Spring Weights. Superspec Zetec

[Guest Jomeo69]

Evening,

 

So during the 700 odd miles that i covered in my first year of Hood Based driving pleasure I've realised a couple of things.

 

Firstly the suspension is too soft.

And not like super soft but not stiff enough with too much body roll.

 

Cornering hardish round right hand turns for instance will have the exhaust scraping the tarmac.

 

Tis good fun but the bottom of the bottom tube on the exhaust is now square.

The exhaust isn't getting changed but if i plan to venture onto the track at any point this year like I'm hoping I'm thinking it needs to be stiffer.

 

So the question being what do people think spring weights should be.

The geo has been set up and tyre pressures all ok.

And the rebound set relatively high 20 clicks on the front and 27 on the rear.

Car apparently weighs 750Kgs according to the IVA (don't believe that tbh as there's nothing bloody in it, the exeter test centre scales were from the early 1900's I'm certain of it)

 

Anyway I'm not sure what weights on there at the moment but I'm looking for a stiff sporty ride with much less body roll.

 

Any comments / tips always welcome and thanks in advance

 

Joe

[AndyW]

Hi Joe,

 

What springs and shocks are you running? On my Rover engined Superspec the previous owner replaced the original Zimmerides with Gaz coilover shocks. It's now got 8" x 350lb x 1.9" springs on the front and 10" x 300lb x 1.9" springs on the rear.

 

The ride from the rears seem fine, but unlike you, I find the fronts far too hard. There is virtually no compression of the springs over bumps and the front suspension ride is generally very hard and jittery. I've got no body roll at all! So I think my front springs need to be much softer, but not got around to changing them yet.

Also, I've only got my front shocks turned up about 5 clicks for the rebound rate. I turned them down from the original 18 clicks in an attempt to make the ride more compliant. I'm running tyre pressures of 20 psi rear and 18 front in an attempt to further improve the ride.

 

As a comparison I've driven Al Richey's Superspec which still has the original Zimmeride coilovers (don't know what sizes). I've got to say his car rides much softer than mine, and I prefer that to my constant hard crashing. You can see his front suspension working and moving in relation to the body. Moves far more in comparison to mine.

 

So I'm no expert but I'd say choice of spring weights is critical to ride charactersistics. Rebound can be tweaked but only after you've got the springs right. I'd be interested in finding out what spring settings other Superspec owners are running.

 

Cheers, Andy

[Guest Jomeo69]

Thanks Andy.

Yea i did forget a crucial bit of info.

Im running the Gaz shocks that came with the kit.

On the back ive got the springs that came with the shocks.

And on the front ive got 350ld yellow i think. But without looking its just a hunch.

Looking at what some of the Caterham guys run on the web they are much lower weights but then if the car is lighter the rate will be lower as well.

Many Thanks

[alanrichey]

I agree, having driven Andy's car I prefer my soft shocks. However, I do see the same as you in the cornering and my one and only track day was 'interesting' But as I don't intend to do many track days I will stick with my very comfortable ride. And I have learned to live with grounding the exhaust mounting all the time, but as it is just a piece of angle iron I am probably doing more damage to the road that to the mount.

 

Did you get the kit direct from RHE ? I thought all the original factory kits came with Zimmers. And while the original Rover-engined kit probably did weigh 750Kg I suspect the Zetec engine may quite a bit lighter, as the T16 is built like a tank engine.

[Guest Jomeo69]

Thanks Alan.

 

Yea brought the Kit direct from RHE.

With Zetec, Jenvies and Emerald. Also came with Gaz shocks which was nice.

Yea did think that the zetec may be lighter and the car will be much lighter now ive ditched the crappy ford tank in the back.

guessing i could do with weighing it before i go any further really. The 750 was weighed at IVA but like i said their scales im sure were way out.