Spring Rates
03-04-21, 04:03 PM
#1
Driver
Thread Starter
Spring Rates
Hello all,
I really need a new set of coil overs and am mainly looking for info on spring rates what spring rates everyone is running. Car is a 94 SC300.
Currently the car has some MonoMaxx coils from the previous owner but I plan to get BC coils with swift springs through Figs. (Unless someone has a better alternative around the same price) The car still feels pretty soft and am looking to stiffen it up a good bit without over doing it. I plan to take the car to the track and will still be driving it on the street but I am still having problems with rubbing when going over bumps and things after my alignment. Car is sitting on 18 x 9.5 +23 wheels with 245/40/18 tires. Front and rear fenders have been rolled and minimally pulled from what I can tell from previous owner.
Figs has options from 4k - 22k for the front and 6k - 22k for the rear. What are some good, stiff options for what people are running their spring rates at? How much difference should there be between the front and rear if any? I emailed Figs as well and did some research on here to see but wanted to hear from experience.
http://www.shopfigs.com/v3/BC-Racing-Coilover-Kits-BR-Series-Single-Adjustable-BC-Racing-Coilovers-Lexus-SC-SC300-SC400-(1992-2000)-C-15-BR-2
I appreciate any and all advice!
Cheers!
I really need a new set of coil overs and am mainly looking for info on spring rates what spring rates everyone is running. Car is a 94 SC300.
Currently the car has some MonoMaxx coils from the previous owner but I plan to get BC coils with swift springs through Figs. (Unless someone has a better alternative around the same price) The car still feels pretty soft and am looking to stiffen it up a good bit without over doing it. I plan to take the car to the track and will still be driving it on the street but I am still having problems with rubbing when going over bumps and things after my alignment. Car is sitting on 18 x 9.5 +23 wheels with 245/40/18 tires. Front and rear fenders have been rolled and minimally pulled from what I can tell from previous owner.
Figs has options from 4k - 22k for the front and 6k - 22k for the rear. What are some good, stiff options for what people are running their spring rates at? How much difference should there be between the front and rear if any? I emailed Figs as well and did some research on here to see but wanted to hear from experience.
http://www.shopfigs.com/v3/BC-Racing-Coilover-Kits-BR-Series-Single-Adjustable-BC-Racing-Coilovers-Lexus-SC-SC300-SC400-(1992-2000)-C-15-BR-2
I appreciate any and all advice!
Cheers!
03-07-21, 12:03 PM
#2
Most kits offer 4k to 6k difference between front and rear springs, with front being stiffer. I have HKS coilovers at 20k F/16K rear and love the control over motion the stiff rates provide. I believe standard BC rates are 18/12 or thereabouts. I ran front at your exact spec for a while with no rubbing issues on compression, street and track use. I was looking at the same BC set the other week as my coilovers are 10+ years old at this point. For the pricing with the Swift upgrades, looks to be the best value out there considering they're about $1k less than the Fortune autos with Swift upgrade.
Last edited by SC_coupe; 03-08-21 at 05:53 AM.
03-07-21, 06:57 PM
#3
If I recall, my TEiN coil overs are 14k fronts and 8K rears. Handles well for street driving. Never pushed these so hard to compare but the adjustments allows for changing the character of ride.
03-08-21, 12:15 PM
#4
What do you plan on doing with your car? Because that will determine what springrates you should use
I have Zeal Function-A's with 18k 12k. I built my car for high speed aggressive driving, on the street and hopefully in the future circuit racing. It's really stiff below 30mph. Good from 30-60, and smooth as glass from 70mph+
But I have to admit that's probably partially due to the high quality of the coilovers themselves and not 100% the springs. Like, I know my coilovers become stiff as **** below 50*F. The fluid inside reacts better in heat than cold. But that's what coilovers made for racing are supposed to do.
The reason I mention this last part is because if Figs asks you questions about what you want to do with the car, TELL THEM EVERYTHING. Do you want to daily drive the car in winter or will it be stored? Is this a dedicated drift car? Or a "daily drifter" or a daily you want to drift maybe one weekend a month?
A track car? A highway monster? etc. You get the idea. Even if you just plan on driving the car as a casual summer weekend car, tell them that.
With that info Figs should be able to give you a few choices.
