Hi fellas, I'm looking for your advice on what spring rates I should get for my coilovers for daily driving duties.

I read in one of the sticky's that it's better to run a higher spring rate in the rear. However, even after I read it I don't think I understood everything. I'll read it again later on when I have more time but for now, I need your recommendations on spring rates for Daily Driving.

Should I go stiffer in the front or in the rear?

8k/10k? is the stiff enough or is it still too soft?

I do not want the car to be bouncy. I'd appreciate your help.

 

You should run stiffer springs in the rear.

8/10 (F/R) for daily driving should be nice. not too harsh, not too soft in my opinion. may be just a little bouncy if you have bad roads.

I have two evos black and red, both on HKS Hipermax III sport as my summer suspension.
Having 10/12 in black one seems to be too bouncy for an every day driven car. I drive it every day, and got used to it, but yes it is bouncy.
9/7 in red one feels just perfect. If I adjust it to the softest setting it feels almost like stock on the bumps. Its a pity that I cant swap springs front to rear as they have different lenght on that car.

 

The 'bouncy' feeling has a lot to do with your dampers as well. Your dampers have to be valved appropriately to handle those high spring rates.

For daily driving, I wouldn't recommend coilovers anyway. But if you insist, 8K/10K is probably the highest you want to go.

 

Just soften the dampening for a better ride quality. Decrease rebound for better ride quality.
7k/8k/9k should be where a DD evo should be. I am 8k/9k. I DD my KW Clubsports and track the crap out of it 2 days a month. I need 2-3k stiffer springs all around honestly...

 

I currently DD on FA 500 8kF/10kR and for me it's not too stiff, and not too soft, but like it was stated above, it also depends on how you set the damper. Hope This Helps!

 

I just installed BC ER series coilovers. I got 8k/9k and they are about right for a daily driver. The rear still feel a little soft so I would prob reccomend the 8k/10k setup the others are talking about.

 

Hi guys,

I'm looking to upgrade the suspension on my EVO IX (AUDM), could someone please (Suspension guru) recommend which will be better for Daily driving? BC BR or ER with Spring rate 7/8kg, Blitz ZZ-R 7/8kg, Tein Super Street 6/6kg, Cusco Zero A 7/5kg?

Car is strictly street and open road driven so can't compromise on ride comfort, stock suspension seems like they are stuffed a bit noisy.

Please shed some light guys,

Cheers

 

Per your requirements (can't compromise on ride comfort): None of the above. You don't want low-end coilovers with increased spring rates over stock if you can't compromise on ride comfort. All of those will be a step backward.

I assume you're on the KYB dampers? Get the suspension off of an MR. The Bilsteins have much better valving, which will translate into better ride comfort than your current setup. If you're still eager to mod something, put some Swift springs on the dampers. You'll get a slightly higher spring rate without compromising ride comfort too much.

If you insist on coilovers, you'll probably want to look into Ohlins' offering. They ride surprisingly well due to their damping. I have no first hand experience with the AST 4100 series, but they generally come with good reviews as well.

 

/\/\ This ...however since you asked about spring rates...the correct ones will be 7 or 8 in front and 8/9 in rear. slightly softer for smoother ride. 7 kg spring = 350 lb which is what the Swift spec-r is in front 8 kg = 400 ft lb which is what the Swift Spec-r is in rear.

However coilovers use linear springs not the progressive that the factory or Swifts are.

Really for DD, use the MR Bilsteins and Swift Spec-R. They also happen to be excellent for track , in fact better than 90% coilovers. Ohlins, KW, AST and other high end coilovers are excepted. If you search you will find that to be the experience of many track oriented drivers including our experts on here.

You will also find lots of threads of : I bought " insert coilover name here " for $800- $1300 followed up by a complaint in a few months that they " clunk, broke sheared the piston rod or the valving doesnt work or tophat froze up"

Don't beleive me? Search, then go drive any 8 or 9 with the bilstein Mr Swift Spec-R package and find out for yourself.

 

What springs did the Evo 8 come with? And are they any good?

I find that if I go over an abrupt bump at speed while on a slight turn (a highway), the car gets pretty unsettled, rocks side to side for a moment. Feels like the front wheels are not reacting too well. Maybe too much compression damping and not enough rebound, so that the front gets jostled up and the wheels stay in the air too long. It definitely doesn't soak up these bumps.

Harder cornering can be hairy, too, as the front can dive a lot, and then go into a bit of oversteer causing the rear end to step out. But maybe that's normal. I'm a fairly new driver.

Is there any sort of a cartridge system inside the shocks to separate abrupt bumps from progressive pressure, or is it just normal valving inside?

 

AFAIK Swift Spec-Rs are 6.4/6.8 kg. I used them on stock KYB struts - perfect cheap option for street ride and weekend autoX warrior, Much better than $1000 coilovers. Anyway I went to HKS Hipermax3 Sport and really happy now, but I would recommend non sport version for DD car.

Stock evo8 springs are about 4.3-ish.. Stock struts are a bit overdampened for such soft springs. But that work fine for daily driving and bad roads.

 

Stock Evo springs are ~ 200-230 lbs MR are 220 240 IIRC

the stock KYB are harsh. Teh bilsteins have much improved dampining and can handle a wider range od rates as well as provide better charactersitcs fro ride and bump rebound. it is why they are so highly recommended..good ride and handling