suspension gurus, need some advice...

[Jsquared]

well basically all the time i've been planning my car (S13 w/ dead KA --> SR swap), I've always assumed i'd go for the best equipment i can get, and spend the money on a coilover setup, since they have spring rates matched to the shocks, adjustable height, adjustable shock mount location (the ones i'm looking at anyway), and adjustable camber and such. i figured it would help with getting the settings and alignment perfect and i could adjust the shocks and ride height and all that to fit the situation i'm in (e.g. street, autoX,etc.) my main question is this: would i be wasting money to go balls-out and get coilovers? i probably won't be doing much drifting, and the car will be a daily driver, but i do plan to hit up every autoX i can find around here (which is a lot, since there are tons of SCCA members in Raleigh and Charlotte). I was looking at Tein Flex, Tein HE, and JIC FLT-A2, because i want to do the suspension right and thought they'd be the best components for what i'm doing. is frequent autoXing enough of a demand on the suspension of a daily-driver to justify coilovers? or should i just get springs, shocks, swaybars, bushings, and some adjustable control arms/links? or everything except springs/shocks and get coilovers later? or say screw the suspension, get some good 17" wheels and tires and a LSD? just looking for some advice.

P.S. no flaming. all i want is some well-supported opinions.

[xLSTONEx]

I personally don't think you need coil-overs. Just get all the sturt bars, tower bars, sway bars you can get. Get the springs you want, I love eibachs personally. And get some KONI YELLOW shocks, and that thing will out handle anything out there. Koni's are expensive but well worth it.

[240racer]

Originally posted by xLSTONEx
I personally don't think you need coil-overs. Just get all the sturt bars, tower bars, sway bars you can get. Get the springs you want, I love eibachs personally. And get some KONI YELLOW shocks, and that thing will out handle anything out there. Koni's are expensive but well worth it.

he asked for well-supported opinions. You do realize that tower bars and strut bars are the same thing, right? Also, why should he get more sway bars, I never understood that one. If you get anti-roll bars that are too stiff, then you will be picking up tires, which is not fast.

I think that you should get whatever shock setup that fits your budget. You also need to be carefull about auto-x rules, make sure you don't do anything that won't bump you up a class when you don't want to. If you are like me and don't care about classes and just want a fast car that's one thing. You are already getting an sr it looks like, I don't know what class that puts you in, but it's probably higher then coilovers and sticky tires. Also, you only need your car as adjustable as you are willing to adjust and have the knowledge to know which way to adjust. If you are going to tune your car because you aren't consistant enough for it to make a difference, then having super adjustable everything probably isn't as important. I haven't auto-xed enough to start making adjustments to my car and see how they affect times, I make more errors then the adjustments can make up. With shocks, you get what you pay for. I would not settle with "lowering springs" unless you are looking to lower your car. I also think that 17" wheels are pretty big for a stock sr, but not too bad, just make sure you don't get heavy ones. If money was not an issue and tire sizes were easy to find, then I would stick with some nice 15" wheels and wide tires. However, this is not the case and 17" tires are almost the same price as 16" tires as are wheels. 17s don't help much unless you need the clearance for brakes. Narrow sidewall tires and stiff springs will make for a very harsh ride.

[Dousan_PG]

daily driven? Tein Flex. spring rates you can live with and good setup. camber and damper adjustable along w/ the height adjustabilty. yo ucan go balls out and get the EDFC as well to adjust the damper fro minside the car makes tuning it easier as well.

HE and FLTa2 will be FAR TOO stiff for a daily onlyride. i have a friend who drifts w/ FLEX on his S14a and he loves it. and it great for street.

i suggset for a daily car:

Flex
Sway Bars
replace ALL BUSHINGS

your car's response will be greatly improved and you WONT have a uncomfortalb eride at all. when you replace your TC rods you lose the bushings and that affects streetability. stay w/ replacing the bushings to give a firm, yet not sloppy ride.

then i suggest a VLSD for your situation. yu are daily drive, a LSD is NOT necessary. and the VLSD will still e useful in Auto-x/minor track use. it does the job.

