I just bought my EVO X and I want the chassis to stay flatter on corner entry mainly. Exit would be nice to but I dont think its as critical. I dont have a whole lot of extra cash so I was wondering whats the best first step to take. I was thinking either a sway bar or a set of springs? Which one will give me the most improvement? I tried searching but didnt come up with an answer. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

depending on your budget, id get swift spec r springs and eventually replace the stock struts with bilsteins when u find a good deal on them, and a perrin or whiteline rear sway bar, and really good tires(often overlooked)

 

Well, what are you going to be doing with the car? Is this just a DD? Springs can actually hurt performance. I would look up GT Worx springs..

But, Suspension is something that you DO NOT want to cheap out on. The Evo's biggest strength is handling and there is no reason to compromise that. The X in stock form does have a little more body roll than desired in stock form. Some really quality springs should help even it out some.. When I put on my H&R's, I noticed a pretty big difference.

Where in GA are you at??

 

Sway bars are for fine tuning. I'd look at some springs if you don't have any cash and eventually upgrade to bilsteins like the above poster said.

 

A good "stage 1" is springs, rear swaybar, and a good alignment. A front bar can be helpful as well but it's a difficult install and many people skip it.

We like our GTWORX springs obviously. The Swift Spec-R's are also a good choice. Swift Sports are good but are a bit soft and have a pretty small drop. We also use Whiteline sway bars.

- Andrew

 

I have the swift spec-r's and also installed the whiteline rca kit. I really like the way the car handles right now. I also picked up a set of bilstein struts when I had the chance, but am waiting to send them out to be revalved.

 

My mods are consistent with the recommendations of the posts in this thread. Since my car is DD, I opted just for springs, sway bars front and back, Whiteline roll center kit, a good alignment (-2.5 in front), and beefier rear endlinks. The difference in handling is night and day over stock and much better than my old WRX which had all kinds of suspension mods including K&W V3 coilovers. The ride quality is still comfy for DD especially with the Kumho XS tires which are just as or more sticky than the stock tires but ride a tad softer with much less road noise.

Like previous posters urge on this thread, don't go for too much drop in your springs because you'll be running on your bumpstops in turns and your handling will actually diminish. My drop is just .5 inch and I trimmed the bumpstops.

The Whiteline roll center kit helps to compensate for the alteration in suspension geometry caused by springs which lower your X. The kit makes a noticeable improvement in turn in and minimizes the need for super high negative camber settings which can speed up tire wear. I was at -3 camber in front for a while but the tire wear was too excessive.

If you get a larger rear sway bar get stronger endlinks at the same time. I waited sometime before I installed stronger endlinks and the difference in aiding rotation was very noticeable. That's something you don't usually notice in an endlink mod.

 

Thankyou everyone for the advice. Looks like springs are the way to go for first suspension mod. My X is my DD so fun factor is the most important thing right now. I traded my 05 STI for the X. The STI had RCE blacks, whiteline sways F&R, and kartboy endlinks. I loved the way it handled, especially on corner exit. Id like to get the EVO close or better without killing comfort. Is there an EVO equivalent to the RCE black springs for STI? Something with a good rate increase without too much drop? I live in Savannah Ga where the roads are rarely smooth.

 

It's really odd. When subbie drivers go evo, they want it to handle like an STi. On the other hand Evos have a hard time driving STis because they don't like the way they handle.

What is it that you liked about your set up? Are you looking for a planted feel? Are you looking for more oversteer?

I'm not familiar with the RCE black springs, but GTWorx and Swift Spec-R springs are your best bets. They have a higher spring rate, and don't have a huge drop. They are all about handling vs the other springs that were more for show imo. Start there, then incrementally upgrade your system when you're looking for another feature.

 

little confused here, Swift Spec R has a 1.5" front and over 1" rear drop. Doesn't it hurt the handling and mess the geometry of the car?

 

Interesting so would it be safe to say anything over .5 drop will hurt the handling?

Any evidence support your comments above? ( other than the feel of the car but scientifically proven)

thanks in advance

 

The front of the Evo X has a much larger front wheel gap than the rear, those springs likely try and even that out. It's not a night and day difference but I don't like the off road vehicle look on the front from the factory, the rears are actually pretty good spot out of the gate and don't need much of a drop.

Personally on my Evo X MR that I just switched to, I simply went with wider wheels/tires with a real alignment and the car is quite good handling now. Still somewhat too much bodyroll but I have a good quality set of coilovers, front and rear swaybars, and rear endlinks on the menu.

As for settings I went with -2.1* front and rear camber with zero toe front and 3mm total toe in rear. The car is quite predictable and neutral handling although eventually I'll go slightly higher negative camber up front. The reason I went with somewhat high negative rear camber is that my wider wheel (18x10.5") and tire package (285/30-18) will only fit if I add some negtive camber despite rolling the fenders. This time around I went with some Timmyspec lower control arms which leaves the stock camber adjusters in play for easy tweaking unlike the whiteline.

 

This. This is why I was dissapointed in my Evos handling after upgrading the springs, RCE kit, and sways. I for some reason remembered my STI to be more nimble and felt like it could make quicker transitions. Now that I've become more used to my Evo I feel it handles better, but not significantly better. Especially considering the only suspension mods done to my STI were sways. Maybe the quick steering plays a role in that, because you are turning more than you think with less turn of the wheel, compared to the STI.

To the OP I first upgraded my springs to the swift spec-r, which elminated much of the body roll, and give a perfect drop. I barley ever scrape unless its a very steep incline and even still it only scrapes the plastic undertray, and the ride quality is still just as good as stock.

Then I upgraded to some Hotchkis sways F/R, which I felt made a notable difference. I still have them set on soft for the front, and med for the rear, but there is very little body roll. Its nice for a car that is daily driven. Rotates very nicely aswell on and off throttle.

 

The main thing I liked about the STI was flat corner entry with very little drama at high speeds. The STI could explode out of corners also. Most people say STI's tend to understeer but mine would power over steer at will. Very drama free. I drove EVO IX's and I loved the way the steering felt like it was connected directly to your brain. Ive always felt that EVO's with suspension work out performed STI's with similar mods. Ive just never owned my own before now.

 

Regarding too much of a drop with springs, some people buy lowering springs for looks and get well over an inch of drop. If the springs are soft, the car's handling is worse than stock. When driving aggressively into turns the springs bottom out and end up on their bumpstops, which causes understeer and screws up how smoothly the car transitions in and out turns. Too soft of a spring can also shorten the life of the damper

A performance spring from GT Worx or Muellerized has a drop around an 1 inch or less and are a stiffer performance spring.


If you're lowering your car, the Whiteline balljoint lower kit is a smart mod. Lowering alters the roll center of the car and the angle of the front control arm which reduces traction. The Whiteline balljoint lowering kit restores the control arm near or at stock setting and improves front traction and initial turn in.