Newbie Suspension Overhall

[Serebros]

Not really new to 240s, i had a s14 se when i was 17, and currently 21 with a s13, but havent modded my car much, have been full time in college with various living expenses, im am graduating with my BS in may, then grad school for 2 years, currently i have a 93 coupe with the following mods

0. Stock Engine
1. CS Tension Rods
2. Nismo Brace

the plan is to get the following

1. Generic 8/6 Coils (most likely the new CS ones)
2. CS Poly Engine/Tranny Mount
3. ES Pineapple Subframe Bushings
4. Progress Front Sway Bar

(CS = Circuit Sports)

any opinions? Shock Tower/Strut Brace? Rear Sway?

I did one autocross a while back on bald tires/zero mods, was horrible, might as well have been drifting in the rain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyS24p8SyOo

but have not done anything else since being in college, Car will most likely not see any track time till i get my masters in summer of 2013, after that im planning for at least 1 hpde every 2 months, the mods are mostly just for boredom/fun/enhanced daily driving

thanks

serebros

[Def]

Skip the cheap coilovers and piece together a Koni + coilover setup. It will ride 100x better on the street, and perform better when you actually drive the car hard. Lifetime warranty as well.

[Def]

BTW - another cheap mod is a J30 rear swaybar. Bolts right in, 19mm and hollow, so it's actually ~1.5 lbs lighter than the stock S13 15mm rear bar.

[AceInHole]

Drove some friends' cars at a local autocross yesterday. At least 2 cars on cheap shocks were noticeably underdamped: one on KW, one on Tein Flex. Pretty sure the STU car I drove was on Konis, and within 0.6sec (31sec course) of my best in an SM Evo (on Teins) with V710's (with all the digs on course it should've been an easy 2 second disparity).

Not exactly the most scientific comparison, but between their service at Nats and the performance I've been getting out of them, I'm sticking with the Konis.

[greenman100]

KW suspension is "cheap"?

[AceInHole]

I guess? I haven't paid much attention to them other than knowing a few people who've upgraded from KW to AST/ Koni. They were supposedly close to their "limit" with 600# springs, so I might've been overworking the shock. The only comparison I had was the STi on heavier springs which was oversprung for the surface, but more still composed and settled noticeably quicker.

Like I said, not at all an objective comparison, and I only had 2 runs in each car. I did mention to the car owner that I'd like to try and help tune the ST Impreza at a future event, so I might have more feedback on the car (and the KWs on it) at some point. For all I know his shock settings could be turned up and it'd fix it, but seat of the pants tells me I'm not impressed with the KW's as they were.

[Tower240sx]

+1 for don't bother buying cheapo coilovers,

You'll hate yourself once you get a good set and you'll destroy your kidneys in the mean time,

I know the real solutions aren't as cheap but there's no sense throwing the money at bad parts when you can just save it and apply it to good parts later,

unless you're a Zilvia Zealot save your pennies (and the cartilage in your spine) and get the Koni set-up or something comparable,

If you have some need to be hella flush,,, just cut your springs

I'm kidding don't cut your springs...

[hai1206vn]

I'd say KW v3 is cheap ($1700 range), but probably not worth the money.

To the OP, who is a beginner, don't buy into the popular stuff. Buy good tires first, and maybe some cheap wheels.

Then get Koni yellows and pair with used coilover sleeves, this should be the most cost effective combo. For cheaper, RSR race springs or Megan are the stiffest lowering springs, but they still lower a bit too much and the rates are questionable.

Save money on engine/tranny mounts with 3M windoweld. $30 at most, stiffer than Nismo but comfy enough that my mom doesn't complain, while keeping stock fitment (I've had enough fitment problems with random urethane designs).

The subframe problem can be solved temporarily with collars, unless you have time to put in new bushings. The sloppy stockers are not that critical.

Finally, a front sway bar. Progress works great. Stock or no rear bar is fine.

That's really all you need to make it a fun DD and a learning car. Mine is more or less like that, with some newer bushings and LSD. Spend money on event fees, and go to a lot of them. After 1.5 years I've graduated from a noob to a reasonable contender in ST*.

2013 is pretty far away to talk about other plans. Do well at school and keep this hobby sane.

[Bumnah]

01.) Stop calling them coils.
02.) +25382 on cheap suspension setup. I have KTS, and after driving in a car with quality suspension, I can see why you should spend the money on the more expensive stuff.
03.) Do not over modify the car! We're all guilty of it though, including myself.

If you're on a limited budget, focus on maintenance, and track events, you'll be much faster that way.

[turtl631]

What will you become a master in?

[Bubba]

I drive the hell out of my S13, with the known chassis flex we have I'm surprised nobody said STB's...
I'm still learning though.

+1 on avoid cheap coilovers, had Tein HE's on my S14 and unless you have something against traction listen to their suggestions.
+1 on investing in better rubber too. You'll be pissed to spend +1k on suspension and your tires won't hold long enough to feel your money working for you.

[hai1206vn]

STB won't really shave time off autocross runs. Cheap mod, but not necessary. Then again, I do agree that s13 needs STB and t/c rod brace more. Each of them did make a difference in feel in my old s13, not so with the s14.

[Serebros]

what is STB?

i have decent tires, prolly the best for its size on stock wheels, BFGoodrich GForce Sports

the cs coilovers are just under 875

i made a thread a while back about konis

http://www.nissanroadracing.com/showthread.php?t=1137

koni yellows are now $700, add in another $150-200 for springs, $100-200 for upper mounts, then paying to have the konis revalved for the springs $??????? thats 1100+ right there, the rears cant be adjusted without disassembly, and from what ive read on this site, richards housings+8611 blows yellows out of the water, so is it that much worth it?

[Def]

Tirerack had a sale for 25% off all Koni products a couple of months ago. So they can be found a bit cheaper with some patience or a coupon code or something.

I think your estimates on the supporting hardware are probably pretty close to accurate, but you will then have something that is *FAR* better than a set of cheap coilovers. Yes, 861x dampers are better than yellows, but yellows are at least that much ahead of a set of cheap dampers(it's that big of a jump, seriously).

You seem like you've got your mind made up, in which case I'd just say have fun bouncing around. No real point in doing much to the suspension with a crap set of dampers on the car IMO. They'll always be the weak point, and you'll be frustrated with trying to setup the car to actually go faster.

[Bubba]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+1

My Tein HE's ran close to 1400 and a set of half worn Yellows pretty much blew them out the water.