Spring poundage

[pablo]

What poundage of springs do people use and is there a way of calculating what poundage is best or is it a case of trial and error......... Someone has told me that touring cars only run 400lb springs is this correct :?:

[Tommy]

I have 650lb on the front and 500 lb on the rear of the E36 BMW. The rear poundage works out as less at the wheel (the normal way of quoting the poundage) because the springs are actually inboard and not around the strut. When I chatted with Balance Motorsport when buying my suspension he suggested if I had my car weighed by corner (not corner weighted i.e. adjusted per se) then he could work out the rates I needed, depending on what I wanted from the car. He also said that the calculation formulas required are easily found on the internet but can be tricky to do.

[Stuart]

I think there are a lot of things to consider here Paul, rather than whatever the Tocas boys do.

The weight of the car
Weight distribution
Quality and type of dampers used
Tyres used
Aero

If you want a ballpark 'best guess' style answer, try the guys at Specialist Components near Norwich. John and Simon know their way around race set ups and may be a good place to start

Mention my name or the forums too :thumb:

[pablo]

Cheers gents Great help..

I have been looking into what poundage to go for but like to get advice and info from people in the know (those walking the walk). The reference to the Toca boys was to help me prove to someone that I know a lot more about track cars than them. Thanks again