From ALTIMA TECH
This article is part of our special collection:
This article is part of our special collection:
Aftermarket lowering springs can help improve performance, feel, and looks of your Altima Coupe by lowering the center of gravity. The OEM springs are designed to accommodate a range of drivers but you should tune the Altima Coupe's suspension to fit your personal driving style and taste. A lower car has a lower center of gravity resulting in less body roll through corners so you can take them more aggressively.
Stiffer springs can help plant the car around corners better, but choosing springs that are too stiff will result in undesirable feel and handling. If significant stiffness is desired, shock absorbers should be changed out along with the springs.
It is impossible to recommend the best spring for any application without defining which shock absorber is used. The 10kg/mm spring in most Japanese coilover kits are perfectly suited for the shocks they come with, but coupled with the OEM shocks (that were a 4.9kg spring) the ride and handling would be terrible.
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Altima Coupe Springs
Eibach Pro Kit
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Eibach Sportline Kit
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H&R Springs
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Spring Types
There are two design types of springs: progressive and linear. This naming refers to their rates as the spring is compressed.
Linear springs will have the same spring rate throughout the entire compression. If a linear spring is rated at 5.5kg/mm (and lets say its range of movement is 80mm) then it takes 5.5kg to compress the spring from 0mm-1mm and 5.5kg to move it from 79mm-80mm.
A progressive style spring will have a softer rate for its first few millimeters of compression, and will then increase as you increase the load on it. Lets say we have a progressive spring with the same range of movement as above. While it may only take 4.4kg to move it from 0mm-1mm, it may need 8.1kg to move it from 79mm-80mm.
A progressive rate spring is clearly a compromise between softness for ride and stiffness for handling. As such, it is more suited for the street. The softer initial rate gives it better compliance, especially over rough roads. But once you start loading up the suspension the firmer it becomes, so your flat-out cornering is improved.
A linear rate spring would be a better choice for the track, where you do not need to compromise handling for anything. Consistency in the spring rate gives you a better feel, since the car's weight shift isn't as variable. Since your springs are at maximum stiffness, initial response is quicker as the car won't want to lean onto its outside suspension as much before the spring resists the movement and the car starts to turn.
From Car Bibles Web Site
Source: http://www.carbibles.com/suspension_bible.html
These come in three types. They are coil springs, torsion bars and leaf springs. Coil springs are what most people are familiar with, and are actually coiled torsion bars. Leaf springs are what you would find on most American cars up to about 1985 and almost all heavy duty vehicles. They look like layers of metal connected to the axle. The layers are called leaves, hence leaf-spring. The torsion bar on its own is a bizarre little contraption which gives coiled-spring-like performance based on the twisting properties of a steel bar. It's used in the suspension of VW Beetles and Karmann Ghias, air-cooled Porsches (356 and 911 until 1989 when they went to springs), and the rear suspension of Peugeot 205s amongst other cars. Instead of having a coiled spring, the axle is attached to one end of a steel shaft. The other end is slotted into a tube and held there by splines. As the suspension moves, it twists the shaft along it's length, which in turn resist. Now image that same shaft but instead of being straight, it's coiled up. As you press on the top of the coil, you're actually inducing a twisting in the shaft, all the way down the coil. I know it's hard to visualise, but believe me, that's what is happening. There's a whole section further down the page specifically on torsion bars and progressive springs.
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Categories: Eibach | H&R | Suspension | Parts