Wheels, 16s no doubt! 17s are too big. 16s wll be faster accelleration and cheaper tires and more comfortable ride as well as bettre response then 15s.

[KiDyNomiTe]

Originally posted by dousan36
daily driven? Tein Flex. spring rates you can live with and good setup. camber and damper adjustable along w/ the height adjustabilty. yo ucan go balls out and get the EDFC as well to adjust the damper fro minside the car makes tuning it easier as well.

Quick question, is the EDFC thing really worth it, or is it an unecessary luxury. This is stil for basically the same situation as Jsquared

[drifties151]

Originally posted by KiDyNomiTe
Quick question, is the EDFC thing really worth it, or is it an unecessary luxury. This is stil for basically the same situation as Jsquared

unless you're racing an N1 endurance race or something, the EDFC is definitely not cost effective. think about it, who needs 32 way adjustable dampers anyway? i think people don't even use the normal 16 way adjustments to their fullest extent. unless you are very very serious about circuit racing, the edfc isnt worth it.

[timmybgood]

who has good prices on the Flex's?

[lbcklik1486]

I've heard the EDFC controller thing craps out on you pretty quick...

[Jsquared]

thanks for all the input... i've got a nice potential deal on some double-adjustable coilovers (spring perch and shock mount adjust) with fixed-rate dampers from Cusco for about $950 to my door (from "for sale" forum on here) so i'm 90% sure i'm going to go for those if i can get the money quickly... and after the SR swap i'm going to use whatever i have left for bushings and some Pilot strut tower bars... gonna prob keep the stock wheels until i can afford some good ones (base model: stockers are 5-spoke 15" alloys)... if i'm going 17" i'm getting high-quality lightweight wheels (read: $$$) so that's gonna be a while prob some new pads and braided lines for the stock brakes too.

if i can, i'm gonna try to get a VLSD (i should be able to get a decent deal) b/c a nicer LSD will be overbudget if i get the coilovers. i'd really really like a Torsen or other gear-type LSD (daily-driven experience with a Torsen in my dad's 944 turbo and it rocks)... what kind of LSDs are the Kaaz 1.5-way and 2-way? clutch-type right? enjuku says $800 for those so after suspension junk that might be a few paychecks away... i think a Torsen-type from Quaife is like $1,100...

[DuffMan]

There is nothing inherintly better about coilovers except maybe the ability to retain suspension travel at lower heights, and conerweighing which is a pretty minor thing. For a street car I wouldn't say "don't get them" but I would say think about it compared to a good spring/shock/sway setup and see if the cost is worth it.

And I would say an upgrade front sway bar is a must. I would also recommend against progressive dual rate springs. A soft spring with an stiff sway bar is better for both comfort and handling than a progressive spring.

[Jsquared]

the biggest pro of the coilovers to me is that i can decide how much to lower the car (instead of a generic 2" all-around from just springs), i won't lose suspension travel, and i get spring rates matched to the shock dampening. matched springs and shocks plus swaybars would probably cost me nearly as much as the coilovers, and matched spring/shock combo won't get my travel back and i won't be able to adjust camber up front...

[95Blue240sx]

i noticed that pdm sells whiteline subframe bushings. what would the performance be compared to the ones that charles park sells?

[j240sxna]

Well for auto-X I might be inclined to either use a coilover setup and stock sway bars or go for some kyb/agx struts and tein springs as well as whiteline anti sway bars. coilovers are sff in comparison and for a successfull auto-x car the car has to sway some for the low speed handling.

I decided to focus on the small parts first. I rebuilt the rear end with all new bushings. That made a dramatic difference! /subframe bushings are pain but they rock!

BTW if you are going with tein products just send me an email and I will see about giving ou a good price!

-J

[Steeles]

lol Jeremy when you gonna let me finance the stuff I REALLY want? You know I got two tons of stuff I want!