Since switching to all-season tires (Sumitomo HTRs) and lowering springs (Tein S-Techs) I've noticed a deration in my suspension and handling.

I'd like some recommendations on what's the best suspension setup. Not really interested in coilovers, if possible I'd like to keep the springs and optimistically I'd like to go to 18"s year.

By means of best suspension setup, I'm talking about a combination of what summer tires, sway bars, struts bars, trunk bars, etc.

I'm planning on running the Dragon next spring and would like to start thinking of a new suspension setup.

Thanks!

 

You have to remember the stock Advans plus the stock suspension already give the evo a very responsive setup. Putting springs will help but putting all-season tires will definitely degrade your handling since they are not as good as the Advans. Sidewall will be softer, might not be as wide, and definitely not as sticky...so therefore they will not be as good. 18's will definitely slow you down, if you are looking to go faster. Stick with 17's for performance and 18's for looks.

Reading stuff here and previously on NASIOC, most autoxers and racers go for coilovers due to the fact that it's easier to change the setup for different situations. So if you get serious with racing and auto-x's then that would be the way to go. As far as tires go, choices are just everywhere. I'm sure soem other will recommend goods ones for different setups. I guess i'm not much of a help. But i would say that stick to high performance tires for racing/autoX and then all-season/winter tires for offseason driving. High performance tires are EXPENSIVE and will wear out faster then regular tires.

As for my setup, I just ordered hotchkis springs for a good price and from what I read they are pretty good without being too slammed. I really don't care for my car to be that low, cause for one thing, Detroit roads will kill your suspensions! I will probably have them installed after gettings my wheels (Enkei RS-5's) and all-season tires(Kumho ASX) mounted for winter. Hopefully the setup will make the car look good and ride well. The stockers will hibernate till Spring/summer.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the reply RSBoy, appreciate the thoughts.

I know that for drag times, 18s will be slower than 17s, but for myself I like the combination of speed/show setup, thus why I'll be trying to go 18s with a sharp looking, lightweight rim setup on summer tires.

I just was looking for a recommendation on how fellow Evo owners did their aftermarket suspension setups? I know the stock suspension on Advans are great but with my lowering springs, I'd like the sharpen up my handling.

I'm not sure how much of an impact a strut bar/sway bar setup on handling. I've also heard that going poly-urethane bushings is a handling improvement.

RSBoy, where in Detroit are you? I'll be in Detroit (Birmingham/Southfield suburbs) over Thanksgiving.

 

Without getting into all the different setups possible, unless you're planning on auto-x or numerous trips to the track, some of the most popular setups are likely all you will ever need. A rear strut bar to tighten up the rear end. A larger diameter adjustable rear sway bar and adjustable end links will allow you to switch from understeer to oversteer. A larger diameter front sway bar, while not a necessity, will definately help if you are planning on running R compound tires as they have a tendency to increase body roll because of increased traction. Replacing bushings with a harder less forgiving material, while decreasing suspension deflection, has its own set of wear problems. Unless you are person with very high driving skills, being able to exploit a full 10/10's of the car's potential, may not be worth the investment. Just my .02 worth.

 

I'm in the city itself. Living ghetto fabulous!
Let me know if you are around. Hopefully the Hotchkis spring will be installed by then. You can check out how they ride along with the 17" Enkei RS-5s and Falken 512s setup I already have. PM or email me, lancergsr@gmail.com, if you want.

As far as swaybars and strut bars go, I can attest to the difference with my old car, Impreza 2.5RS. Bigger sway bar and a front strut bar really helped as far as how the car drove. Generally the car had good handling stock, but adding the strut and a bigger swaybar, I noticed improved reaction when turning the wheel. When I put in my KYB/AGXs and eibach prokit springs... the fun multiplied! And this was switching between the stock 16" wheels and tires and 17" Prodrive P1s and 215/45 Sumitomo HTR+ A/S tires.

But that car, with all the stuff, was not even as good as the evo stock! The chassis is just ridiculous on this car. That's why I don't feel the need to buy a bigger swaybar or anything, but I'm sure it will help. i guess with such a better base to start with, I, personally, am limiting myself to small stuff or good deals. Maybe when we start going to the tracks in the summer... my ideas will definitely change.

sorry, I guess I'm not much of a help here. Some autoxer's and track rats should chime in!

 

Thanks for some of the thoughts guys, I think right now I'll start looking into a rear strut bar for starters.

What does everyone think of the lower arm bars, I believe they replace the stock lower tie bars (which are really flimsy to begin with)? The Cusco Version 2 looks impressive.

I don't know if I plan on starting to auto-x but I would like the confidence to run twisties and places like tail of the dragon without being really tentative because of my handling. I'm sure running summer tires instead of all-seasons will be a big improvement for starters.

 

1. Rear strut bar, most any manufacturer

2. Rear sway bar(Cusco, Hotchkis or Perrin) to promote slight amount of oversteer
3. R compound tires

Should be all the confidence you'll ever need. BTW I'm from Elyria originally. Not missing the winters here in Texas.

 

You made the right move, I'm originally from California and I moved out here years ago...
although the only good thing about the winters here...snow drifting!

Maybe I should get these mods one at a time and see how the handling feels after each mod. I'm just thinking the lower arm bars have to be an improvement considering how tiny the stock tie bars are.

 

That's the way I've done almost all my mods. Ultimately you'll change your car as you see fit, but I don't know anyone around here that has changed out the the lower bars. I think with the suspension tweeks mentioned above by myself and others will give you all the car most people can handle. Try to remember, ALL of the magazines have raved about the stock handling of the Evo. You talked about the deration of the hadling of your car after the addition of the S techs and tires. On one of the other threads someone mentioned that S Techs produce a rake front to rear on the car. Perhaps by inbalancing the car you have contributed to poorer performance. It was always my perception that lowering springs were more for looks than performance. Just a thought.

 

Rode on HTR's for last winter, and they are garbage for handling. The tread works for winter, but awful otherwise. That will be the single most important issue pertaining to the degradation in the handling of your car.