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What Coilovers? (OEM like performance, or softer)

Dana Pants

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As someone who mix and matches suspension components pretty regularly, I have to say the biggest influence on daily comfort is tire choice and tire freshness, nothing else.

Also, the ~160 lb/in front springs and the rear springs that pair with them are way too soft for track work. The hard part being that the low natural frequency causes terrifyingly long recovery times in case of a slide. GT350R rates basically defeat this issue and are just fine for daily driving.
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Had many encounters where I needed almost full braking, but then let off because I thought the front of the car was about to slam into the pavement.
completely irrational fear with no supporting facts unless you're already significantly lowered.
 

jayman33

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If you’re more worried about softness I’d take a look at steeda’s coilovers with their cc plates. Also ridetech’s HQ are solid and you can get custom spring rates as well. We’ve ran both these and tested them for those looking for street, strip and track.
Let us know if we can help you out!
 
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MidnightStars

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As someone who mix and matches suspension components pretty regularly, I have to say the biggest influence on daily comfort is tire choice and tire freshness, nothing else.

Also, the ~160 lb/in front springs and the rear springs that pair with them are way too soft for track work. The hard part being that the low natural frequency causes terrifyingly long recovery times in case of a slide. GT350R rates basically defeat this issue and are just fine for daily driving.
Thank you for that! Guess I won't stress out too much then :)
completely irrational fear with no supporting facts unless you're already significantly lowered.
Perhaps I exaggerated quite a bit! I was just surprised with how much "give" the front end had.
If you’re more worried about softness I’d take a look at steeda’s coilovers with their cc plates. Also ridetech’s HQ are solid and you can get custom spring rates as well. We’ve ran both these and tested them for those looking for street, strip and track.
Let us know if we can help you out!
Thank you, I'll check them out too!


It would be really nice if I could meet anyone here in the Midland/Odessa area with various suspension setups, I bet I could learn quite a lot from a simple ride along!
 

Biggsy

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I think everybody has already touched on anything but I would recommend springs and dampers for the best performance per dollar. Or set your car up for as a sport+ street car. I wouldn’t tune car for track just yet if you haven’t had much experience in that department. As much as I go window shopping for coilovers I know I have yet to exceed the performance of my current suspension (FRPP dampers and BMR handling spring). I figured the $4k for the a quality set can go to seat time, gas and tires/brakes until I improve my skill. But I know some people may not mind spending a couple grand just to “test something”. Sitting in other cars with different set ups definitely helps

Or You may be a retired pro driver and everything i said was pointless lol
 

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MidnightStars

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I think everybody has already touched on anything but I would recommend springs and dampers for the best performance per dollar. Or set your car up for as a sport+ street car. I wouldn’t tune car for track just yet if you haven’t had much experience in that department. As much as I go window shopping for coilovers I know I have yet to exceed the performance of my current suspension (FRPP dampers and BMR handling spring). I figured the $4k for the a quality set can go to seat time, gas and tires/brakes until I improve my skill. But I know some people may not mind spending a couple grand just to “test something”. Sitting in other cars with different set ups definitely helps

Or You may be a retired pro driver and everything i said was pointless lol
Nonono, not a pro driver at all, and still very much young!

I just like taking my time to learn about things--my family was never "mechanically inclined," and I never grew up with friends that were into such things. I was on my own, and I didn't get internet access until I was well into high school.
From all that, I don't have much personal experience, outside of only being able to read about things. Now that I have freedom, I'm able to explore much more.

I initially had my mind completely set on building a pure street & track car, but after cruising for road trips... I really like the "GT" experience, and want to try and improve upon it. And at that, cruise "at speed," so I guess going for a OEM/soft setup wouldn't be idle for it with what I do. Shorter and just slightly stiffer would have to be the way.
 

shogun32

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Been looking at the spring rates thread as well, and I've really been liking the SR Performance Fronts + Steeda Progressive rears.
what you're forgetting is that unless you have documentation to say otherwise, the lower-rate is mostly used up with the car just sitting on it's wheels. You might have a small amount of travel left, but it's not much. That's the problem with eg. the Steeda Dual-rate, you get 1/4" or no more than 1/2" travel and you're into the high.

I had Steeda progressive on the Eco and the drop was just way too much. But it rode well enough on the 225 rate.

I have 250lb/in on a set of Fortune Auto front coilovers. As delivered I was banging into the limiters frequently. I added a spacer and cranked the snot out of the preload so that at rest I have 2.5" of travel remaining (vs >1"). It's not enough. I hit a large divot at highway speed and crashed HARD into the limits.

