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Old April 12th 2013, 16:14
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owdlvr owdlvr is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Canada - West Coast
Posts: 851
I can't speak for humble, but I'm running 2.5" springs, 8" tall. Current setup is 550lbs, and I would switch to a 550-650 progressive if anyone made one in the lengths I need (9" or shorter). You can't compare a long travel softly sprung race truck to a short travel setup.

Handling is quite good on my ride, as is the traction. It handles bumps and road surfaces without feeling like a skateboard, and on a regular "hard run" over the mountains I'm using about 80% of the total available travel. Zero crazy handling traits. On dry pavement it's extremely neutral (almost disappointingly so). On wet pavement when pushing, it will start to exhibit early warnings of oversteer, without actually braking loose. You just feel that you're on the limit and should be careful if pushing harder. Snow and gravel exhibit an extremely comfortable oversteer condition, one can drive the car with the steering wheel or the throttle, depending on preference.

Where I have issues is in sharp compressions. On one of my popular mountain routes, for instance, there is a very slight downhill section into a bridge. The bridge is perfectly level, and at speed it's a hard compression into the bridge. The rear will go through all the travel, onto the bumpstops, and then the rear breaks loose quite unpredictably. Heavy compressions while rallying on gravel have also caused the rear suspension to hit the bumpstops. This is why I'd like a progressive spring vs going with a straight-weight heavier spring.

- 300lb springs (which was determined as "the starting point" in another thread on spring rates) resulted in my car blowing through all the travel to the bumpstops. without engine or glass installed
- 550lb springs require about 10mm of preload for the car to sit at my chosen ride height.

-Dave
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