The Figs BCs are better than normal BCs because Figs is more familiar with what different combos work better on Toyota/Lexus cars, and because of his sponsorship by BC for his racecars, they work with him a lot. Figs BCs are not just regular BCs rebranded. They are altered to Mike's specs beforehand, then they have a few extra options you as a customer can choose from.
I have Zeal Function-A's with 18k 12k. I built my car for high speed aggressive driving, on the street and hopefully in the future circuit racing. It's really stiff below 30mph. Good from 30-60, and smooth as glass from 70mph+
But I have to admit that's probably partially due to the high quality of the coilovers themselves and not 100% the springs. Like, I know my coilovers become stiff as **** below 50*F. The fluid inside reacts better in heat than cold. But that's what coilovers made for racing are supposed to do.
The reason I mention this last part is because if Figs asks you questions about what you want to do with the car, TELL THEM EVERYTHING. Do you want to daily drive the car in winter or will it be stored? Is this a dedicated drift car? Or a "daily drifter" or a daily you want to drift maybe one weekend a month?
A track car? A highway monster? etc. You get the idea. Even if you just plan on driving the car as a casual summer weekend car, tell them that.
With that info Figs should be able to give you a few choices.
The Figs BCs are better than normal BCs because Figs is more familiar with what different combos work better on Toyota/Lexus cars, and because of his sponsorship by BC for his racecars, they work with him a lot. Figs BCs are not just regular BCs rebranded. They are altered to Mike's specs beforehand, then they have a few extra options you as a customer can choose from.
03-10-21, 05:45 PM
#5
Driver
Thread Starter
Most kits offer 4k to 6k difference between front and rear springs, with front being stiffer. I have HKS coilovers at 20k F/16K rear and love the control over motion the stiff rates provide. I believe standard BC rates are 18/12 or thereabouts. I ran front at your exact spec for a while with no rubbing issues on compression, street and track use. I was looking at the same BC set the other week as my coilovers are 10+ years old at this point. For the pricing with the Swift upgrades, looks to be the best value out there considering they're about $1k less than the Fortune autos with Swift upgrade.
I did look into Fortune's as well but as you said much more expensive and not as many spring rate options. I checked PBM as well but they come with set spring rates although I hear they are very nicw. I see a lot of people running 20k/16k or 20k/18k on the SC Facebook pages. Thanks for your input!
03-10-21, 05:47 PM
#6
Driver
Thread Starter
03-10-21, 05:54 PM
#7
Driver
Thread Starter
What do you plan on doing with your car? Because that will determine what springrates you should use
I have Zeal Function-A's with 18k 12k. I built my car for high speed aggressive driving, on the street and hopefully in the future circuit racing. It's really stiff below 30mph. Good from 30-60, and smooth as glass from 70mph+
But I have to admit that's probably partially due to the high quality of the coilovers themselves and not 100% the springs. Like, I know my coilovers become stiff as **** below 50*F. The fluid inside reacts better in heat than cold. But that's what coilovers made for racing are supposed to do.
The reason I mention this last part is because if Figs asks you questions about what you want to do with the car, TELL THEM EVERYTHING. Do you want to daily drive the car in winter or will it be stored? Is this a dedicated drift car? Or a "daily drifter" or a daily you want to drift maybe one weekend a month?
A track car? A highway monster? etc. You get the idea. Even if you just plan on driving the car as a casual summer weekend car, tell them that.
With that info Figs should be able to give you a few choices.
The Figs BCs are better than normal BCs because Figs is more familiar with what different combos work better on Toyota/Lexus cars, and because of his sponsorship by BC for his racecars, they work with him a lot. Figs BCs are not just regular BCs rebranded. They are altered to Mike's specs beforehand, then they have a few extra options you as a customer can choose from.
I have Zeal Function-A's with 18k 12k. I built my car for high speed aggressive driving, on the street and hopefully in the future circuit racing. It's really stiff below 30mph. Good from 30-60, and smooth as glass from 70mph+
But I have to admit that's probably partially due to the high quality of the coilovers themselves and not 100% the springs. Like, I know my coilovers become stiff as **** below 50*F. The fluid inside reacts better in heat than cold. But that's what coilovers made for racing are supposed to do.
The reason I mention this last part is because if Figs asks you questions about what you want to do with the car, TELL THEM EVERYTHING. Do you want to daily drive the car in winter or will it be stored? Is this a dedicated drift car? Or a "daily drifter" or a daily you want to drift maybe one weekend a month?
