Ok... My knowledge about suspension really sucks and I want to have a clean and reliable replacement kit, but I don't know enough about suspension to be able to choose intelligently. I want to lower the car about 1-2" all around while being able to keep a good driveability. I don't wanna buy only coilover kits 'cause ppl told me it'd cause premature tire and shocks wear. I'd like to have a full kit, in the end, but I don't simply don't know which and what the final results would be...

HELP PLZZZ!!

 

Assuming your car is mainly street driven and this is a mainly a cosmetic mod, I would do the Tein Spings. nice 2 inch drop up front, .75 inch in the rear, and the car looks great.

Would also strongly recommend the Cusco sway bars as well, which will greatly reduce body roll in the turns, especially with your lower ride height

Adam

 

Actually i'd rather go for a "more go than show" kit... a High performance one that i still could enjoy driving everyday (ok... week-end I dont really like having the trunk much higher than the front neither... am I really obliged to do this? because 2" and .75" is quite a big difference...

Anyway... keep sending your sugeestions...'cause I haven't found nothin yet...

 

I think Tein would suit you quite well actually - very comfy, lowered stance = lower cetner of gravity. Yes it sounds like a big difference, but the car will sit even.

Go look at your stock rideheight - much more wheel gap in the front vs the rea due to the overall curve of the rear well.

There are a bunch of pics in the forums of various cars with the springs - Tanabe and Tein give the most even stance front to rear.

Will it outhandle a coilover sysem? Probably not (though not sure yet), but for what you are after, its all you would need IMHO

 

More gap in the front then in the rear. If you lower the car and make them all the same as in all wheels with the same wheel gap it's going to be worse then stock. I still don't know why people mess with the stock setup, it's great. Again unless you spend 3-4,000 you are not going to do any better then stock. Again why whould someone want to change it? Also you know it causes problems with the drive train? Good luck if you have tranny problems and have the car lower.

 

SS RX7 r2 tested some springs on his Evo (can't remember the brand though) and liked them. From what I hear, a modest drop along with Koni double adjustable shocks will greatly improve your handling. I'm not sure if you need any more than an inch because the Evo already has a decent stance. But yes, lower center of gravity = better handling, as long as you don't throw the suspension geometry off.

Ryan, lowering the car does not necessarily cause tranny problems. But if you lower a car too much, inverting the control arms or throwing the suspension geometry off, that will cause a strain on the drive axles as well as a bunch of joints, not just the drive train. But that's in the case of an extreme drop. An inch won't throw it off, and most of the autocrossing Evos agree a small drop is beneficial because of the lower CG. Although I do agree that the Evo handles very well completely bone stock, too.

 

How is lowering the car going to cauase drivetrain issues?

 

I just know that if you lower the car and have tranny problems they are not going to cover it. I forget what it was 100% but lowering a awd car causes more stress to the drive line because it changes the way the axles are or something like that.

 

They probably think that lowering the car increase the chance to scratch the underbody? But then unless your car is bone stock will try hard to look for excuse not to fix your car anyway.

By the way, lowering the car doesn't always means better handling. It also depends on how well the car is aligned after it is lowered.

Just my .02

 

i still don't konw why lowering a car would affect the tranny...

 

I think you are misinformed. making chassis modifications does not effect the transmission components nor differentials. Also, just because of a modification in one part of the vehicle, does not mean you are voiding the entire warranty, only that part of it. The dealer has to prove that the modificiation you made actually caused a problem in the vehicle.

Additionally, keep in mind that one's perfect chassis does not mean it is for someone else. I personally think, the Evo's chassis is too soft for tracking and can use a stiffer setup.

I think Adam's recommendation is quite spot on. However, I personally, do not like upgrading the springs without the struts, but that's just me

 

I recommend the JIC FLT-A2 coilovers. Easy to adjust, high quality, and very durable. I have them on my car and love the ride. I had my ride height, damper, camber, caster, and toe adjusted to a street setup and it feels a whole lot better than stock. Although a set of coilovers like these may cost you an arm and a leg (for most people) and tuning them's another cost, but you'll enjoy the end results.

Never lower your car without addressing your dampening. You don't wanna look like an idiot with a bouncing car. Chicks don't dig rough rides either. Like you, they want a smooth operator.

As far as ruining your axles with a lowered AWD car, it is recommended that if you do lower your car, you need to make sure that you set your dampening to all the way stiff in front and 1 click softer in the back. Make sure that you have 0.0 camber too to avoid breaking an axle or destroying your transmission. It has happened to a lot of GSXs and VR4s so learn from the mistakes of others.

 

Also, if you lower your car with the same amount of gap for both front and rear, your front will dive down. To avoid a rough ride, adjust your front dampers to a softer setting than your rear or you could just raise your front a lil' bit to make your car at even level or parrallel to the ground.

 

Wow, we have one more pro on suspensions Okay how many track events have you been to with YOUR evo? I do not even see it listed there in your car list? It seems the evo pulls very high G's on the skidpad and the only thing that MAY help is a different rear bar. Also I have been to the track with SLICKS and the stock setup is fine. Goto to the track and drive your car and let me know what is wrong. And taking a turn fast on the way to work does not count as track time.

 

Also you want to balance the car to make sure it's right