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Thread: Question about my suspension

  1. #1
    Guest Carta's Avatar
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    Question about my suspension

    I daily my S15 and its getting to a point where I am thinking of chopping it in as the suspension is killing me. I have some CST coilovers and they are too stiff for the road. Can they be adjusted to make them softer or would it be more beneficial to get a shock and spring combination. I dont do track days, I dont drift so I am thinking these are a waste on my car.

    Can you recommend me anything to replace them or show me how to adjust them?

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Guest zeppelin101's Avatar
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    Do you care how low it goes?

    Consider shocks and springs tbh. I'm in the same boat with the Teins on my S13 and I'm tempted to build up a slightly homebrew coilover setup similar to this.

    It won't be that cheap, but it's a quality damper and they are easily serviced and revalved almost anywhere.

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    Ring the manufacturer and ask what the softest spring rates you can fit to your existing coil over kit

    My hsd coilovers came with 7kg front and 5kg rear but I'm currently running 5front 4 rear and it's much more road friendly

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    South West Rep Evilchap's Avatar
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    Are there any knobs on the coilovers you can twist to change the damping?

    This makes a HUGE difference on the BCs I have run, and the CS2 HSDs.

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    Guest Carta's Avatar
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    They are monotube coilovers apparently, the front have knobs on the top, but the rear are underneath. This is them http://www.more-japan.com/blogs/2011...-import-tuner/ Lows are not that important as I cant drive it at the moment down country lanes with out being bounced off the road
    Last edited by Carta; 23-10-2015 at 06:35.

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    Guest -ghost-'s Avatar
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    My rx8s very harsh with hsds its got 12s at the front due to the having the sr in there

    I have spoken to a couple of companies about having custom valving and damping tweets done just have got around to buying a stock set of stocks to swap too

    the bcs on the s15 are really nice highly recommend

  7. #7
    Guest zeppelin101's Avatar
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    12s? 12kg/mm springs?

    Believe me just because you have an SR in does not mean you need anything like a 12kg/mm spring in unless it's developing a ton of downforce. Literally.

  8. #8
    Guest Carta's Avatar
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    What would be a comfortable spring rate, if I can get replacements that is, if not Ill look at other coilovers

  9. #9
    Guest zeppelin101's Avatar
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    The problem really is whether the damping on the unit can match the spring rate. A lot of them are still too harsh (and linear) to deal with lower spring rates so they still feel crashy.

    Personal viewpoint for a fairly light road car is that anything over 4kg (225lb/in) at the front is largely overkill. The originals are ~2kg so a 100% increase in stiffness for a drop in ride height is quite significant.

    For the rear it's personal preference tbh, I would go for a 3.5kg (200lb/in) at the back but most units seem to stick to 3s.

    All this is for nothing if the damping doesn't work though.

  10. #10
    Guest -ghost-'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by zeppelin101 View Post
    12s? 12kg/mm springs?

    Believe me just because you have an SR in does not mean you need anything like a 12kg/mm spring in unless it's developing a ton of downforce. Literally.
    Well I wasnt keen on the boat affect. I did think that it was high but ive seen a couple of normal rotarys running 10s stock bodied. A couple of rx8 are running 12s with stock motor

    I think hsd damping is a tad old fashioned compared to tein and bc as I rode in a rx8 with bcs that felt nice not to hard but good in the corners

  11. #11
    Guest -ghost-'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by zeppelin101 View Post
    12s? 12kg/mm springs?

    Believe me just because you have an SR in does not mean you need anything like a 12kg/mm spring in unless it's developing a ton of downforce. Literally.
    Well I wasnt keen on the boat affect. I did think that it was high but ive seen a couple of normal rotarys running 10s stock bodied. A couple of rx8 are running 12s with stock motor

    I think hsd damping is a tad old fashioned compared to tein and bc as I rode in a rx8 with bcs that felt nice not to hard but good in the corners

  12. #12
    Guest Carta's Avatar
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    Havent had chance to check on the car but the internet says they are 12/kg and 10/kg, thats pretty stiff?

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    South West Rep Evilchap's Avatar
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    The RX8 spring rates wont be relevant here - as it has different suspension setup the spring rates could be hugely high and still softer feeling than a 200SX, or the other way round, depending on the lengths of the arms and how they're all configured etc.

    Just my 2p, try and stick to comparisons with other 200s

    12/10 on a 200SX is very stiff. DW CS2 I think are 8/6 as standard, and many people find them a little hard riding, although I loved mine. Apex do comfy/limo spec as they call them at around 4/3, so somewhere between those two would probably be a good shout.

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    Ben is correct ^^^.

    I'm running 4/3kg Apex Limos on my S13 and, for a road car with uprated ARBs and strut braces that isn't substantially lowered, it is perfect.

    I ran 5/4 Apex Comfys before the Limos and it was firm and a bit crashy but still pretty usable on the road even for long journeys.

    12/10s I would class as track only suspension for a 200/Silvia. I've been in a 14a running 12/10 for a little 5 mile round trip and I made a note to self to cross that off my list of things to do.

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    Guest zeppelin101's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Evilchap View Post
    The RX8 spring rates wont be relevant here - as it has different suspension setup the spring rates could be hugely high and still softer feeling than a 200SX, or the other way round, depending on the lengths of the arms and how they're all configured etc.

    Just my 2p, try and stick to comparisons with other 200s

    12/10 on a 200SX is very stiff. DW CS2 I think are 8/6 as standard, and many people find them a little hard riding, although I loved mine. Apex do comfy/limo spec as they call them at around 4/3, so somewhere between those two would probably be a good shout.
    While this is true without getting too much into the realms of motion ratio etc, the stock springs on the front of an rx8 are about 2.8kg/mm stiffness. That means that 12kg/mm is 4x stiffer than stock, equivalent to running 8s on a 200 which are decidedly uncomfortable for any kind of road use in most units.

    Madness to run that on a car that sees the road car IMO.

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    I've got 6/5 on my 180sx and I think they're too hard for the road really, but it's not my daily and I'm quite low so it helps.

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    double post

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    how low do you want the car to sit compared to standard?

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    Quote Originally Posted by green_rs13 View Post
    how low do you want the car to sit compared to standard?
    Dis am a good question.

    If "not so low" then you don't need stiff springs.

  20. #20
    Guest Carta's Avatar
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    This is how it sits now http://imgur.com/a/X6hZK/all The front bumper is higher than british curbs so lowness isnt a massive factor

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