Springs

[racer240sx]

I have a 93 240sx I am building and was wandering what spring rates I should start with? I plan on running at Atl. Nash, BIR, Sebring, VIR. and maybe a few other tracks. I have ran BP. & GT1 corvettes till now so these cars are new to me. I have Whiteline sway bars. I have 205/50/15 R6's but plan to run 225's when I get thru with testing. What starting camber angles and toe settings for baseline. Any help would be great.

[Tristan Smith]

I ran 400 front/275 rear. Pretty soft, so you let that rear suspension do it's thing. I know some guys are running a lot stiffer these days. Your camber won't be determined until you work out your spring rates and see what temps you are running across the tire. Having said that, I was running in the general area of 3.4 front 3.2 rear. I would run zero toe in the rear. The front toe all depends on what you like as a driver. I little toe makes the car very predictable, toe out, twitchy.

Take a look at all the parts I have for sale if you are building up a car. There is some good stuff there. The shock package especially, and the motor is top-notch.

[CCARVER]

Buy Tristan's set up and go drive.
I would pick them up if I did not already have the same setup.
Let us know if you need anything else.
I have a stack of 240s and have been running mine for around three years now.
Carver

[slickS14]

It also depends on your shock package. Tristan has the Advance Designs for sale that are very good. In my S14 I ran 450 fr / 375 Rr but had custom front Nascar "blade style" bar built. I ran NO rear bar. In our testing I found that most "off the shelf" bars were miserable, especially the rear. I tried every off the shelf unit available and threw them all in the trash. Camber was similar to Tristan at -3.5 front and -2.75 rear. I prefereed 1'32 toe in at rear and 1'32 toe out front. Usually was about 3 deg caster front if i remember. Good luck. Man I miss this stuff...Chris

[erlrich]

My setup is very similar to the guys above; 450f/325r springs with Koni sports all around, GC coilovers & front camber plates, Whiteline front/OEM rear sway bars. I run a little less camber; about -3 front and -2.25 rear, and 0 toe at both ends. You should also consider upgrading the rear suspension bushings to spherical bearings, and replacing the subframe bushings with solid bushings. SPL Parts sells most of the pieces to do these, and there are one or two other places that will make them up for you.

[racer240sx]

I like to be a little stiff in the front, and a little soft in the rear. Does any body run a front splitter. I have seen some small spoilers, but them seem to be more for looks. Some of the tracks it should help with cooling as well as some down force. What are your thoughts.
thank you for any advice.

[DavidM]

My car has stiffer front springs than most, 700lbs. It came that way when I bought it and I haven't changed it. I've also got some custom valved Ohlins shocks and custom sway bars so take that into account. I haven't driven a car with softer front springs so it's hard for me to compare. Plus I'm not at the same driver level as Tristan or Chris. To me the car feels like it has really crisp turn-in, but pushes on exit. It's more pronounced in slower corners. Whether or not that's due to the stiff front, I'm not positive.

Pretty much everybody runs a splitter. It helps cooling as well as to direct the airflow around the front of the car.

David

[Tristan Smith]

David, good to see you are still with the living! I haven't seen you on the site in a long time. How is the build on the new chassis going? You need my engine yet!???

[Tristan Smith]

I like to be a little stiff in the front, and a little soft in the rear. Does any body run a front splitter. I have seen some small spoilers, but them seem to be more for looks. Some of the tracks it should help with cooling as well as some down force. What are your thoughts.
thank you for any advice.

In race trim these cars have great balance, so you really should try to keep your springs balanced. As you can see most of the guys runs rates that are fairly close to each other front/back.

You'll have to make your own splitter. I am not sure how much downforce you may be creating with one but anything that helps with the cooling is a good things on these cars.

[DavidM]

David, good to see you are still with the living! I haven't seen you on the site in a long time. How is the build on the new chassis going? You need my engine yet!???
Been busy with other things. I haven't done a whole lot with the new tub other than sizing it up and removing some of the interior. I need to finish striping it and get it to the body shop to have the rear quarter fixed. Then it's time to cage it. I have lots of ideas on things I want to improve over the old car, but just haven't had time to work on it.

Greg Amy has a good dissertation somewhere on here about the functionality of a splitter on our cars. It's about cleaning up the air-flow around the front end so that you get those extra RPMs at the end of the back straight. The splitter diverts air under the car instead of it slamming into the nose. That's why you want the splitter to go as far back as legal, which is to the front axles. Downforce is pretty much non-existent.

David

[Eagle7]

you want the splitter to go as far back as legal, which is to the front axles. Downforce is pretty much non-existent.

David

A front spoiler/air dam is permitted. It shall not protrude beyond the overall outline of the body when viewed from above perpendicular to the ground, or aft of the forward most part of the front fender opening.

[Tristan Smith]

Been busy with other things. I haven't done a whole lot with the new tub other than sizing it up and removing some of the interior. I need to finish striping it and get it to the body shop to have the rear quarter fixed. Then it's time to cage it. I have lots of ideas on things I want to improve over the old car, but just haven't had time to work on it.

David

I hear you. I am busy working on the new Z. Interesting how much IS similar to the 240sx. Maybe it's to all Nissans. Now get to work on that car!

[DavidM]

I hear you. I am busy working on the new Z. Interesting how much IS similar to the 240sx. Maybe it's to all Nissans. Now get to work on that car!
Yup. I felt at home working on the 240 after having worked on my Z for a few years. I'm pretty sure the oil filters are the same if you have any left. :)

Looks like I was a little off on the splitter. Here's your friendly reminder to read the GCR and not take the word of somebody going from memory.

David