Hey, I've got an 03 with 122k miles on it. I'm wondering what I should look into as far as suspension. I've done a ton of reading in this sub-forum and I hope terrasmak will show his face in here lol. Anyway, here it is.

1. I do autox a decent amount from spring to fall and some track days mixed in there also.
2. The car is also a DD so it has to be able to withstand a bump here and there.
3. I have no preference towards coilover or spring/shock. (Idc if some little hellaflush kid says "you don't have coilovers you big phony")
4. Ride height adjustability IS NOT important to me.
5. A DECENT DROP ~1in would be nice for looks.
5. Budget range is 1k max retail for coils or spring/shock combo.

Personally, I can handle a rough ride on the road if I know I'm getting a good set for autoX. If there is a good s/s combo that works well with certain sways or other suspension parts please feel free to speak up. Thanks guys.



TL,DR: I'm looking for function over form. AutoX but also a DD. ~1in drop. Coils or spring/shock combo?

 

I have the the hotchkis stage 1 kit. I got it for about 500 bucks i believe. Handles way better then stock. I kept the stock shocks although, but if you have lots of miles on your shocks then i'd probably get some new ones. install it yourself and you'll be spending well under 1k. PLUS no needed camber adjustment with the hotchkis setup. Consider it

 

There are several options for the $1k max price, but only a couple that would be worth it. Stay away from Megan Racing or MDU from Godspeed or TopSpeed. If it were me, the only coilover set I would consider at that price would be Fortune Auto because of their 5 year warranty and stateside support.

If you want to go just a tad over $1k you could get the Koni sport shocks (yellows) and decent springs. I'm running the Koni with Eibach Pro-Kit and have friends running Koni with Eibach Sportline or Tein H.Tech. My curiosity grows for the Swift Spec-R springs as they seem to be a good option.

If you're dead set on $1k max out of pocket then get the Tokico D-spec shocks with your springs of choice. The D-specs are cheaper than the Koni by a couple hundred bucks and are still a great option.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. Yea ive been looking into the Tokico D-Spec combo. It's a good price. I'm just trying to make sure I'm actually getting a better package performance wise over stock. I know if I go by $800 coils i'd probably actually be hurting myself where it counts.

 

tires are going to give you the biggest advantage in autoX.
Stock suspension is decent, stock tires and size are not.
Id replace the shocks and springs cheaply and spend the rest towards a proper fitting square set up.

 

get RSR springs thats what i have and it sounds like exactly what youre lookin for. the tokico d-specs are also a great option. be sure to get aftermarket sways, most noticeable thing ive done in the handling department!!

 

Thanks for the input guys. Bmccann, by square do you mean same wheel diameter and width on all four and same dimensions on all four?

 

As mentioned tires will help your needs the most , followed by a front set of control arms. Then D-Spec or Koni shocks , Koni is better but you may never know the difference. Once you get shocks and want to go lower, the first spring I would look for is a set of Cobb springs used , hey have great spring rates, next would be Ark springs the linear version.

If you go for an all out budget performance system , Nismo T2 springs can also be found used.

 

^glad you showed up. I happen to agree with a lot of the posts you put in these threads in here. As far as the control arms, how do new ones like ichiba or cusco etc. benefit you? i feel like i have 100 questions here lol. And before anybody says it yes i've read the stickies.

 

So you can actually use them for their intended purpose, add camber.

 

In case you ask, I would recommend these:

http://www.kinetixracing.com/kinetix...er_a-arms.aspx

I have had them on the car for several months now and really like them. Great for a street/track day car in my opinion. At stock ride height I was able to get right at -1.4-1.5 negative camber on each side. With some simple machining by a friend I was able to adjust them further to -1.8-1.9 and could go to about -2.2-2.4 if I wanted to but that is probably a bit much for street driving (again, at stock ride height).