Progressive VS Linear Rate Springs, ed ju cate me.... Options

[Aaron Cox]

i have opinions of both.....

i run linear 140's..... a friend of mine has progressive 165's.

what are the pros and cons of each.

[Brett W]

Progressive rate springs are springs that get stiffer per inch of compression. They tend to be nice for squishy production cars that like a nice ride but need to keep from knocking the mirrors off if any hard conering occurs. They give a very good response to mild frequency bumps. Making for a nice ride on rough streets.

For a performance car stick with straight rate (linear) springs. they will have the same characteristics throughout the range of motion. Your car will take a predictable set in the corners as opposed to rolling a lot and then settling down on the heavier rates.

Linear rates will tend to act like rising rate springs due to some mounting considerations. When the spring is mounted directly over the axle and axle travel is purely vertical you get a linear rate. But when Motion ratios are introduced, when the wheel moves at one rate and the springs operate at another, you in effect create a variable rate spring. Variable rate springs can bring another variable into suspension tuning, which is very hard to deal with.

Coil springs and leaf springs are the only ones that lend themselves to rising rates. In our case coils are the only ones to be concerned with.