[968norway]

Hi,



Thinking of doing some upgrades to the springs/suspension. As per today I have M030 sway bars and koni sport shocks, done last year. I am now thinking about stiffer springs. The car is mostly for road use with some track days, so I am not looking at going too far with this.



I would like to avoid having to change out things I already have. For the front the paragon coilover kit, which matches up with the koni inserts already done, seems pretty good. On the rear either uprating the torsion bar or coilovers.



Having read through some posts here, I see that the std front-rear is 160-175, right? Would it be reasonble to keep the same ratio (160/175) for a somewhat stiffer setup? Say 250# and 275#, front rear, as suggested by flash in one of the threads. The balance of the car is pretty good right now and I would like to avoid messing it up too much.



Really just trying to get some idea on where to start.



thanks for any help,

Tore

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[flash]

correct on the oem rates



reasonably maintaining the balance ratio has been very successful thusfar - not long ago we set dan sandru's car up with 250 up front and added a 95# coilover to the rear - VERY nice - this works very well, as long as you don't want to lower the car too much - we dropped his about 3/4" - any more than that and it would be cleaner to upgrade the torsion bars instead, and just add an adjustable fluid shock



my biggest suggestion is to stay with a fluid shock, and not a gas shock, on the rear - the gas preload fakes you into thinking it is too stiff, and makes the rear end jittery - fluid works MUCH better than gas



the gas koni is ok up front up to about 300# - more than that and you need to go with the dual adjustable - i am just about to do that myself



as for what spring rates to go with, that one is really up to you - dan's car is really a highway car he wanted to have some more fun with, without giving up any ride comfort



for a street car, realizing that you would get a touch more understeer, you can bump the front springs up to about 200 without any real issues, and not touch the rear spring rate

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[968norway]

Hey, thanks for the info. It's good to see I'm not totally wrong in my assumptions. I want to tighten the car up a bit and reduce the wallowing feel. I will also be putting on poly' bushes where I can.



Roads in Norway are not particularly good, nothing like California (I used to live in the Bay area). Putting 200# on the front seems like a good start. On the rear, perhaps going to a 27mm torsion bar (220#) wouldn't be too bad. Hopefully can make it up with the sway bars. Also not planning on lowering the car more than necessary (bad roads and snow etc.).



thanks for the help,



Tore

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[flash]

no worries



the 28mm hollow torsion bar seems to work well with a 200-225 front spring



be careful about pulyurethane bushings - they tend to squeak - even the grooved ones i have on some sway bars now do it a bit

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[968norway]

Squeaky sway bars, just another sound in the symphony/cacophony. Powerflex send along some grease or something don't they? Works for short while I suppose. I'll try the 28mm hollow torsion bar, seems like a good match.



Something to do during the long winter nights.



Thanks again for the info.

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