AST coilover spring identification

[Inferno]

There are three numbers written on an AST coilover spring, what do they each mean?

 

[Jay Payne]

One is length of the spring and one is the spring rate in newtons (I think)


To convert the spring rates......

Newtons x 5.7082 = Lbs

 

[Inferno]

Ok, thanks. I'll try and have a proper look at to what's written on them soon. Your car's looking good by the way!

 

[Jay Payne]

Ta muchly, when you find out what yours are let me know coz i'll check mine Pretty sure they will be the same

 

[Inferno]

Will take the wheels off (again!) tomorrow, only just sorted the brackets out today - no rubbing at all now. Will post here with the specs when checked.

 

[Inferno]

Ok, so they are as follows:

Front = 170-60-70
Rear = 200-60-51

So at an educated guess the first number will be the length in mm. The second number must be the spring diameter. The third number would be the spring rate in newtons. So...

Front = 399.574lbs
Rear = 291.1182lbs

Sounds about right to me? As an aside the front helper spring was 100-20 DI-61 (The DI-61 is a bit of a guess as it can't fully be seen).

 

[Jay Payne]

I was under the impression that the rates were 450lbs and 400lbs on the hard spring option. I'll have a looky at mine later. Are they eibach springs?

 

[Daz Clio Cup]

i've got 400 in front and rear. Rears are eibach black in colour and fronts are orange. Haven't driven it in anger yet but backs seem harder than the fronts on speedbumps etc

 

[Dan R]

i've got 400 in front and rear. Rears are eibach black in colour and fronts are orange. Haven't driven it in anger yet but backs seem harder than the fronts on speedbumps etc

Thats due to lack of weight over the rear. You cant compare front and rear in that way.

 

[Inferno]

I was under the impression that the rates were 450lbs and 400lbs on the hard spring option. I'll have a looky at mine later. Are they eibach springs?

AST springs front and rear. I couldn't recall the hard setup spring rates, but now you've said that I've looked back on the group buy thread...

Hard are 450lbs front, 400/410lbs rear.
Soft are 280lbs front, 250lbs rear.

Hmmmmmmm...

Check yours please Burp!

 

[Daz Clio Cup]

Thats due to lack of weight over the rear. You cant compare front and rear in that way.

I wasn't, i was just stating the springs i have

Mine were from the group buy also Inferno

 

[Inferno]

Mine were from the group buy also Inferno

Yeah, odd! My rears are orange AST springs.

So mine are 400lbs fr, 290lbs rr.
Yours are 400lbs fr, 400lbs rr.
We await Burp, but any other AST owners feel free to post for comparison's sake!

 

[Daz Clio Cup]

mmmm the plot thickens :S

 

[Dan R]

mmmm the plot thickens :S

It can be 400 or 450 it doesnt make an awful lot of difference tbh. 400 front is probably better

 

[r8byb]

Yeah, odd! My rears are orange AST springs.

So mine are 400lbs fr, 290lbs rr.
Yours are 400lbs fr, 400lbs rr.
We await Burp, but any other AST owners feel free to post for comparison's sake!

Understeer city right there !

 

[Dan R]

Understeer city right there !

errrr yeah!!!

 

[Inferno]

On paper it does appear too soft at the rear. Not really found understeer a problem on the road yet, but there's only so far you can push. It's early days yet, but I'll be in touch with Curtis if I find problems. Pretty certain I haven't mis-read the rating.

 

[Jay Payne]

Better late than never. My spring rates................


Front - 170-60-0080 Dark Red Eibach
Rear - 0500-200-0400 Black Eibach


So front being rated in newtons and rears in lbs I have 450lbs front and 400lbs rear.

Got some 450lb rear ones on order tho, wanna buy a pair of 400lb/70N rear springs Inferno?

 

[Inferno]

I does seem like I'm the odd one out, but I've got to say that after a full day at Brands a couple of weeks ago I couldn't fault the set up as it is. I did set the rear shocks to their hardest setting and had the fronts set to 7 clicks, but not even a hint of understeer. I owe SM_WRC a ride, might ask him to see what he thinks at some point.

 

[Jay Payne]

if you had stiffer rear springs you could then stiffen the front more, thats why im getting new springs for the rear.

Probably depends how you drive/like a car to behave. Me and Tony appear to like a loose rear end that helps you chuck the front in.

I ended up with full stiff on rear and 6 clicks on front at mallory and it still wasnt where I wanted it to be or what it was like at Oulton last year with my H&R's (with custom rear springs as the stock ones make it an armco finder)

 

[Inferno]

We need to get a CS track car meet together at an airfield with plenty of run off - comparisons between all the various set ups on here would be great!

 

[S50BEN]

What length are your rear springs out of interest? I have just bought a used set of AST 4100 and they seem very short - the tyre is nearly at the same height as the wheel arch and I can't seem to raise it any more

 

[tas172]

When I bought my ASTs the main man there recommended 400lbs front and 650Lbs!! rear for use with track day tyres. I thought he must be from crazy town so I tried 500lb rears. Sure enough the back felt soft. So I am putting in some 650lb rears. Hopefully I will get to try them this weekend.

I will let you know how I go.

Sounds well off from everything else on this thread though.