Suspension Newbie
Guest
Posts: n/a
Suspension Newbie
I have very little knowledge in the area of suspension and I was wondering if someone could provide a summary of each suspension component's purpose and how they affect ride quality. Just to name a few:
Coilover vs. shocks and springs
Sway bars
End links
Control Arms
Strut tower braces
I want to get rid of body roll and have more responsive turning, but I'm not sure where to start. I was thinking about front and rear sway bars and springs, but I'm also considering coilovers. If there is already a thread or website with this information, please let me know. Thanks.
Coilover vs. shocks and springs
Sway bars
End links
Control Arms
Strut tower braces
I want to get rid of body roll and have more responsive turning, but I'm not sure where to start. I was thinking about front and rear sway bars and springs, but I'm also considering coilovers. If there is already a thread or website with this information, please let me know. Thanks.
Everyone recommends that first you upgrade your tires (and wheels if you want). This is the most important part since you can have the best suspension in the world but without the contact with the ground its useless.
Then you probably want to upgrade the swaybar. Rear will do the most, but if your really serious you might want to get front and back. This'll reduce understeer, and increase transitional handling.
Most people upgrade end links when they upgrade swaybars since they make the swaybar react faster and more pricisely.
Thats as far as I've gotten so the rest is just from what I've read/heard.
Coilovers increase adjustability and tunability but are more expensive, and often have less travel as well as being more complex. Springs w/ struts on the otherhand aren't quite as adjustable, but tend to be lighter and WAY cheaper. So it depends on how serious you want to be. Racers'll use the coilovers for tunability and weight stuff.
Thats about all I know. GL
Then you probably want to upgrade the swaybar. Rear will do the most, but if your really serious you might want to get front and back. This'll reduce understeer, and increase transitional handling.
Most people upgrade end links when they upgrade swaybars since they make the swaybar react faster and more pricisely.
Thats as far as I've gotten so the rest is just from what I've read/heard.
Coilovers increase adjustability and tunability but are more expensive, and often have less travel as well as being more complex. Springs w/ struts on the otherhand aren't quite as adjustable, but tend to be lighter and WAY cheaper. So it depends on how serious you want to be. Racers'll use the coilovers for tunability and weight stuff.
Thats about all I know. GL
O yea, and the best thing would be to search. It works pretty well, even for me and I suck at it. If you have specific questions like endlinks or something just type it in and you should see results a lot faster than you'd get replies.
http://www.spdusa.com/wrx.htm has a lot of info too
http://www.spdusa.com/wrx.htm has a lot of info too
Guest
Posts: n/a
I started with a good alignment, then endlinks, then ALK, then swaybars, and now I'm to STI struts & springs. It was a good learning curve to understand the suspension. I would strongly urge you to purchase everything from one company so it works together (eg. buy all Whiteline, or Helix, or STI, or Cobbor Perrin or ?). I looked at coilovers but decided on a used set of struts because coilovers: 1) are often designed for the track and are too stiff for the street unless they are set to their softest setting, 2) need rebuilt regularly with usually a two week turn around time, 3) need the suspension set up using corner weighting and etc. to work right, 4) many brands do not hold up well to winters (salt) and rust badly.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Deserted1
Suspension, Handling, and Brakes
2
Aug 1, 2008 08:19 PM
bluekn8286
Suspension, Handling, and Brakes
16
Apr 27, 2007 06:16 AM
DaFastOne
Suspension, Handling, and Brakes
25
Aug 9, 2005 01:53 AM
fjork_duf
Suspension, Handling, and Brakes
35
Jul 22, 2004 12:28 PM



