autox spring rate question
 

I am building a 94 lx 4dr for autocross . I will be running in smf I was wondering what spring rate to run. I was thinking about 650 on the front and 500 on the rear. the car will be a little heavy for a sm car because it is a driver and I will keep the full interior. I am not worried about the ride being stiff. I am running the stock sway bars. Any advice would be appericated I am having trouble finding any race information for the accord as it seems most people want to race the civic.

I'm reminded of the saying; "You want to go fast, how much money you got?" Only way to really know is trial and error which is why the Civic builders have the advantage of many different people's trials and experience. For your accord it will just be a guess unless someone already has experience, but here are my thoughts ($0.02 for what it its worth).

1. Body stiffness will limit the gains from stiffer springs, so with a 94 4-door (plenty of flex) I wouldn't go too far on the spring stiffness.
2. Rate differential front/rear impacts the balance of the car; higher rate generally equals more bite on that end, so keep the F/R rates reasonably close with F a little higher to keep you toward understeer. However, for autocross ONLY you may want the rear to rotate easily so equal F/R rate may be best.
3. Try to achieve "balance" with spring rates and not sway bars if possible and let the independent suspension do the best job it can; small sway bars.

Given the weight and model of the car, my "gut" would say a rate in the 350 - 400 lb/in range would be best for your car (just my guess) unless you are trying to "slam" the car to lower the CG.

Good luck.