dho

Greg, from the center of the hub (in the middle of it, what's sheel?) to the fender edge is about 12.25" front / 11.5" rear. Is your car lowered? Where do these infamous bumpstops rest? Would removing weight from the front help the required spring rate? If I relocated the battery and unnecessary things? With 15" wheels, do they help/worsen/or do not effect the wheel travel?

With the suspension techniques anti-sway bars and front and rear strut tower braces, how much do they specifically effect the roll of the car? Do they allow more wheel travel in the turns?

My car will bark in the rear fender wells when I have 205/50/15's, would getting the hyperco's allow me to run these size tires? When running stickier & wider tires, won't the body roll more because of the gripping? How do you figure the exact tread width between the 195/50/15's vs 205/50/15's on a 6.5" wheel? Does wheel weight have anything to do with what we are talking about? My rims weigh 17.51 lbs each according to enkei.com and I'm not sure about the kumho 712s.

How are the hyperco's designed for their progressive spring rates? At what compression do they increase to 300/200? How low will these exactly lower the car?

Thanks again,
Dan

__________________
Dan
1992 Nissan SE-R
2001 MR2 Spyder

 

Skinny G

Sheel? I really have no idea. I must have been drunk at the time.

Mine is 13" front, and 12" rear. I'd say you really need to trim those front bump stops. I have maybe just over 1" of travel up front as it is with the bump stops (snubbers) trimmed, and the car is 3/4" taller than yours!

Yes. I lowered it with the Tokico handling kit (I mentioned this earlier).

The bump stops are those squishy foam rubber things you swapped from your old struts to your new struts. They go around the strut rod, and inside the spring near the upper spring perch.

Yes, but not enough. If you have less weight on the front, there will be less weight transfer and less body roll. I doubt you would be able to remove enough weight to make it work out the way you want. Removing weight (or relocating weight) will also raise the car somewhat - but notice it really isn't significant. Look at cars with CF hoods and trunk mount batteries - they don't look any higher (with or withought coilovers).

Wheel size should not affect wheel travel. Wider offset will slightly raise the roll centre, which is a good thing for reducing body roll, but essentially unnoticeable.

The weight of the wheel will make a difference, as the unsprung weight must be controlled by the spring. The heavier the wheel, the harder it is for the spring to control it.

The tire construction might make a difference, as the stiffer the tire is, the less the tire contributes to overall "spring." The tire sidewall can be considered part of the suspension. 712's have relatively soft sidewalls.

I do not believe wheel and tire choice is going to save your ride. Just keep what you have. I run 175/70R13's in winter, 195/50R15's in summer, and 205/60R13's on mini stock wheels for track. I don't really notice the car handling any different due to the tire size (the race tires do make me bottom more, because of the grip).

The ST anti-roll bars (sway bars) will add to the overall spring rate - this is a good thing for you. It will not cause your ride quality to deteriorate (allthough I found them to make the car a bit less precise on the road), and will greatly improve the cornering (especially on smooth corners). They will not increase wheel travel. (I just typed "sheel" there.... I don't know why I do this) You can also forget about drive-on car hoists and automated car washes with these bars.

Do check out my sentra web page ( http://www.geocities.com/g_wellwood/...ve/sentra.html ) a lot of this information is here.

I do not believe strut tower bars are the saving grace of a suspension. They do nothing to improve or degrade ride quality. They improve "feel" by reducing the amount of chassis flex, but that's it. This is an issue you might want to consider with running the 300/200 setup too - going bizarre stiff in spring rates can transfer some of that bump absorption to the chassis itself. Bummer that everything has a drawback.

I also refuse to pay $120+ for a bar of steel or aluminum. I made my own for about $10.

I don't know. Probably, but you might be wise to roll the fender edges anyway. I had to do that to fit my 205/60R13 race tires on 13x7" rims (5" backspacing).

Yes. Huge.

Between every tire manufacturer, and even between tire models from the same manufacturer, the widths can vary. You may find a 205 that is the same, wider, or narrower width than another 205. Tire width is measured from sidewall to sidewall, not tread. "205" refers to the section width (sidewall to sidewall) in millimetres. A 205/50R15 tire is 205mm wide, 102.5mm tall sidewalls (50% of 205), and goes ona 15" rim.

I lied, it's not at the B14 forum. Have you read through the technical information at http://www.sr20deforum.com/showthrea...threadid=14576 ? All progressive rate springs are made by varying the coil windings along the length of the spring. Tighter coil windings produce a softer spring rate. The forum states that the "working rate" of the spring (the rate while the car is at rest) is 270/180. That is, the progressive nature of the spring has been compressed up to 270 lbs-in by the time the car is sitting at ride height. They will lower the car approximately 1"

Cut your bumpstops and see if you're happy with the results before you shell out more money. The rear bumpstop is an odd one. Cut the middle part out, and then reinstall with the top piece underneath the dust boot. It'll make more sense when you're in there.

Good luck

(Man - 12.25" - your car is LOW! WAY too low!)

Do check out these links, and feel free to email me off list if you like (me@gwellwood.com)

Greg