starting down the line of handling mods - what to do?

[funkytown]

Brieft history of car

has engine mods to the tune of more than 200kw atw's

have some nice 17" R888's to run on,

has some nice brand spankers slotted rotors and new pads all round

also runs on super low tien springs - but thats all suspension wise.

Car is going to get a bit of track work - and on its maiden voyage out (although enormous fun) i ended up doing enormous power sledging.

My question is where to start? which bits to go for? the costs? and the gains assosiated with each.

i've heard of lots of different mods - but don't really understand each and want to start a learning journey to understand suspension / handling better.

yes i should have done susp first, but hey my car is where it is and I'm not having that debate here.

[PhatRS]

Coilovers-will make the car stiffer and if damper/camber adjustable will give a few settings to play with for fine tuning

Sway bars-stop the car rolling so much in the corners (can be adjustable too)

Swaybar links-Good idea if you have stiffer sway bars as the factory ones like to snap with the increased stiffness

Anti lift kit-gives the front more caster to stop one wheel lifting during hard conering

Strut braces-stop the tops of the struts from moving around under cornering

Urethane Bushes-harder than rubber ones so allow less and more uniform movement of components for more handling feel

Diff brace-stops the rear diff moving around under load

Master cylinder brace-not really suspension but stop the master cylinder/firewall from flexing under heavy breaking........this was my best braking mod after good pads and fluid

theres many more that are for the more serious too, adjustable stuff for fine tuning.

[Guest]

If your springs are too low too hard your handling will suffer.

But the first port of call is a good alignment.

[funkytown]

arr i have good allignment already..

the superlows were just given to me, and they werent intended to give "improved handling" that im thinking about above

[Guest]

What sort of car is it ?

What shocks have you got ?

If your springs / shocks are not upto the job then thats where you should start.

If you think the spring / shock combo is fine. Then camber bolts / ARB would be the first bolt on bits you would think about.

All the bolt on stuff does good stuff but if you don't have a good basic shock / spring combo your wasting $$$.

[funkytown]

oh sorry - its whats in my sig..

a 97 sti gf8,

it has tien super low springs on standard struts... i get bad roll and understeer on the track. I would like to fix that roll at some point...

so im guessing adjustables are going to be on the cards first then?

Honestly i dont know anything about them, basically i want something thats stiffer on the track, but feels like my super lows now so i can drive it on the road. Possible? I don't know.

[Guest]

I have signatures set to not show

Sounds like your happy with the current shocks for the road then. If so keep them.

Good adjustables cost $1500 - $2000.

A more cost effective option

Camber bolts - will allow you to dial in more camber at the front than factory - so more grip at the front less understeer. Cost $80ish

ARBs - Anti Roll Bars. Thicker than factory will reduce roll. Also increases front grip less understeer. Only has a minor effect on ride comfort. Cost $300ish for the rear - another $300 for the front. If your on a budget just do the rear.

[Guest loren]

Here's a novel idea, not one I have followed myself however.

Learn to drive around the handling problems of your car and save your money for competing and track days etc.

I do recommend a 22mm adjustable rear swaybar and some camber bolts however... but after that just learn

how to drive in a manner to avoid understeer and whatever other problems you may experience.

[viperguy]

my gf8 wrx is standard susp with low king springs - i can testify to ARB (22mm adjustable on hardest setting on rear so = 24 mm i believe) made the car much more neutral in corners, solid end links for ARB front and rear makes turn-in (and general cornering) feel more predictable

both well worth the money in my opinion and minimal effect on ride comfort

[Scoobydoo]

I have a set of Whiteline front and rear swaybar links if you're interested... haven't figured out a price for them yet though

[Munkvy]

 loren said:

Here's a novel idea, not one I have followed myself however.

Learn to drive around the handling problems of your car and save your money for competing and track days etc.

I do recommend a 22mm adjustable rear swaybar and some camber bolts however... but after that just learn

how to drive in a manner to avoid understeer and whatever other problems you may experience.

I second this - theres no substitute for practice and theres one or two people down this way who prove this time and again (Some who appear on here occasionally too) - learning to drive your car as it is now is going to teach you alot, as well as save you money.

Wish I could say I have done this - maybe one day I will learn

[D-Style]

 Munkvy']

[quote name='loren said:

Here's a novel idea, not one I have followed myself however.

