suspension advise... I need it stiffer

[Wdhitch]

Everyone wants to lower and soften the ride... I want to do the opposite... I'm a big guy and I'd like it alittle stiffer back there to help the car out... Is it even possible? If so how would I go about it?

[John_H]

The "lower" comes with the springs that make it stiffer. If I could get stiffer springs without the 3/4" drop (3/4" is hardly perceptible) I would have looked into it.

That said, I love going over speed humps way too fast with my Eibach springs. I lean forward in the seat a little so the back of the seat doesn't push me forward it it feels like I'm on a horse jumping obstacles. I don't ride so I might be wrong about the feeling, but I love it.

My previous car was a BMW roadster: the Z4 convertible. I'm used to something a bit stiffer and like the ride much better now with the new springs compared to the "sloshy" factory set.

I love my Eibachs even if they do lower the car.

[Wdhitch]

So if I get new springs it would provide more support for the suspension system? That's my main concern... I'm not completely sold on the rear suspension.

[Cruising n Coasting]

I don't know if anyone will want to responsibility for answering that question. Maybe a call to Eibach or H&R or Evilution might be in order?!?

[SloPok]

Originally Posted by Wdhitch

Everyone wants to lower and soften the ride... I want to do the opposite... I'm a big guy and I'd like it alittle stiffer back there to help the car out... Is it even possible? If so how would I go about it?

My OEM struts and springs on my 95 Ford Taurus SHO died after 70K miles. I replaced the OEM springs with Eibachs. That is the most used spring for the SHO.

They are a progressive spring. The more you compress it the stiffer it gets. They did lower the car front and back but not a lot. You're going to have to have your front end aligned so your tires wear correctly. They do give you a stiffer ride but not bone jarring.

[fmaxwell]

Originally Posted by Wdhitch

Everyone wants to lower and soften the ride... I want to do the opposite... I'm a big guy and I'd like it alittle stiffer back there to help the car out... Is it even possible? If so how would I go about it?

Normally, when lowering a car, the springs have a stiffer rate. That's so that the suspension does not bottom out over severe bumps. I have not seen stock length springs with a higher spring rate.

If the shocks are right for the factory springs, they are wrong for shorter, stiffer springs. That's because the damping characteristics (rebound and compression) are tuned to the spring rate (whether straight rate or progressive), suspension travel, and the unsprung mass (the mass that moves up and down over bumps). Change the springs to stiffer lowering springs and you change both travel and spring rate. Whether they will still be "close enough" is up to the driver.

A heavy driver who normally drives alone is going to be putting more stress on the driver-side springs. You might consider stiff anti-sway bars to more tightly couple the driver and passenger sides together. Ideally, you would use adjustable end-links so that you could preload the suspension such that the car sat level left-to-right with you behind the wheel.

Hope that's not just way too much information.

[Bigperformance]

Spax in the UK will build you the correct set up with an adjustable "coilover" kit IF 20 of you get together and order the kit.
I have this on my 450 and 452 it is fantastic.
Spax have distributors in the US, go see them and get the kits made