ngcreese

Ok I got my ride: DEP TL-S w/ Navi.

I took it for a "break - in" spin from Poughkeepsie to New York city and back (about 250 miles round trip w/ a visit to relatives in L.I.... ).

Compared to my old car (night and day for everything but suspension). Quiet, extremely quick, almost graceful cutting in and out of traffic on the sprain brook (when done using hp as opposed to sudden lane changes).

I am trying to keep it below 4000 rpm (stop-light traffic) until the break - in period is done (at this rate that will be... thursday :p ). Not really hard considering this thing was cruising at about 80MPH at a little over 2000 RPM! (...nice ).

Now questions about suspension. I want to be able to cut hard in corning ( I attribute this to needing stiffer anit sway bars... so the CompTechs are on the way).

For some reason, I feel a little disconnected from the road. ( mind you, my old car had springs, sways, and bilstein shocks great cornering but too harsh for when I goto the city). The car felt some what, floaty (or lightly bouncy) on undulating highway.

Now what I'm looking for is less float but without being jarred when I hit a pot hole. Is that springs, shocks or both?

It seems like many folks here have upgraded the springs without touching the shocks. Have you achieved what I'm seeking with that setup?

Should I just try the anti sway bars by themselves first and see how that works?

I could really use some advice...

BTW thanks to everyone for their info on this car... It has definetly been great so far... This car is nice!!!

SlyTLS

ngcreese - I've got both the Comptech springs & sway bars, the ride is only a bit firmer than stock. You do feel the road more while driving but you don't get jarred around. If you get the Comptech springs you don't need to change the shocks...changing the shocks will give you a harsher ride.

I live in Westchester too, about an hour south of you (give or take)...if you want to feel the difference PM me and we can attempt to set up a meeting so that you can feel how my car handles & rides.

ngcreese

SlyTLS - thanks for the offer, I might take you up on that!

Hey, do you need those camber adjusters?

Can you recommend a good place to get the sways and springs installed?

Do shops have a tough time aligning the tires on the car after the springs?

Sorry for the jabber...
Just REALLY excited...

bricot

You don't need camber adjusters unless you go with a race spring or equivalent drop (2.5 inches). I have the H&R sport springs (drops 1.7 front 1.5 rear) and they are 25% stiffer than stock, don't need to replace the struts. If you wan't to drive for 3 days I'll give you a ride in mine , quick way to get your breakin over with....

Try the sways first, post your opinion of any difference you notice.
Personally, I like to do those types of upgrades independently of each other, that way you have a feel for what difference each change makes.

They didn't mention any difficulty aligning mine after it was done, be sure to have it aligned though.

ngcreese

Bricot, you have a point there, last time I had suspension mods put on a car I had them all done at once sways, springs and shocks.

In fact, prior to the mods I had some z rated tires on that car with really stiff side walls. After the mod the ride was wayyyy tooo harsh!! I ended up replacing those tires with performance tires with a side wall that was more forgiving.

I have to see with this car. I'll wait until after the stiffer suspension mods are in place, to see if a tougher side-walled tire is called for.

I wonder about labor costs, do I save anything doing both sways and springs at the same time? If not, it would be worth it to see how the handling characteristics change as I add components. Hmmm, better ask the dealer.

Thanks for the offer to come out to check your ride! It's really tempting!

I found myself driving around all over the place last night (cool head lights) and getting lost on purpose so the navi could bring me home...

BTW -- SlyTLS, I took everyones word for it (after all, almost everybody here has 'em or is getting 'em-- that's saying something) that the springs are worth it, ordered those too...

bricot

I doubt there would be any labor savings doing both sways and springs since they are pretty much independent, not like doing struts and springs at the same time, definite labor savings.

Check out Mr.Hydes post about 'joining the comptech family..' , its probably a couple of days old, but has some good info in it.

I did the same thing, with springs on the car when I went to the 45 series tires I went with a 'softer' sidewall tire to try to keep the impact to the ride at a minimum.

SlyTLS

Nice, you'll love them I'm sure...I know I do!

Road Rage

Shocks do not provide what you seek...It's the springs, man.

And better tires will help too. The stock tread/rubber is way too squishy.