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progressive springs with large swaybar ?


torinalth

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ok, so I have the Perrin 25mm front and rear bars on my 05 LGT. I like it now, but still not quite there. so next will be springs. I was looking to grab the rallitek springs since they are a modest drop and progressive rate which would make a commuter car a touch more enjoyable when just road cruising.... however, then I had a thought:

 

Progressive springs increase spring rate as the spring compresses. the more it compresses the higher the rate, the less it compresses the lower the rate (effective). now, since I have 25mm swaybars, I am going to have a lot less lateral shift in a turn. with this in mind, I will have a lot of effective use on a bump that compresses both sides equally;

 

however, but when a turn comes and the swaybars are in use, would I effectively be losing spring rate as the springs will not compress nearly as much as it would on stock sways? or is this something very minor and not worth even thinking about?

 

thoughts?

 

T

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Subscribed for discussion.

 

I don't have the knowledge or experience-level to contribute to this one, but I want to learn. :)

<-- I love Winky, my "periwinkle" (ABP) LGT! - Allen / Usual Suspect "DumboRAT" / One of the Three Stooges

'16 Outback, '16 WRX, 7th Subaru Family

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Thanks for the response but does it have any bearing on my question? I know the rallitek springs are great, however being progressive and being matched with 25mm swaybars, would they still compress enough to make use of their progressive nature or would linear rate springs be a better choice considering the lessened lateral movement?

 

T

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If you want your car to ride like shit, buy a linear spring. Progressive springs are of choice. For the street stick with progressive springs. The Perrin 25's are really stiff, you may wish you had gone with 22's once you get your springs on.

 

Any progressive spring is designed to give a short movement of lighter spring rate, so to answer your question I would tend to say a progressive rate would allow the sway bars to do their job while still sorting out small undulations in the road surface.

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The differences you are talking about do not really come into play during daily driving or even on spirited drives, unless you drive like a maniac on every turn.

 

On track, when you are trying to get to the edge of your grip on every turn, that's where the minor details you're describing matters: how long it takes springs settle, how much the car leans into turns, the difference in spring rates between front and rear springs. Stiff sway bars + soft progressive springs could lead to un-predictable weight distribution mid turn, and will really depend on your entry speed and braking technique.

 

For DD w/ occasional mountain runs, go with soft progressive springs + stiff sway bars. For track days, I prefer stiff (8k/9k) springs and 22m sway bars.

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wpmarky and Two-Five, would the two of you kindly please expand a bit on the theoretical aspect of it? :)

 

I can well understand why, on the street, we'd likely never see that kind of concern - heck, I don't even know why I "went Stage II," I barely trip into boost but 6 times a week, if that! :redface: - but I'd still like to learn.

 

I know that "free expanding" on your lines-of-thinking is a hard thing to do, but if either or both of you do have the time, I'd love to expand my horizons.

 

Thanks-in-advance. :)

<-- I love Winky, my "periwinkle" (ABP) LGT! - Allen / Usual Suspect "DumboRAT" / One of the Three Stooges

'16 Outback, '16 WRX, 7th Subaru Family

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^I'd like to learn as well since I'm still debating which sways to get.

 

The only other progressive springs I know of for our cars is made by Vogtland. They arent that popular on Japanese imports but very popular with BMW/Audi owners. Here's the rates just to make your buying decision more difficult :lol:

 

F: 3.4kg/mm to 4.5kg/mm

R: 3.1kg/mm to 6.5kg/mm

 

And a shot of the drop:

 

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n75/N_sane88/Project%20Layla/IMG_0032small2.jpg

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Imagine a 90mph long sweeping right turn, soft springs with a stiff sway bar will settle its weight gradually. What if there is a left turn and another right turn right after that, of varying sharpness? Soft springs will still take a long time for the weight to settle back and forth, even with a stiff sway bar.

 

That kind of setup actually felt a little wobbly to me because as the weight was trying to settle on one side, it wouldn't stay there cuz the stiff swaybar was trying to push the car down on the other side.

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^N.Sane, what is your car dropped with? What springs? Thanks!

 

my guess would be the Vogtland springs that he was talking about in his own post.

 

Thanks a bunch guys for chiming in and giving some really useful and spelled out information. hopefully others will be able to make use out of it like I have.

 

N.Sane, where did you get yours at? only found them on ebay, and even then, not for our year range. Still leaning Rallitek, but price makes a difference :) And yes I'm quite familiar with Vogtland from my audi TT, and my mustang.

 

T

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