I will be taking the cartridges apart to see if I can get any more travel. Ideally I need to shorten the cartridge body by 2" and increase the shaft by at least a similar amount.

If you're going to do coil-overs make sure you pick one that has adjustable RIDE_HEIGHT, ie you can thread the body into the holder.

That said in the mid-price category, Viking, RideTech and Bilstein with emphasis on the latter 2 would be my suggestion. The $3000+ bracket Ohlins, RideTech TQ, or KW but I think you'd be crazy to take the KW over the others. After that you're into the $5000+ where JRI/Penske/MCS are where it's at.
 
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what you're forgetting is that unless you have documentation to say otherwise, the lower-rate is mostly used up with the car just sitting on it's wheels. You might have a small amount of travel left, but it's not much. That's the problem with eg. the Steeda Dual-rate, you get 1/4" or no more than 1/2" travel and you're into the high.

I had Steeda progressive on the Eco and the drop was just way too much. But it rode well enough on the 225 rate.

I have 250lb/in on a set of Fortune Auto front coilovers. As delivered I was banging into the limiters frequently. I added a spacer and cranked the snot out of the preload so that at rest I have 2.5" of travel remaining (vs >1"). It's not enough. I hit a large divot at highway speed and crashed HARD into the limits.

I will be taking the cartridges apart to see if I can get any more travel. Ideally I need to shorten the cartridge body by 2" and increase the shaft by at least a similar amount.

If you're going to do coil-overs make sure you pick one that has adjustable RIDE_HEIGHT, ie you can thread the body into the holder.

That said in the mid-price category, Viking, RideTech and Bilstein with emphasis on the latter 2 would be my suggestion. The $3000+ bracket Ohlins, RideTech TQ, or KW but I think you'd be crazy to take the KW over the others. After that you're into the $5000+ where JRI/Penske/MCS are where it's at.
Thank you so much for that bit of information. Guess if I want even a tiny bit of drop (aero reasons), stiffer is the way.
 

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Okay I think you meant to say you want a lower (softer) spring rate.

Ohlins R&T Isn't really a track oriented damper. Its still a street damper that can be used on the track.

If you said you were looking for a track focused damper I would have recommended something else.

Do yourself a very and get in contact with Vorshlag and J&M. You won't regret it.
I have the Ohlins R&T with the oem rates ordered via retail here in Europe. They are good shocks but they have fitment issues at the back because of the Ford RLCA design choices so you ether need fabrication on the RLCA's or something like the new Steeda rear springs changing kit which is expensive. If you manage to fix that issue they are good shocks though. I drive mine very soft and is ok for both street/track so I really don't play with settings though on the track I can feel the car been on the softer side of things (this season will spend more time trying to dial everything). Overall I can say I'm happy with the purchase and this is mostly because the front rates of springs is really needed to tame the nose heavy Mustang during braking/cornering. I have graphs and compared with the stock setup I picked up a lot of cornering G's but this could be because I switched to 305/30's as well. Overall If I wanted a daily/track car I would probably just fit Eibach Pro-Kit to the car with some sways and camber plates and call it a day.
 

GT 550

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Needs: Goal is to have a car w/ adjustable damping for street driving (soft as possible) plus some track use (not crazy hard, but as hard as desirable). Priority is softness--if there is one that is equal or softer than OEM (not sure if possible?), it would function incredibly well for my build of a solid "GT" car.
Adjustable dampers don't let you magically dial a street car into a track car. Not even close. You can fiddle with damper adjustment as much as you like but firstly, it's pointless if you can't determine insufficient or excessive rebound from compression, or if it's low or high speed damping that you need to fix. 'Most' aftermarket dampers are only rebound adjustable anyway and will be valved to suit a certain spring rate with a small amount of leeway as the adjustment range is limited. Second, if damping doesn't match the spring rate no amount of adjustment will help, it'll always be a dog everywhere unless you're a genius and can compensate by using bars and really clever bump stop tuning.

It's probably best to establish what your primary goal is, settle on a spring rate, and get the right damper to suit. The Steeda comfort package might be a good place to start if you're focussed on ride quality.

If you want a good GT setup you'll want good ground clearance which immediately limits spring choice unless you go with custom springs which I wouldn't recommend. Also don't confuse softness with compliance ie the ability to ride bumps in a controlled manner.