Learn to drive around the handling problems of your car and save your money for competing and track days etc.

I do recommend a 22mm adjustable rear swaybar and some camber bolts however... but after that just learn

how to drive in a manner to avoid understeer and whatever other problems you may experience.

/quote]

I second this - theres no substitute for practice and theres one or two people down this way who prove this time and again (Some who appear on here occasionally too) - learning to drive your car as it is now is going to teach you alot, as well as save you money.

Wish I could say I have done this - maybe one day I will learn

I third this aswell. No good having all the go fast shiny stuff if your driving skills arent going to use them to there full.

If you have th money then buy a good set of shocks/springs. They dont have to be adjustables but if you have the money to get them, go for it. After that, then replace any worn parts like bushes etc etc. Do the easy stuff first. Even get some better tyres....

Once you have the basics covered and your starting to out-drive your car, then you can start looking at sway-bars and the rest.

Small steps grasshopper

[Swindog]

THE BEST SUSPENSION MOD you can EVER put on your car is a

HeavyDuty rear sway bar 22-24mm with the HD mounts.

No other mod will give you the value for money full stop.

Next would be nolathane bushes and better shocks. Springs dont matter too much but a progressive rate strut is the way to go. Most adjusties use prgressive rate struts.

Then an anti-lift kit! youll nail anyone!

[funkytown]

have a vague idea about adjusties

but what about the cost of sway bar (and the links i think your tallking about)?

And also cost of nolathane bushes?

[Guest]

been looking into handling mods myself and found some good information here, scroll down about halfway to "Rex on Rails"

http://www.whiteline.com.au/default.asp?page=/reviews03.htm

is basically what others have suggested here (rear sway bar, ALK and alignment but in much more detail!!!

[Guest]

 D-Style']

[quote name='loren said:

Here's a novel idea, not one I have followed myself however.

Learn to drive around the handling problems of your car and save your money for competing and track days etc.

I do recommend a 22mm adjustable rear swaybar and some camber bolts however... but after that just learn

how to drive in a manner to avoid understeer and whatever other problems you may experience.

/quote]

I second this - theres no substitute for practice and theres one or two people down this way who prove this time and again (Some who appear on here occasionally too) - learning to drive your car as it is now is going to teach you alot, as well as save you money.

Wish I could say I have done this - maybe one day I will learn

I third this aswell. No good having all the go fast shiny stuff if your driving skills arent going to use them to there full.

If you have th money then buy a good set of shocks/springs. They dont have to be adjustables but if you have the money to get them, go for it. After that, then replace any worn parts like bushes etc etc. Do the easy stuff first. Even get some better tyres....

Once you have the basics covered and your starting to out-drive your car, then you can start looking at sway-bars and the rest.

Small steps grasshopper

x4!

Rear anti roll bar is well worth it.

Wheel aligments are not all created equal. A motorsport suspension technician will help to minimise your understeer as much as the factory adjustments can allow and settings may not fall within a regular alignment's specs. Your local car club will be able to recommend a good alignment guru.

[pl0x]

Yup i agree, i am a fan of good shock/spring setup tho, i.e adjustys

[funkytown]

So i got to test out my new brakes and 888's combo at Mega meet.. Soooo much better than stock, alot less understerry. Think Adjusties, rear swaybar and rear strut brace will be on the cards, after seeing some of the other GF8's there.

[PhatRS]

On a bit of a side note, the more you do for the grip and handling, and the faster you can corner the more you will need to look at a baffled sump....for engine safetys sake.

[funkytown]

yes and those suckers are real $$$

[Guest loren]

 funkytown said:

yes and those suckers are real $$$

not compared to a decent rebuild.

[Scoobydoo]

I might be persuaded to part with my goodies... we can chat about what you'd like, and what will fit over... sway bars, links etc.

[funkytown]

lol id like as much as i can get (that fits) for as little as i can pay.. lol

txt me today or i will you if your thoughts have changed since yesterday

[QRAF]

adjusties for the win they were great at he MM really noticed it following the sti how i caught him on the corners.

but he had the power out of the corners, as his 16.5-18psi boost to my 7-9psi

[Simon C]

Read this:

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171928

And for heaven's sake, ditch the Teins. They're killing you.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1267918