Suspension terminology

Bound means suspension compression, obviously, and rebound is the extension of the suspension.

Typically, rebound should be firmer than bound so that bumps are absorbed smoothly but when the spring returns the bump's energy a firmer damping control is desireable.

Take this too far, however, and the car would "ratchet" down over a series of bumps and eventually bottom.


A shock or strut (shock within a suspension locating member) is referred to as a "damper" by engineers and those-in-the-know.

More spring rate is better up to a point, because it limits body roll and reduces undesireable camber gain or rates.

Camber (jacked from Chevy High Performance, lawlz):




Too stiff a spring, and the damper valving would be severely harsh to control said spring. At this point the suspension's ability to absorb surface irregularities has been drastically reduced and any bumps in the road surface will have the tire floating above the surface resulting in a loss of traction.

More suspension and alignment termiology here

Higher spring rates are not always better.
It entirely depends on what you're doing and what you need from the car.
Ultimately, the point of all of it is to keep as much of the tread-surface of the tires in full contact with the pavement as much as possible to aid with controlling the vehicle. Sometimes that takes stiffer, sometimes softer, depending on the surface and various other factors.