IMHO, and apologies if you're already past this, but it might be worth doing some research on understanding suspension tuning and what makes a suspension setup work for a given purpose. It can be challenging but it's worth it.
 

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shogun32

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You can fiddle with damper adjustment as much as you like but firstly, it's pointless if you can't determine insufficient or excessive rebound from compression, or if it's low or high speed damping that you need to fix. 'Most' aftermarket dampers are only rebound adjustable anyway and will be valved to suit a certain spring rate with a small amount of leeway as the adjustment range is limited.
case in point. The Fortune Auto natively comes with 672lb/in. I asked them to build me valving suitable for 350. Then put a 250 spring on. I'm 7 clicks from max rebound just to get them to work for street duty. So they missed it by a MILE. Also the cheap units the compression is influenced by the single needle setting as well. I don't know why it doesn't occur to these guys to put a ball-valve on the bleed.

Now when you buy from BIlstein, Ohlins, or RideTech they should have their stuff figured out.
 

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case in point. The Fortune Auto natively comes with 672lb/in. I asked them to build me valving suitable for 350. Then put a 250 spring on. I'm 7 clicks from max rebound just to get them to work for street duty. So they missed it by a MILE. Also the cheap units the compression is influenced by the single needle setting as well. I don't know why it doesn't occur to these guys to put a ball-valve on the bleed.

Now when you buy from BIlstein, Ohlins, or RideTech they should have their stuff figured out.
Why you want to put 250 spring on the front is beyond me. I still don't get why you insist of overdamping your suspension the front of that car is like 2000 lbs or so how you expect a 250 lbs/in spring to actually work with that much. Aren't you sick of the bouncy ford suspensions that you so hard try to replicate them ? 672 lb/in springs is a good starting point for R Compound tires / Slicks. Sure it's not ideal for a drive on the coast but will be perfect on a big race track with a set of Hoosiers. Spring rates really depends on application. And this car need a lot of it to prevent roll with a 2000 lbs front.
 

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Why you want to put 250 spring on the front is beyond me. I still don't get why you insist of overdamping your suspension
shall we review the entire compedium of Mustang aftermarket springs? They range from 200-330 with quite a few hovering around 250. I'm also coming off the Steeda dual-rate which theoretically start at 220 and spend a lot of time in 350 which is higher than I think I want to go. I have springs on the shelf ranging from 200 to 450.

the front of that car is like 2000 lbs or so how you expect a 250 lbs/in spring to actually work with that much. Aren't you sick of the bouncy ford suspensions
I think you misunderstand how suspension works. 250 or even 200 is a VERY popular choice and works just damn fine for most forum members. The GT350R is equipped with 240.

You just need enough spring travel (via preload or static sag) without getting into coil bind to support the weight. So with a 250 I need 4 inches of preload to zero out the weight. But I want a minimum of 1 inch of wheel extension (top out) above the piston so I'm using not quite 3" of preload.

The traditional shock springs the vast majority of people use have HUGE 7" inches of travel (ignoring bump stop) compared to coil-overs which typically only have 4.25. Traditional setups have at least 1" of preload on the spring so they'll sag a further 2-3" at rest leaving no less than 4" before mechanical limits. Factor in the bump stops and you're down to about 2" of free travel.

'bouncy' is a side-effect of too little rebound damping. If the valving can barely handle 250, the same stack is hopeless in the face of 650.

672 lb/in springs is a good starting point for R Compound tires / Slicks. Sure it's not ideal for a drive on the coast but will be perfect on a big race track with a set of Hoosiers.
except I'm not springing for high-G race track use. My car lives on the street 99.95% of the time.

What springs above 500 do is severely curtail the piston travel in the face of input. Which does a masterful job of hiding just how BAD the internal valving is in both directions. And by limiting travel it also band-aids around the chosen cartridge+shaft dimensions that are "too short".
 
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bnightstar

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shall we review the entire compedium of Mustang aftermarket springs? They range from 200-330 with quite a few hovering around 250. I'm also coming off the Steeda dual-rate which theoretically start at 220 and spend a lot of time in 350 which is higher than I think I want to go. I have springs on the shelf ranging from 200 to 450.
If your goal is street car sure 200 lbs is all you need why go all the way to 250-350 if 200 works good ? But if the goal is maximum performance on track then you need that 800 lbs spring and this lovely Micheline/Continental Slicks. Obviously you have a plan just didn't get why switching to Coilovers.
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