Tuning for the hills

[Blankman]

I'm looking for the best suspension setup for carving up some choice mountain roads. So far from researching and shopping I've come up with this solution:

Racing beat springs
Tokico blue struts

I'm planning on keeping the rims 16's or 17's, nothing bigger.

I can't decide on sway bars or strut braces yet. Any suggestions from fellow curvy mountain road enthusiasts? What works and what doesn't?

 

[Cellerator]

that's a bit extreme if just for hills. However, if you do track time, then upgrades may be a possibility but otherwise, keep it stock until it starts failing on you.

 

[xelderx]

Your basically talking about upgrading to the MSP sturts/springs. It's a noticable difference and the car will feel much more stable and responsive. It might be a good idea to look at a larger rear swaybar as well. This will help cancel out most of the understeer that our cars are prone to when stock. Something realtive in size to the MSP rear swaybar like the Progress one or the AWR 19mm. Stick with your 16" rims for now and put good 205 series tires on them instead of the stock 195 series.

 

[WRCprotege]

my car is set up for deals gap..318 turns in 11 miles..i have skunk2 coilovers and AWR 21mm rear sway,camber bolts and a good alignment with the car corner weighted/balanced.. pending on how hard you drive, the lower the back end more for balance and stablity, coilovers are good for that, however the tokico blues have a taller tube by about 1inch, so i removed mine and went back to the stock p5 sturts for now so i can get the car lower and not be riding on the bump stops.. ther is very little differance to me, between the shocks with the skunk2s.. the rear sway is a must have!! and good tires, i have the stock 16s, which i like, so i got the azenis rt-615 215-45-16, one the azenis is one of the best tires for street ever.. massive grip and good looks, and the price is great..id go sway first, springs and shocks next if the coners are tight, then tires.. adjust to your liking and style... fun twisty driven awaits
some pics of prep of one of my trips to the gap this year..i got all new rotors sloted and drilled and axxis ultimate pads, they didnt come in till the day before we left, so ther not on the car in thes pics

 

[Blankman]

So the general concensus is to go sway first, then springs? I usually have the car loaded down with the wife & kids when I'm driving through the hills up here, considering that load would it be better to get the 21mm rear sway bar or the 19?

 

[Crazee D]

There are a lot of factors here.
I have a P5 with Eibach Pros and Tokico HP blues and I am hittin those bumpstops regularly of these pot hole ridden, snow plow torn New England "roads". We trimmed over a good inch off the bump stops too.
I have 25 mm spacers all around with stock rims, AWR links front and rear, 21.5 mm RSB. I also removed any extra weight in the rear (spare, jack, covers, mats, etc...

There are TWO WORDS to describe the ride now....

HARSH

and

LOUD

I keep the tires at 40 psi which I'm sure some people will disagree about.

The AWR front mount has made a noticable difference in the front end handling.

I have MSP calipers up ront with drilled/slotted and CS SS lines and no ABS and braking is awesome.
I love to pull my hand brake on empty roads that are covered here with wet leaves right now. WOOHOO...

I love to feel it in the twisties and I'm willing to sacrifice the slamming, jarring ride for it.

 

[WRCprotege]

id go AWR 21mm, and ther adjustable so you add more or less as need.. for auto-x its full stiff for max rotation but at the gap at speeds around 40-90mph i take a little off and set it up to side all four wheels evenly so its perdicable and balanced.. the bar full soft is close to stock-much like an MSP rear bar, so it very safe and drivable, you add more to meet your needs and preferance.. only takes 5 min to adj as well.. with wife and kids mabey just go with MSP set up because it dos give you better handling but still get a good ride, this along with 21mm rear bar and GOOD tires, would do very well and still be comfortable.. wheel spacers and camber bolts with alinement can add more grip and stability as well without sacrificing the ride

 

[Moonman8]

i have the stock 16s, which i like, so i got the azenis rt-615 215-45-16, one the azenis is one of the best tires for street ever.. massive grip and good looks, and the price is great

How the hell did you get 215's on the stock wheels? It seems like the tire would flex way too much around the rim with a 215 on a 6" rim, just my thought.

Anyway, good looking car from your pics. Azenis are going to be my next set of tires...I'm on the Ziex 512's right now.

Also, I have the Progress 22mm rear sway and it's awesome. Bolts into stock locations, no clunk problems, and you can use the stock endlinks if you need to. Great buy at only ~$125 depending on where you get it.

 

[MyZmZm]

i'm going to have to concur with the rear sway bar - that upgrade alone (whether to the msp racing beat one, like i have, or a larger awr one) makes a HUGE difference. the ass-end of the car feels much, much tighter around corners it's not funny.

i have the ion sport springs which offer a really nice ride quality - very similar to stock - and lower the car, but not too much. i mated these with the illuminas because i did want to have the ability to adjust the dampening of the struts depending on road conditions, weather, etc.

by sounds of things though, what you're thinking for your setup will probably be a very nice compromise between ride quality and handling, and it will definitely be an improvement over stock (though stock is awesome in it's own right).

 

[Blankman]

I love to pull my hand brake on empty roads that are covered here with wet leaves right now. WOOHOO...

QUOTE]

Amen to that...I've got a 4 year old that eggs me on to do stuff like that.

Anyway, thanks for all the input so far, looks like I'm going to pick up a rear sway bar first, then go from there.

 

[Crazee D]

Again Daddy! Again!

I get that too with my cuties.

 

[Crazee D]

I really curious about what setups those with 18" rollers are runnin.

Did anyone NOT need fender rolling?
What about max width for us?
How does the bigger rim (tho I would aim for lightweight) affect handling?

