I was out at the Auto Salon at Home Bush and H&R are running a show special on their springs. Most sets RRP for $560, but as usual, the S2000 is $760. But their show special covers all springs and is [red]$450[/red].

Yep, $450 to lower your car an inch (install not included), but only if you place an order at the show.

There's heaps of debate about lowering, and the Biegites will tell you it's a no-no, but if you want the look or think it improves handling there is no doubt this is just about the best deal you'll find.

Oh and SRS have clear side markers for $50.

 

the police are really cracking down on cars and defecting everyone up in newcastle, its so funny seeing their faces when the police tell them that their cars are no good, hahahahha.

 

Far be it for me to be a Biegite especially when his primary supporter is the fascist lawyer from LA (Danny DeVito ) but I am totally against the idea of implementing something like this without a true understanding of the handling implications. I doubt very much if H&R are going to give you an accurate picture of what the impact will be and even if they were I doubt very much if I am in any position to make a sound judgement on their commentary.

As far as I am concerned I would rather leave this alone and focus on a). improving my own driving skills; and b). track tyres in order to get my handling improvements.

As far as other perceived benefits go, well all I can say is that if I was in the market for a second hand S2000 I would walk right past anything that even hinted of supension modifications.

BTW, good price on the sidemarkers!

 

I asked a couple of show goers about the effect on suspension and handling and their response was "It's fully sick!".

That was convincing enough for me

 

That is a good price, equates to $234 (US). Those of you considering lowering springs should definitely go for this specially if the usual is $760 ($395 US).

Eibach offers the ProKit for the S 2000 as well, that is also suppose to give you an inch off all around.

http://www.tirerack.com/suspension/Susptab...0&autoYear=2001

 

A mate of mine who works for BMW seriously advises against changing to lowered springs without changing shocks...he gave me a techie reason why about rebound rates or something??

anyone know about this?

 

I know a little about this, I can't give you exact numbers though!.

Rebound rate for a spring is what determines how the spring reacts under load, so 350lb/in spring is stiffer then a 250lb/in one.

When upgrading your springs (lets take the GENERAL H&R line of springs for example):

1- O.E. Sport Springs (those can be anywhere from 15 to 20% stiffer than stock, lowers the car SLIGHTLY). Considering they're slightly stiffer than stock springs, their rebound rate would be close to that of stock and therefore would still work fine with the stock dampers.

2- Sport Springs (usually 25 to 30% stiffer then stock, lowers the car about 1 to 1.25"). Even though stiffer, they would still work fine with the stock damper. Dampers have their own rebound rates as well, usually is designed to work with a set range of springs (maybe up to 40 or 50% stiffer then the stock one, I'm not sure). Eibach's equivilant product is the ProKit.

3- Race Springs (anywhere from 50 to 100% stiffer then stock, probably lowers the car 1.75 to 2"). Taking into account that those ahave a rebound rate much higher then stock, and the fact that each damper now have much less travel hight as oppose to stock (less room/distance to bounce up and down! under load, causing them to bottom out), so its like having the stock dampers "heavily loaded" all the time, shortening their operating life and causing them to fail. This is the reason why H&R (and any after market spring maker) strongly recommends upgrading to sport tuned dampers that can take on such springs. Eibach's equivilant product is the SportLine Kit.

I think the S 2000s stock dampers can be considered sport dampers, I'm not saying that I would go with something like H&R Race springs, but I think you would be fine if you go with something like the Sport springs (or ProKit from Eibach), which by the way are the only offerings from each company for the S 2000 as far as springs are concerned.

What your friend told you is true for the most part, (we did upgrade the dampers on my friends 01 Accord coupe when installing the Eibach ProKit just to play it safe and get improved overall performance), but with high performance sport cars (like the S 2000 ) you will be fine stepping up the spring ladder one step.

 

Thx M8,
enough to convince me to give the springs a go!

AusS2000,
did you buy them at the show? (or u keen on organising a GB if we can get teh same price?)

 

The "rebound rate" your friend was talking about is the amount of rebound damping provided by your shock. It has nothing to do with spring rates. Modern dampers provide differing amounts of resistance to compression and expansion (rebound) due to their internal valving. The rebound rate comes into play when the wheel is returning after hitting a bump or hits a hole. It is extremely important for keeping your wheels on the ground at all times and thus maintaining traction.

If the spring and damper rates don't match you have mistuned suspension. Given that the S2000 already has insufficient rebound damping in the rear (according to Whiteline's Jim Gurieff) you should not put a stiffer spring in there without increasing the damper rates accordingly. Springs and dampers are precisely tuned by the factory. If you put in 20% stiffer springs you basically need 20% stiffer dampers to maintain the balance. There is an element of personal preference but too much damping is generally considered better than not enough, while the correct amount is desireable of course.

You can fit the new springs and see what happens, but expect to have to change your dampers to custom or adjustable units unless you are really lucky. The best way to go is to get adjustables (some are adjustable for rebound only, others for compression and rebound together, and the most expensive types separately) and some professional advice on how to set them up.

I once had stiffer springs/anti-roll bars on a car that also had adjustable Koni Sport dampers, and the difference the adjustment made to handling was astonishing and quite unexpected. The moral is don't change anything unless you're prepared for a bit of work to get it right. There is no simple bolt-on handling improvement unless someone else has already done the tuning work.

 

I sure did. I couldn't pass up a deal like that!

I doubt we'd be able to get that price again. It was fairly obvious they weren't expecting some guy to come up and order the more expensive S2000 springs at the show price.