500lbs Sleeves on konis?

[Junior Smurff]

Alright guys, so heres my situation. When i first got my suspension i wanted something height adjustable that would also give me a bit of preformance(Dnt wanna stance or slam) Im looking to daily, and soon auto X maybe acouple times a year. So i got Koni Sport Front shocks and Koni STR.T rears along with Skunk2 sleeves, Skunks didnt workout, too bouncy and uneven drop. Next i got a set of "Ground Control" sleeves that ended up being knockoff no name look alikes. So now i have found a set of 6 inch tall Eibach/LEGIT Ground Control springs 2x500lbs and 2x550lbs. Will these ride better than the skunks?? I would like to believe so bc i have heard that spring rates may vary up to 20% from manufactures. Is this true?? Also taking into consideration GC is always talked god about while skunk2... Not so much. LMK what you guys think

[mndude07]

The up to 20% variance is very true... Taiwanese brands like Ksport, Tein, D2, Function and Form, etc. have been shown to do this.

Eibach has the best tolerance on their springs out of all the mainstream companies...I believe it is +/- 5%.

Hypercoils are even better, but will cost you more.

Whether the ground controls are better than the Skunk2 springs really depends on what the rates on the Skunk2's are for comparison. It is very possible that the Koni STR.t's in the rear is the problem, and not the springs. Neuspeed has stated to one of the members on this site that STR.t's are valved very similarly to Koni Yellows on full soft.

From my experience, the ride quality of the car is much more sensitive to changes in the rear than the front. i.e. you can change rates and damping much more in the front and feel little difference, while a smaller change in the rear will result in a more dramatic change in ride quality.

With that said, it is very possible that you could switch to Koni Yellows on the rear and the problem will be solved with a little knob adjustment.

With 500# fronts and 550# rears, I think the rear of the car will be slow to respond for an autocross car given the weight distribution of the CB7 and its apparent motion ratios.

[Junior Smurff]

The up to 20% variance is very true... Taiwanese brands like Ksport, Tein, D2, Function and Form, etc. have been shown to do this.

Eibach has the best tolerance on their springs out of all the mainstream companies...I believe it is +/- 5%.

Hypercoils are even better, but will cost you more.

Whether the ground controls are better than the Skunk2 springs really depends on what the rates on the Skunk2's are for comparison. It is very possible that the Koni STR.t's in the rear is the problem, and not the springs. Neuspeed has stated to one of the members on this site that STR.t's are valved very similarly to Koni Yellows on full soft.

From my experience, the ride quality of the car is much more sensitive to changes in the rear than the front. i.e. you can change rates and damping much more in the front and feel little difference, while a smaller change in the rear will result in a more dramatic change in ride quality.

With that said, it is very possible that you could switch to Koni Yellows on the rear and the problem will be solved with a little knob adjustment.

With 500# fronts and 550# rears, I think the rear of the car will be slow to respond for an autocross car given the weight distribution of the CB7 and its apparent motion ratios.

Makes sense, would skunk2 fall in with those other companys or do they also stay pretty close to advertised spring rates?. The Skunk2 sleeves are rated at 560lbs/in for refrence. And i agree, i too have thought the str.t"s are the problem. They dont seem to handle the insane spring rate the skunks had. I will look to replace them sooner than later but first i want to get the coils sorted out. What spring rates would you recommend then? Considering im willing to give up SOME ride comfort for a bit better preformance for the rare occasions i decide to auto x the CB?? Thanks for all the help btw much appreciated

[mndude07]

Makes sense, would skunk2 fall in with those other companys or do they also stay pretty close to advertised spring rates?. The Skunk2 sleeves are rated at 560lbs/in for refrence. And i agree, i too have thought the str.t"s are the problem. They dont seem to handle the insane spring rate the skunks had. I will look to replace them sooner than later but first i want to get the coils sorted out. What spring rates would you recommend then? Considering im willing to give up SOME ride comfort for a bit better preformance for the rare occasions i decide to auto x the CB?? Thanks for all the help btw much appreciated

I made a mistake in my last post. I meant to say that the 550 lb springs in the rear would make the rear end respond very fast, but I think that might make the ride frequency too high relative to the front. My cb7 had 485F, 300R springs, and they were progressive. Linear springs will feel a little stiffer given the same rate, but with that said, I think a little stiffer would be a good street-track balance. The rate of front vs rear is what you really want to pay attention to, and mine had good balance. It seems like choosing the front based on response vs grip, and then matching the rear is a good way to do it. If you want 500lb front springs, I think 350lbs in the rear would do well....it really all depends on your weight distribution, motion ratios, etc though. No one has determined these things for the CB7, but it is required to properly select springs.

If I buy another CB7 in the (near) future, I will do this. In the mean time, 500F, 350R is the best guess I can give you based on experience and what I know about suspension.

If you go much stiffer, you're looking at shock re-valves, not to mention losing a lot of grip over bumps when driving on the street. Go too much softer, and you lose the speed of response you desperately need while on the track.

400-600F, 250-400R I would say are good ranges for a happy medium between street and track.

As far as the Skunk2's spring quality goes, I am not sure. They do not seem to be anywhere as technically savvy when is comes to suspension as they are for say, engines. However, their manufacturing quality seems pretty good. It is likely that while their springs and shocks may not be very good by design, they are still very good from a manufacturing standpoint, if that makes sense.

[gloryaccordy]

550/500 is way too stiff IMO. I don't even think Koni will warranty such a setup, you can ask them. You would need it revalved ($$$$$$$) and even then it would be too rough for the street.

I found the Konis worked best closer to stock rates. The best CB7 setup I've ever ridden on was Koni Yellows with Neuspeed Sports. I have heard good things about Koni Yellows with Skunk2 drop springs (NOT sleeves) too.