 

[WRCprotege]

How the hell did you get 215's on the stock wheels? It seems like the tire would flex way too much around the rim with a 215 on a 6" rim, just my thought.

Anyway, good looking car from your pics. Azenis are going to be my next set of tires...I'm on the Ziex 512's right now.

Also, I have the Progress 22mm rear sway and it's awesome. Bolts into stock locations, no clunk problems, and you can use the stock endlinks if you need to. Great buy at only ~$125 depending on where you get it.

215 fits fine, that the new set of 615s on the car in pics..a little muscle is required to get them on.. no tire flex at all though azenis seem to feel like they run alot of slip angle.. its all about grip and once you have azenis you cant go back,... much like going back to a pager or a black and white tv...

 

[Moonman8]

215 fits fine, that the new set of 615s on the car in pics..a little muscle is required to get them on.. no tire flex at all though azenis seem to feel like they run alot of slip angle.. its all about grip and once you have azenis you cant go back,... much like going back to a pager or a black and white tv...

very interesting. I just looked up the dimensions of a 215/45/16 and it's almost identical to the stock diameter (within 0.1"). If I ever go back to my stock wheels, I am definitely going with that size.

You get no rubbing whatsoever, either? Even being lowered? It's just hard to believe considering the stock size is a 195/50/16. Any wierd vibrations at all at certain speeds?

Also, do you have to keep insanely high tire pressures in order to keep the sidewall from bulging (still stuck on the 215 width on a 6" rim) or are the Azenis sidewalls just that stiff?

 

[WRCprotege]

very interesting. I just looked up the dimensions of a 215/45/16 and it's almost identical to the stock diameter (within 0.1"). If I ever go back to my stock wheels, I am definitely going with that size.

You get no rubbing whatsoever, either? Even being lowered? It's just hard to believe considering the stock size is a 195/50/16. Any wierd vibrations at all at certain speeds?

Also, do you have to keep insanely high tire pressures in order to keep the sidewall from bulging (still stuck on the 215 width on a 6" rim) or are the Azenis sidewalls just that stiff?

no problems, as you can see in the pics thers no bulging of any kind, and as you can see the car is slammed, no rubbing.. auto-x i run 32 psi and about 45 street and up to 55psi for trips and hwy fun... all with no problems.. its only 20mm wider- about one inch- thats less than 1/2 inch more on the front side and same on back, hell my wheel spacers are 25mm alone, when i run those i did have to roll the rear fender though added camber would have been fine as well, but i didnt have camber bolts at that time... in my pics its little camber(due to adj toe out) and no spacers in that pic.. basicly stock, lower with 215-45-16 tires

 

[Roywhitep5]

eibach springs, tokico blue struts, awr 21mm rear sway, 17 wheels with 215/40/17 kumho mx and some fade resistant brake pads. follow that formula and you will be happy.

 

[Moonman8]

no problems, as you can see in the pics thers no bulging of any kind, and as you can see the car is slammed, no rubbing.. auto-x i run 32 psi and about 45 street and up to 55psi for trips and hwy fun... all with no problems.. its only 20mm wider- about one inch- thats less than 1/2 inch more on the front side and same on back, hell my wheel spacers are 25mm alone, when i run those i did have to roll the rear fender though added camber would have been fine as well, but i didnt have camber bolts at that time... in my pics its little camber(due to adj toe out) and no spacers in that pic.. basicly stock, lower with 215-45-16 tires

thanks WRC and sorry if this was a threadjack in any way. Now I want to go out and buy some new tires for my stockers and sell my MP3 Racing Hart 17's...anybody interested!????

 

[Matthew1785]

thanks WRC and sorry if this was a threadjack in any way. Now I want to go out and buy some new tires for my stockers and sell my MP3 Racing Hart 17's...anybody interested!????

is that including tires and rims cause right now I'm running proxe 4's 195/50/16's i'd love to make a trade for those tires and rims that was I can ge rid of my stock rims and my proxes

 

[Moonman8]

is that including tires and rims cause right now I'm running proxe 4's 195/50/16's i'd love to make a trade for those tires and rims that was I can ge rid of my stock rims and my proxes

I'm not completely sure I'm selling but yeah it would include wheels and tires. The tires are 215/45/17 Falken Ziex ZE512's. They are painted a flat gold with red MP3 center caps. I know that's not everyone's taste but they can easily be refinished in any color to suit the buyer (cost me about $40 in materials to refinish all 4 wheels).

I might be willing to accept a trade for them. Your stockers + cash for my 17's. I still have my stockers but I want another set for a refinish job.

NOTE: these are not technically for sale and I'm not selling them just yet so don't close the thread under the assumption of me trying to sell something without pictures.

 

[Matthew1785]

I'm not completely sure I'm selling but yeah it would include wheels and tires. The tires are 215/45/17 Falken Ziex ZE512's. They are painted a flat gold with red MP3 center caps. I know that's not everyone's taste but they can easily be refinished in any color to suit the buyer (cost me about $40 in materials to refinish all 4 wheels).

I might be willing to accept a trade for them. Your stockers + cash for my 17's. I still have my stockers but I want another set for a refinish job.

NOTE: these are not technically for sale and I'm not selling them just yet so don't close the thread under the assumption of me trying to sell something without pictures.

how much additional cash you want for them whats the tread % left cause the tires only have 900 miles on them, so their practically brand new. and all 4 rims are pratically brand new as well. they are stock as well, they were replaced when carmax sold me the car. send me some pics on them and i'll send you some pics on mine.