Suspension questions for a newby!

[RAN94A]

Hey guys,

just a few quick questions in regards to firming up the ride on my car as i decide which avenue to proceed down..
What im trying to do is lower as well as improve handling through corners.. with handling being the most important thing.

Before you all start jumping up and down telling me to get coilovers (ive seen how many of you are fans) money is a limiting factor lol and i dont really care about adjusting ride height and the car isnt going to be tracked so i really dont need them.

What id like to know is how low can i go whilst still being practical in terms of legality, bottoming out, not having to mess around and completely replace the suspension set up.

Brands.. Ive been told to steer clear of Kings if i want it to handle better and a friend has suggested H&R's as being pretty good.

Would i be able to get away with replacing the springs with firmer ones and keep the stock shocks? or will they need to go too?

Ive also organised to get a strut bar to help firm up the handling. And am now looking at getting a rear sway bar as well.

Any other suggestions or advice would greatly appreciated!

[gumbyy]

Cut your springs, all the kids are doing it nowadays

A few members who didn't opt for coilovers are sitting on Tein S Techs

[AndrewCowley]

Would i be able to get away with replacing the springs with firmer ones and keep the stock shocks? or will they need to go too?

This is an excellent question. Would like to know the answer to that myself. Anyone?

RAN94A, what is your car? Would help people to answer if you told us.

I've got an 04 GT (non STi) with stock springs and shocks. Have often wondered myself does a suspension upgrade mean changing both springs and shocks?

[541NTT]

depends if you like low cars or are just after a bit of a handling increase..

IMO i dont think the readily available springs out there are low enough for the sake of lowering your car, ur best bet to get custom made kmacs if this is what your after- however if you dont mind it not being to low but just want to firm it up i hear s-techs and a rear swaybar are the best bet.

[RAN94A]

haha gumbyy get with the times man!!
best way to dump your car these days if your a kid is to take the springs out completely and just have it riding on the shocks!!

Friend of ours did this to a shatty old bombodore for abit when it was starting to die.. HILARIOUS lol mostly cus he only did it to the rears... so it was riding around literally on its arse

[RAN94A]

I have a MY06 3.0R for reference.

Also, how much would custom springs be looking at setting me back??

because i would like to lower it abit but nothing rediculous and handling is the main consideration!

[AndrewCowley]

I have a MY06 3.0R for reference.

Also, how much would custom springs be looking at setting me back??

because i would like to lower it abit but nothing rediculous and handling is the main consideration!

I think a few here have sourced the STi springs and used them with the stock shocks. You often find people with Liberty's that came with those springs selling them since they have upgraded to something else.

[RAN94A]

I have a MY06 3.0R for reference.

Also, how much would custom springs be looking at setting me back??

because i would like to lower it abit but nothing rediculous and handling is the main consideration!

I think a few here have sourced the STi springs and used them with the stock shocks. You often find people with Liberty's that came with those springs selling them since they have upgraded to something else.

wouldnt that suggest that they werent as good as the aftermarket ones....
in which case if i was to spend say.. $200 on the STI's second hand id much prefer to spend $350 to get the ones they were upgrading to brand new.

[AndrewCowley]

wouldnt that suggest that they werent as good as the aftermarket ones....
in which case if i was to spend say.. $200 on the STI's second hand id much prefer to spend $350 to get the ones they were upgrading to brand new.

Yes, they aren't the best you can get. Buy hey c'mon they are actually pink in colour. What more could you want!?

[GTSPECB STI]

If you want a firmer spring and not fussed on dropping ride hight alot then sti pinks are the way to go and you should be able to pick up a set as mentioned for a good price. Tein S-Techs or H&R are well proven lowering springs but will cost you around $600 minimum new.

Now if you want improved handling then heavy duty sway bars front and rear plus a small bit of negative camber with a new wheel alignment will give you the best bang for buck. I went whiteline but thats just my personal preference. Cusco are also an excellent option. Better allow for at least $500 for this mod.

[541NTT]

kmac will do a set of custom springs for about the 350 mark..

[Q]

If handling is the priority you need to replace the struts. Lowering the car on a set of whiteline/pedders/whatever will only make the handling worse. Best bang for buck is sway bars first, springs are a waste of time on a Liberty with its budget struts that have minimal travel in the first place imo.

If you want it to LOOK like it handles then by all means go dump it.......

[541NTT]

i noticed a difference in handling when i switched my stock springs to whitelines, and the white lines are barely lower than stock..

[erko]

If you are going to rule out Coilovers I'd be heading down the S-Tech or STi spring path + new Bilstein struts they are known commodities...lowering only helps handling to an extent.......too low and the roll centre is through the floor and it will handle worse than stock.

Worn stock struts + new uprated springs sucks........as for Custom springs, good luck. I'd want to know spring rates (see in load cell) and confirm in writing exact (settled) drop before putting any money down and have an agreement that if its not right you get the money back.

[erko]

On Springs vs Swaybars

i like to tune with significantly uprated spring rates for body control rather than sway bars.....problem with this though is getting dampers valved right to handle the spring rate so the ride is passable. For road cars though sway bars are a good option as you get improved roll resistance and good ride. The negative side to sway bars is the can compromise the independence of the cars suspension.

the ideal road based scenario is coilovers plus moderately sized sways.....i hate big sways......they deaden steering and also cause fast breakaway at the limit, and road tyres are designed to work with a fair slip angle. Often big bars make the car "seem" to handle better as the car rolls less, and people feel more comfortable pushing the car like that, however absolute grip can be less than stock (particularly on road tyres)

and then their is the question of dampers.........If you are interested in handling, bin those stock dampers, OEM shocks are usually good for 40k at best (Bilsteins an exception). Dont skimp on dampers......