suspension set-up

[zilviabsessed]

ok, im buying an s13 coupe in the near future and the first thing i want to do is get the handling and stance how i want it. i want it to sit lower than stock, but not too low because i find that coupes look really big when they are really low. i want the suspension to be fairly stiff so there is next to no body roll. comfort comes second in my books. i want opinions on what i should do. i plan on doing the 300zx brake upgrade and getting some konig blatant 17x8's or 17x7's with either 225 or 215 tires. any suggestions appreciated!

[sykikchimp]

How do you drive your car? and how often?

On a scale of 1-10 (10 being highest) rate how important performance is?

On the same scale rate Ride Comfort

Also how much money are you looking to spend?

This is a very broad subject, as the 240 has an amazing amount of suspension aftermarket.

[sykikchimp]

a few links from a quick SEARCH..

http://www.zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25469&highlight=suspension

http://www.zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25183&highlight=suspension

http://www.zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24676&highlight=suspension

there are a lot more too.. subject gets covered a lot

[zilviabsessed]

performance is a 9
comfort is a 3
im planning on doing some auto-xing, so i would need a fairly stiff set-up...i think. im a student so money is an issue, but i wont rule out something expensive if i really like it. should i go for coil overs or are those mainly just for looks?

[sykikchimp]

If your going to be auto-xing make sure you check the rules for the class you are running. Many suspension upgrades will bump your class.

coilover aren't for looks.. you can't even see mine. they are very high performance suspension setups, but you can do about anything with struts and springs that you can with coilovers. they are not necessary to be fast.

[zilviabsessed]

ok, i feel like a true noob now, but can someone explain what coilovers consist of. are they both shock and spring that can be adjusted? whats your suspension set-up sykikchimp? what kind of driving do you do and how is the ride?

[sykikchimp]

true coilovers have threaded shock body's that a spring perch/collar can be moved up and down on to adjust ride height, and spring preload. Good coilover will come with the springs, and dampner adjusted to work together properly for you car. They aid in Corner weighting the car.

You can also get coilover sleves which go over aftermarket struts like Koni's.. Ground Control is very popular.

I run JIC Magic FLT-A2 coilovers, with various pillowball rods, and multiple chassis braces. I track my car probably at least once a month, and participate in HPDE's, and will probably be doing some Solo1 this year. I LOVE my suspension, I am using the stock sway bars, and have very little roll. Once of the nice features I felt was a must have for me was independent ride height adjustment via the lower mounting bracket on the coilovers. This allows me to maintain a much larger range of suspension travel. I have found the adjustability of the shocks rebound to be invaluable as well on the track.

[Yoshi]

there are 2 kinds of coilovers.
sleeve-type coilovers:
these are a metal sleeve that goes over your damper to give your suspension height adjustability. There are lots of these, and to my knowledge, only one that doesn't totally suck.
Crappy brands are: OBX, DropZone, Toucan, APC, lowboyz, etc etc
get a good set of performance springs before you get these POS'

The only good brand (that I know of): Ground Control. They customize your spring tension to your application and can be had in 10lb increments, their springs are made by eibach.

True coilovers are are complete units that are designated by different spring tensions and adjustable (usually) dampening as well as heigh adjustable.
Some noteworth manufacturers of these are: Tein, Zeal, Cusco, JIC, ApexI, and many others.
These type of suspension offer the highest performance, but as with any high performance part, there's a tradeoff, this being the welfare of your kidneys, as good suspension is very stiff and will be much rougher for daily driving.

If you look at a stock 240's suspension, you'll notice that the rear is already a coilover type stock, it's just not very stiff.

I personally have AGX adjustable dampers with ground control coilover sleeves, it leaves me a good mix of street usability and yet is stiff enough to drift... remember there are other important suspension parts too! Poly bushings, anti-sway bars, sub-frame spacers, and various chassis stiffening bars are all important to making a good stiff chassis that will let the suspension work like it's intended and give you maximum stiffness to anticipate how the car will move in a given situation.

Seeing that you do not even have the car yet, DRIVE IT STOCK! Do it for a while. Learn the car before you start changing things, don't be in too big of a hurry to mod it. You have to have a baseline to start from, a benchmark. Most importantly, change ONLY ONE THING AT A TIME! How else will you learn what does what? what parts compliment others, and what detracts?

Best of luck man, hope this helps ;)

[Yoshi]

Originally posted by sykikchimp
true coilovers have threaded shock body's that a spring perch/collar can be moved up and down on to adjust ride height, and spring preload. Good coilover will come with the springs, and dampner adjusted to work together properly for you car. They aid in Corner weighting the car.

You can also get coilover sleves which go over aftermarket struts like Koni's.. Ground Control is very popular.

I run JIC Magic FLT-A2 coilovers, with various pillowball rods, and multiple chassis braces. I track my car probably at least once a month, and participate in HPDE's, and will probably be doing some Solo1 this year. I LOVE my suspension, I am using the stock sway bars, and have very little roll. Once of the nice features I felt was a must have for me was independent ride height adjustment via the lower mounting bracket on the coilovers. This allows me to maintain a much larger range of suspension travel. I have found the adjustability of the shocks rebound to be invaluable as well on the track.

haha! dammit chimp! u just barely beat my response :/ I'm just too long winded huh? hehee

[adey]

I think the comfort-performance scale is more of a 0-sum game. (haha sorry, too much game theory) The "scores" for comfort and performance should, together, add up to 10 rather than add up to any number between 0 and 20... you know what I mean? It's all relative. More comfort WILL mean less performance (of course with a tiny bit of flexibility in that 'rule') ...

That said, if comfort for you is 3, performance can only be 7.
Currently I'm running JIC FLT-A2s set on 1/1 (out of hardest setting 15) which means comfort for me is about 2 or 3, while performance is 8 or 7.... if I bumped up my spring rates from current 8/6 to 10/8, then it would be more like comfort-1, performance-9 no matter what shock setting I'm at. :)

I'm such a dork!

[zilviabsessed]

thanks for all your help guys, i think im going to start with a good set of coil-overs. true coil-overs that is. now all i need is suggestions on the best ones to buy! i realize i will need many more parts to work in conjunction with the coilovers but i want to take it one part at a time, as mentioned. i will still be able to install all other parts after the coilovers are installed right?

[zilviabsessed]

ive decided on gc sleeve coils and agx shocks. i didnt realize how expensive shocks are. its gonna cost me 551.51usd for the shocks and then 399usd for the coils. does that sound right? can i get a good set of true coilovers for around that price?

[sykikchimp]

try shox.com they should have that stuff a good bit cheaper.. u have to email them for quotes.

I think PDM-Racing.com has a pretty good price on agx's as well.


you can get coilover generally from about ~$1100 - $3000 depending on the flavor.

[zilviabsessed]

i know ive drawn this thread out for all its worth but....what would perform better, gc coils and agx shocks or $1100 true coilovers?