A track car? A highway monster? etc. You get the idea. Even if you just plan on driving the car as a casual summer weekend car, tell them that.
With that info Figs should be able to give you a few choices.
The Figs BCs are better than normal BCs because Figs is more familiar with what different combos work better on Toyota/Lexus cars, and because of his sponsorship by BC for his racecars, they work with him a lot. Figs BCs are not just regular BCs rebranded. They are altered to Mike's specs beforehand, then they have a few extra options you as a customer can choose from.
Cheers!
Trending Topics
03-10-21, 06:01 PM
#8
Driver
Thread Starter
Sorry, also anyone looking at this running the BC coils or I guess any coils did you need anything to adjust camber or was it good as is? Or is this for people running a lot of camber? Just saw this note on the coil page from Figs:
"NOTE: Most Lexus kits do not include camber plates because camber is not adjusted via the upper hat on double wishbone cars. If you need camber correction please look at our other camber correcting bushings and arms to do this."
Cheers!
"NOTE: Most Lexus kits do not include camber plates because camber is not adjusted via the upper hat on double wishbone cars. If you need camber correction please look at our other camber correcting bushings and arms to do this."
Cheers!
03-13-21, 11:02 AM
#9
It depends on how low you end up lowering the car. If you want to lower the car 2 inches, you can adjust camber using the OEM camber bolts. If you want to slam the car to the ground and tuck tire all around, you will need aftermarket control arms to get proper alignment specs
03-15-21, 07:05 PM
#11
Due to the difference in motion ratio between the front and rear, you will run a lower rate in the rear always. In a nutshell all that means is the length of the control arm and the point that the spring pushes on the arm determines that. These cars have long rear lower control arms so it doesn't need as much spring. I would have to look it up but run somewhere around 2/3 spring rate in the rear that you would in the front. If you bring the rear up near the front you will have a tail happy car, not good.
All that said, as someone else asked, what are you going to do with the car and how much clearance will you plan to have? I can't imagine running around on the street with 20k springs. That seems like torture for no reason.
All that said, as someone else asked, what are you going to do with the car and how much clearance will you plan to have? I can't imagine running around on the street with 20k springs. That seems like torture for no reason.
03-19-21, 10:15 AM
#12
Driver
Thread Starter
It depends on how low you end up lowering the car. If you want to lower the car 2 inches, you can adjust camber using the OEM camber bolts. If you want to slam the car to the ground and tuck tire all around, you will need aftermarket control arms to get proper alignment specs
03-19-21, 10:20 AM
#13
Driver
Thread Starter
Due to the difference in motion ratio between the front and rear, you will run a lower rate in the rear always. In a nutshell all that means is the length of the control arm and the point that the spring pushes on the arm determines that. These cars have long rear lower control arms so it doesn't need as much spring. I would have to look it up but run somewhere around 2/3 spring rate in the rear that you would in the front. If you bring the rear up near the front you will have a tail happy car, not good.
All that said, as someone else asked, what are you going to do with the car and how much clearance will you plan to have? I can't imagine running around on the street with 20k springs. That seems like torture for no reason.
All that said, as someone else asked, what are you going to do with the car and how much clearance will you plan to have? I can't imagine running around on the street with 20k springs. That seems like torture for no reason.
Yeah Figs recommended 18k front and 12k rear, I'm just concerned about rubbing and performance as it will mainly be on the track and going to drift events.
I'm not sure how low in inches I want to go but I'd like to tuck a little tire (maybe around 2 or so - I think the BC standard is between 1 - 2.5" drop) What spring rates are you running? Why do you think 20k would be torture for street? Just too stiff?
Thanks in advance!
Cheers!
03-19-21, 08:45 PM
#14
I am running 12 and 8 I think it is. A bit too soft for what we do with it but was all I could find at the time. The car is compliant on most tracks but still a bit too much body roll. Stiffened the front some with the hard compound spring rubbers but still not enough. And a bit more is needed in the rear to loosen the car up but it is predictable as it is.
11-25-22, 05:22 AM
#15
I'm going to be running probably 12k front 6k rear. Running such stiff rates in the rear seems crazy to me, considering the guy who made drifting a soarer famous only offers a maximum 6k rating in the rear on his own in house coilovers, which he used on his D1 soarer...
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
05ls430518
LS - 3rd Gen (2001-2006)
6
01-04-21 09:00 AM