Steeda Sport Progressives or Competition Dual Rate Springs?

[SteedaTech]

I have the Steeda Progressives and Adj pro actions on my 17. It rides very good. The shocks are in the recommended 1/4 turn from full soft (I think that's it). I also have their camber plates and rear shock mounts. The only thing I will say you need to pay attention to is this: lowering spring exaggerate the imperfections of bad roads. If the road is bad, you WILL notice it more. Be prepared...

For the rougher roads i like to run full soft. 1/4 turn makes a noticeable difference.
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[Jubbs2116]

Hi Guys, I'm curious if any of you have any feedback on the parts you bought or changes you made. I'm looking at suspension bits with basically the same goals as the OP. Though I think i would be a bit more inclined to pick progressives or dual rate springs. I wasn't planning on doing shocks/struts immediately. I have a '17 GT PP1. Stock except for vertical links (installed) and some other BMR braces that have yet to be installed (to combat the wheel hop). For reasons I can't fully explain, I have been leaning toward the Vogtland sport lowering springs on AM (1" drop all around). I have read so many reviews and discussions online that all i have anymore is a gut feeling.

Like the OP, I am most interested in the springs for performance improvement, but I do daily my car in south east Michigan where many roads are, shall we say, BAD and construction is frequent. I also daily it with winter tires in the winter and through snow (as necessary or as impulses to go slide around pop up).

I have only done 1 summer track day and am probably likely to continue at a pace of 1-2 per year, but I do enjoy spirited everyday driving (how fast can I go around that round-a-bout). In any case, knowing that I want performance and knowing Steeda's reputation, I wanted to review their stuff again to see what might be reasonable for me. Do the progressives have the same cornering advantages as a dual rate spring? Can anyone from Steeda share the spring rates for the dual rate springs?

And lastly, the main point of this post is to see what you guys have learned after a year and a half. Any impressions? OP, I am super curious to hear your feedback given our similar goals. Thanks.

 

[NightmareMoon]

The sticky threat at the top of this forum (spring rates) has a link to a spreadsheet with rates for some or all of those springs.

Handling needs upgraded shocks as much or more than springs. There will be downsides to slapping in a set of springs and ignoring dampening, since springs and shocks work as a matched pair. Best to wait until you can do both, or suffer a bouncy ride.

 

[shogun32]

I wasn't planning on doing shocks/struts immediately.

then just don't.

leaning toward the Vogtland sport lowering springs on AM (1" drop all around

185 275 800 880 rates aren't bad but no stock damper is going to be able to cope. The problem with progressive springs is where in the stroke you transition into the 2 (at most 3) different rates. There's a very good reason why "people in the know" use single-rate springs or in the case of Steeda a well defined change-over point on their dual-rates.

Everyone who has the BMR SP083 raves about them and I'm about to put the SP084 (front half of the '83 kit) on my GT and replace the front Steeda dual-rate spring.

For the rougher roads i like to run full soft. 1/4 turn makes a noticeable difference.

I have no idea how running the Steeda pro-action at full soft is tolerable. I'm at 3/4 turn out from hard (1 turn in from soft) for the front shocks and only now does it behave. The rear I'm at 1/2 turn in from soft and it very clearly needs another 1/2 turn or so.

IMO the Steeda dual-rate front springs are way too high rate for street use. Hard-charging track day I'm sure they're brilliant. At stay out of jail street driving the front is vague and too 'flat' IMO. You really have to be driving the front hard with lots of weight transfer for it to work well.

What Steeda doesn't/didn't say on their website is that the lower rate of the spring is almost used up with the car just sitting static. You get about 3/4" of wheel travel in the rear before the 1200 rate is engaged. I don't remember where the front transitions but it's roughly the same. If you want a "dedicated" track day car then their dual rate springs are fine. Otherwise SP083 and pick the FRPP track or Steeda Pro-Actions. Or spend $2500+ and go coilovers.

If you want good square-edge bump absorption the primary problem child is high-speed damping because very often there's much too much of it. A 2-stage piston and shim stack helps in this scenario. Springs should be chosen on the basis of chassis support, not to mask bad damping.

 

[Norm Peterson]

I'm looking at suspension bits with basically the same goals as the OP. I have a '17 GT PP1. Stock except for vertical links (installed) and some other BMR braces that have yet to be installed (to combat the wheel hop).

Like the OP, I am most interested in the springs for performance improvement, but I do daily my car in south east Michigan where many roads are, shall we say, BAD and construction is frequent. I also daily it with winter tires in the winter and through snow (as necessary or as impulses to go slide around pop up).

