69gto96z

It is a little bit bouncier. But is WAY smoother, the car has 116,000 on it and I pulled out the factory shocks.... So I mean the ride improved a lot.

2nd2sex

Where did you get the springs? ie website or such
Sounds like you like the kit, do you have any before/after pics?

97 LT1formula

the springs can be bought from www.hotpart.com

Greed4Speed

The ride improved from the shocks, not springs.
Those springs have quite a bit of rate to them.

Coolformula

Whats the rates on the springs?

69gto96z

Like LT1Formula said, you can get them from www.hotpart.com thats where I got mine. $197 shipped. I am getting the front end aligned tomorrow and then I will have some before/after pics.

hotpart

The fronts are 440-542 and the rears are 183-228.

69gto96z

Here are some pics of the car after lowering. Sorry for the poor quality, the pics were takin with my phone.


http://s52.photobucket.com/albums/g1...19-06_2044.jpg
http://s52.photobucket.com/albums/g1...19-06_2045.jpg
http://s52.photobucket.com/albums/g1...19-06_2046.jpg
http://s52.photobucket.com/albums/g1...19-06_2047.jpg

Coolformula

Them are kinda high rates for the rear.

Let us know how you like them.

hotpart

It all epends on how you want to set your vehicle up. We believe anti-roll bars are for tuning purposes only not increased roll stiffness over factory. The less bar you can use in the rear the better you will be on corner exit and overall control and predicatability. In order to achieve less rear bar you need stiffer springs.

nfa

Thats what i was thinking too....

Sam Strano

I feel the rear rates are way too high myself...... I rarely, RARELY use more than a 150 pound spring in the back, and on my own car run 150's in the back. And that's on a pretty well proven car running on 315 R-comp tires. This is the big reason I don't use the Vogtland springs. I can sell them, as a matter of fact I have a relationship with them regarding some other things. But the springs are not useful to me.

Frankly we drive pick-up trucks. Consider the car weighs about 1600 pounds total in the back, and HUGE chunk of that is unsprung weight (not supported by the springs, so spring rate is not needed or wanted for that weight). The wheels, tires, brakes, axle, rear swaybar, torque arm, springs are all unsprung weight. So we have maybe 1200 pounds of car back there? stock springs are in the range of 100-125 pounds. 1LE springs are 130-180 variable rate (and I don't like them as they are too firm at the high end). I certainly don't want a spring that never is any softer than a 1LE's high end, and gets even stiffer. We are dealing with small numbers here, so often 180, 200, or 225 doesn't sound that high. But consider 183 is 45% stiffer than stock, and is about 50% stiffer... Meanwhile you've not made the same kind of jump in front (balance issues there, we stiffen the front much more than the rear). And anyone who's been in pick-ups will know what happens when you have a lot of rear spring and not a lot of weight..... the car will jump around because there isn't enough mass to make the springs move. Think about the difference just between a 1/2 ton truck and a 3/4 ton, then a 1-ton.... Bigger springs as you go up, but with empty beds no more sprung weight. 1-ton's move around a LOT more than a 1/2 ton truck. Unlike trucks, we don't have a payload rating of 2700 pounds, so why have that much spring?

Also, the Vogtland springs are a claimed 1.2", but looking at the Pontiac, it sure seems like more to me.

Also, the rear rates pretty much hamstring the car owner into a particular damper. Not that I don't think Koni's are great, they are and I use them myself. But for anyone thinking or wanting Revalves instead, you can forget it. I won't revalve for those springs (and if I did, the cost would be almost Koni like anyway). So you limit you damper options down to about no option.....

MHO, YMMV

69gto96z

The front went down almost 1.5" and the rear went down about an inch. I am really liking them though.

Greed4Speed

I've said it before, those rates are very close to my B+G springs. The rear is a bit on the high side. What Sam described is the way it'll be. When you accelerate you're rear will be prone to skipping over bumps. This is why I'm now running stock rear springs. It made the ride much better.