tanabe springs

dustyp34 · Jul 8, 2009, 04:30 PM

whats up guys I been thinking about getting some springs and I like the tanabe springs. I was wondering if anyone has these springs and what do the think of them.

lancer0220 · Jul 8, 2009, 04:57 PM

i havent seen anyone with tanabe springs but my friend with his 04 350z has tanabes and he recommends them over any spring. he says the drop is just enough not to kill the factory struts. when i ever do drop my car i am going with tanabe.

jer301 · Jul 8, 2009, 05:05 PM

I am not that farmiliar with these springs, but I have had a couple of drivers recommend them. I am working on a suspension design and could tell you what spring rates to go with (provided the suspension geometry is the same as the GTS). I guess it depends on what you want to do (road race, autox, our just spirited street driving). What are you looking for? just lowering the car? or tuning to a higher frequency response?

dustyp34 · Jul 8, 2009, 05:16 PM

really want the car to handle better without slamming the car to the ground. also I dont want to sacrifice ride quality.

Spring rates=3.7(F) / 3.6(R) Spring Drop=1.1(F) / 0.9(R)

jer301 · Jul 8, 2009, 06:09 PM

I will pm you the numbers in the morning. I left my flashdrive at work. Stiffer springs (provided you don't go too stiff) are really not going to affect your ride quality. That is your tires and dampers. A stiffer spring will just keep the tire on the ground and give you better traction for higher speed cornering, roll stiffness, etc. Of course the most critical number you need I don't have but will try to measure tonight: spring hieght. Looks like they have a kit for the 07 08 lancer on their site
P# = TNF136

http://www.tanabe-usa.com/search3.asp#

I would just go with the kit if you are not looking for specific freq tuning

jer301 · Jul 9, 2009, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dustyp34

really want the car to handle better without slamming the car to the ground. also I dont want to sacrifice ride quality.

Spring rates=3.7(F) / 3.6(R) Spring Drop=1.1(F) / 0.9(R)

Okay man,

Sorry for the delay but I left my car data at work. Based on the numbers you provided, here is where we are:

Stock spring rates for the gts (yours might be lower) are as follows:

Front = ~170 lb/in (~3.1 kg/mm)
Rear = ~200 lb/in (~3.6 kg/mm)

Your new kit from Tanabe would be as follows:

Front = 3.7 kg/mm (~207 lb/in)
Rear = 3.6 kg/mm (~202 lb/in)
Front Drop = 1.1”
Rear Drop = 0.8”

This will lower the car base on the info provided and you will probably notice a difference in cornering ability. The progressive kit (P/N 4.486) from Eibach will give the following:

Front = 103 – 263 lb/in
Rear = 103 – 217 lb/in
Front Drop = 1.2”
Rear Drop = 0.9”

Progressive springs will give you a comfortable ride at low speeds and stiffen up for high speed cornering.

Either one of these kits will be great for your car. The Tanabe could be faster in cornering, but that is b/c the spring rate is contstant through various loading conditions.
If you want to do road race or even autox, I would recommend the following:

Front = ~275 lb/in (4.9 kg/mm)
Rear = ~350 lb/in (6.3 kg/mm)

This will be a rough ride on the road, but the car will corner great. I may actually go higher on my set up but not sure yet. I might not do anything to the suspension except dampers b/c I want to stay in H stock. I don’t think the lancer can compete in Street Prepared or Street Mod classes, it is too heavy, and does not have enough power. The reasons for increasing the rear spring rates so much for racing are as follows:

1) The front suspension is a McPherson strut suspension with a motion ratio of 1.103. The rear suspension is a multilink suspension which provides good caster and camber control through the entire range of motion, but the motion ratio is much lower (0.553 on our vehicles). Thus you will need a much larger spring to increase the wheel rate of the rear tires.
2) Ideally a perfectly balanced (same weight at all 4 tires) car with a low roll center would not oversteer or understeer. Vehicle manufacturers and spring manufacturers (unless they are building racing cars) usually set the spring rates the same for the front and back or they make the front spring a higher rate. This is for safety. It is safer to understeer with a car than to oversteer. To compensate for this, autox’rs and road racers usually either increase the rear spring rates, or decrease rear tire pressure, or a combination of both. For cornering, a little oversteer will get the car around the corner a lot faster than a lot of understeer.
Hope this helps.

momokoo · Oct 8, 2009, 12:59 AM

Do you have the number for Eibach Sportline Kit?

I'm comparing this to the Tanabe...^^"

jer301 · Oct 8, 2009, 05:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by momokoo

Do you have the number for Eibach Sportline Kit?

I'm comparing this to the Tanabe...^^"

No but if you call them and ask they will tell you. Eibach is very good about sharing info. They understand that some people are designing and setting up ther own suspension so they will give you the spring rates of most of their kits. I have only ran into one company who does not share this info

momokoo · Oct 8, 2009, 05:48 PM

One more question about the Progressive springs... what exactly is that?

For my understanding, the distance between the coils are different.... what is the point of that?

Many Thanks!!

AF-Evo8 · Oct 8, 2009, 05:52 PM

i have the GF210 on my evo and love them, perfect drop and not to rough during city driving.

jer301 · Oct 8, 2009, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by momokoo

One more question about the Progressive springs... what exactly is that?

For my understanding, the distance between the coils are different.... what is the point of that?

Many Thanks!!

Progressive springs are like having 2 or three springs with different spring rates in one spring. some eibach kits state that the spring rate for some of the progressives are 100-260 lb/in. what this means is that at the low spring rate you have a comfortable ride at normal driving speeds and the higher spring rates will provide quicker response at higher speeds for preformance.

momokoo · Oct 9, 2009, 01:48 AM

Thanks

but then the front number is lower then the stock.. does that mean corning with low speed will be affected...??

I wonder is Sportline also a progressive design... that give me 1.7F and 1.2R.... something in between the Tein and Tanabe....^^

jer301 · Oct 9, 2009, 05:48 AM

no. they ride fine @ low speeds. You don't transfer as much weight when cornering at low speeds so it should not feel to soft. The springs job is to keep the tire in contact with the road surface.

momokoo · Oct 9, 2009, 08:44 AM

cool~

btw which spring are you using...??

I heard that the some user compliant about the sportline kit for the sound.... wonder will pro-kit create sound...^^"

jer301 · Oct 9, 2009, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by momokoo

cool~

btw which spring are you using...??

I heard that the some user compliant about the sportline kit for the sound.... wonder will pro-kit create sound...^^"

I decided not to replace my springs. I was working on my own suspension design and got as far as roll stiffness, but quit. If i replaced my springs it would take me out of stock class for autox. That being said if you want my calcs pm me your email and I will email them to you. very strait forward and I explain everything in detail. the Tien S progressive springs make noise too. this is on the lower spring rate portion of the spring where the springs are wound closer together. there are rubber isolators you can buy and install on the spring to minimize this.