I have only done 1 summer track day and am probably likely to continue at a pace of 1-2 per year, but I do enjoy spirited everyday driving (how fast can I go around that round-a-bout)

I wasn't planning on doing shocks/struts immediately.​

Honestly? As a single suspension mod at this point I'd upgrade the shocks & struts to adjustables and leave the springs stock. Maybe bump the sta-bar stiffnesses up a bit. That's enough suspension modification to justify wheels and tires up to about PP2 level, and enough to eventually see you up to the advanced run group assuming that you do your part.

I'm intentionally ignoring matters of subjective appearance. Completely.

​

And lastly, the main point of this post is to see what you guys have learned after a year and a half. Any impressions?

One thing that I've picked up over the years (and a variety of platforms) is that shocks and struts are at least as important as springs. With respect to certain aspects of vehicle behavior (and driver perceptions), they're even more important.

A little over a dozen years ago I was basically where you and OP are today. By the time I ordered my Mustang, I had a suspension modification plan pretty much fleshed out (down to Vogtland springs, even). And I hadn't even considered driving beyond about 5/10ths through an on-ramp or the occasional autocross. But I stopped cold and just drove the car for a while, eventually doing the adjustable shocks & struts and adjustable sta-bars up in one shot.

Only recently have I swapped out the OE springs (OE for my '08 S197 were around 20% softer than base S550 springs) for something roughly comparable to GT350R rates. So far, my best lap times were when the car was on the OE springs, though there are at least three reasons why I haven't quite matched that with the firmer springs (and two of those have nothing to do with springs at all).

To sum up, the parts may look different, and they will carry different part numbers, but the concepts stay the same.


Norm

 

[SteedaTech]

Hey All – Just for clarification purposes, full clockwise rotation to the stop is full soft. Begin moving counter-clockwise from there, and you’ll be moving towards full hard – a total of approximately three turns out.

 

[shogun32]

sorry, post moved to over here Matt's pursuit of Suspension and wheels
and my suspension units only have just a shade under 2 turns from one extreme to the other.

 

[SteedaTech]

Hi Guys, I'm curious if any of you have any feedback on the parts you bought or changes you made. I'm looking at suspension bits with basically the same goals as the OP. Though I think i would be a bit more inclined to pick progressives or dual rate springs. I wasn't planning on doing shocks/struts immediately. I have a '17 GT PP1. Stock except for vertical links (installed) and some other BMR braces that have yet to be installed (to combat the wheel hop). For reasons I can't fully explain, I have been leaning toward the Vogtland sport lowering springs on AM (1" drop all around). I have read so many reviews and discussions online that all i have anymore is a gut feeling.

Like the OP, I am most interested in the springs for performance improvement, but I do daily my car in south east Michigan where many roads are, shall we say, BAD and construction is frequent. I also daily it with winter tires in the winter and through snow (as necessary or as impulses to go slide around pop up).

I have only done 1 summer track day and am probably likely to continue at a pace of 1-2 per year, but I do enjoy spirited everyday driving (how fast can I go around that round-a-bout). In any case, knowing that I want performance and knowing Steeda's reputation, I wanted to review their stuff again to see what might be reasonable for me. Do the progressives have the same cornering advantages as a dual rate spring? Can anyone from Steeda share the spring rates for the dual rate springs?

And lastly, the main point of this post is to see what you guys have learned after a year and a half. Any impressions? OP, I am super curious to hear your feedback given our similar goals. Thanks.

In your case with one track event and in Michigan where the roads are rough, I would recommend our Steeda progressive springs. They will pair up fine with the stock dampers and bumpstops. This is our most popular all around spring, with thousands sold.
https://www.steeda.com/assets/documents/Steeda-S550-Spring-Guide-UPDATED-Aug2018.pdf

Steeda Tech

 

[Jubbs2116]

Thanks guys. I think I have moved forward some to look at full suspensions. I also want to point out something that I haven’t seen anyone mention before. See below. Will definitely be getting that with what I buy. Good stuff Steeda. I love the attention to detail.

https://www.steeda.com/Steeda-S550-...mpsteer-Correction-Kit-2015-2020_p_15413.html

 

[shogun32]

that I haven’t seen anyone mention before. ...
https://www.steeda.com/Steeda-S550-...mpsteer-Correction-Kit-2015-2020_p_15413.html

It's been mentioned a lot, if perhaps not in this thread.

 

[myblkshadow19]

If your camber exceeds 1.7 degrees negative after the install of the springs, than i would recommend camber plates.
This is referring to street applications.
The Steeda billet rear shock mounts are a great option for improved ride quality , but not necessary.

Steeda Tech

can you use the strut tower brace with the camber plates?

 

[SteedaTech]

can you use the strut tower brace with the camber plates?

Yes you can.
Thank you,
Steeda Tech

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