[bvondran]

I need a little information regarding the ground controls I just purchased for my 01RS. Anyways, I bought them used, they came with 225# front and 200# rear 7" springs.

I'm wondering whether the 7" are the shortest or the medium set of springs offered for the rs, ie, will they get me back to stock ride height (I don't necessarily want it ther, but it would be nice to have the option) or am I gonna be stuck with at least 1.5" below stock. If so, I think I'll buy some 8" springs, or maybe some 9" springs, which brings me to my next questions....

Spring rates. I'm currently running AGX's with Eibach pro-kits and they ride and handle okay, but I'm building for divisional/national autox. I know eventually the AGX's won't cut it, but that's for another day. How much spring can the AGX's handle? I'm not going super slammed, just firm. Can they handle 300# springs? 400#? Anybody know?

Thanks in advance,

 

[Warp3]

As for the spring length question, from what I've read in the past the 8" spring goes up to just about stock height, the 9" spring goes both above and below stock height. (The estimations I've seen are 8" = -2" to 0" and 9" = -1" to +1" relative to stock.)

 

[Storm]

You got your spring length answer above. I agree with it.

What class are you building for? That's important as tire selection, wheel sizes, and other suspension parts come into play when choosing rates. To be brutally honest, the spring rates that will help you at the div/nat level will be much too stiff for anything but the smoothest roads. STS is being ruled by CSP cars with Azenis tires. CSP usually has some of the fastest times of all classes. Look at some of the front running STS cars and you'll see they're running 5-6-700# springs on a car that is literally 1000# LESS than an RS.

Here's a hint for you, we're running 500#fr/400#rr rates with Koni strut inserts valved for the STi springs. We're going higher and getting the Koni's revalved for the Nationals.

The KYB's are holding up on my other Impreza with the same 500#fr/400#rr springs. I drive it everyday and other than avoiding rough roads, I run taller sidewall tires at a slightly lower pressure to keep the ride acceptable. I don't know how long they'll hold up, but when they go, they'll be rebuilt with heavier damping.

Incidentally, you can make the strut heavier by changing the fluid inside to a heavier weight. This is an old skool rally trick that works. You'll lose the "gas charged" anti-foam characteristics, but it's alot cheaper than the alternative.

It all boils down to what you want to do with the car.

 

[bvondran]

I'm building for STS, although it doesn't look like we'll be there much longer. Maybe the sun will shine and we'll be allowed in next year as well. I thought I had read somewhere about getting a different weight fluid to change the damping of the shocks, but wasn't entirely sure. Eventually, I'd like to go with a set of Koni's or some revavled, and adustable stock RS struts. I know a guy who's done this to a WRX that is unbelievable. Thanks for the valuable information!

Since you are in NE Ohio, you going to the Cen-Div this weekend?

Brian

 

[bvondran]

hey jay, do you think I could flop the springs around, put the 200# springs in front and the 225# springs in the rear to help the car rotate or is this advised against? Thanks again for the info.

 

[Dan00RS]

I think if you flip them from front to back (and vice versa) your car will plow like a pig because the lighter springs in the front won't hold the weight of the engine and the thing will just sink. And the back end will be jacked up a bit higher. Sounds like a recipe for severe understeer.

 

[Storm]

Bvondran: Yes, we'll be at the Toledo CenDiv event. You could flip the springs around for more oversteer. It should be alright, but you'll just have to try and see how you like it. That's the great thing about coilovers....the spring size is the same. No worry about not fitting.

Make sure they're the same height though. You'll know when you set things back down off the jackstands.

 

[bvondran]

Thanks Storm, I'll look for ya, or vice-versa. I'll be the *slow* guy that's trying to get faster in STS. I'm really good with suspension theory but as I travel out of town most weeks, don't have much of a budget and don't get to race as much as I want, I don't exactly have the time and money to properly develop the car, so I was gonna make a big leap. Not sure if I want to do it or not.

My theory was, with my Eibach pro-kits I have something like 180# springs up front right now and some progressives in the back that max out at about 150#. But putting the 200# gc's in the front and the 225#er's in the back, I was hoping to aid the cars rotation without giving up to terribly much grip at the back, i.e, balancing the car more with the springs and tuning more with the shocks.

My concern was weight transfer under acceleration and how it would be affected by stiffer springs in the rear than in the front. Here's where my practice falls on it's face, because all my experience is tuning front wheel drive cars. Do you think this could be a problem, or wouldn't you worry about it? Maybe I'll just try it out and see. Thanks again for your help.

Oh, and I'll always corner weight and align after spring changes. Don't want screwy alignments thowing off test data!