Recommend Me Front Spring Rates Please

[tomcolinjones 26]

205 shell with 1.3 s1 rallye engine. Similar weight to xs engine . Caged shell and no rear seats if it makes a difference?. Gti rear beam standard and gti subframe with arb. I've got some used gaz gha coil overs and adjustable rear dampers. I was thinking 160/170lb front springs for road and track work. Will be using yoko a-021r's most likely. Contemplating going a bit stiffer and doing away with the front arb. What do you think? Thanks in advance

[welshpug 1,656]

what is out the back?

[tomcolinjones 26]

Standard 205 gti bars. 19mm iirc? Gaz gha adjustable dampers

Edited July 14, 2015 by tomcolinjones

[Anthony 1,002]

Personal thoughts are that if you're running standard GTi bars then ~160-170lb front springs are going to be too stiff and result in an understeer-biased balance with the front ARB connected.

 

Ideally you'd probably want 20-21mm torsion bars I'd guess to balance out those spring rates, but it might be acceptable with a bigger rear ARB if you can't justify the cost of uprated TB's.

 

I've tried 160lb fronts with 20mm rear TB's on a heavier engine (alloy XU) and that was quite nice on road tyres, although I suspect that it would have been a bit soft on stickier rubber.

[allanallen 528 2 Cars]

You'll not get soft enough springs to work with your dampers in my experience, anything under 200lb will tend to go coil bound at the length you require.

[tomcolinjones 26]

I think the springs that are on the coil overs are 250lb! That's going to give a lot of under steer! I doubt you could get the back end stuff enough to balance it? So 150/160 without my front arb should be ok for light track use and keep it ok for road use? I am looking at the bolt on adjustable rear arb, either that or I may get a gti6 one cut down and weld one end plate on.

[tomcolinjones 26]

Sorry posted before I read your reply. I'll be using them on maximum ride height so I will have enough thread to increase the spring length

[welshpug 1,656]

PTS gravel were 185 lb but were 10" long and 2.5" i.d, and of course not intended for running low.

 

they do work very well with 21mm bars on the back though.

[allanallen 528 2 Cars]

Sorry posted before I read your reply. I'll be using them on maximum ride height so I will have enough thread to increase the spring length

You may still struggle to be honest on those dampers with 2.25" springs

 

Fwiw I found 150lb springs ideal with 21mm bars.

Edited July 14, 2015 by allanallen

[tomcolinjones 26]

What is the softest spring I can use without going coil bound?

And removing the front anti roll bar, what lb spring would allow me to keep the car balanced with the 19mm bars on the rear? As I understand removing it would reduce under steer? I know it's a bit of a bodge way of doing things as ideally I should have 21/22mm bars on the rear.