H&R G Springs

[vince@performancecarstereo.com (Vince Royer)]

Ok, So you had a progressive spring, and the couple hundred extra pounds
compressed them through the soft part. So don't you think The hundred pounds
I took off of my front end will make a difference?  Not to mention I'm
getting linear springs, not progressive. Also not to mention they're A2
springs, so they're designed for a lot more weight in the first place.  So
this would be like taking 16V springs and putting them on your 8V, only
shorter. I know as soon as the A arms angle the other way you start screwing
things.  Anybody know exactly how much drop makes them sit horizontal?

That's the reason I'm thinking about the taller upper mounts. That would
essentially act like a body drop. It would make the body sit lower on the
suspension, without changing anything about the suspension.  The only issue
would be tire rub, but I'm only on 15s, and I never plan to go any bigger.

Keep it coming!

vince, here is an example:
i had a set of neuspeed 8v softsports which i moved over to a 16v. the extra
weight made the ride
height about an extra inch lower. also of note is that the added weight put
teh softsports at their
higher spring rate all the time (similar to what you wanted to do - raise
the spring rate). the 16v
ended up lowered a total of about 2.5" over stock. It drove like complete
crap! sure i had no
trouble on the highway, besides the fact that hitting lane reflectors made
the car shutter. i had to
keep the konis adjusted pretty firm to prevent bottoming the car constantly
in city driving. more
importantly, the car had bad signs of bump steer. it wasnt the decent type
of bump steer that
actually helps keep a fwd car under control, it was the opposite effect
(this was due to the fact
that the a-arms were pointing upwards, which throws a major wrench in the
suspension geometry). the
car was just plain terrible to drive, and i had SOME suspension travel. your
plan will put you at
NONE. you've gotta face it, man, the car just wasnt made to sit that low.
suspension travel needs
more credit for what its actually doing. any car driving down the road uses
a good inch of travel on
a constant basis. this inch is being used by shock-type impacts which on
your setup would be
absorbed directly by the frame. an a1 scirocco frame will tolerate that
abuse by converting _itself_
into the extra travel (i.e. weak points, cracks, splits, etc).
please man, dont do it, not if you plan on driving it on the street.
Al


----- Original Message -----
From: "Vince Royer" <vince@performancecarstereo.com>
To: "Scott F. Williams" <sfwilliams@comcast.net>
Cc: "Scirocco List" <scirocco-l@scirocco.org>
Sent: Saturday, August 17, 2002 12:26 PM
Subject: RE: H&R G Springs


> Ok, I need to explain my situation.  I live downtown vancouver and
> unfortunately I hardly get to actually "drive" the car agressively. Even
if
> I had the chance, I would most certainly get busted by one of the million
> cops in this city and probably be sent to jail.  Yes, around here you can
> actually get sent to jail. So if I loose some travel it's not the end of
the
> world to me, it will most likely just slow me down which is a good thing.
> Keep in mind, right now the car is on cut factory spings with shocks that
> feel like they blew up about 10 years ago. It is constantly bottomed out.
> So by getting nice stiff springs, and brand new shocks, couldn't things
only
> improve? The springs I'm getting offer a 2" drop, and with them being A2
> springs will more realistically give me a 2.5" drop.  However, my car is a
> lot lighter than an A2 so it would most likely ride about 2" lower than
> factory.
>
> So I think I've got the height right.  I just don't want it to bottom out
> when I hit a bump going around the odd cloverleaf overpass.  So I thought
I
> had the formula right.  Stiff springs with lots of damping.
>
> What do you think of those taller upper mounts that give you an extra inch
> of travel?  Would this be a good application for those?  I hate how
> Scirocco's have no front travel and boatloads of rear travel.
>
> Anyways, keep talkin... I'd like to hear more.
>
>
>
> This is a recipe for disaster, my man. Slamming your car may look good to
> you, but it will render your car nearly useless for driving on real
streets.
> A major problem with our cars is that they were not blessed with enough
> suspension travel. In fact, we only got about 3" from the factory.
Slamming
> your car that low will essentially remove *all* available travel.
>
> This isn't just about using a high enough spring rate to keep the car from
> bottoming. In fact, if you drop the car that far you won't even need any
> springs because the damper's pistons will *be* your bumpstops! In order to
> go that low you'll be forced to install dampers with shortened shafts.
This
> will provide more critical compression travel, but will eliminate the same
> amount of droop travel. -not good at all...
>
> Keep in mind, also, that your car will handle and ride like utter crap.
The
> likelihood of chassis, suspension, and wheel/tire failure will be greatly
> increased. Every pebble and paint strip on the ground will launch your car
> into the air. Clearing speed bumps without punching your struts through
the
> hood will be a challenge. Just forget about playing CDs... My advice is to
> drop your car a maximum of 1.5". That is, *if* you care at all about how
the
> thing drives on the street.
>
> If all this will be is a show car... then do whatever you want and don't
> even worry about your spring rates. Why bother to optimize a situation
that
> can't be helped? This is like giving a suicide bomber a physical exam
before
> sending him on his mission.
>
> > My question (finally) is this:  What kind of shock should I get
> > to dampen these springs?  I don't have a huge budget but I want
something
> > that will handle being slammed for a few years.  Also, I ordered some
> > new upper strut mounts at the same time, is there anything else I should
> do?
>
> What you're attempting to do is foolish -not to mention impossible. Either
> build the car for shows or build it to actually function. As much as I
> question the validity of coilovers for the street, you seem like a great
> candidate for them. Drop the thing all the way down once you get to your
> parking spot and crank'm back up on the way out.
>
> What you really should do (you asked) is decide on whether you are a
driver
> or a parker and build your car to suit. I realize that this advice may
> disappoint you. It may even sound overly conservative. It's your
perogative
> to heed these warnings or follow them. Just, make sure you have fun either
> way!
> --
> Scott F. Williams
> NJ Scirocco nut
> '99 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS
> Mazda 323 GTX turbo "assaulted" vehicle
> Golf GTI 16v "rollycar"
> ClubVAC: "Roads found. Drivers wanted."
>
>
>
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