Date: Thu, 17 May 2001 16:32:54 -0400 From: "Wayne Miller" Subject: Suspension Reviews Since I am bound to get this from a few more people, here is what I have done and what I plan on doing. Version 1.0: Stock Review: Good but who doesn't want the unfair advantage? ------ Version 2.0: H&R springs + Bilstein shocks + RD Sport sway bars + Ground Control rear shock mounts Review: I thought that it handled better but the ride was TERRIBLE!!!! It was so uncomfortable and you felt EVERY bump in the road so I had to take it out of the car. It did look cool lowered a bit. As a side note, I didn't ever trim the bump stops so I can't vouch for whether that would help or not. At some point here, I put forged 8.5" wheels all around with 245/40/17 SO2's ------ Version 3.0: Euro springs + stock shocks + UUC sway bars + TC Kline camber plates + Ground Control rear shock mounts Review: What a difference! The handling is amazing and it is back to being comfortable on the road. The tires are wearing a bit funny with the 2.75 degrees of negative camber. The ride height went back up to stock too. It felt better (and faster) on my favorite set of twisties on street tires than with Version 2.0 on gForce R1's (I had to try that once). I welded in the sway bar reinforcements here after tearing one off the car and ripping the other one mostly off the car. ------ Version 4.0: H&R springs + Koni shocks + UUC sway bars + TC Kline camber plates + Ground Control rear shock mounts + TC Kline aluminum monoball rear trailing arm bushings Review: We'll see in about 2 weeks. For some reason, I just wanted adjustable shocks so I could play with them at the track/autocross. I was told by the salesman at TC Kline that it should lower the car (which it did last time too) but that the ride should still be acceptable with the Koni's. I had originally planned on putting the Koni's in with the Euro springs but, when you buy the package as a whole, the springs only added about $200 to what I would have been paying for just the shocks. I plan on lessening the front camber to around -2 degrees when I have it realigned with the new parts. ------ Most common question: why didn't I go with a coil-over kit? That is a good question. I think that I became jaded 2 years ago when a friend of mine put a coil-over kit on his M3 and couldn't stand the ride so he took it off. Now, I know that some people on this list swear that it is more comfortable than the other setups available (Kit?) but it was more expensive (not the limiting factor but a contributor) and I wanted to minimize the risk of not enjoying the ride again. I don't really have any other valid reasons. -Wayne