NorthWestAnimal

Whats best components for a spec suspension?

gnuts

iTrader: (1)

What do you mean "a spec suspension"?

NorthWestAnimal

Strusts and springs

gnuts

iTrader: (1)

What are you looking for? Just ride height? Handling?

NorthWestAnimal

handling and a little bit of ride height i dont wanna slam it

gnuts

iTrader: (1)

i'm going to get some koni yellow shocks when the time comes. slight height adjustment (like 0.8"), dampening and lifetime warranty. those with some lowering springs should work great.

ashnashley87

How much lower will the springs get you? I'm also thinking of lowering, but am a little confused as to what set up to get... I want it to be low, not slammed, but low enough to turn heads, but I also want handling.

wackjum

I have two CL-S with two different suspensions. I have been VERY impressed with Bilstein Sport Shocks and H&R Sport springs (#50103).

The wheel gap has dropped to an acceptable level and there is no problem with the front sitting higher than the rears, which some people said would happen on springs with the MT CL. The car handles very well. This is the setup I would recommend.



This is stock height:

ashnashley87

That's a nice set up. I want mine to be slightly lower than that though, Maybe up to an inch lower, what would get me there?

wackjum

You'll probably have to do coilovers then. I can't imagine any springs giving you much lower height, but I don't know for sure.

CL-S progression 01

iTrader: (2)

Lol u go an inch lower than that you will be hitting all sorts of shit in the wheel well. I went about half a finger gap in the beginning and did not even make it down my street before I turned around to raise it.

I kept raising it and driving till I got to a height that did not make clangs and bangs. My car is pretty much where wackjum is.... About a two finger gap ( tip of index and middle finger make it between the tire and the wheel well.

So unless you rock like 3 or 4 degrees of camber... I imaging u will be hearing an awful lot of sounds in the front when u hit bumps.

Now I will say I have 40 mm offset 18x8 rims with 225/40/18 rubber so if u have stock offset and tire thickness you may have more clearance. I also have tein comfort sport coilovers which is slightly softer overall so that may be another factor.

ashnashley87

I don't do that whole camber stance thing with my ride, I've already got a camber issue, my wheels are wearing really bad on the inside edge. As for rims, I've got the stock rims, which need to be powder coated, so they are not on it right now, but ultimately they will be. And I like to run tires that are a bit thinner, not quite rim hugging, but low profile enough. So, would I ultimately want to get some adjustable coilovers and just test which height suits my car best? I do want performance out of these too, so I can take corners quickly and comfortably.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

your alignment is out.
toe should always always be set to 0 or as close to 0 as possible.
toe is what causes wear on the edge of the tire....

also, your statements do not compute...
you say you dont like that stance bs, but then want to run a skinnier tire!?!??! lol

and yes, with a coilover you can "test" your car height until you are happy with it.

I would advise you to get your suspension on, then go for an alignment.
unless, you have unlimited alignment's, I would get one now, and then do one when you drop.
btw, each time you "test" the height, you'll need to go back and get an alignment

ashnashley87

Well, I just like the look of the skinnier tires, call me crazy... And I had planned on getting suspension on, and testing it until its ultimately what I want, and then getting it aligned. No sense in wasting a bunch of time getting alignments over and over, plus, I'll wait til after i get it the height that I want, then get new tires put on, and get it aligned for the best results. Unless I'm getting something wrong here? I really see no point in getting more than one alignment after I have everything set up.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

i didnt know how quickly you need or how quickly you're going to get this stuff on
you are correct in only needing one alignment, after you have everything on.

butt, if your stock tires were showing inner wear, that means your alignment is OFF today. and will continue to be off. and will continue to eat your current tires.

If you get everything installed tomorrow, then no big deal.
but since you're asking questions and probably havent even bought suspension items, your car is in need of an alignment, TODAY, or you'll continue to eat and waste money

just my opinion anyway.

ashnashley87

I could care less for my current tires, got em used just for the simple pleasure of driving. When I do get new suspension, I will definitely be taking more care of my tires.

Thanks for the input though! Really helped me figure out what type of set up I need.

Now I just need to figure out what brand offers the best performance, while not costing an arm and a leg.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

BC and ISC are the only two coilovers that have a full threaded body, which means you can control droop.


these two coilovers retain stock like quailties, if you retain droop.

wackjum

I bought a 3 year alignment plan from NTB. They will re-align the car anytime, no questions asked. One time (on another car) I took it in for alignment and didn't like how the car felt, so I took it to another NTB and got somebody else to work on it that same day.

In theory they won't re-align the car if the suspension has been changed, but I've never had a problem.

As far as coilovers I don't have a whole lot of input except I do not recommend Tein Street Basis. They are not horrible, but they are way too soft for my preference and they are not a progressive spring. I even have a Progress rear sway bar on the Tein setup and there is still more roll than I would like.

ashnashley87

Now there's something I haven't thought about. Should I consider getting sway bars? I don't want roll either, so with some coilovers to lower it and give better than stock performance, and sway bars to lessen the roll, will I get better cornering at high speeds? How does your set up compare to stock when it comes to handling corners? I'm asking a lot about cornering because I like to drive every so often when I have a couple days off, and here in the glorious state of Washington there are plenty of back roads worth driving on, especially when you go to a beach or somewhere in the boonies. The scenery is just amazing, but I enjoy the drive mostly, and as of late, my stock suspension just isn't up to par. But, I guess that comes with mileage! (128K)

gnuts

iTrader: (1)

don't bother with a front sway bar, but a rear bar is a must - progress or eibach. that with a suspension with dampening will handle much much better than stock.

CL-S progression 01

iTrader: (2)

I will say tho i did do the ct front sway and it made more of a difference than my ct strut mount made ( removed due to p2r plenum clearance issues)

But by making the front respond faster the rear feels like it picks up a bit of sway cause the car responds faster.

In the winter time its very obvious i have the fsb cause the sway is all in the tires. For the first winter i actually swapped it back to oem, but then the next summer i just put the ct one back one and have left it on now. I did also change the bushings to prothane.

Not saying u need a fsb, but it does make a difference. Just depends on what u want. I was hell bent on getting all new sway bars and end links. Thats just me tho.

I think sway bars are as important as the suspension you have.

wackjum

Sway bars are for fine-tuning your suspension. The bulk of the suspension's performance has to do with your springs. I personally prefer progressive springs, which are the ideal setup for a car without an active suspension. Even running better springs on the stock dampers would see a huge performance increase. The problem is just that the stock dampers would get worn quicker since they are not made for the lower working height.

There are so many different coilovers you will have to see specifically which ones will provide the level of handling you want. Some may provide better than stock handling and some might not. With coilovers, you should get a corner balance to make sure that the weight is properly distributed.

You really should consider the H&R Springs with Bilstein (or Koni, but they'll be more expensive) shocks. I don't think you can beat that combo for handling. The math is all calculated for you by the spring engineers unlike coilovers where there will be a lot of trial and error.