Well I really am wanting a new spring set for my 8. The only thing I have done to it so far is the mazdaspeed intake. I've searched all over the forum and everybody wants the same ride quality. I can't take the softness in the suspension. I had a e46 BMW lowered 2.5" and on 260-300 spring rates. I was excited when mazdaspeed was posting 220 but then read the thread where a member tested them and they were with all the other aftermarket springs at about 180. Are there any suggestions? Thanks

 

I think the best springs choice for maximum stiffness is the Racing Beat spring, as it's 20% stiffer and is just slightly lowered, so you have plenty of that stiffer suspension travel. Not very many people run those springs though because they do not lower the car much.

The only other choice, based on the other threads, is to go with coilovers, which have much stiffer rates. For example, Tein Basics are advertised as 448 lbs/in front, 336 lbs/in rear.

 

the best advice is indeed coilovers ;0

 

Your E46 was also heavier

I bet you'd be happy with a spring/koni combo.

 

i agree. and 20% is enough. coilovers are nice, but i've done that. the only thing is a jarring ride ALL the time with stiff spring rates. the japanese suspension approach is usually high spring rates/ low sway bar rates. VS/ U.S. approach of heavy sway bar rates/ low spring rates.

i went over the specs on the racing beat catalog and believe the RB sways will pair off VERY nicely with its spring combo. the sways are a whopping 2.1x stiffness increase over stock f/r.

but if you actually still prefer a REALLY stiff ride, i don't know what springs are out there that i can suggest.

 

One of the disadvantages of a bigger sway bar, smaller spring setup is that sway bars are only secondary damped (unless you drive a F1 car), versus springs which are primary damped. What this means is that the sway bar as a spring doesn't have its own damper, it merely borrows damping from the shocks paired with the springs plus whatever natural damping is in the sway bar. This makes tuning a proportionally stiffer sway bar a bit more difficult, as the extra damping that you need in roll and one wheel bump is unneeded in two wheel bump.

 

Thanks for the input, I really want coilovers but that is simply out of the budget now. So every one seems to like RB for stiffness but that isn't enough drop for what I'm looking for. What about the H & R sport springs?

 

Go here, great spring rate comparisons: https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-wheels-tires-brakes-suspension-55/springs-76899/