from Progress Technology. This is copied right off there website.


STREET PERFORMANCE - ORDER part # 77.1002
These kits use 350# front and 250# rear springs. This calibration rides well on uneven road conditions if set up at a reasonable ride height around 1.0" to 1.5" less than OEM. Expect a dramatic improvement in handling capability and steering response. This is the choice for sport-tuned "daily drivers".

STREET-SPORT - ORDER part # 77.1002.SS
These kits use 350# front and 350# rear springs. This calibration is more aggressive and transitions faster for the "sport" driver. Expect a dramatic improvement in handling capability and response, and some reduced ride quality. This is the great choice for "street and track day" multi-use vehicles, and vehicles driven hard on better (smoother) roads.

AUTOCROSS- DRAG LAUNCH - ORDER part # 77.1004
These kits use 350# front and 500# rear springs. This calibration has more grip, and is intended for use with "performance" alignment settings and sticky tires. If ride quality is a major concern, don?t go here because the stiffer rear springs make for an uncomfortable (choppy) highway ride. This is a more balanced and less forgiving setup intended for enthusiast track days and autocross events. This kit will also launch well for mild drag applications. Expect a huge improvement in handling capability. This would also be a great low-budget setup for new (road racing) drivers going to a (track) driving school.

For the sake of comparison, typical OEM spring rates for these applications are approximately 220#/in front, and 110#/in rear. With the numerous Civic & Integra applications, there is a range of spring rates, and these CS-II systems are significant upgrades from your OEM damper and spring calibrations.

Hope this helps.

NZ-DB8R

I run 450lb front and 337lb rear in my Wagon. Really soft and comfy but not so great in the corners.

I run 787lb front and 564lb rear in my Integra and its stiffer than a school boy at a nudist beach Still have used it as a daily for over a year and its bearable

jpciii

I run Ground Control off-the-shelf rates for an Integra: 350/280. They do not feel soft to me but cornering/stability was not great.. After I added a rear anti-sway bar, cornering improved 10-fold.

949

jpciii wrote:

I run Ground Control off-the-shelf rates for an Integra: 350/280. They do not feel soft to me but cornering/stability was not great.. After I added a rear anti-sway bar, cornering improved 10-fold.

compared to the stock suspension how much more stiffer is the 350 / 280 setup?

jpciii

Out on the highway, they can be a harsh ride. Linear rate springs (coilovers) are like that. Progressive rate springs (like stock springs and lowering springs) get more stiff as they're compressed and they soak up the bumps much better. If I had to do it over again, I'd probably go with moderate lowering springs (1.5 - 2 inch drop) like I wanted in the first place. H&R Sports felt great on my old daily driver hatch. When I did my wagon suspension 5 years ago, I couldn't find any wagon guys who had put on regular EF lowering springs. Some people said that the rear might sit too high. I didn't want to take that chance, so I bought coilovers.

NZ-DB8R

I personally think the springs have very little influence when the spring rates are so low. I would be more looking at the valving on the shocks.

I mean I ran drop springs (progressive rate) on OEM shocks and the ride was shit, replace OEM shocks with Koni Sport shocks and the ride was fantastic.
I now run the spring rates I mentioned above with my Koni shocks with the damper adjusted to about halfway and the ride is nice and soft and smooth. Crank the Damping to full and its solid as a rock.

949

jpciii wrote:

Out on the highway, they can be a harsh ride. Linear rate springs (coilovers) are like that. Progressive rate springs (like stock springs and lowering springs) get more stiff as they're compressed and they soak up the bumps much better. If I had to do it over again, I'd probably go with moderate lowering springs (1.5 - 2 inch drop) like I wanted in the first place. H&R Sports felt great on my old daily driver hatch. When I did my wagon suspension 5 years ago, I couldn't find any wagon guys who had put on regular EF lowering springs. Some people said that the rear might sit too high. I didn't want to take that chance, so I bought coilovers.

thanks for the reply.
was the front too much or the rear too much?
an i assuming correctly that you bought the full kit with the adjustable shocks or just the sleeves?

and would you say like 290 front and 260 rears (heavier back than normal hatches) to make it more like stock feel?


also i thought that ground control kits for the civic were essentially shocks with spring sleeves and not real coilovers.

dukevonDANK

I'm looking at some K-sport Kontrol Pro-Racing adjustable coilovers....549 front: 280 rear

That seems like NZ-DB8R's integra in comparison to the stiff category...and on a wagon, would probably suck trying to daily that beast, if you had 200 lbs. of tools in the back like me.

jpciii

NZ-DB8R brings up an excellent point. The 'stiffness' of your struts will greatly affect how comfortable your car feels - probably more so than spring rates or progressive vs linear, etc.

949: To clarify, I bought GC coilover sleeves & springs for DC Integra and put them on Tokico Illumina struts for 89-91 Civic/CRX. My wagon is front wheel drive with a D15B2. I'm mostly happy with the spring rates and the balance is fine front to rear. Even though I complain a bit about harshness of ride, I do not suggest softer rates. With the struts adjusted to 3, I occasionally bottom out on the worst highway dips. Set to 4, the ride is hard but I don't bottom out. If you want a lower ride height than me, you might be happier with higher rate springs - ESPECIALLY if you haul stuff which I seldom do.

Here is my ride height. I have about an inch to go before I start tucking tire (about 1 finger gap, maybe a bit more in the rear).



older pic:

949

im wondering if your bottom out might be that the valving on the shocks might be too soft and not the spring rate themselves.

oh i like your stance. ill be lookingf for something in that range.

949

i am planning on buying the GC kit for the ef this week.
after consideration for all the reply's and the road conditions plus i dont track. im thinking of going with fronts 340 and rear 300.

what do you guys think?
keeping in mind i need something confortable on the highway and streets. just a hair stiffer than stock.
is this still too stiif?
the goal is to have something that sits lower and rides similar to oem.

949

NZ-DB8R wrote:

I run 450lb front and 337lb rear in my Wagon. Really soft and comfy but not so great in the corners.

I run 787lb front and 564lb rear in my Integra and its stiffer than a school boy at a nudist beach Still have used it as a daily for over a year and its bearable

are the ones on your wagon ground control?