Thermalzeal

Hey guys, I'm nearing the end of the road on my qeust for a new car (and no doubt) I'm goin for the tC.

I've been looking at the TRD ~1 inch drops with springs and people have said that they get an increase in stability while driving.

Im interested in the stability but not so much in the drop because the ground clearence could go as low as 4.3 inch's

Given, the ride would look much better lower to the ground but if I went back home (houston) I could honestly use every milimeter of ground clearence. In addittion if your driving on slightly rougher roads ground clearence is somewhat important as well.

Do you think that I could achieve a similar boost in handling and stability by just installing anti sway bars in the rear and a strut in the front?

My next question is what is the expected life time of the bushings on the anti sway bars.


Im looking for a ride thats very stable and allows me to corner at higher than normal speeds.

gas_meet_foot

The first thing I would suggest to achieve better handling without lowering your car would be a better set of tires.

I am going to guess that by "stability," you mean a reduction in body roll. Sway bars will definately help with that. A sway bar in the rear will increase your car's tendency to oversteer (have the back end move away from the corner more than you intend). A front strut bar will drecrease the tendency of the body to flex from going over bumps, bends, etc. A front sway bar (as opposed to strut bar) will increase the tendency of your car to understeer ("push" into a turn).

I would reccomend that you put some better tires on, and spend a couple thousand miles learning how your car behaves with them, then deciding on your next step based on what you want the car to do.

speddlysmitt

I have the TRD rear sway and you defently notice a difference. You will not get oversteer with it. For around a $100 the best bang for the buck and it is super easy to install. Try searching since there are a ton of posts that have a lot of insight and technical explanation.

killerxromances

No matter what you do, you are still going to have a large amount of bodyroll due to the weight of the car and the stock suspension spring rates. Also, you won't see full potiental of just say sway bars, without lowering. All suspension parts work as a team, just like the motor. If you do one and not the other, its pretty useless.

killerxromances

If you don't want to spend a lot of money, your best bet to start off with is going to be lowering your car. Its the best way to go for the best handling without going full out. You will handle much better with just performance springs or coilovers than you would with just sway bars or shocks.

racecaryaya

Some of the best advise—in regards to handling—I've seen on this board.

Better tires or custom rate springs (of stock height) are pretty much the only way you'll acheive exactly what you're looking for.

Coilovers will allow you to control/change the ride height fairly easily—though changing the height does require an alignment afterwards. Most COs do have a minimum drop of one inch though. And, unless you're doing off roading, a one inch drop will not hurt you.

Thermalzeal

What's the lifetime of the stock shocks after installing TRD springs?

engifineer

not so sure about the not getting oversteer comment. A stiffer rear sway does exactly that... creates more potential for oversteer. Too much oversteer can be addressed by adding either a stiffer front sway or a less stiff rear sway. But, on a FWD car, especially one with our weight distribution, more oversteer is exactly what I want. That is much more controllable than understeer.

I would say lower it.. the TRDs still keep enough clearance. I have never bottomed out.

But, minus that, get some sways and better tires. Then look at your spring rate and coilovers.

engifineer

Going on about 12,000 miles so far with mine... shocks are as good as new

yesti

you could change shocks only, keeping the stock springs. the rear sway bar is a good modification too. i have the trd bar set to 'street' (no other mods) and it is almost neutral so long as you don't do anything stupid with it. may get the koni shocks/struts when i have an extra $500 lying around. i don't want the car much lower either, if anything maybe an inch max in the rear to level it out a bit.

racecaryaya

^ That's a great idea...but, where can you get Koni's for all four corners? I've only seen them on The Tire Rack—not that I've looked extensively.

yesti

shox.com has them $571.20.

Cucumber

dude im a daily driver in houston and drive from katy to downtown every morning. trust me, lowering the car 1 inch wont cause horrific problems. i am on 19s and lowered 2" and i dont scrape the ground ever. you would have to be going really fast and over an extremly steep bump to actually cause your car to scrape. honestly, you will be very happy after lowering it.

oh yea, get new tires too like everyone said, but if your going to spend money on that, might as well get new rims to, unless you like stock ones, then just get better tires. those darn things used to hydroplane on hwy-59 constantly when going atleast 60.

wubaru

id go with springs too. the trd ones, especially, arnt a huge drop. you honestly wont even notice it when going over bumps.

shinkuu

alignment and tire pressure adjustments

yesti

Tire pressures may be one of the last things you tweak imo.

B1uEsC1uEs

maybe getting front and rear sway bars, front and rear strut bars, a new brake system, and new tires? just my guess

LA-tC

I have both of them for a while and all i can say is , car's handling is so much better.

Thermalzeal

Hmm, thanks for the advice!

Right now Im in the process of gathering sufficient information for me to purchase one in a month or two.

Since Ive heard no negative response over TRD springs on stock shocks, Im probably gonna go with that. In addittion I hope to persuade my dealer for the time being to throw me with some yoko's or khumo's because of all the evil stuff that is said about the stock tires. If I get those tires for free I can breathe easy for a few months until Im ready to purchase some nicer rims.


Thanks!

~Future owner of a SW tC

yesti

trd springs are progressive so the stock shocks/struts should go a few years before showing colorful patterns on the piston rod ;) because of that people have commented that the ride harshness is about the same as stock springs. and when it does come time to change shocks, then hopefully there will be more options.