H & R springs are progressive, what is that anyway? Could some one give me some info on this?

 

its not constant it takes time to reach max spring rate

i know some one can explain it better

 

Basically it will get stiffer progressively as it compresses.

Say at 1 inch of compression the spring is 100 lbs/in
At 2 inches it would be 120 lbs/in
at 3 inches it would be 140 lbs/in and so on.

Linear springs will stay the same rate, so at 1 inch it will be 140 lbs/in and at 3 inches of compression it will still be the same rate.

 

All you may ever want to know about suspension. in the site i found below doing a 'dogpile' search


Your question answered in detail near the bottom. It even covers Ferrofluid suspension which is gaining in popularity. (i'm assuming to cheaper manufacturing cost).

http://www.carbibles.com/suspension_bible.html

But in short. Regular springs have the coil constant throughout it's structure. A progressive spring will have the coils come closer as it winds up on one end, this allows a softer initial bound, and a progressively stiffer reaction as it gets compressed due to cornering or bump. General feel is soft ride, but car will pitch less and initial turn in is more responsive vs feeling the car start to lean. It's a cost alternative to getting a good matching spring & Shock setup if all you want is a little stiffer ride for spirited driving, without having to give up the soft suspension. If you can afford the additional 400-800 for the shocks, you can generally adjust the rebound setting, some company's offer an electronic controller that you mount to the top of shock that changes the bound from within the car cabin. Spend a little more, and you can get the option to adjust rebound without having the shock revalved. 'Coil overs' Generally mean you have the option of adjusting ride height +/- 3 inches or so, for daily driving a person will generally never change their ride height after getting a lowering spring, and wheels, this is aimed typically towards Auto crossers or if your into Track day events, where the course can allow you to lower i to 2" inches off the ground without worrying about debri or speed bumps.

Keep in mind i don't think this was mentioned in the following 'bible' link. BUMP STOPS are a key integral part of your shock

 

progressive rate springs are springs that you see which are wound tighter at the top, then the coils widen afterwards. at least the most progressive springs i know of...

-one of the reason is for street comfort and ride quality. the tighter wound coils at the top cushion softly and has lower rates. and as you corner harder, the tight wounds collapse and simply goes to compressing the wider coils with higher rates.
again, this is what i know of for sprint springs i've had ans seeing the design.

one thing to know of progressive rates springs... they ride soft until you corner hard, but the springs are quite noisy after some time when sag sets in and the progressive coils get close enough together to actually bind. so you may want to grease the coils for maintenance.

 

personally, if you are buying springs... progressive rate/wound springs offer just that extra lil bonus over buying regular springs with a higher spring rate.

its easier on the car for the street and performs when pushed. i can't see any flaws of yet about the progressive rates. i'm sure there are... but maybe serious trackers can point out...

 

progressive springs = regular linear rate springs + helper springs.

but yea like what was pointed out already, it helps w/ daily driving to soak up the little bumps on the road