Spring Rates

im currently on the hunt for a coilover set up for 98 2.5 tl. Im looking for a setup for the 90-97 honda accord as they share the same suspension design. but i was wondering what spring rates would u recommend? ive found one company in japan that makes coilovers for the car and there using a 12kg up front and 8kg in rear. now i would like to use coilovers from an accord that have different spring rates than those of the risky auto coilovers in japan. 
here are my choices what would you guys recommend?
6kg in the front 5 kg in the rear ---- tein coilovers
14kg in the front 6 kg in the rear--------- megan racing coilovers
10kg in the front 8kg in the rear--------- omni power coilovers
12kg in the front 10kg in the rear-------- omni power coilovers track version.

ive looked at the spring rates some guys are running on q's and there not as high as some of these and that car is way heavier than mine. 

im looking for a ride that will not be bouncy. i don't mind stiff, just not drift spec stiff considering this will be my daily driver. all i wanna do is go low with a smooth ride.

ground controls and tokico illuminas. i had them on my 01 acura CL and they rode VERY nice, just like stock

i really would like to go with a coilover setup. considering ive had tokico's and eibach's before and i was not very pleased.

Depending on how low you wanna go. If you wanna slam it to the ground, then you'll have to use those with higher spring rates to avoid hitting bumpstops all the time, IMHO.

all those coilovers with the exeption of the teins have and adjustable shock body for height adjustment meaning that travel is not affected. i just want a nice stiff smooth ride. no bounce is what im looking for

Well, although suspension travel isn't compromise... If you wanna really slam it, chances are you still have to deal with wheel & inner fender rubbing and chasis grinding and stuffs, rite?

yeah you are right there, i don't mind driving low as ive had slammed cars before. i just would like to know which spring rates would give the least bounce with the smoothest ride

The bouncing issue isn't much about spring rates but more on your shock absorber's setting (to a certain degree). Usually too hard of a spring match to a soft shocks will create a pogo effect *Boing Boing Boing...*

But a soft spring with a stiff shocks will bounce once *Boing*

The owner of the coilover set I bought gave the best description...

There's tis guy that comes in saying he wants custom race specced coilovers despite the advise from the manufacturer saying it's gonna be like shit on normal roads.

But customer is always right, so that fella has his way.

One week later, he comes back saying he wants a softer setting.

When ask why, he said his mom complaints her tits hurts due to the overly firm/hard ride of his son! :lol:

The combination of a well endowed women with a hard suspension = Definately not good!

The megan 12/6's are pretty good for the money.. our 400HP H22 accord is on those.. he loves them. .They go OK low but nothing spectacular, Damping is pretty good, and can go quite stiff. .  If you got these you'd need a shorter front spring or run no locking collars. . (that would give you an additional 30mm) you might get it to tuck half the tire. .  I've built a custom Tein FLEX system from an EK onto an accord (5th GEN) and that thing goes RETARDED low. . we running 12/8 springs on that, but its a little on the soft side.. (he runs around al full stiff all the time. .) 

SOOO what I would do is talk to a competent Fab shop and get me a set ot STANCE GR+ EK coilovers with 16/10 spring rates (you can get any spring rate you want when you buy them) and get said competent shop to modify them/the car to fit. . I just put a set of those on the last EK i built and wow.. they are VERY nice for the $$$ Excellent/smooth/aggressive damping. .They are valved quite stiff so you can go plus 3k on the spring rate. . .AND the VERY COOL thing is. . I can SIT THE FENDER LIP ON THE RIM LIP (17x9 +14-205/40) AND STILL DRIVE. . This setup will be around 3-4inches shorter than stock, so. . you can definately get your can on the ground and have a very nice ride.. You just gotta get creative in how you do it. .

G.

another thing is .. the suspension design of that car (Accord) is misleading regarding spring rates. . Most hondas have a motion ratio of around 1.5:1 meaning the damper/spring acts on a percentage of the actual WHEEL motion. . thats y hondas can run around with ridiculous spring rates and still be streetable. . example. . nissan S13. . 1:1 motion ration. . common spring rate is 8/6, aggressive spring rate is 10/8. this just is only 2k more but the actual difference in the car feeling/handling is a lot more..  anything more than 10/8 on an S chassis is is pretty unbearable. . NOW 8/6 on a civic is NOTHING. . now if you went to 10/8 you'd hardly notice it. . 12/10 starting to get stiff. . an aggressive street setup is around that . . BUT i've ridden in civic with 18/14 and that is still passable as a street car. . (quite uncomfortable, but still liveable nonetheless) . .this is due to WHERE the spring is acting on the LCA or in relation to the ACTUAL wheel motion. . civics mount the damper almost in the middle of the LCA. .wheras the nissan mounts the dampers/springs at the ACTUAL wheel. . 

