I am going to be investing in some suspension soon and for a while was convinced on the trd shocks and spring now from a few peopel I heard about coilovers. My car is a daily driver that I also plan on autocrossing on weekends I live in nj roads are terrible so the suspension has to be able to take that. Iam a beginner to autocross and tuning so not quite sure what the better thing is? Also In the summer I will be getting either the supercharger or the zpi 0 turbo so wondering what suspension will work good with that?

basicly its either the trd suspension or tein basic coilovers. If someone could shine some light about suspensions and what would be a good idea for me.

 

If youre planning on getting TRD springs and struts you had might as well get Tein Basics. The Teins are easily rebuildable where the TRD are not. The teins have height adjustment which the TRDs obviously dont.

 

...and the Teins are also 3.5 times stiffer than the TRDs. Whether that is acceptable in a daily driver, I will leave to the OP.

 

coilovers

 

Consider what class you want to run in at your AutoX events. If you put COs on you'll be put into STS.

If you just do new shocks (Koni/TRD) while retaining the stock springs you can stay in HS where your biggest competition is the Mini (non-Cooper S).

For more info on classifications go to http://www.autox4u.com/ and go to the link on the bottom left "Auto Classification & Rules." Or go www.phillyscca.com.

 

Good point! Remember (to the OP) that sway bars will affect your classification as well.

 

iam not too worried about classification or who i compete against iam doing it for my own enjoyment want to get better at handling a car. What the min drop with the coil overs?

I do want pretty stiff suspension for a daily driver but I always dont want a huge drop because in jersey roads are terrible and I am afraid that it would mean way too namy cracks in my bumper

Also how do coilovers work with the hotckis sway bars? too stiff for daily driving?

Can someone by any chance explain what too stiff is too for daily driving? meaning what happens?

 

Too stiff is really very subjective. Your "comfortable" might be your girlfriend's worst nightmare...trust me, my wife hated the "bounciness" it caused her while in my GTI with a perfect track/autoX CO setup.

Bumps in the roads become harsh...kind of like a stone skipping across the water. COs will also make driving in rain/snow/nice more complicated.

Check the sticky thread at the top of this page for spring rates. The higher the number the harsher the ride. The same thread has the height drop info you were asking about.

 

I just put on the full hochkis set up (front and rear sways, and springs) and it is great for daily driving. Its a nice drop (1.7 front, 1.97 rear) that makes the car have an even stance. The ride has not changed consideralby, maybe a little harsher on bumps but not by much. Even on the stiffest settings on both sway bars, it still feels comfortable for both daily driving and canyon runs. I'd definentally reccomend this setup.

 

Sways shouldn't effect anything but cornering performance—they help to reduce body roll by spreading the load from the outside tire to the inside tire.

Stiffer springs without the appropriate dampeners (shocks/struts) will not deliver the best performance. Yes, your ride will be stiffer, but ther is a difference between "stiff" and "good" when it comes to handling.

 

Just left NJ for KY, the TRD springs would be a good choice for your area it lowers the center of gravity enough. I used to commute from exit 8 TPK to Weahawkin and JC I know how s$%#y the roads are. I wish I could afford the shocks but what can you do. Money was better up north. Have a good one.

 

well i thought about it and coilovers sound better. could someone explain what they are a little more though whats adjustbale on them and if anyone has a picture of tein basic coilovers set on the least drop i would really appreciate it.

Now if I got tein basic coilovers Id want to do bars as well, I would really like the hotchkis sway bars but just have a few questions with them. 1 Would they be a good idea with the tein basic I mean iam no whiner about stiff rides I am just wondering if there is something that would not be a good idea with the two of them together. 2 I like the sound of the hotchkis ones a lot but what are these problems that people are having with the front bar making noise and rubbing against something? Is it on every car, is it really bad for the car? I am aware of the hard installation on the front bar but not exactly sure what people mean by droping the front?

 

The COs you're asking about are only ride height adjustable. Some COs offer dampening adjustability—the Tein SSs and SSPs offer 16 settings. These settings allow you to—fairly easily—adjust how hard or soft the struts are. This feature is nice for a daily driver that is also a track/autox car.

You have to drop the front sub-frame to install the front sway bar (FSB). It's a PITA if you don't have lift and a well equiped garage.

My .02: A FSB on a FWD car intensifies understeer—not something you want to happen. The rear sway bar (RSB) helps to tighten up the rear end and can help bring a naturally understeering FWD car back to a more neutral handling characteristic.

 

ah ic now I understand more, hm well I guell ill just get a rear sway bar, hm just another question then before I heard about coilvoer i was planning a full trd suspension i really like the trd drop because I live in nj and there is just no end to how many rice cars you see around here with tremendous drops and zero performance plus the roads arent exactly friendly, anyways since i do care about performance i was wondering how are the trd spring with the shocks? i want something that can handle a corner pretty well and a few occasional autocross session not planning on competing just for myself so is the trd good for that or are the trd too downplayed?

What iam looking for is a significant increase over stock not just somethign thats a little bit noticeble but not something that can only be ok for the track and horrible for the road.

 

Try and go to a local get together and meet people who have the parts you are interested in getting. See if you can get a ride in the car, or, if your really nice see if they let you drive the car. Go to an autox and ride in a car.

I'm still torn as to what I'm doing too. I'll either get the full TRD shock/spring package or the Tein SS COs. My biggest dilema is what class I want to run in: SSP or HS. But I'll be making my decision in the next week or two...if you haven't made up your mind by then I'll drop you a line...your relatively local to me.

 

that would be really cool thanks, but i think i leaning towards trd now since i cant really see myself fully using the ss co. Mostly want the ride for the street to be stiff. But id still be up for reconvincing if the trd package isnt that stiff. I really want something much stiffer then stock.

I dont really know too many people that mod cars for performance most peopel i know are only intersted in sound systems and bodykits.

 

the tien basics i belive drop from between 1.4 to 2.5 inches not exactly sure. the super street's let you adjust the shock's while the ssp's let you run the edfc. i have the ssp's and the rear trd sway bar the handling is superb very flat through the corner's and much faster . the instagator has a full trd setup and did a wright up about how they preformed in an autocross day so you may want to ask him.

 

sorry but whats edfc?

Say I decide to get coilovers is it really worth investing in the tein ss for what i want I am intersted in starting to autocross a bit but mostly i want a stifer ride for the street.

Oh and to anyone who had or has hotchkis bars on whats the problem that everyone keeps mentioning with the front bar?

 

"EDFC" = Electronic Dampening Force Control . It's a control panel that connect to the dampeners of the Tein SSP COs. This allows you to control the dampening while in the comfort of your driver's seat rather than having to jack the car up to stiffen or soften your ride...IMO not worth the extra loot.

If you do decide to get the Tein COs: If you've got the extra cash get the SSes, especially if you intend on autocrossing regularly. If you think your autoX career will be two events a year, maybe your money would be better spent somewhere else.

 

While we're talking about suspension, can someone explain to me what swaybars do and how an upgraded swaybar in the rear will help me out?

Howstuffworks.com doesn't have anything on swaybars :D