CSG and RCE tag-team suspension Q&A thread! Ask us anything!

[ap5512]

Need some help from you guys...

So I've had my RCE springs installed for almost 8 months now. I had the shop do the alignment too when the springs were installed. Right away I could tell the difference but the steering wheel felt loose. I was thinking the opposite would happen.

Fast forward to a month ago, I installed new wheels and tires (17x8 w/225s MPSS) and feel the car turns too easily and the steering wheel is too light feeling. Now I remember when I got the initial alignment I had asked for zero toe. Daily driving it's just the loose steering wheel that kind of bugs me but on highways doing 65+ mph or above it's very unsettling to make turns. It's not confidence inspiring at all and I was hoping with the 17x8 wheels w/MPSS would create more grip and more confidence but it's the opposite.

Can anyone chime in and let me know if I should get an alignment done again and maybe make changes to the toe? I don't track the car so my goal is mainly for daily and spirited mountain driving. My current specs are:

RCE Yellows
Enkei TS10 17X8
225/45/17 MPSS
Camber bolts

Front Camber: -1.1
Rear Camber: -1.8
Toe: 0
Front Left Caster: 5.8
Front Right Caster: 6.1

[PandaBRZ]

Originally Posted by ap5512

Need some help from you guys...

So I've had my RCE springs installed for almost 8 months now. I had the shop do the alignment too when the springs were installed. Right away I could tell the difference but the steering wheel felt loose. I was thinking the opposite would happen.

Fast forward to a month ago, I installed new wheels and tires (17x8 w/225s MPSS) and feel the car turns too easily and the steering wheel is too light feeling. Now I remember when I got the initial alignment I had asked for zero toe. Daily driving it's just the loose steering wheel that kind of bugs me but on highways doing 65+ mph or above it's very unsettling to make turns. It's not confidence inspiring at all and I was hoping with the 17x8 wheels w/MPSS would create more grip and more confidence but it's the opposite.

Can anyone chime in and let me know if I should get an alignment done again and maybe make changes to the toe? I don't track the car so my goal is mainly for daily and spirited mountain driving. My current specs are:

RCE Yellows
Enkei TS10 17X8
225/45/17 MPSS
Camber bolts

Front Camber: -1.1
Rear Camber: -1.8
Toe: 0
Front Left Caster: 5.8
Front Right Caster: 6.1

That's very odd. Your alignment specs and tire set up are identical to mine but my steering feels just as heavy as stock. There must be something else at play. I have 0 toe front and rear.

[ap5512]

^^ I suspect so which is why I wanted to post. I've been reading the suspension forums and didn't see many complain of what I'm experiencing after going to zero toe. I was expecting the steering feel to be tighter and the car to grip more with the wider wheels and tires.

I guess I just want to know what might else have changed to cause this.

[Clipdat]

What's your cold PSI?

Originally Posted by ap5512

^^ I suspect so which is why I wanted to post. I've been reading the suspension forums and didn't see many complain of what I'm experiencing after going to zero toe. I was expecting the steering feel to be tighter and the car to grip more with the wider wheels and tires.

I guess I just want to know what might else have changed to cause this.

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by 86Tony

no car is not caged yet will do so in the future. tires i have been just running re71r. i want to run slicks but afraid of the fuel starvation

I wouldn't go too stiff on springs with re71r tires. They are grippy tire but you don't need 14/16 kg/mm springs if you're not running slicks.

- Andrew

[86Tony]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

I wouldn't go too stiff on springs with re71r tires. They are grippy tire but you don't need 14/16 kg/mm springs if you're not running slicks.

- Andrew

what springs would you recommend then? 12/14k?

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by ap5512

^^ I suspect so which is why I wanted to post. I've been reading the suspension forums and didn't see many complain of what I'm experiencing after going to zero toe. I was expecting the steering feel to be tighter and the car to grip more with the wider wheels and tires.

I guess I just want to know what might else have changed to cause this.

I've got a sneaking suspicion that your tires are way overinflated (most shops will do that). Although I'm not sure it would be like that for 8 months.

It's a bit of a hike but if you can make it up to our shop I can have a look. Doesn't sound like normal behavior. A little toe in would help, but even with 0 toe it shouldn't be like that.

- Andrew

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by 86Tony

what springs would you recommend then? 12/14k?

Even that's pretty stiff for street tires. But if you do eventually plan on going to slicks and your car will be caged, then that would be a good place to start though. Keep the swaybars small and adjustable.

- Andrew

[ap5512]

I haven't checked the tire pressure tbh..I'll do that later when i get off work. Even before the new tires went in, the car still had loose steering feel. At first I thought it might be expected but i figured it should at least feel planted on high speed and high speed corners. I guess you can say i have less confidence driving with the new setup versus stock.

I'll check my tires and report back. Thanks.

[DeaconRoc]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

Even that's pretty stiff for street tires. But if you do eventually plan on going to slicks and your car will be caged, then that would be a good place to start though. Keep the swaybars small and adjustable.

- Andrew

What would you recommend as a good spring rate for street tires with Motorsport type dampers for street and track use?

[Anduz]

For a car that probably won't see the track, since i'm installing 17" wheels and would a bit of drop, would springs + shocks be sufficient?

would they be ok for spirited driving on the street too?

[gramicci101]

How much drop do you want? There are plenty of springs that work just fine with the OEM shocks. Also, what width and offset are your wheels? Wide wheels can run into clearance issues and may require coilovers in order to fit.

[Anduz]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

How much drop do you want? There are plenty of springs that work just fine with the OEM shocks. Also, what width and offset are your wheels? Wide wheels can run into clearance issues and may require coilovers in order to fit.

The package i'm looking at is Kings Springs on AO-KL shocks. They will provide 22mm drop.

The tyres i'm looking at are 17x8 +44, so nothing ridiculous.

[Adam_L]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

Higher end dampers should have attention paid to the full range of piston velocities when they're being tuned, but the low speed becomes very important because that's where the handling happens and you get to control the rate of weight transfer through a corner. Bumps are of course still a thing on the track and a good high end damper will handle them well too.

Many high end motorsports shocks will ride awesome over big bumps. I've also been on some that ride well over big bumps, but actually ride poorly over what you thought were smooth roads simply because they have so much gas pressure and low speed damping. They're still great on the track and will eat up big mid-corner bumps, kerbing, and train tracks...but you'll feel your man boobs or female boobs jiggle on nice pavement. Always a lot of compromises to be made.

- Andrew

So a good example of this would be Bilstein B14 coilovers?