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FRONT SUSPENSION MODS |
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Overview |
There are a lot of different ways to mod a Thirdgen's suspension. Most of these though, fall within two performance areas: Handling, and Acceleration. I want my car to do both, but with an emphasis on the acceleration part. So, I decided to keep the following idea in mind when choosing my mods...I will do whatever it takes to get the car to accelerate, as long as it doesn't ruin the handling around turns, etc. There are a lot of mods that can be done to make a car hook like crazy at the track (or street), but once you get some speed behind you and it's time to turn...it can get scary.
Another thing that I kept in mind was that most basic suspension mods will increase the performance characteristics of a car in BOTH areas, which is nice. There are only a few things that I want to do that are strictly for hooking the car up when going straight.
| Struts | |
| Bilstein Heavy Duty Strut | www.bilstein.com |
| Bilstein Part #: F4-VE3-C522-HO | $269.69 from Summit Racing Equipment |
It took me quite a long time to decide on which combination of shocks/struts and springs to get. After a LOT of research, I decided to go with the Bilstein Heavy Duty shocks and struts. It was between these and the Koni Yellow adjustable shocks. I liked the fact that the Konis are externally adjustable, but I didn't think that I would really need that kind of flexibility. If I used the car for road racing or something like that, then I think it would have been a no-brainer to get them. But, that's not the case.
I ended up going with the Bilsteins for one reason: in all of my research, I never heard a bad opinion about them. It seemed like some people thought that the Konis were too harsh for normal street use, and could be a little unpredictable on uneven road surfaces. Also, in addition to that, I like the reputation of Bilstein, and it seemed to me that they may have had a better quality product.
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| Springs | |
| Moog Chassis Parts Front Spring | Moog Website |
| Moog Chassis Parts Part #: 5662 | $55.39 from Summit Racing Equipment |
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Here is a
picture of the new springs. In this picture, they are upside down.
They come with a white paint spot on the square end of the spring to show
which end goes up. You can see it on the bottom of the right spring.
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Here are the
new and old springs side by side. You can see that the new spring is
quite a bit shorter than the old spring. However, the ride height
should remain the same.
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This shows the
front spring indexed in the correct position. In the front control
arm, there are two holes on the inboard side of the spring seat. The
end of the spring should be between the two holes.
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| Sway Bar | |
| Spohn 1-5/16" Solid 4140 Chromoly Sway Bar | www.spohn.net |
| Spohn Part #: 923-front | $142.50 |
The Spohn front Sway Bar looks exactly like the factory sway bar in the pictures below. But, it weighs about three times as much. This is because the factory sway bar is made from a hollow steel tube, and the Spohn sway bar is made from a solid steel bar.
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Front Control Arm Bushings |
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Energy Suspension Polyurethane Bushings |
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Energy Suspension Part #: 3.3157R |
$31.95 from Summit Racing Equipment |
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Tie Rod Dust Boots |
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Energy Suspension Poly Tie-Rood Dust Boots - Red |
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Energy Suspension Part #: |
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1535
