I couldn't give a flying f*@k what the JDM guys use on race cars. The factory set up the car with 1.4:1 spring ratio, which results in a 1:1 wheel ratio, front to rear. Almost every track and auto-x car in the US is setup with at least a close ratio. I don't know of a single experienced track/auto-x person running equal spring rates in the US.

 

1:1 wheel ratio? What is that? Did you make that up just now or what?

Dont care about JDM:s? Lol, thats your problem. I just want a fast track car, so i will look anywhere to learn.

What im saying is; If you ONLY change spring rates you cant say whats right or wrong. Different spring rates needs different settings. And hey, lighten up pls.

 

If you don't know what wheel rate and motion ratio are and how spring rate is related to them you have no idea what's being discussed.

If you know what you're doing you can get in the ballpark on the first try.

Yes, different spring rates require different suspension compromises. How do YOU decide which spring rate is best?

 

Hmmm... no i dont know what you mean. Motion ratio and weight ratio ok. But wheel ratio? How do you calculate that? Pls explain. Maybe i dont know the english word for it...


Exactly. TEIN, JIC, Öhlins, Cusco etc. SHOULD know what they are doing. Why do they have those kind of spring rates?


PS. Im not saying whats right or wrong i just want some info!

 

Why should they? Money talks, BS walks. Companies compromise the performance of products all the time for better "marketing". Go down and look at TVs for example. The out-of-the-box settings of all TVs are made horrendously inaccurate to stand-out better in a bright show room. Perfect example of making a product perform worse to sell more.


If you just want some info, then try to learn instead of just saying these spring rates work because some JDM tuner supposedly runs them on their track car.

 

Ahh... Just found out what wheel rate is in swedish, lol I thought it was 50/50 on the FD. So that makes a spring ratio of 1:1 even more dumb...

Yeah Rynberg, it could be like that. But it sounds very paranoid. I mean, why would the suspension companys make a worthless product? Thats not how we do it here in europe. And Öhlins is a Swedish company. I guess i have to give them a call tomorrow


Rynberg; I saw that you were running 600/550 with much fatter tires in the rear and the car was still unbalanced. That sucks. Did you revalve them to fit with the hard springs?

Im thinking of buying new coilovers for my track FD. Im using Tein flex with stock springs atm. I aligned the car after some recommendations here (-1,8 front -1,3 rear) but that setting really sucked. The FD seems to need more camber in the rear, even with "good" spring rates.

 

Yes it does suck. The coilovers came with those spring rates (Zeal's "track springs"). I have the flexibility of dropping the spring rates by up to 100 without having to revalve the shocks. So, 450s will replace the 550s.

BTW, your english is pretty damn good....you write better than 90% of the so-called english speaking people on this forum.

 

Haha, thx.


Anyway, i called Öhlins here i Sweden and they said that they have nothing to do with the jap-spec coilovers. All the R&D for the FD have been made in Japan. You cant even buy these coilovers here in Sweden. They said that if i want Öhlins on my car they can custom make them, very cheap! (not)

And about the strange spring rates; they thought the same and dont recommend using them here i Sweden. The jap-spec coilovers are made for extremly smooth surfaces and for sprint and autoX racing. In other words; usless as allround racing dampers. Thats unofficial info though.

 

Not to hijack the thread, but I'll ask anyway:

I'm tenatatively planning on installing Tein Super Racing (replaces the RA) with 10/8 for use in autocross but I'd like to keep daily street driveability reasonable. I've read two posts above that say Flex and 10/8 are just fine on the street.. ..is there any reason to assume the new Super Racing won't also be fine on the street (when set full soft)?

p.s. confirmed with Tein USA rep that the Super Racing is valved to handle that low a rate (or go as high as 18 or 20).
p.p.s. what's stock? somewhere around 250/200??

 

"According to Jim Langer, the RS*R coilovers employ a 447 lb/inch spring up front and a 391 lb/inch in the back. For comparison, a stock '93 RX-7 sports 280 lb/inch and 198 lb/inch fore and aft, respectively."

 

Dan,

last time I got a feedback from Tein (a year ago) they indicated the range of adjustability with the SCR was 14 Kg/mm -2/+4 Kg/mm. Therefore, 12 Kg/mm was the lowest you could go before revalving.

Tein has a very nice table for racing springs on their website you may want to take a look at http://www.tein.co.jp/e/price_list/racing_spring.html
The SCR uses 150mm long springs 65mm I.D.

Finally, you may have noticed that the autox champions (Andy, Eric) recommendation is to use springs in the neighborough of 900/750 lb/in F/R, which equates to 16-18 Kg/mm in the F and 12-14 Kg/mm in the rear. These rates should be within the range of adjustability of the SCR with no need for revalving.

- Sandro

 

Thanks Sandro. For 2007 I'm sticking with the GC coilover conversion (and just 500/400) over my Konis. We'll see where that takes me before investing in complete replacement.

 

Is SCR supposed to be SRC (i.e. Super Racing)? Apparantly my builder's Tein USA rep lied to him or the new Super Racing have a different range than last year. btw, where do you run across Andy/Eric's recommendations?

 

Dan,

Yes it was a typo, I meant SRC. See below the email from Tein

From: TEIN USA INC [mailto:sales@tein.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2005 2:29 PM
To: Sandro LaRosa
Cc: TEIN, Sales
Subject: Re: double adjustable shocks for a Mazda FD3S

Sandro,
Thank you for your interest in TEIN High Performance Suspension Products. All of our coilovers can be revalved to suite your needs. The range for the SRC for your RX-7 is +4.0 ~ -2.0 in the front and +2.0 ~ -2.0 for the rear.

Best regards,
Sales

Staff @ TEIN USA INC.
9798 Firestone Blvd.
Downey, CA 90241
Phone: (562)861-9161
Fax: (562)861-9171
www.tein.com

----------------------------------

Yes, I guess it may be possible they changed the range although I doubt they could effectively control a range wider than that. By the way, the Japanese website shows that the SRC now ship with 16 Kg/mm springs F and R. When I asked Tein last year, the SRC were shipping with 14 Kg/mm F and R.

See the thread below for autox spring rates and other useful tips from the champions...
https://www.rx7club.com/race-car-tech-103/fd-suspension-motion-ratios-591954/

- Sandro

 

Dangit... you guys have turned my thread about nice soft springs that perform well on the street to another thread about crazy high spring rates. :P

Oh well... Continue onward

 

Sorry for the highjacking...

 

You can order Tein Flex's with the 550 F and 450 R rates but also order these springs (SQ060-01175) then take the rear 450 rate springs and move them forward and put the (SQ060-01175) on the rears. Discard the 550 front springs. Also order the cockpit adjust module.

You should call Tein and make sue the part number I gave you is correct for the rear springs.

 

I think the best combination for high performance street would be the 8 & 6 springs with upgraded sway bars. Best combination of decent ride with good cornering roll control. IMO