Suggestions For Suspension Setup...

[UniquelyGeneric]

Okay, so I know that I havent posted here in awhile because Ive been in the process of a move. I have actually relocated to Mooresville, NC (home of NASCAR - yay...) to go to a branch of UTI. You know, the Universal Technical Institute that the Speed channel advertises now and again; yeah, only this one works closely with NASCAR. Either way, I have access to all the bays, lifts, tools, information, teachers on campus, AND I have come into some money recently (good new job, life insurance money from a distant relative, etc...), so Im ready to start doing some serious mods to my car. I want to start out with the suspension before I do anything else, and Im looking for some input from you guys as to what brands and components I should go with. Im doing the work to my EM1, which is a daily driver, and my overall goals for the car are to pretty much eventually modify it into a turboed monster that handles like a european sports car. Ive been looking into Tein Flex Coilovers all around, Spoon Tie Bars, JDM CTR LSD, and some other odds and ends, but I dont really know much about the quality of these products as opposed to some of their competetors. I have about 3 grand (give or take) to spend on the suspension and I will be able to do the work myself, so there will be no charges to pay to a shop. I would be much obliged if some of you seasoned veterans like mdlax, calesta, nstygrnhatch, doughboy, tegs, smooth_imports, and others could give me some opinions for a really badass setup. Thanks in advance...
-Ben

[NstyGrnHatch]

ight let the suspension master give you some input...

If you want a badass suspension setup, i wouldnt reccomend a full coilover setup, i have been hearing some bad things about them blowing within 2 years, etc, etc. Why pay over 1k for something your gonna have to rebuild in 2 years?!?!?

So for struts I would reccomend getting a nice set of Koni Yellows, KYB AGX's, or Tokico Adjustables.

Springs wise, thats your decision, what spring rate you want, how low of a drop you want, etc, etc. I personally love tanabe and tein suspension products, and thier springs are great too. I would reccomed a spring/strut combo for a daily.

Sway bars: Well I have been looking at many SCCA cars and my years they have been running OEM front and ITR 22-23mm Rears. I dont see any reason to upgrade the front (unless you dont have one). But A-Spec Racing (www.a-spec-racing.com) offers a 23mm rear kit for your car and a 36mm rear kit as well. 36 FREAKIN MILLIMETERS! DEAR GOD! Thier reinforcement kits are also rear lower tie bars as well.

Strut Bars: I would go nothing but with EM Racing bars, they seem to be top notch for not too much money either, they offer a rear strut bar/c pillar connection combo, rear strut and rear trunk combo. You can find thier products at (www.heeltoeauto.com) Cusco also makes some nice stuff too. Thier stuff at (napsusa.com)

Bushings: The only choices here I would go with is Enegry Suspension or Prothane. I know ES makes a master kit for the whole car, but you also gonna need rear trailing arm bushings and a couple odds and end bushings as well. Im not sure if prothane offers a master kit or not.

Trans: As far as this goes, an LSD upgrade would be beneficial, my car right now has a problem sliding because one wheel is spinning and its getting no traction. I hear OEM ITR and CTR LSD's are perfectly fine, but if you wanan go all out, buy the whole transmission (they are geared more for track racing anyways)

Now that you have all this superior handling, your gonna need to invest in some safety stuff too, like maybe a pair of seats, harnesses, and a roll cage.

This company sells the same kinda roll bar thats in my car now, they have pretty reasonable prices too. (http://www.ioportracing.com/Merchant...y_C ode=AP581)

Well if you have anymore questions feel free to ask.

[UniquelyGeneric]

Thanks for the info man...

*bump for more input*

[NstyGrnHatch]

no problem always here to help with everyones suspension needs.

[UniquelyGeneric]

Not to bring a dead thread back to life, but check out what I found on Ebay...
Should I get them or not?
Coilovers...

[jtw156]

I don't see why not. How much do they retail for?

[oompahlumpa]

I dont like coilovers, I am more of a strut/spring kind of guy. You cant go wrong with tein, or high end tokico. I am about to install my tokico hp's (low end set it / forget it setup) and I cant wait.

[NstyGrnHatch]

tein coilovers are good but im with bo, im a strut spring type of guy

[oompahlumpa]

exactly

[UniquelyGeneric]

Well this may seem stupid, but what exactly is the difference between coilovers and spring-strut combos? I thought they were essentially the same thing, only the coilovers come prepackaged...
Either way, I just started the "undercar" phase of my tech school (UTI) and in class next week, my teacher is going to assist me in the installation of my suspension during lab. Therefore I need all the parts in ASAP so I need a decision today so I can go ahead and make the order to get everthing here on time.
BTW NastyGreenHatch (Dan, right?), Im planning on ordering some things from spec-a, but theres no contact or ordering information listed; how do I make an order from them? TIA guys!!!