suspension question...

[Kaiser]

wow.. i am amazed at the lack of knowledge in this thread. if it is a constant rate spring it will not matter if you cut it or not. Its going to stay at that constant rate. Now if you cut it so low that it hits a bump stop or something that is a different story. Yes it will change suspension geometry but if you have an adjustable camber kit then most of the geometry change can be corrected. There are several race car teams that will have the same spring rate but with a diff. height to acheive certain handling characteristics. Now with that being said most of the aftermarket springs available for the civic chassis are not a standard rate spring. There progressive. Cutting them will change the spring rate and height. Anywho.. i could go into further detail about this information but that is just a basic.

Please stop posting on GenTech. Please. You have absolutely zero knowledge of even how a spring-shock combination works, do you?

Here's the basic idea: The weight of a body is placed on a spring, which given a certain strength, compresses based on the weight applied to it. The body placed on the spring, travelling on a flat surface with no acceleration, does not move. If forced to expand or contract however, the spring will act as a spring and expand and contract, typically over-exagerating the fluctuation in an attempt to keep the wheel beneath the body as close to the ground as possible, and while trying to stabilize the weight of the body.

Typically this unregulated expansion and contraction would cause a car to bounce and shake horribly as the body travels over an uneven surface. Thus struts and shocks were born. Both of these work in essentially the same way to minimize the amount of unneccessary travel by springs as the car traverses uneven pavement. The struts/shocks do not actually do the job of supporting the weight of the vehicle but instead control the speed at which the springs contract and expand. Struts and shocks have to be calibrated for a certain size spring, as a different size spring has a different length to travel for compression. A shock sitting partially compressed because of a shortened spring will also have issues functioning as designed, because the situation is obviously different. Essentially the shock is treated the same way as if the car was overloaded, leading to less control over the spring movement and lots of wear and tear on shocks.

The cliffnotes version of this is: Spring rate really has very to do with how bouncy the car's ride is or isn't. That's the job of the shock absorber/strut. If the spring is mismatched to the shock/strut, then you will have problems with your ride comfort and handling. Period. End of story. This means matched pairs of springs and shocks are better than cut springs and stock shocks. Also means that single-unit adjustable coilovers will, if properly adjusted, provide the best ride quality and handling of any aftermarket suspension setup. The problem is usually that people don't bother to actually adjust their shock settings.

[yudalicious]

The cliffnotes version of this is: Spring rate really has very to do with how bouncy the car's ride is or isn't. That's the job of the shock absorber/strut. If the spring is mismatched to the shock/strut, then you will have problems with your ride comfort and handling. Period. End of story. This means matched pairs of springs and shocks are better than cut springs and stock shocks. Also means that single-unit adjustable coilovers will, if properly adjusted, provide the best ride quality and handling of any aftermarket suspension setup. The problem is usually that people don't bother to actually adjust their shock settings.

Not disagreeing, just thought I'd point out, this matching shock to springs thing, it's overrated imo. In general this is true, but its also somewhat of an art and there's some gray. more important, imo, is finding quality dampers that do the job you're looking for.

[RL...]

Anyways....Cutting springs is definitely not the way to go. Period. And if you can't afford to mod a civic..then that is bad...considering parts for civics are the cheapest, most readily available, and tried and tested...

[Truegiant]

Please stop posting on GenTech. Please. You have absolutely zero knowledge of even how a spring-shock combination works, do you?

The weight of a body is placed on a spring, which given a certain strength, compresses based on the weight applied to it.

This means matched pairs of springs and shocks are better than cut springs and stock shocks.

Also means that single-unit adjustable coilovers will, if properly adjusted, provide the best ride quality and handling of any aftermarket suspension setup.

Wow.. you know how to state the obvious dont you. Most of your entire post is filled full of bull****!

And I dont agree with your last statement. Explain to me why most race teams dont use a single unit system. oh yeah thats right.. because they need more versatility with the diff tracks. If you wish to discuss suspension geometry further, feel free to pm me. We can swap stories, theory, and the like. I will discuss my experience with the 4 race teams i have worked with, the race school i attended, and my engineering exp. from college and practical application. thanks.