NOW. .what all this mumbo jumbo means is that the REAR of the accord is 1:1. . (the damper is mounted on the actual wheel hub). . and the FRONT is still the 1.5:1 or whatever. (regular double wishbone honda). SO when choosing spring rates.. DO not choose front and rear springs linearly. . This is why it would seem that the MEGAN racing coilovers are actually engineered rather than just thrown together with random spring rates.. They have a relative setup. .14/6. . seems weird right ? but in actuality it would equate to a 12/8 of a civic or integra. . The omni 12/10 is gonna be WAY stiffer in the rear(and kinda soft for the front). . TRUST me that is one of the setups we tried on the FLEX kit. . No good. . so if you're gonna fuck around with spring rates on your accord/etc. . Remember that for every front spring rate increase of two. .the rear should only rise by one. .or something relative like that. .
And the added weight of the V6 or whatever you have.. you should have no problems with a setup of 16/10. . provided the dampers can handle that much spring. .

G.

[QUOTE=Gseventhree;46733]another thing is .. the suspension design of that car (Accord) is misleading regarding spring rates. . Most hondas have a motion ratio of around 1.5:1 meaning the damper/spring acts on a percentage of the actual WHEEL motion. . thats y hondas can run around with ridiculous spring rates and still be streetable. . example. . nissan S13. . 1:1 motion ration. . common spring rate is 8/6, aggressive spring rate is 10/8. this just is only 2k more but the actual difference in the car feeling/handling is a lot more..  anything more than 10/8 on an S chassis is is pretty unbearable. . NOW 8/6 on a civic is NOTHING. . now if you went to 10/8 you'd hardly notice it. . 12/10 starting to get stiff. . an aggressive street setup is around that . . BUT i've ridden in civic with 18/14 and that is still passable as a street car. . (quite uncomfortable, but still liveable nonetheless) . .this is due to WHERE the spring is acting on the LCA or in relation to the ACTUAL wheel motion. . civics mount the damper almost in the middle of the LCA. .wheras the nissan mounts the dampers/springs at the ACTUAL wheel. . 

NOW. .what all this mumbo jumbo means is that the REAR of the accord is 1:1. . (the damper is mounted on the actual wheel hub). . and the FRONT is still the 1.5:1 or whatever. (regular double wishbone honda). SO when choosing spring rates.. DO not choose front and rear springs linearly. . This is why it would seem that the MEGAN racing coilovers are actually engineered rather than just thrown together with random spring rates.. They have a relative setup. .14/6. . seems weird right ? but in actuality it would equate to a 12/8 of a civic or integra. . The omni 12/10 is gonna be WAY stiffer in the rear(and kinda soft for the front). . TRUST me that is one of the setups we tried on the FLEX kit. . No good. . so if you're gonna fuck around with spring rates on your accord/etc. . Remember that for every front spring rate increase of two. .the rear should only rise by one. .or something relative like that. .
And the added weight of the V6 or whatever you have.. you should have no problems with a setup of 16/10. . provided the dampers can handle that much spring. .

G.[/QUOTE]
Thank you Gseventhree!
this is the exact response i was looking for!
i think i will end up giong with the megan setup. for the price the seem unbeatable. considering this car will be daily driven. and never see the track.
im not using them on the accord they are giong to be used on a acura 2.5 tl which uses the same suspension setups as the 90-97 accords. does anyone know of a good retailer for the megan setup?

[QUOTE=mtbr64;46778]Thank you Gseventhree!
this is the exact response i was looking for!
i think i will end up giong with the megan setup. for the price the seem unbeatable. considering this car will be daily driven. and never see the track.
im not using them on the accord they are giong to be used on a acura 2.5 tl which uses the same suspension setups as the 90-97 accords. does anyone know of a good retailer for the megan setup?[/QUOTE]

I said to go with the higher spring rates cuz i knew they were going on a TL. . . . 

G.

thnx again,