Progress Springs vs. Racing Beat Springs w/factory Bilstein

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NaregM677
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Re: Progress Springs vs. Racing Beat Springs w/factory Bilst

Post by NaregM677 »

Brian, I read on a forum somewhere that putting the suspension and sway bars on the tightest setting can cause a car to skip like a rock across a pond while taking a corner. Based on the forum contributers spelling and grammer, I'm assuming he's a 15 year old who just got his driving permit and his dad's old Mazda 626 and that he has no idea what he's talking about...right?
2013 Miata Club "Shadowfax"
"And the road becomes my bride..."
Brian
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Re: Progress Springs vs. Racing Beat Springs w/factory Bilst

Post by Brian »

It's all relative.

The tightest settings on relatively soft sways and relatively soft shocks and relatively SOFT springs won't have you skipping over the surface. But if the suspension is t0o tight for surface conditions it can happen. With our full race setups and 700 to 800 pound springs we certainly can get that effect on surfaces that are rough....which is why I have lowered the rates we run in our autocross MX5 as the surface we run on most often here in San Diego has gotten worse and worse, more cracked up, etc. But that's a discussion that starts with spring rates of 400 or 450 and north of there, not very relevant to Progress or Racing Beat springs that are barely stiffer than stock....relatively speaking. :wink:
Brian Goodwin
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Bart
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Re: Progress Springs vs. Racing Beat Springs w/factory Bilst

Post by Bart »

Brian,

How do you have the Progress sway bars on the 2012 Street PRHT set? I have the front and rear set to the firmest position. With stock Bilsteins and Progress springs installed, is that the best setup for the intent of that car? With the front set to firmest, how does it behave differently compared to the middle position.

Thanks for the info.
Bart
Brian
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Re: Progress Springs vs. Racing Beat Springs w/factory Bilst

Post by Brian »

From the product description:

NOTE on Settings. My wife's 2012 has the bars set to middle position in the front, and tightest position rear. At that setting (and with our Progress Springs), I can throttle steer the car comfortably and it is a blast to slide around tight turns, but with those settings the car can be spun and my wife has spun it a few times at autocross events when really pushing much harder than folks should in the real world. Thus, I strongly caution and suggest a more forgiving starting position such as middle position front and the less tight rear setting (hole nearest bar ends) until you have some experience with the setup under controlled circumstances (such as an autocross event).
Brian Goodwin
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Bart
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Re: Progress Springs vs. Racing Beat Springs w/factory Bilst

Post by Bart »

Thank you for the additional information. But, my question remains: "With stock Bilsteins and Progress springs installed, is that the best setup for the intent of that car? With the front set to firmest, how does it behave differently compared to the middle position." In other words, why have you not put the front sway on the firmest setting? What didn't you like about that setting. Sorry for restating the question, but it's really got me wondering.

Thanks for the info.
Bart
Brian
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Re: Progress Springs vs. Racing Beat Springs w/factory Bilst

Post by Brian »

Tightest position front would add more understeer than we want. But that answer on this car with the mix of items on this car does not equate to this being the right answer on another car with a different driver and/or a different mix of items. Frankly, my wife is a pretty good race driver at this point, she can handle some tail out rotation, she made 'best of the week' list last night at karting event and wins with regularity. But I could easily imagine another driver would want that front bar on stiffest setting.....and perhaps rear on softest setting. It's a world of choices, there is no universal right answer, go autocross and try all the different settings to find the settings that work best for YOU. This is really not an answer somebody can tell you, only by learning the car at the limit under safe conditions of a local autocross event with each of these settings can you really understand the difference.

The answer also changes if we change equipment, let's imagine we added TEIN street advance coilovers to this car today which have front spring rate of 6kg and rear of 5kg. The result with these sways at the current settings would likely be too much oversteer....and we would start to address that by changing front bar to full stiff and rear bar to full soft (and likely end up with going back to stock rear bar or some lower rate rear bar).
Brian Goodwin
Good-Win Racing
www.good-win-racing.com
Bart
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Re: Progress Springs vs. Racing Beat Springs w/factory Bilst

Post by Bart »

Very interesting. And if Koni Sports were thrown into the mix?......

So far I like how it handles. I don't know if I'll ever drive it hard enough to spin out the tail. I think I'll put the front sway back to middle and drive awhile at that setting to see what it does.

Once again, thanks for the quick response

Bart
Last edited by Bart on Thu Mar 13, 2014 7:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
Brian
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Re: Progress Springs vs. Racing Beat Springs w/factory Bilst

Post by Brian »

Adding the KONI sport would lower the car about half an inch....which would also add camber all around and really change the entire equation. It also gives you quite a bit of adjustment in terms of balance front to rear by adjusting the damping settings on the shocks.
Brian Goodwin
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DavidP953
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Re: Progress Springs vs. Racing Beat Springs w/factory Bilst

Post by DavidP953 »

Brian wrote:On my wife's 2012 we kept the stops full length with stock bilsteins and that worked out great.

But if a customer adds the Koni SPORT shocks, that would lower the car another half inch or so and at that point you need to trim stops to avoid riding them all the time (or get our FCM stops for lowered cars on koni).
I have the Progress sways, and am installing the Progress springs soon. I read you recommended the FMC Comfort or Sport bump stops in the spring's write up. I ordered the FMC Comfort bump stops for my 2013 Club with factory Bilsteins. Is that the right ones for a street daily driver?
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Re: Progress Springs vs. Racing Beat Springs w/factory Bilst

Post by Brian »

Yes, the comfort FCM is a great choice for daily driver.
Brian Goodwin
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