ACR owners....new springs, or is shock adjustment enough?

[kcobean]

Just doing a little research here...

On the bouncy, pothole ridden freeways in our area, it can be absolutely brutal in the ACR and I was wondering what other ACR owners have done, if anything, to soften up the ride.

Is there a good shock setting combination you've found that does the trick, or is a spring change the only way to improve the ride characteristics on un-prepped surfaces?

My understanding is that the DS suspension has 1100 lb springs on the rear, while the stock GTS springs are something like 750 lbs. Is there an aftermarket spring that fits the DS shock?

 

[Mccarlin]

I beleive the 99 ACR suspension is different with a different spring rate, i love the ride in my 99.

 

[kcobean]

Yep, you're right. The Koni setup had the softer springs (again, I think they're 750 lb). You'd be amazed at how hard the ride is in the 2000-2002 ACRs with the DS shocks and 1100 lb springs.

I'm not 'complaining' about the ride, it's just something I'd like to improve on if I can. Since I will only occasionally track the car, it's makes more sense to put 'streetable' springs on it, since that's where it will spend most of its' time.

 

[SERPENT INDY]

...I have a 2002 gray/silver ACR that I had the ride adjusted as low as possible and I love the way it feels.....my other ACR is a 2002 F.E. and it is still as delivered.....it'll bounce you right out of the seat....

 

[kcobean]

...I have a 2002 gray/silver ACR that I had the ride adjusted as low as possible and I love the way it feels.....my other ACR is a 2002 F.E. and it is still as delivered.....it'll bounce you right out of the seat....

When you say "I had the ride adjusted as low as possible", does that mean you lowered the ride height, or you set the shock adjustments to full soft?

and yeah, this thing in stock trim has caused me to bounce my head off the headliner more than once.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

I have saved posts that say stock springs were 250/450 F/R, 500/1100 on those stiff ACRs, and 400/750 on the early ACRs. This came from a post including JonB that said many with 1100 springs had changed them to 800 (and kept the fronts at 500.)

I have 550/800 on my Gen 1 with modified stock Konis and fronts are very fine in NY potholes, 800 is actually OK for the potholes, but I might go down 50-100 next time just for balance.

Again, OEM shocks - so your results will vary, but fronts are 5/5ths stiff and rears are 1.5/5ths stiff.

All you NJ autocross guys, take note.

 

[kcobean]

I have saved posts that say stock springs were 250/450 F/R, 500/1100 on those stiff ACRs, and 400/750 on the early ACRs. This came from a post including JonB that said many with 1100 springs had changed them to 800 (and kept the fronts at 500.)

I have 550/800 on my Gen 1 with modified stock Konis and fronts are very fine in NY potholes, 800 is actually OK for the potholes, but I might go down 50-100 next time just for balance.

Again, OEM shocks - so your results will vary, but fronts are 5/5ths stiff and rears are 1.5/5ths stiff.

All you NJ autocross guys, take note.

That's good info Tom, thanks. Do you happen to know if any of the available springs will fit on the DS shocks?

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

I think when you get the basic dimensions (like 2 5/8" ID) and the spring height of the ACR spring (probably 8" or 10" free length) you can go to someone like AFCO and choose any stiffness you want.

http://www.secureperformanceorder.com/afcostore/getsubclasses.cfm?ClassID=223&CategoryID=17

Not endorsing AFCO, but their site is content-rich.

 

[Fast Freddy]

my stock acr spring are 1100 lbs in the rear and 500 lbs in the front. i have my compression dampning set on the softest setting in the rear. its ok for the street and of course awesome when road racing. if i was to compromise and go softer on the street i would go 800-900 in the rear. the front is perfect for the street. for the road course the front would be a lil better with a 600 assuming you were to stay with the stock 1100 in the rear. if you run a rear wing then i would definately stay with the 1100 rear. that is what it is designed for.

 

[kcobean]

my stock acr spring are 1100 lbs in the rear and 500 lbs in the front. i have my compression dampning set on the softest setting in the rear. its ok for the street and of course awesome when road racing. if i was to compromise and go softer on the street i would go 800-900 in the rear. the front is perfect for the street. for the road course the front would be a lil better with a 600 assuming you were to stay with the stock 1100 in the rear. if you run a rear wing then i would definately stay with the 1100 rear. that is what it is designed for.

Did you adjust your rebound settings on the rear, or just compression?

According to the adjustment guide, the factory compression setting is full soft, or 12 clicks open (of 12) for both front and rear. If that's the case, I believe mine are full soft in the rear and I would still consider them very stiff...guess I'll have to verify their actual settings. (I know the fronts still have the factory seal on the knobs, but the rears might have been altered by the previous owner. Thanks for the info!

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

I had posted this previously as a rough guide so someone doesn't get too far off. If you graph front vs. rear, it turns out the average "balance" is front+212=rear. The true outlier is the 1100, but as noted above, stiffer springs would be needed if using a wing.

250/450 stock
325/500 Roe
400/750 ACR v1
450/650 Woodhouse
500/1100 OEM ACR
500/800 mod ACR per JonB 850?
550/800 Tom, F&L GoR
600/800 Verges
700/900 NDW on Archer revalve

 

[DWR46]

I'm sure people will think this is crazy, but this is where I ended up with my 2001 ACR. It has stock 2001 ACR springs and is at stock ride height. The Dynamic shocks are set as follows:

Front: Bump- 3 clicks from Hard

Rebound- 18 clicks from Hard

Rear: Bump- 3 clicks from Hard

Rebound- 14 clicks from Hard

This seems counter to what you would think with the 1100 lb. rear springs. However, the stiffer Bump settings prevent the "bottoming out" feeling you get on the road. This car is used on the road only, no track work. I arrived at these settings through a lot of study and then actual driving experimentation on the road.This results in a very acceptable ride, though not quite as good as my 1996 GTS.

 

[Jcoopacr2000]

All good information as Jethro says, If you can cypher it out. I have toyed with mine several times, didn"t seem to make much difference. Still rides ******* rough pavement. A warning my ACR friends! At the first sign of an oil leak coming from a shock, get it off, get it fixed. I waited until I heard a slight rattle [right front] before I sent both fronts for rebuild ,were able to save left, had to build a new right $1300.