400# springs on the front, #300 springs on the back

Ark :D

Goblin Guru
An edit:

New builders who opt for the BC Racing coilover option for their Goblin, you put the 400# springs on the front and the 300# springs on the back.
New builders who opt to use the Cobalt struts on the rear suspension, you put the 300# springs that come with your kit on the front, and cut one coil out of the stock Cobalt springs before putting them on the rear.

Just a PSA for new builders. Hopefully this post helps eliminate some confusion in the future for people via the search function.

I just wanted to put it out there: the kit ships with a pair of 300# springs and a pair of 400# springs. In the older video series, the 300# springs are shown pretty clearly as belonging on the front. So that's the way I did it while building my car. I saw much later, posts on here with people saying they had put the 400's on the front and the 300's in the back, so I emailed DF and asked the question. Here's the official response:

"We run the 400s at the front and the 300s at the rear. The motion ratio of the front suspension decreases the effective rate of the spring more than the rear suspension. So even though the front springs are rated 100 pounds higher, the effective rates end up pretty similar. We like how this feels in our cars."

So, there it is.
 
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k.rollin

Goblin Guru
IIRC, the 300s were installed on the front in the older video because the rear suspension of the car being built in that series used the original donor struts rather than the BC Racing coilovers. When I ordered my car, the 400s didn't come with the kit unless the coilovers were optioned.
 

ccannx

Goblin Guru
I made the mistake of thinking the front was light and therefore did not need such high spring rates. Even the local MOD gurus's told me to run higher rates so naturally being a terrible listener I wasted money, purchased 180lb springs and stuck them on the front. So.... off to testing at the local autox and every time I hit the brakes the front would slam into the ground. Turns out all that weight from the rear goes forward when you use the brakes.

Without the BC coilover option I believe you use the stock spring rear and the DF provided springs front IIRC are 300lbs, the 400's come with the BC option. Both sets of aftermarket (non stock) springs are 2.5 inch diameter springs and interchangeable between the BC and Qa1 shocks.

Now I have a garage full of springs and use 400f 300R springs for my setup.
 

Fozda

Goblin Guru
I also made the mistake of putting the 300 on the front and 400 in the rear. I noticed a drastic improvement in handling when I switched them. Now I'm running 450f 200r with a base model sway bar and it's handling very well!
 

Tinkles

Well-Known Member
I tossed my 300# springs upfront and ordered a set of 220# springs for the rear. Going to use them as a starting point and probably end up changing them once I get it running and start adjusting everything.
 

Fozda

Goblin Guru
I tossed my 300# springs upfront and ordered a set of 220# springs for the rear. Going to use them as a starting point and probably end up changing them once I get it running and start adjusting everything.
Are you going to be racing the car?
 

Tinkles

Well-Known Member
I plan on trying to do alittle bit of everything with mine. Some autox, road course, drag racing, and street fun.
 

Tinkles

Well-Known Member
Not at the moment. They were/are going to be an afterthought once I get it running and see how it feels/handles. I am going to have alot of stuff to adjust once it gets running. Those spring rates are just a starting point for me. I might even pursue a completely different set of coil-over than the QA1/BC combo in a few years.
 
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