Which springs and sway bars?

[PassivAggressor]

Alright guys, I am undecided. Im getting some new suspension goodies next month and I'm confused as to what to get. Im looking at the RacingBeat spring and sway bar package or the H&R springs and Corksport sways. Both are around the same price. The thing thats turning me away from the RacingBeat stuff is the modest drop. I like the drop of the H&R's much better. The RacingBeat sways are also thicker than the Corksports. If anyone has any input or pics of the RacingBeat springs it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kcdirtbro54]

Or you could get Eibachs that drop in between the RBs and H&Rs. Just depends on how much you want to drop the car. You can't go wrong with any of those choices.
As far as sways go, I can't help you much. I'm trying to make that decision myself. Both about the same price, 1" or 7/8" from 19mm stock.

 

[Ryno666]

I did Racing Beat. My tires are larger in diameter (oversized) so I wanted just a little drop because I thought they would rub. Now that I've had them I think I should have done Eibachs. My springs have settled and I could have gone further. Plus the stiffness feels medium compared to others. I definitely say RB sway bar. I'm still working on making car more ridgid so maybe its all in my head. Just built a torsion bar and some new tires for my other set of wheels on order for racing Kumho Victoracers so should be sticky and tight after that. Now just need to get faster starts and stops.

 

[PassivAggressor]

Thanks for the input guys. I never even thought about the Eibachs. I did my some searching last night. The Corksport sways are smaller because they felt it was the best compromise between street and track. So I'll get the CS sways and to make shipping cheaper I'll just pick up the H&R's.

 

[NOsquid]

IMO re: springs, looks wise

RB you don't really notice
H&R looks lowered (less space in wheel well on top vs sides)
Eibach looks the way it should have from the factory, just right

 

[Racebrewer]

Are you interested in handling or looks?

IMHO, H&R tends towards improved handling. Others are more for the look of the drop.

I have Bilstein coilovers with Racing Beat swaybars. I feel like there is still a bit of understeer so I may install a 22 MM Ford Fiesta front bar (slightly small than the 25 MM RB bar) and see what happens. My other alternative is a set of Powerflex rear axle bushings to see what happens.

I love this car.........

John

 

[ajent420]

Are you interested in handling or looks?

I feel like this is the same as saying "Do you want a comfortable DD (with a slight improvement) or do you really want to corner the s*** out of some turns?"

Fair?

I wasn't planning on messing with suspension this quickly, but once you start with this car, it's hard to stop

Easy to love this car...and cheap really!

 

[CRG Racer24]

Are you interested in handling or looks?

IMHO, H&R tends towards improved handling. Others are more for the look of the drop.

I have Bilstein coilovers with Racing Beat swaybars. I feel like there is still a bit of understeer so I may install a 22 MM Ford Fiesta front bar (slightly small than the 25 MM RB bar) and see what happens. My other alternative is a set of Powerflex rear axle bushings to see what happens.

I love this car.........

John

I have the Corksport rear Torsion Bar, and stock front with almost no understeer, and full stiff rear dampening on full soft front dampening. My driving style prefers rear rotation, and a very grippy front end though, that's why I'm gonna stick with no aftermarket front sway bar, personally.

 

[inspekt]

The H&Rs do keep the car much more flat through turns, but the ride is definitely firm. I had them on my last car with koni adjustables, and it was a bit harsh but really really fun. I live in a crazy bumpy area, and the H&Rs are too hard for me on this car. That's one thing to take into consideration for a DD. I would definitely think about just living with it, but the other side effect of being that low is that I can't get into my driveway without scraping considerably (it's a hill/slope), and that's just lame for a DD. I'm switching up to RB springs next week, even though the gap is not my preference. My ideal drop for my living conditions would be 1" front and back. All the springs out there are at least .25" lower than that, or .125" and .35" higher (RB). It sounds silly, but even something as little as an eighth to a quarter inch makes all the difference on a drop sometimes.

 

[PassivAggressor]

Haha all of you have really great points. Ultimately for me it's going to come down to the package I can get at CS. Paying for shipping on one box full of stuff is better than three boxes. Ajent, I learned my lesson last time when I had a Honda Civic. I put rims first and monster trucked that mofo for a while. Now I'm doing suspension first, which will make the car much more fun, and then I can chose the correct size wheels and tires. I think I do prefer performance over looks, but it still has to be pretty driveable. I've had H&R's before on said Honda Civic and the ride really didn't suffer too much. CRG Racer, I may try just the rear bar first then both and see how I like it. Thanks guys!

 

[inspekt]

Haha all of you have really great points. Ultimately for me it's going to come down to the package I can get at CS. Paying for shipping on one box full of stuff is better than three boxes. Ajent, I learned my lesson last time when I had a Honda Civic. I put rims first and monster trucked that mofo for a while. Now I'm doing suspension first, which will make the car much more fun, and then I can chose the correct size wheels and tires. I think I do prefer performance over looks, but it still has to be pretty driveable. I've had H&R's before on said Honda Civic and the ride really didn't suffer too much. CRG Racer, I may try just the rear bar first then both and see how I like it. Thanks guys!

The rear bar is a must, on stock suspension it will make a very noticeable difference. I was all smiles when I added mine!

 

[ajent420]

is a frequent check of the torque on the nuts of the torsion bar something that needs to be done?

 

[CorkSport]

I would check them out a few hundred miles after the installation. If they are good I wouldn't worry about it. I checked out the shop Mazda 2 and it is solid after 10000 miles and several trips to the racetrack.

 

[eyeballs]

You may want to think about trying a corksport front swaybar with a racing beat rear torsion bar if you want to tighten up the front while minimizing understeer.

 

[PassivAggressor]

I'm going to go all Corksport. Thanks for the info, but for me its the smart thing to do.

 

[Jond63]

+1 on the Corksport bars and H&R springs. BIG thumbs UP.

I did each one separately and each piece was a nice improvement. Rear bar stabilized the rear quite a bit and helped turn in, front bar helped a ton with body roll and actually reduced understeer it felt, and then springs were a really nice surprise as I expected a rock hard ride and bouncing over every bump, but to me all they did was tie everything together very tightly and make for a sporty yet compliant ride. I think my stock Subaru STI rode rougher than the 2, but the damping was much stiffer in that car too.

Even over rough hits here in Seattle the car reacts predictably and calms right down -- no porpoising except when the pavement is choppy, which is way more to do with the pavement than the springs. My last car did it and this one while stock did too on the same road. Car is quiet and no large bangs with hard hits, and I left the stock bumpstops full length.

I felt the sway bars helped make the 2 feel like a much more expensive car, and with the springs it feels like a tight German sports sedan. Compared to my Subaru STi the H&R springs are way more comfortable, and not nearly as punishing as I feared.

Car is still on stock wheels and tires, will post pics when wheels arrive. Should be even better still!

 

[eyeballs]

Good review. The dampening on those inverted STI struts is fantastic, and the car is actually over-damped from the factory which is nice since its pretty much ideal for a spring upgrade (RCE). I am way more weary of big hits and such with the 2 than I was with the subaru. I definately prefer the bomber subaru suspension, but the two cars are just in different leagues. I do find the 2 has a much more cushy ride, and I still haven't really gotten used to it. I can't wait to get some decent dampers on it. Hopefully koni will make some yellows for us soon. I was very impressed with those on my miata.

 

[PassivAggressor]

I went ahead and got the whole Corksport kit. Car definitely handles better and I feel there is less understeer, but I need some stickier tires! Besides that though, its awesome!