No I got the HD. I had sports a 328is, way too much. My friend has the HD, and they are slightly softer, barely enough to notice a difference. I want to stay with HD, get Daizen Sways, Tom's 6-Link is on order, TRD LCB is on order. L-Truned springs are on order. So just waiting to put all of it on.

 

^sounds good.

 

damn, i was rereading my post above, and I sound like a retard. I have to check my writing next time.

Thanks again Chuck and everyone else. I'll let you guys know the results sometime in december when I have a weekend to install all this stuff, along with the Daizen bushings. Hopefully this car will hold the road better, I mean a lot better.

 

hey slickgt! im going thru the same problem as you im not sure what kind of suspension i should go with!?? i know for a fact i can't be doing coilovers or coffee and vomit from passangers woul dbe all over my car! people would never seem to understand our NYC roads like "ohh yeah how bad could they be?" if they don't reside here and the GS handling is just rediculous it handles like a towncar sorry to say =T and the dips on the belt parkway everytime im goin over 80 when im comin out of the dip it feels like im losing control for like atleast 2 seconds and im afraid to drive this car like i have no confidence what so ever please let me know which rode you gone and how is the ride im lookin to get started with this soon but i really don't like the kyb they blow out very easily. thanks man

 

Ok, this is what I did so far. Basically I just finished putting in my L-Tuned springs and Bilstein Shocks on Saturday. The install was easy, it took me 8 hours total, and thats with me taking out the castor bushings by myself, and pressing the Daizen ones in. I think it was harder to put that damn castor arm back in, then press the bushings in.

Here is the result. Right now the car handles about 300% better. I have to say it is quite amazing. But it is much more rough than before. When the roads are decent, it is absolutely beautiful. Now when you nail a huge series of patches on the road, it is a little jarring. The car sort of hops over them. Makes all sorts of noises in the car, but it maintains its composure and does not scare the **** out of you, no matter the size of the bump.

I am going to give it two more weeks for these springs to settle. If the ride is still this crazy over huge bumps, then I will take the entire setup out, and put the stock springs back in, with the bilstein HD shocks. I think the ride will soften up while still maintaining proper damping. Yes, I understand that it will raise up, but I don't care. Plus body roll and cornering characteristics can be corrected with sway bars. This way you get a nice comfortable ride, and cornering ability because of the sways.

I am now waiting for the Tom-s 6 link, and the TRD LCB to get here from the GB. I will keep you updated with what I decide to do with the springs.

P.S. If someone wants to sell me some Daizen sways, please contact me. I am not in a crazy rush as I am still testing the spring setup, but if you got some you don't want, let me know. Thanks.

 

Oh, by the way Samster, do yourself a favor, and get some Daizen steering rack bushings. They are $40, took me like 30 min to install, and with our roads, you notice the difference right away. Let me know if you need any more suggestions.

 

i just changed out my rack and pinion and tightened the tension and it feels way better then before its just that you know like that strip by the JFK? from the belt to vanwyck? i try to do 80 over those series of dips and holy**** do i scare the living crap outta myself! the car feels like its floatin off the floor and i've just lost 2 seconds or so of contact time and during those 2 complete seconds it feels like there is no control waht so ever! and with my supra it's been pushed pass 120 with nothing to fear, i understand i shouldn't compare but its rediculous oh how scared of the car i am. Im afraid of its braking power im afraid of its handling and most definelty im afraid im goin to snap somthing if i hit the corners and turns alittle bit to hard. Let me know how ur set-up is doing for u. You think mabe i should go with the bilstein shocks and just keep my factory springs? HD's are the lower model? before the sports?

 

Yea HD is the Heavy Duty. They are well suited for our cars.

As an update, I took the car to Newark Airport yesterday. All the roads from here (Sheepshead Bay) all the way to the Airport were absolutely fine with my current setup. ON the way back I hauled *** from the Verezano to Knapp, doing about 130+ at times (it was midnight), and the handling is much improved. Daizen sways are deffinatelly needed though. High speed manuevers do make it lean extreme still, but nothing near what you are probably experiencing now. It was exactly one week ago when the car would scare the **** out of me at anything past 90.

