Robispec made a visit to Minneapolis this weekend and did 3 cars: '03 Evo 8, '05 MR and '06 9 MR......I will give you a rundown of my car '03 Evo 8 going from stock to ROBISPEC basic with MR Bilstein/ Swift MR springs.....

I was very unhappy with the ride of my car...'03's have a poorly matched spring and strut combo...I wanted to lower the car, get better turn in and rotation and improve ride quality. All of these requests were accomplished this weekend.

Springs: Robi prefers the Espelir GT springs then the Swift MR's than the Works MR. All of these springs are designed to work with the MR strut valving. Any other springs will not work correctly. There are some small differances between them and I chose the Swifts because of availibilty. If you choose to go with Espelir make sure you spec the GT model NOT the Active Down version. Their is a differance and many companies do not know the differance. The drop is about 1.5 front and 1.0 rear.

Struts: I opted for a set of Bilstein MR struts off of a new 9 MR. I chose this option because at this point I couldn't spend for the KW Variant coilovers.

Spacers: I also opted for a set of double hubcentic spacers from ROBISPEC. The front's only. Yes widening the front track only helps the turn in on this car.


ROBISPEC: Yes, there is more to it than just a few camber changes etc...part of what you are paying for is the time and effort he has put into finding out what works. There are about 4 very specific ROBISPEC changes in the basic setup. Not only did he have to figure out what changes needed to be made he had to source the parts to work with the existing Evo suspension parts. I watched the process start to finish and if you think it's easy or that anyone can do it as long as they know what he does is IMHO you are mistaken unless you have an above average grasp of suspension tuning.

Rear Sway: He uses a larger 25mm rear bar as well.

Laser alignment: Pretty self explanatory but much better than an alignment shop.

How does it ride: The car is much more solid, meaning the high frequency, sharp rebound that unsettles the car is gone. Definitely more comfortable than stock. The hobbyhorseing the '03's do is also gone. Turn in is vastly improved. I have not had the chance to track the car yet but can't wait.

Robert is a wealth of information on the EVO, very easy to work with, polite and is happy to explain why he is doing what he is doing. He does not ridicule your current set up or bad mouth his competitors. Also a welcome change is he actually answers his emails and will return your phone calls. What a concept! Considering the effort he put into my car the plane ticket and labor built(minimal) into the package is a great value. I hope this helps.....

 

So are the one that he was going to see when he dropped my car at LAX... I agree with everything you said. I had Robi upgrade my 04 to the KW's and love them. I may soften them a touch more for daily use, but had the chance to take them into the twisties this weekend. Amazing is all I can say. I had to run up to Idyllwild on hwy 74 outside of Hemet for a bike race. Without even trying, I found myself taking 35 MPH posted corners at 60. This was with NO drama, no tire noise and actually was way too easy!! I give Robispec a big thumbs up!!

 

I'm glad you guy's are happy! Now drive those cars like they were ment to be driven...(but please stay outa jail fcol...)

 

Does the Espelir GT work with the regular KYB shocks? If they work with the softer MR shocks, then they should work with the KYBs, right?

 

if anyone else wants to do this setup, let me know

i have my IX MR shocks, and/or springs for sale

they have 9k on them

 

YHPM

 

work with the stockers better ride with the bilsteins

 

great review again, good job boss.

 

Id like to see a picture of an Evo with the Espelir GT springs.

 

"voidhawk"

 

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...wk#post3407773

 

sweet... congrats on the basic setup!

now hurry up and go to the road course

n