From what I have been able to determine, stock spring rates seem to be - well at least for the early 80's North American spec X1/9s - about 120-125 lb/in front, and about 150-155 lb/in rear. I cant say for sure that the later Bertone models were the same, but I believe they are.
The whole reason Xs seemed so nice to me in the handling department is they handled great but had nice compliant springs, unlike the spider which seemed to use chassis flex as a major suspension component. I don't know about you guys but the DC area has terrible roads and any car with super stiff springs is going to beat you up. Instead of making the DC area Xs more like roadracers we should be jacking them up on tall soft springs to look like rally cars......some 165 series lugged tires, rally mud flaps and half a dozen driving lights would finish off the effect nicely.
That pretty much echos what I was saying about spring rates.The whole reason Xs seemed so nice to me in the handling department is they handled great but had nice compliant springs
Do you know what the spring rates are on them? It could be a good point of reference for Ed's goal of this thread.I ended up finding some progressive springs which (for me) resulted in a comfortable ride overall but greater firmness under spirited driving.
But of course our point here (in this thread) is not to compare the X with other vehicles, but to compare the stock X's spring rates with optional ones. In other words, all other variables remain the same. As Ed stated....If you compare modern sports cars to their predecessors of the 70s and 80s you will see a marked improvement in ride quality and roll reduction
I was looking at new springs on a couple of different sites. They all indicate how many lbs front and rear but without knowing what the stock were I had no frame of reference...