Oh yea the important stuff, braking feel is improved now, acceleration, and handling is much better.

Yea deff get the HDs, keep the stock springs, and get some sway bars. I am not sure, but I think the Tom's 6-Link will improve our cars even more. I am convinced that our cars suffer from handling problems in the back.

 

it's not even a sway accurance that im reachin its like im not fast enough to sway! lols launchin 80 over a bump and thats it! from ur way back to sheepshed from the verro when you past exit5 and between exit 6 there is a slight dip on the left lane THOSE ARE WHAT IM TALKIN ABOUT! alil dip like that and it feels like i have no control over the car! And forget about it when u head more east by the rockaway area every one of those draw bridges are no goes. well i guess let me get some quotes on the HD's and on the sports and then decide from there i guess but the Kyb gr2s would definetly be better ride then what i have now, but the bilsteins seem to be able to handle out more abuse. the kybs need to be changed like ever 3 months lol more then oil changes

 

Yea those dips, are nothing now. I know what you mean, I am on the belt every day. That up and down dip right by Rockaway in the right lane going east used to be crazy. I tried it at 85 today, and guess what nothing uncontrolled happened, it just stuck. The Draw bridge is also cake now, you just get a thud, and its over.

Yea I had Billsteins on a couple of cars now, this is the first HD for me though, and I loved it every time. My brother killed his GR2 on his I30T in 4 months on the same roads pretty much. While the billsteins lasted through all types of crap.

 

Hey Slick. Did you ever swap out the springs and put your car back to stock height with the HDs or are you going to keep it lowered? I know a lot of people are going to say I told you so, but about 6 months ago, I replaced my OEM shocks with, drum roll please, OEM shocks. Although the ride is better, it's pretty much a sloppy mess on the highway. I thought about the HDs with the stock springs, but my biggest concern was that my car would become a bone-jarring rattle trap. I realize that it's a give and take when it comes to improving handling, but my car just doesn't feel solid. It's unstable on the highway and shimmies and shakes (and rattles) over uneven surfaces. Is it possible to firm up the ride and at the same time make the ride more solid and more comfortable, or does that pretty much defy the laws of physics?

e

 

 

LOL (literally). I'm honored that you're the first to respond. Hey, at least I keep things interesting, right?

 

do it. bilsteins are reliable, they come oem on many cars.

 

Hi guys. Ok this is what I have been doing on my spare time for the past two weeks. First I put in the Bilstein HDs and the L-tuned springs. I was getting a rattling noise and it was crazy stiff. So, I took off the L-Tuned springs put on the stock ones on. The ride was slightly better but still something was not right, seemed sloppy and didn’t have that tightness as with the L-tuned.

So I measured the stiffness of the L-Tuned compared to stock, the L-tuned were about 30lbs stiffer per spring, give or take, and this is not broken in yet. This should have very minimal effect on the harshness of our ride. I took out the stock springs one more time, put in the L-tuned, but this time I realized that I assembled the bump-stop and that stupid ring washer under it. That ring washer needs to be above the bump-stop, - dope. This gives you a solid brace to the strut bushings. So I bolted everything up, and wala, the ride is nice. It is definitely stiff, but not as stiff as it was with the stock blown setup. The damping is also much nicer, and that stiffness is controlled. A pleasure to drive now. My brother absolutely loves it, and two of my friends love it. It has been two weeks since the shocks went in, and the Daizen castor bushings. I have not had any vibration on the highway, bump steer is virtually gone, (only on very messed up NYC roads I still get some), and handling is improved by 200%. I was recommending for people to upgrade to HD shocks and keep the stock springs, but now I say get the L-tuned (eibach), with some HD shocks, the ride will be much nicer, lower center of gravity, and much nicer looking.

My final suggestion is that if you like your car to sit high, keep the stock springs with Bilstein HD shocks. If you want it lower without going to coilovers, then get the Bilstein HD and L-Tuned springs. The ride will be almost the same. Remember bushings and shocks are the greatest stiffness factors.

Damn that was a long post. Hope this helps you guys.