Suspension too stiff - opinions wanted

[uranage]

I bought an Spec-S Silvia to use as a daily driver and got some KTS coilovers. Now the ride is way too stiff for my taste. Now the coilovers are mandatory since I want the car to look good, but is there any way I could make them more comfortable? I think the default spring rates are 8kg and 6kg. Maybe I could get new springs but then again the car is pretty low and loose springs could make the wheels rub the inner fender?

Then there are those damper adjusting knobs. I think there are 16 different positions. It's somewhere in the middle right now. On my previous cars I remember that adjusting them didn't do anything significant.

 

[pegliobaglio]

8 6 is a pretty standard road spring rate tbh ,best off turning the damping all the way to soft take it for a drive and see what you think then u can stiffen it up to your taste.that's how I did mine turned it up 1 notch at a time till I found something I was happy with it does make a difference

 

[spoonman]

I take it you are not going to sacrifice ride height due to the stance of the car?
What profile tires are you running?

as mentioned above wind the damper to the softest setting then increase it a notch at a time till you are happy.
One way to soften up the ride is he lower the tire pressure, what do you put it to when cold? i use 35'C, i used to inflate to 45'C when cold. But it was way to jarring and since they go up in pressure when the tires get hot a lower pressure to start with can help.

 

[s15dave]

standard struts, replaced bushes, biggest white line sway bars, GOOD tyres and a good alignment. That's what i think is the first step in a comfortable car that handles brilliantly.

the above setup is what i have, and it is ALOT better than the stupidly stiff coil overs i had in there before. not to mention the quality of the dampers arent so great on the lower end of coilover packages.

I've not heard of KTS suspension before, are they any good?

 

[spoonman]

standard struts, replaced bushes, biggest white line sway bars, GOOD tyres and a good alignment. That's what i think is the first step in a comfortable car that handles brilliantly.

the above setup is what i have, and it is ALOT better than the stupidly stiff coil overs i had in there before. not to mention the quality of the dampers arent so great on the lower end of coilover packages.

I've not heard of KTS suspension before, are they any good?

This is why i took out the Zeal function coilovers out and put in tein superstreets, and then they arent even on the lowest or hardest setting, compared to the other coilovers which were very good but only good on a track, the super streets are a very good balanced road going suspension package, and the damper adjustment range even though only being 16 points it enough to change them from a good soft road setting to a harder track setting

 

[Fasthands]

Check spring pre=load! should only have about 15-25mm pre-load on all four then start fiddling with the damper settings.. do some homework on how suspension works get to understand it then you can make better judgement on how to adjust it. Trust me you will be glad you did. I have set up suspension on championship moto-x bikes for years and it's no different for cars. pre-load is the first step to get right..PM me if you need some help you can call me, and I will talk you through it as you do the car..

 

[uranage]

Thanks guys. I will try adjusting the dampers then.

I've heard nothing but good things about KTS suspensions. They are fairly low price but still made in japan which is a synonym for good quality to me.

Still those BC coilovers on my IS250 seem to be a lot more comfortable.

 

[YLD15]

You just need to dial the dampers to soft... They are probably set to hard

 

[spoonman]

Check spring pre=load! should only have about 15-25mm pre-load on all four then start fiddling with the damper settings.. do some homework on how suspension works get to understand it then you can make better judgement on how to adjust it. Trust me you will be glad you did. I have set up suspension on championship moto-x bikes for years and it's no different for cars. pre-load is the first step to get right..PM me if you need some help you can call me, and I will talk you through it as you do the car..

really i thought preload for a road setup should only be about 2 - 5mm or a keeper spring, only more of you want to jar your back as you bounce off the road.. as i nearly found one day.
on a track i would understand the need for more preload, got any good write ups or links about this?