Lets talk spring rates and shock damping.. Options

[FWD-3SGTE]

Ok, so I'm researching coilovers for my converted gt4. I was looking for suggestions on spring rates. I'm leaning toward BC Coilovers and they offer many spring rates, stock are somewhere around 8k front and 5k rear. Car won't be built specifically for the track but I do want to lower it quite a bit and still handle well. Should I go for a stiffer than stock setup?

As far as damping, what's the difference between stiffer springs and a stiffer damper?

I also remember reading about people using stiffer springs in the back, I don't remember if this was on RWD cars sprcifically but I'm wondering if the same principal applies to AWD.

[ziga15]

hi:D From my expiriance from playing with konis on(toyota carina) stifer rear end maks fwd handle more like rwd, so 3 post strut-bar and stiff rear means less overstear;) if your dampers are to stif your car starts to yup "" on uneven terain, so its practical just for track use.hope i helpd u?

This post has been edited by ziga15: Mar 26, 2013 - 10:23 AM

[azian_advanced]

springs are responsible for the car's handling and harshness based on slow changes in road conditions like driving over widely spaced bumps, going around wide turns, etc., where as dampers are responsible for the car's handling on more sudden changes like hitting potholes, sewer manholes, and bumps.
if you want to go really low, it's safer to go with coilovers with stiffer spring rates (and setting the dampers to the harsher settings).

one problem is that most manufacturers don't actually provide damper rates for each damper setting so you can't actually compare dampers between coilovers. even if they have 4, 16 or 32 stages of damper settings, it doesn't mean jack unless you know the range values from the highest and lowest damper settings. but, all else being equal, more settings are better than less (obviously).