Spring rates

codyyschwartz

codyyschwartz

Well-Known Member
5
9
First of all I want to say hello as I am new to this site, had my SI for almost 3 months now.

I am very curious about coilover spring rates as every company seems to offer different stock rates. I live in north Austin, Texas where the roads are a little rough but it doesn't seem to bother me too much.
I'm looking at possibly dropping my car soon and wanted some input about spring rates from other 9th owners and anyone living near Austin if possible (or other major cities as I'm sure it's similar).

This picture is how the car looks stock as of now
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And here is what I'm going for, I realize the ride will be much worse but oh well, and I'm not worried about having to drive much slower. This is what I'm going for and just wondering what all will be needed. Coilovers and Camber Kit but not positive about anything else, would I need both a front and rear Camber Kit?

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Thanks for everything, love the forum!
 
Hey there, welcome to the forum. As far as spring rates go, I think it varies based on the strut being used by the company. Certainly spring rates effect ride quality but the strut controls the spring. Depending on if the strut is adjustable or not may have some influence on the spring rate as well.

If you really want to be really low I think D2 and the Buddy Club N+ coilovers go the lowest. I could be wrong though. I think @sk8nava is pretty low. He might have some good info for you.

Camber arms in the rear and camber bolts in the front really depend on the wheels you go with and if the coilovers have adjustable front camber plates. Some do. Keep us up to date on which direction you are going and I'll try and point you in the right direction. Everyone here will. The arms in the rear are mostly needed because as you lower the car it will naturally gain more negative camber. If you are not running a wide wheel you will probably want to get the arms to be able to adjust the camber to within factory specs. It's all personal preference and again depends on the wheels and the look you are going for.
 
Based on that 2nd pic you posted, you're going to be busting oil pans. Papy has gone through 3 on his ride.

Are you ready for the low life?




stay for the end
 
Looks sweet but no way I'm ever doing that,just the thought of driving slow is a nightmare to me!!!
 
You'll only bust your oil pan if you drive like a tard...there are plenty of 9ths that are low/slammed/dumbped (whatever you want to call it) and haven't had any problems. The ones that bust their pan were either driving dumb and/or not paying attention to the road, so don't let that scare you :)
There is a slammed 9th Si in my town that hasn't had any issues, and our roads here are like driving on ground zero. Spring rates do affect the ride some, but most companies and manufacturers will put the correct spring rates on their products to keep a comfortable drive. I'm on D2s and when I drop the car, I go really low and the ride is actually better slammed than it is now raised for the winter. Also, take in account your dampening system also; you have up to 36 dampening adjustments that offer aid in your ride comfort from soft to stiff.
As far as camber kits go, @Nix said it all. It just depends what you want. I'm running a camber kit, but set to stock length. I really don't need a rear camber kit for my setup because it sits perfect on my wheel/tire specs. I have never ran front camber bolts, but I've also never needed to. My D2s have front camber plates on them that give me more than enough room to fit a wide wheel and go low with no rubbing issues. Plus they have a wider top camber bolt hole on the monotube to be able to adjust the camber in a little more also.
So depending on what specs your wheels and tires are going to be should determine your setup. I would get the rear camber kit just in case, but again, I've never adjusted them from stock length and I've ran x9.5 wide wheels on the car with no rubbing, no fender rolling, no problem.
 
sk8nava said:
You'll only bust your oil pan if you drive like a tard...there are plenty of 9ths that are low/slammed/dumbped (whatever you want to call it) and haven't had any problems. The ones that bust their pan were either driving dumb and/or not paying attention to the road, so don't let that scare you :)
There is a slammed 9th Si in my town that hasn't had any issues, and our roads here are like driving on ground zero. Spring rates do affect the ride some, but most companies and manufacturers will put the correct spring rates on their products to keep a comfortable drive. I'm on D2s and when I drop the car, I go really low and the ride is actually better slammed than it is now raised for the winter. Also, take in account your dampening system also; you have up to 36 dampening adjustments that offer aid in your ride comfort from soft to stiff.
As far as camber kits go, @Nix said it all. It just depends what you want. I'm running a camber kit, but set to stock length. I really don't need a rear camber kit for my setup because it sits perfect on my wheel/tire specs. I have never ran front camber bolts, but I've also never needed to. My D2s have front camber plates on them that give me more than enough room to fit a wide wheel and go low with no rubbing issues. Plus they have a wider top camber bolt hole on the monotube to be able to adjust the camber in a little more also.
So depending on what specs your wheels and tires are going to be should determine your setup. I would get the rear camber kit just in case, but again, I've never adjusted them from stock length and I've ran x9.5 wide wheels on the car with no rubbing, no fender rolling, no problem.
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yeah, you've gone low, but you never went this low right?

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This is what papy was at & it's not far off from the pic he's showing in the 1st post. That's what... maybe an inch of clearance?
 
webby said:
yeah, you've gone low, but you never went this low right?

96jURkf.jpg


This is what papy was at & it's not far off from the pic he's showing in the 1st post. That's what... maybe an inch of clearance?
Click to expand...

I've honestly never measured, but I did have to take my front sway bar out to drive because it was scraping everywhere lol But I've only gone "low" once and that was for the limbo contest, which my car was scraping its guts, but it was worth it

But on that note...he might have been that low, but you should have seen the man hole cover he hit...Helen Keller could have seen that...it was avoidable
 
Thanks for all the feedback guys, I'm leaning more towards the buddy club n+ spec coils. For now I'll just be sticking with the stock rims, with the stock tires (unless they need changing for rubbing) 215/45/17.
I definitely plan on getting the rear camber kit when I get coilovers just to be safe. I am not positive whether or not these coilovers come with front camber adjustment, doesn't mention it though.

Thanks for all the input guys as I'm new to this
 
codyyschwartz said:
Thanks for all the feedback guys, I'm leaning more towards the buddy club n+ spec coils. For now I'll just be sticking with the stock rims, with the stock tires (unless they need changing for rubbing) 215/45/17.
I definitely plan on getting the rear camber kit when I get coilovers just to be safe. I am not positive whether or not these coilovers come with front camber adjustment, doesn't mention it though.

Thanks for all the input guys as I'm new to this
Click to expand...
Those are the coils I just ordered. I'll be posting a lot about them once I get them.
 
So just to update, I went with D2 Racing coilovers (installed 2 days ago) and love the look so far. I plan on going lower eventually but I think I will have to remove the plastic fender liner as it seems to rub the tire right now on sharp turns and possible get some smaller tires as I'm on the stock tires currently (215/45/17).
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Yeah I still have my fender loner intact and I never rub at all....I'm also running 205/40 tires. You can run camber up front if you set your plates up top just right and you won't have to worry about rubbing. I've slammed mine on it's nuts for a limbo contest and still never rubbed, just the subframe scrapes everywhere.
You should be fine on the D2 with no rubbing if you dial everything correctly..I rock the d2 coils also
 
So I'm new to all this...

Do you know how I could adjust the camber in the front with the D2 RS coilovers? I know the coilovers I got had front camber adjustment, just don't know how to mess with it. And I have a rear camber kit so that's no issue.

I think I just need smaller tires to prevent the rubbing issue. I'm still running the stock tires on 17" wheels (not positive at the moment what size they are)
 
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