Francis,
Wanna see pics installed on an MR. Guess I'll have to wait for Gary to install his and then check out his MR. May be calling you for an order soon after I test drive his MR. If you got any pics installed on an MR post em up. Deciding between works springs or swift springs.
Kevin

 

Kevin,

No problem man. I'll see if I can dig up my pics but hopefully Gary will have them on soon. You guys won't be dissapointed!

Francis@aspec

 

I'll get them installed once I *RECEIVE* them. ;-)

 

 

I don't know about the "jury", but I had an '03 EVO and now I have the '05 MR and in my opinion and my experience, the MR handles waaay better than the '03 (GSR?). I'm talking about general driving as well as spirited driving in the twisties. I would not change anything in the suspension of my MR for my uses. I guess if you are going to track, road race or use the EVO for serious competition, you'd benefit from suspension upgrades. For me, no thank you. I like the MR the way it is....

 

The British Evo magazine claims rear spring rates for the IX have been decreased to improve ride.
Where can I get a set of these springs for my MR suspension?

 

Here's the link:
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/driven/...hi_evo_ix.html

 

will the Hotchkis springs fit the MR?

 

Folks,

Apologies for the delay but I finally got my Swift springs installed on my MR and posting pics. This first set are the before shots and the next post will have the after shots and my impressions.

-Gary

 

These pics are all the after shots.

Facts:

These springs are 1 lb. lighter on the rears and 1.5 lb for the fronts. (yes, I weighed them)
I measured from the ground to the top of the fender wells:
Front stock - 27 1/8"
Front w/ Swift - 26" - effective drop is 1 1/8"
Rear stock - 26 1/4"
Rear w/ Swift - 25 1/2 - effective drop is 3/4"

Driving impressions so far:

This is the way the MR should have come from the factory. It drives just like my 2002 Porsche C4S w/ the factory sport suspension. The ride is *slightly* firmer, but in a damn good way. You can feel slow bumps a wee-bit more (like speed bumps) but not jarring in any way. On the streets the ride is marginally better, but much better at handling wash-board roads. However, at higher speeds the MR feels much more controlled and is actually smoother on the highway. I don't feel the car floating over slow rolling dips say at 80+mph on the freeway, and it feels much more planted over fast sweepers. Cornering ability is outstanding, MR feels more neutral, much less tendency to dip & plow into a corner and transitions very well from right to left. Swift really matched the springs to the Bilsteins.

In summary, hope this helps some of you on the fence about getting springs on your MR. Get the Swifts! I really like the drop, not too low and was exactly the street setup I was looking for. I'm really pleased w/ the Swift springs and bigtime props to Francis at A-Spec for convincing me to try them.

-Gary

 

Great information Gary, thanks for sharing!

 

I like the look of the Swifts, but I am concerned that alteration of the rake will affect handling. Would the Works springs handle better since it is an even drop in the front and the rear (7/8")?

 

WORKS tends to think so. After all, you don't want more weight transferring forward on an already front-heavy car. Don't get me wrong, the Swifts are quality products as well (we've got a set here at the shop). We're just taking a different approach on the matter

 

It seems that the swift springs are really good all rounders. I quite like the idea that they were designed for the MR and they make the car look great. Francis, how can I get these in the UK...would you be able to ship them to me?

As far as I know, there is no UK swift dealer. I really want a set of these ASAP

 

Can you enlighten us as to the differences between the two brands, Works and Swift? This is a thread about springs on the MR and we've heard from a Swift representative, now we'd like to hear from Works about why they feel theirs is a better product. Thanks, Neil