[CCC]

Everybody goes after power first (which i would like to do at some point...God knows my car needs a kick in the butt)...but I would like to upgrade the suspension to super sports car/race car level. i don't care about the ride quality as much as performance...as long as it isn't like fake suspension like those guys on bags that can't go over anything with out worrying of bottoming out. I'm thinking coilovers, but I'm not sure...i've read the debates...and also noticed that many people just go the shocks and strut way. I'd like to get suggestions in both setups.

I would like to be able to say that my car can out handle yours...not my car will beat yours in a straight line...more power is in the plan for my car cough: turbo :cough but right now I want it handle better than the next guys Dlildavid2002) SVT!!! So hit me with your milion dollor, make me even more of a broke college student setups. Thanks.

 

[JaySD]

Well.. my setup is not million dollar kill a college student setup but I can tell you it's on rails

This next weekend Ill get to put it to the test on the track as well.

For the most part you will find that most coil over kits if properly sorted will end up being close to the same. Everyone has their favorite kit or setup. Me, I like my setup because of the ease of changing spring rates. If you wanted to take my setup to the next level I'd guess you would go to a dampening and rebound adjustable strut/shock

It is in my sig but my setup is Ground Control coil over sleeves with koni yellow dampeners. The springs I chose to run are 550lb front 600lb EBR (Eibach Racing) springs

My car is not completely slammed all the way and is cornerweighted for proper balance. Quite a few pics in the suspension forum under GC Coil over Install

Linky

 

[CCC]

Thanks for the info Jay...what would you say was the price of the entire set up as well as where you got it all from...and on a scale of 1-10...how hard was the install?

CCC

 

[bb576]

strut bars!!! you will notice a huge difference.

 

[JaySD]

front strut bar doesnt do anything on a focus the shock towers are not next to the firewall.

ease of install, i'd say easy except not knowing i had to drill the rear shock mount for the koni's

price was about 1,100 from Rush Motorsport

 

[whiskeytangofoxtrot]

My friend got a MSP, the orange one, a week before I left NY. All he talked about all week was how bad he wanted to run me in the 1/4 mile once his car was broken in.

He lost, twice.

Granted, I've been driving stick for 10 years to his one, and I drove the pants off the car for those two runs. But still, he thought he could pussyfoot his way through it and still take me. Heh heh.

I'm not very impressed by them in stock form. The suspension is very nice, but the Turbo setup is pretty lame, it has plastic tubing for god's sake. Also, there's a bogging issue that no one can figure out, and some random stalling.

As far as handling like them, some sticky tires, the Apex kit or the Eibach Pro kit, and the Progress rear bar should even things up nicely, and cheap to boot.

 

[lildavid2002]

strut bars!!! you will notice a huge difference.

CCC - Yeah get a strut bar...just like mine (LOL), you will love it. You need to drive my car and see how you like it.

 

[belacyrf]

Strut Bars in the front will do very little. It would have to be REALLY REALLY stiff to do anything, and it would also have to be in tandem with extremely aggressive spring rates and bump characteristics.

It seems that rear strut bars are just as useless because the mounting locations are weak, and provide no solid foundation for mounting.

Sway bars/stabilizer bars can be used, but they are more for tuning of the suspension rather than automatic benefits. If you want to outhandle the protoge, priority #1 will be LSD! Getting torque to the wheels with traction is always a good thing.

I would put my car against an MSP any day. I'm not sure it would win, but I think it would do pretty well. A well sorted Suspension is great, LSD is great, but just remember, you will only hold the road as well as your tires are able

 

[JaySD]

There was a hesitation issue with the MSP and an ECU flash was just released. My friend had it done on his and it got rid of that bogging/hesitation

 

[dalola]

Put all that money you are going to spend on suspension parts, and redirect it to a HP driving school. A bone stock SVTF is already way beyond most drivers. The biggest improvement you can make is to yourself, not your car. Not trying to sound disrespectful, just alter your thinking. 9 times out of 10, out handling someone comes down to driver skill. My $.02.
~Dave

 

[GASPowered]

If you want to outhandle the protoge, priority #1 will be LSD! Getting torque to the wheels with traction is always a good thing.

The SVT guys would agree. While at the SVT Toy Box event at the Ford Centennial the chassis engineers mentioned that an LSD makes a bigger difference in lap times then a JR Supercharger does. They proved it at a track but I forget the details

 

[CCC]

Put all that money you are going to spend on suspension parts, and redirect it to a HP driving school. A bone stock SVTF is already way beyond most drivers. The biggest improvement you can make is to yourself, not your car. Not trying to sound disrespectful, just alter your thinking. 9 times out of 10, out handling someone comes down to driver skill. My $.02.
~Dave

I've been autoXing to work on that at the moment. Thats not a bad idea...where can I find some info on these events in the N.Florida/S.Goergia area??

