H&R Race Springs + Lift Kit.

[LJ851]

Looks good LJ851. How much lower was it before?

I never liked the effects of lowering, but I've always loved the effects of high rate springs. Too bad no one combines the two. It's the main reason I'm trying to spec out my own springs.

Taiden, when i went from H&R sports w/ kyb's to H&R Race with koni SA's the front dropped .25 inches and the back dropped 1.25 inches.

My spacers brought the back up 1 inch to match the front for a .25 drop (compared to Sports) all around. Since then i think the front has settled a little and i felt i had too much rake so i removed one spacer from each side and like the way the car sits now. I have 1 inch rake from the back of the rocker panel to the front.

Since this post i have driven the car a fair bit and while it handles and looks great, it feels bouncy on rough roads like it is bottoming out especially in the front. I took the front wheel off and recreated ride height and to my amazement found i have about 1.75 inches of travel til the strut tube hits the spring perch! Not enough in my book, but most people run bilstein sports (high pressure gas) and with these springs and they would def raise the car .5 to 1 inch.

I have to say when i had the Sport springs on i also occasionally noticed some bouncy-ness on larger bumps but thought it was the kyb's not damping enough, but now i think it was more a combo of soft spring rates, not much travel and too thick of bump stop.

Not sure what direction i am going next, but i would like to ride in a Race/ Bilstein Sport combo first if i can.

After that if i stick with konis i will be making some reverse drop hats (lift hats?) for the front to buy me .5 or .75 inch more travel and match the rear and see how that works. I guess the other option would be to shorten the strut housings and run the short konis but i really am trying to keep this car sensible.

It currently looks like this

[taiden]

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/KON-7034950000

Car looks good. That's a remarkably low amount of travel. How do dumped/tucked/stanced/herrafrush e30s ride on the street with less?

[LJ851]

That's a remarkably low amount of travel. How do dumped/tucked/stanced/herrafrush e30s ride on the street with less?

Very poorly or with shortened strut housings.



Edit . That bumpstop^^^ is almost .5 inches longer than ALL my travel!

[taiden]

[kalib0y]

I have all the spring pads on plus the .60 inch spacers in the rear. The trunk tar has been removed.

Pic:

It currently looks like this

Nice improvement. Out of curiousity, did the removal of the trunk tar affect the ride height? I never really thought it was that heavy

[giantkeeper]

Nice improvement. Out of curiousity, did the removal of the trunk tar affect the ride height? I never really thought it was that heavy

It was exactly 50lbs on mine. Really did not seem to change the ride height though. AFAICT

[LJ851]

Nice improvement. Out of curiousity, did the removal of the trunk tar affect the ride height?

Yes it did but the higher the spring rate, the less the change in ride height was. Prob less than .25 inches w/ Races.

Taiden, the H&R springs are already progressive and with so little travel there just isn't room for a nice plush, progressive bumpstop. I had M3 bump stops (shorter than stock) on from when i had the Sports on and they are a progressive bumpstop, but the car was sitting on them statically with the Races and during normal driving the spring rates would soar to infinity on a regular basis and there is no way for any shock's rebound damping to control that.

I have since cut the bumps down to .5 inch foam and you can feel when it bottoms more but it rides and handles much better. This is why i think another .5 to 1 inch would transform the car (assuming the springs don't coilbind)

[taiden]

I just wanted to share the excerpt from that book. I know you have everything under control

[LJ851]

I just wanted to share the excerpt from that book.

What book? It looks familiar .

[taiden]

Tune to Win, Carroll Smith

[LJ851]

Ahh, yes. Excellent book.

Another of my favorites is Race and Rally Car Source Book, Allan Staniforth. It's Old School and hands on (like myself).

[bastianshaw]

im noy even running bumpstops

[LJ851]

im not even running bumpstops

What shocks are you running?

[taiden]

Some shocks have internal bumpstops sort of. I don't know which ones do off the top of my head though. I hope you are using some. If you are so low to the point where you have no travel with a bump stop, modified koni type bump stops would be a must have in my humble opinion.

[einstein57]

It's the main reason I'm trying to spec out my own springs.

Definitely an option, although I'd rather get them right the first time and use shims for counterbalancing. Call me oldschool

Not sure what using shims has to do with getting springs made to spec. How would getting the spring rates you want and and having infinite adjust-ability for ride height and corner balancing be wrong? I used to think coilovers were a huge waste until i started playing around with them. It was funny when i spec'd out my coil springs the guy was nervous because they could no longer get the wire in the diameter i wanted and they were worried that the extra ounce and 0.1" reduction in travel would put me off. Lol. Just shows the level of precision race teams require on every part that goes on to the car.

Not enough in my book, but most people run bilstein sports (high pressure gas) and with these springs and they would def raise the car .5 to 1 inch.

Once a bilstein sport is compressed it requires very little effort to keep it compressed. Maybe 20 pounds of force. Probably not enough to make any noticeable difference in height. I've noticed the further they are compressed the less force it takes to compress them further which would explain why guys with stock springs claim bilsteins hare to harsh.