Old Library

I would like to speak from my encounters with diffrent springs. I`ve
used Spax with stock struts 60 mm drop thought I wasin the old west.
Then with spax struts ok to fair ride until they blew, also great
warranty ha ha. h&r / neuspeed with stock struts better than the spax
but not great. h&r /neuspeed with spax struts real good until they blew.
h&r / neuspeed with koni`s real good almost perfect. h&r / neuspeed race
springs with spax great until they blew. h&r / neuspeed race & sports
with Bilsteins again almost perfect. The one thing that i noticed with
the spax is they always feel like they are bottoming out the strut. I
know every one can`t turn lose of the c-notes for H&R coilovers but if
you have the chance to ride in a car with them do it because you will
find a way to come up with money. JUST A THOUGHT!
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Listers,

Wow, what a heated debate concerning springs!

Well, at this point, I'd like to add some input and even ask some
questions.  My friend and I purchased the following suspension set-ups
for our cars:  H&R/Koni and Neuspeed/Koni.

Visually, the first thing that we noticed was that my car with the H&R's
was about a quarter to a half an inch lower in both the front and back
than the Neuspeed set-up.  My car is a 97 DE.  My friend's is a 97.  No
explanation especially since Todd mentioned that the Neuspeed's were
suppose to be a tad bit shorter unless the strut towers are higher on
the DE.  Who knows!

Next, driving impressions:  Both cars felt identical.  Ride was
drastically improved vs stock.  No great feat.  But, we both had a
complaint.  Even with the Koni cranked up near the full 2 turns, both
set-ups felt a bit bouncy.  As a matter of fact, on big dips, we both
felt if we were going to be catapulted away when rebounding after the
initial loading up of the springs.

Well, this seemed strange!  Usually the "bouncy" feeling is associated
with a shock which an not control strength of the spring.  Could this
feeling be due to the fact that the Koni's are not doing a good enough
job in compression (they are only rebound adjustable)?

So, we have both lived with this set-up which left me wondering whether
or not I should have bought the Bilsteins.

Then, we had a chance to drive a friend's spax set-up.  He had the 30 mm
drop set-up with Spax shocks (BTW, one of the struts was leaking :o( )
Well guys, I have to say that the Spax set-up had a lot less roll and
was definitely more sporty.  We both liked it better.  It felt more like
my '88 E30 M3 which has a Eibach/Bilstein Sport set-up.  The friend with
the Spax kit had also changed his tires which he claimed made the ride
stiffer and the car handle even better.  The Spax set-up was definitely
harsher, but not close to being over the top (a friend of mine has a
true IMSA race set-up in his E30 M3.)  That's over the top!

I ask, why is the Neuspeed and H&R set-up so bouncy compared the the
linear rate Spax?  Is it the tires, the shocks, or just that the
H&R/Neuspeeds are too stiff as we get to the harder part of the
progressive rate?

DC





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Dick V. Chiang
Cor Therapeutics, Inc.
&#100;chiang&#64;corr<img src=/i/dc.gif border=0 width=35 height=15>
"It's the quality, not the quantity"
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