stock JIC coilover spring rates

[BOBO ZENKI]

I purchased a set of JIc coilovers used from Japan and the guy put Tein springs on them. They are crazy stiff and I would like to swap our the springs for a softer spring rate. The problem is I don't know what the current spring rate is.

Could someone please tell me a good spring rate to have? I don;t want race ready stiffness but I do want a aggressive ride that will not rattle my brains.

JIC has their spring rates but I just don't know which one to pick.

thanks

[Dousan_PG]

which model of JICs did you get?
what car as well...bobo zenki..s13? or s14?

thx

[BOBO ZENKI]

sorry my bad,

S14 with SA-1's

[Dousan_PG]

email JIC directly.
search for their website on google
i forget what it is..probably something like www.jic.com or something but im guessing. i dont like jic.

[NismoGear5]

how come you don't like JIC?

[Dousan_PG]

long story and i cant say but i just dont like them after hearing it. nevermind. thier parts are good stuff!

[adey]

Their parts are definitely good stuff, but here in Socal, they just seem to have a questionable reputation. It's not their parts that's the problem though, it's other stuff. (From what I've heard)

I run JIC magic FLT-A2s with 8k and 6k front and rear rates. You may consider 5 and 4 for a more comfortable ride; that should suit the SA-1s quite well.

[drifter1]

Yeha i'm running the flt-a2'a also, best coils on the market in my opion, but the only ones i've compared them to are tien...:D

[Halz]

I don't like JIC because I feel their products are haphazardly 'tuned' to any given car.

The .5" to 3" 'drop' one is allowed, while not reducing shock stroke, gives the false sense of extracting 'performance' from the car's very static geometry.

The short stroke struts, coupled with linear springs.. so much for keeping the wheels on the ground when things get bumpy. Thankfully, the height is independent of the stroke, otherwise, the effective spring rate would be that of the bump stop material

[adey]

Originally posted by Halz
IThe short stroke struts, coupled with linear springs.. so much for keeping the wheels on the ground when things get bumpy. You're probably getting over defensive of your soft spring rates and stock-height struts there.... :o If you've ever driven on a track (which is what the high end JICs are designed with in mind), then you'll know how important it is to minimize body roll, and just how much their suspension increases traction.

If you plan on driving fast around corners over the bumpy roads of LA (or whatever town you're in) then I have 1 thing to say: you shouldn't be taking a corner so fast that you'd lose traction with this type of a setup. :rolleyes: If you're worried so much about off-road traction, sticking with OEM or OE spec suspension sounds like your cup of tea.

[Halz]

I might indeed be defensive of my soft springs..

Even on a track, when might one benefit from a shorter stroke? Understandably, the drawbacks of a short stroke can be offset with increased spring rates.. but to what end?

[Jsquared]

I thought the FLT-A2s had adjustability on the shock mount too (not just the spring perch) and you could gain back most of the stroke lost by lowering the ride height? and how would lowering the car on JICs be any different from lowering it on Teins?

[Dousan_PG]

yes jic flt-a2 are double height adjustable
so you can have your side skirts on the ground or 4x4 style and still keep the same stoke strong and spring compression going on. just change the shock perch height and no the spring perch height (changin spring perch will affect shock stroke)

[drifter1]

Well see the whole point in getting lower stiffer suspension is to minimize body roll and increase stability during turns. If you adjust your suspension so hard that you do in fact lose traction over small bumps then you are riding too stiff. If you are talking about pot hole sized hoels then my advice would be not to worry about them because you shouldn't gun it around that bumpy of corners unless you are a rally racer. I personally love my coils, and they are track proven too. If you wanna hate on stiff springs thats one thing, but don't talk bad about a tuned suspension set up unless you persoanlly own or owned it. Peace.

[Halz]

A stiff suspension does not need to lose traction on a bumpy surface. As long as the suspension has adequate stroke, the wheels will stay planted when hitting the so desired pothole.