Hi,

Sorry, I'm not sure what the right terms are, but here's what happened:

I bought a set of coilovers that have custom springs and dampening for my other car (not s2000, but I trust the opinions in this forum.) They were installed at the shop.

Over the weekend, I proceeded to change out the brake pads for a trackday, but then I noticed that the springs in the rear are loose! Like as in I can move the spring up and down the body--the top and bottom of the spring do not make contact with the perches at the same time. Now, with my limited knowledge, I thought that normally that's when helper springs are used right?--to keep the main spring seated? (There is about ~1.5" of space it seems.)

I called the shop up and was told this is normal--this is how they setup all their shocks, including Moton setups. I found this hard to believe, so I figured I'd ask you guys first.

So, what do you guys think?--is this okay to run at the track?

This shop is very famous for their suspension setups--lots of track folks run this setup without complaint. Many positive comments for this shop and setup. Very confused right now.

Thanks.

 

Its fine; just make sure the spring seats properly when you lower the car after working on it... Or add tender springs if this bothers you.

 

I think he's looking for a helper spring not a tender spring.

From eibach


The ERS systems relies on a Main and Tender spring concept that provides a softer initial rate when both springs are compressed together, then delivers the desired firmer ending rate once the tender spring closes completely. The Main spring has a linear-rate characteristic and determines the final rate of the system. The Tender springs are available in a variety of linear-rate as well as progressive-rate characteristics and determine the initial rate of the system.

A Helper spring is used to prevent the Main spring from becoming loose in the spring seat when the wheel is at full droop. The Helper spring, unlike the Tender spring, has very little spring rate, and therefore has no effect on the suspension characteristics of the vehicle. Up to 50mm of spring-to-perch gap can be covered with the use of a Helper spring.

 

 

thanks guys for the info... guess the shop was okay then. and tahnks macr for the clarification of tender/helper springs.

hypothetically though, i've seen many race videos where the inside wheels leave the ground... and heck, whenever i go up driveways a wheel would teeter-totter too. when that wheel hits the ground, could there be any damage caused in such a setup?

 

The roll bar keeps it from drooping beyond the point of the spring getting loose.

 

oh, that makes sense. cool, thanks man.