paxus

Hey all. I've got the mod bug again. More specifically I am looking to make my suspension more sporty. I was happy with the stock TL-S suspension for a while, but I want less body roll around turns, and I want to lower my car for the look.

What a car snob I have become. I actually want to decrease the space between the top of my tire and the wheel well.

So general questions are:

1) Coilovers vs. Springs. Coilover pros include adjustable height and springs that are designed to work with the packaged shocks. I guess the major con with coilovers would be the price. I was looking into the teins as my coilover of choice.

Now springs offer a cheap way to lower your car and improve the sporty ride. Here is where my major concern is. I've heard that if you put on eibach springs (pretty stiff springs) that they will wear out the stock shocks in about 2 years. Whereas comptech springs are more stock-like stiffness and will last much longer with your stock shocks.

Any opinion on springs vs. coilovers?

2) Sway bars. My understanding is that you buy a set of sway bars -- front bar that goes "up top" in your engine bay, and a rear bar that connects underneath the chassy. Is this right?

Additionally, what could I expect to gain in terms of eliminating body roll with sway bars combined with

a) stock suspension, or
b) aftermarket springs with stock shocks, or
c) coilovers.

I would just like to hear some discussion on these things. Thanks in advance for any comments.

SlyTLS

1) I had the Comptech spring with stock shocks and have since switched to Ground Control Coilovers & Koni Adjustable shocks and I love the coilovers much more. The ride is slightly stiffer that with the springs but the car doesn't seem to have as much body roll/flex. Plus I can adjust the height to my liking as opposed to being stuck at 1 height.
As for running the stock shocks w/ drop springs...it really depends on what your roads are like and how you drive. If the shocks are put under and extreme amt of stress you'll wear them out faster.

2) The bar "up top" is an upper strut bar. That will stiffen things up a little...I say a little b/c our cars already have one. When you buy a set of sway bars they are both for under the car. You'll have a front sway bar and a rear. You'll feel the difference when changing these.

I hope this helps a little.

r10apple

If you don't need the adjustable heighth preferences coilovers can give you, and you truly are looking to save some coin, get springs and sways together...Springs certainly will help your handling and give you an affect on your appearance, but the sways will definitely shore up your cornering abilities beyond anything else...

BTW--Saw Sly's car in Daytona at the Tuner Bash last weekend and it is SWEET!

Tom Blasing

I would just stay with the cheapest mods first and seeif you get the desired ride.

Ray_Khan

I say go with the sways first, cheaper to buy, cheaper adn easier to install. Suspension geometry is tricky, Lower isn't always better, and stiffer isn't always necessarily petter performing. People seem to say there cars handle better with just springs, they probaly do, but it's probably a bit of placebo effect in there too. Lowering the car without upping the spring rate might not be the best performance idea. Persoanlly I like having better shocks as they are as important for performance as springs. Coilovers tend to have a great matched spring with a shocks with copression and rebound that compliments the spring nicely. If you want looks go with a fixed height, coilovers are probably overkill and not worth the $$$. But if you really want performance, I think coilovers are the way to go. But like I said, try the sway bars first and see if you think you need more.

paxus

Ok, if I go the cheaper route and just get comptech springs and sways, will my stock shocks hold up like normal? By 'normal' I mean the life expectancy of the stock shocks with stock springs.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Yes and No. Anytime you lower your car the life of the stock shocks will suffer. Don't get me wrong.. you'll still get long life out of your stock shocks... but when you lower the car your shocks are partially compressed.. and over time that wears them out quicker.

It also varies car to car depending on roads and driving style. I've seen people post that they needed new shocks within 10,000 miles.. but others have gone over 55,000 miles with no problems.