aside from going FI in the future i dont think its necessary for me to spend any more money on the car

after driving it today i decided i would like a little bit better handling

i know that a coilover system would be best for this but the cheapest (tein basic) is still too expensive

i dont want my car to be dropped at all if possible (its low enough) but i want some better handling

are there any 150-225 range springs that are worth while for better handling or will it not be noticable

so far the tein s-techs have the smallest drop but even thats too much (im already hitting my driveway as it is)

any help is appreciated

 

also..whats the difference between progressive springs and the other kind?

 

i searched a bit online and found that tein h-tech is the least drop but i never heard of anyone using them

after those there are a 2 others in the same range of drop so i guess im just askin which is the best ride (i like stiff)

tein s-tech and esplir "luxury drive" springs

 

one more thing---spring rates correspond to what?

 

Espelir makes Active GT springs that only lower 10mm all around..so its between those and the H-techs...if someone can explain the technical terms ill be able to make my decision..

 

I can't help with all the technical stuff, but just out of curiosity how much ground clearance do you have on the front of your car? I'm in a similar dilemma where I want springs but my car already is quite low- around 4.5 inches ground clearance in the front or so. But then again I hardly every scrape now but I know for sure with springs I'm going to be scraping everywhere.

 

i have exactly 4.5 inches also...like i said..the tein h-tech or the espelir active GT are our best bets

 

i was thinking of the tein s.tech springs or the rs*r but I was looking at how much I clear speed bumps by today and I barely have any room as it is.... I dunno what to go with. Would the H.tech do anything for handling? My main goal is to eliminate the little wheel gap the Z has, would 19 inch rims do that?

 

HTechs wouldn't do anything handling wise. Their rates are really soft, maybe even softter than stock? But I know that RSR and Tein STechs have rates stiffer than stocks, thus, increasing handling/performance. I know Espelir only has a 10mm drop but I think it's progressive both front and rear and so handling is not as good as the RSR or Tein STechs still.

 

I don't know anything about the various brands of spring, but I can answer your technical questions.

The spring rate is the stiffness of the spring. The number corresponds to the amount of force needed to deflect the spring a certain unit of distance. For example, a 350-lb. spring means that the spring rate is 350 lbs/inch, or that it takes 350 lbs of force to deflect the spring one inch.

Progressive rate springs have a variable spring rate (stiffness). That is, at different points in their travel, they may be stiffer or more compliant than at other points. This is done by varying the geometry of the coil itself, either with the diameter or the pitch (distance between coils). It's usually done to give the car a smoother ride for the first inch or so of suspension travel (everyday driving or highway or whatever) and then stiffening up when you place demands on it by cornering hard.

Keep in mind that stiffer doesn't necessarily mean better handling. You still need your suspension to be able to react to variations in the road surface under hard cornering conditions. Otherwise, a suspension input at one wheel could upset the chassis instead of being isolated at that wheel.

Consider getting upgraded sway (anti-roll) bars. You can keep your current ride height while better controlling body roll and thus improving handling.

 

Look at Sport Compact Cars article and you will see that the stock springs with new anti-sway bars was a good handling package. They went with Hotchkis bars.
My suggestion would be to run bars and a set of Koni shocks with your stock springs. Better handling, ride and ground clearance.
Wheels and tires are the biggest and best handling improvement that can be done.

 

Hey that's what I am doing!

 

thanks for the advice

 

I think you should at least get the Tein S-Techs. The Z needs a little drop and the Teins are subtle. You wont have trouble with scraping.
heck I have B+Gs with a 1" drop all around and I have no problems. (Larger wheel diameter helped.
It would be disappointing for you to put on new springs and notice no performance difference!
bluebatmobile has a thread on the Tein S Techs showing before and after difference. I think you should check it out.

 

ill have to think about it cause like i said i have the esprit bumper and im already scraping...and all i really want is better handling i dont care about the drop..and if i can get that from sways then thats what ill be getting

 

yea i skimmed through that article a while back, they said the sways made a big difference... but didn't they say something like the key to their great handling was in the rim/tire setup they chose?... if i remember correctly they didn't go w/ a staggered setup, but that's all i can remember...

 

I assume your car has the stock suspension? If it does, I would not change springs, I would upgrade the swaybars. 350 EVO has adjustable bars and so do a number of other reputable companies. I am running the stock springs, just changed to Koni shocks to improve the ride/handling. I also did NOT want a drop, so if the Konis need a little help later, I will change the sways to help lose any roll. This will also stiffen the ride and lose most of the understeer of the stock bits, but not too much or I'll be meeting my rear end on a wet highway.

The stock springs are linear, not progressive, so its easier to tune the bars to help the handling. Koni was just fine with matching the stock springs w/their shocks and the ride is very firm but you still don't have a drop. Food for thought.

 

thanks..i will check out the 350evo sways..how do they compare to hotchkiks

 

I don't know, I'm still running stock bars. Several members have posted their preferences in this section, you may have to do some backtracking if the search is still down, but I have seen many of them.

 

As already been said a bit in detail before, the H-Tech or S-Tech will be the way to go.

The H-Tech is the more "luxury" line of springs that really aren't going to help with handling in any way. They lower the car .3" in the front and .2" in the rear. They lower the car without making it stiffer or really improving handling.

The S-Tech is more of a performance oriented spring. It lowers the car a bit more, but as said, it improves the handling a lot when combined with a good strut such as the Koni. The front is lowered .7" and the rear is .6". It's not really THAT much more than the H-tech as far as ride height, but the performance aspect of the S-Tech spring is far greater than the stock setup or the H-Tech.