Progress Springs vs. Racing Beat Springs w/factory Bilstein

[Brian]

Yes, the Progress springs work on both....and we use them in my wife's 2012 PRHT.

[Bart]

With the Progress springs and OEM Bilstein shocks, will the bump stops need to be cut in half?

Was impressed at how quickly the Progress springs and sway bars were delivered. Now if only the weather would warm up and stop snowing so I can install the goodies on the car.

Thanks
Bart

[Brian]

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).

[Bart]

I'm a believer!

Upgraded my NC2 with Progress springs and sway bars! Totally changes the car. Until this upgrade I really was not aware that the car didn't inspire confidence. What a difference! The car now exudes oodles of confidence. It's so much fun to drive! Take it from me, if you're on the fence, do yourself a favor and make the upgrade. I want more, in fact, I've already put the bars on the firmest position.

Next upgrade, probably Koni Sports. Yeah, I should have replaced them when I replaced the springs. Oh well! Now that I've removed the shocks once, doing it again will be a breeze.

Then a complete exhaust system.

Question: Will installing an X-Brace be noticeable? I want the car to be firmer yet.

Thanks
Bart

[Brian]

Hi Bart

Thanks for the feedback, happy to hear you like those.

The X brace won't make a difference you can feel, that's an incremental upgrade from X brace already on the car. If you do the big rear butterfly brace. you can feel the difference. Or, to do it all consider the full 5 piece kit.

[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?

[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.

[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]

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).

[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