CCC

 

[CCC]

Sway bars/stabilizer bars can be used, but they are more for tuning of the suspension rather than automatic benefits. If you want to outhandle the protoge, priority #1 will be LSD! Getting torque to the wheels with traction is always a good thing.

I would put my car against an MSP any day. I'm not sure it would win, but I think it would do pretty well. A well sorted Suspension is great, LSD is great, but just remember, you will only hold the road as well as your tires are able

I was waiting to see what you'd say, b/c you car is my car's role model, not to mention that you also drive you car (i.e. track days) the way I will when I get rich. I had totally forgotten abou the LSD...I think you just redistributed my funds!!!

So how mcuh would an LSD cost to install...I know I'm already talking $1000 just for the LSD..and how do you go about finding a good shop that could install it. Things seem to be very limited here in Tally, although I think theres one real Auto Tuning shop...LilDavid could maybe help me out here...Thanks

CCC

 

[belacyrf]

Well the LSD install seems to be ranging from 500-700. It's definately not cheap. I was lucky that I had the money from a previous car sale to use, otherwise I probably still wouldn't have the LSD. It is definately a hefty investment, but IMO well worth it. Especially once you learn to drive it (which I'm still working on). The only thing I would warn about concerning the LSD, is to make sure to get the right bearings for installing it. Mine ws installed using the wrong bearings, and makes that pitching noise. I have the right ones, Im' just waiting to get it re-installed again.

Dalola is right though... 90+% of the people who have a car that can handle, are unable to drive it at it's limit (I'm one who can't just yet). So getting the skills to drive it would be very cool as well.

Good luck

It's always good to see someone chasing after more lateral G's

 

[JaySD]

I have to chime in again and agree with Bela as well.

Dalola is correct. Lord knows people like Omnifocus can kick our butts in a basically stock zx3 with race tires. Why? Driver skill.

LSD will definately help but I wouldnt put it first on the list of things to do as far as handling.

IE that 1000 bucks spent on decent tires or R compounds (if racing) and coil over suspension will gain you far more as far as laptimes than the LSD by itself.

 

[the_Scholar]

I am glad to see someone else concentrating on suspension and handling rather then power mods. I am doing the same thing but I have decided to go the route with the H&R coilovers and some stickier street tires, I run STS. This was the first year for me autoXing and for the most part, the SVT handles very, very well for a stock suspension. My car is basically stock, I only have a strut bar and a Z-Engineering motor mount, and I run STS for the extra competition and it is also easier to measure my improvement against other drivers. What a few guys said about schools is probably the best idea I have seen on here. I still have yet to join a school but I have caught on very quickly this last year. In fact, I was just at an autoX this last weekend were there was a Mini Cooper S on R-compounds and I had a better time then he did. Its about learning the limits of your car and trusting your car to do what you want. I would look into driving school if I were you, I am going to do the same in the coming spring.

 

[CCC]

IE that 1000 bucks spent on decent tires or R compounds (if racing) and coil over suspension will gain you far more as far as laptimes than the LSD by itself.

I forgot to mention that I'm already planning on Rota Attacks with Kumho MXs...so that already has a fund. So realistically i think I'm looking at (in order) 1.) Rims and Tires 2.) H&R Coilovers (or other comparable setup) 3.) LSD.

CCC

 

[CCC]

Bela...does the LSD make any noises or is it a rather passive mod that you can only notice through driving it??? I guess I need to re-verse myself in LSD tech, but which bearings are you talking about, as well as how do I go about making sure they are correct. Thanks man..I appreciate it.

CCC

 

[bri]

I have the KW Variant 3’s with KW springs developed for the SVT competition car. I don’t know what the spring rates are, but they are pretty stiff. The adjustability of the rebound and low speed bump can be a bit tricky but with time and good notes it’s worth it. This setup drops the car about 1” in there rear in the full high position.

I haven’t had them on a track yet, but I can definitely say on the road it’s on rails.

But I also think Dave make a really good point about the Driving school, I’m going to an SVTOA track event to get some road racing and auto-x instruction I can’t wait.

 

[SlickShoes]

Running with those MX's, you probably already could out skidpad a MSP. Slalom, who knows.

And add me to the "90% of us here can't fully use what we already have" and that a school and plenty of track time is going to be the biggest advantage you can get. True R-compounds put you in a whole different league also.

As for suspension work, I've gone from the Intrax, to Intrax plus Koni yellows, and now finally to the H&R coilovers. The Intrax plus Koni's were *probably* a better autoX setup just because of the adjustability, but there was absolutely not an ounce of doubt in my mind that the coilovers were WAY better on the track. There's just some magic pixie dust sprinkled on these H&R's or something. They seriously just make that big of a difference.

But as Jay mentioned, this weekend is going to be a big test.

-Myself and Belacyrf on the H&R coilovers.
-JaySD on the Koni yellows plus GC coilovers w/ 550/600 # springs.
-Gandalf on the FK coilovers.

If nothing else, we should be back with some cool mid corner body roll shots, and hopefully a few of us can trade cars for a few laps to compare.