LexFather

Well since I finally got my springs shocks, I think I can finally speak on it from experience. What do you think we should have as Stages of Susp/Hand.

For instance, a member know how they want their car to feel, we can recommend stages.IMO

Stage 1
L-tuned ECU
L-tuned (or comparable) springs/shocks
Any STB

Stage 2
Stage 1 plus
Sway bars front and rear
18" or 19" wheels and tires

LCB
Stage 3
Stage 2 plus
rear lcb
OEM sized cross drilled brakes
performance brake pads
rear STB

Stage 4
Stage 3 plus
coilover suspension
upgraded brake size and calipers


I dunno, just a thought. I was brainstorming here.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

imho as usual:

stage 1:
sways (minimal ride quality penalty, biggest improvement in handling)
steering whee ecu (for gs400, gs430 supposedly have it already)

stage 2:
springs/shocks (for both look and btter handling, more road feel, tighter steering)

stage 3:
front stb (tighten up steering a bit, not dramatically)
front lcb (tighten up suspension)
rear lcb (tighten up rear end)
rear stb (tighten up chassis, improve cornering)

stage 4:
larger and wider wheels / tires (better road feel, better grip, quite some penalty in ride, heavier steering, more responsive)
coilover setup (best setup for springs/shocks replacement, best performance, ride quality depends)
6 pieces link (further tighten up rear suspension)

stage 5:
brake pads and rotors upgrade (better braking response)

stage 5:
full front and rear brakes upgrade, includeing ss lines, calipers, pads, rotors (help braking dramatically, lighter weight, reduce brake fade, better look, faster braking response)

garnet92

Hey Sick! Great idea! This could really be helpful to new members. Rominl has some good input too – especially adding the perceived result of the mods. Why not also add approximate price ranges for each mod as well. Maybe even an estimated degree of diy difficulty. I’ll ponder on it a while and if I can add anything worthwhile, I’ll add my 2 cents worth.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i thought about the prices too, but then it varies so much between brands so it would be as useful, especially if you decided to go jdm stuff. but good idea though.

of course, if anyone else wonder about my choices and have questions, feel free to ask

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

Yipeee - I'm stage five well - except for the coilovers which I chose not to do for personal preference. Maybe we need something like the Dinan 'point' system to get a Dinan badge.... so many points for each piece to move to the next level. Those items that make a bigger difference get more points.

Great idea Sick. Rominl, I like your list except I think I'm with Sick on leaving the shocks/springs pluse ECU as stage one. They are much more accessible at your local dealer and other places. The TRD sways you have to go LOOK for to add.

On stage 5 brakes, I don't think many people ever really upgrade their rear brake calipers do they? I've put the Supra TT 4 piston brakes, cad plated cross-drilled/slotted rotors, ebc pads and stainless lines on my fronts - but only did the rotors, pads and lines in the rear.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

excellent point, dave, very true about the springs and shocks. i debated where i should have put it too. the reason i made it second is that some people might be afraid of bottom out, scrapping, etc... with the 1st stage you can still drive like a mad man and not worry about scrapping. as you go up higher and higher you will have more to watch out for.

no, no one has upgraded rear calipers yet, at lesat not that i hear. but i know stoptech already has 4 pistons setup for the GS rear. not that i would do it though coz' it would be useless imho.

and for the record, i am a funny guy that i don't know where to put myself.... i don't even have the steering wheel ecu yet (stage one), and i have everything else except rear lcb, 6 pieces link, and rear stb (which i probably will never put on)

TTurboPimp

iTrader: (12)

Stage 1

STB
steering ecu
shocks/ springs- gotta drop her down first and foremost.

I personally dont like the idea of grouping the coilovers in a seperate more advanced stage. The reason being is the fact that if you follow those stages you end up spending money twice on the same mod, thus spending twice as much over the long run(I know we have all done this). Make an educated choice of what set up is best for you in the beginning and save yourself some time and money.

Stage 2

larger wheels and tires, for both handling and cosmetic reasons

Stage 3

sways and front lcb

This is as far as I have gone so im geussing from here, but I would probably say the rear lcb, or 6 link upgrade?

Neo

iTrader: (3)

Hey rominl,

This would be my only point of contention. I am not sure about the Daizens but the TRDs are not minimal in terms of ride quality decrease (unless it is a flat road). I definitely agree, however, about the improvement in handling.

APLUS

Just a thought shouldn't wider wheels and springs be stage 1.
stage 2 then consist of sway bars front and rear.
stage 3 everything as above but with a complete coilover instead of springs
stage 4 big brake upgrade, sway bars, wheels coilover
stage 5 has everything has the others but with a power suspension brace

good topic.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

yeah i am not sure about that, does sways alone kills more ride quality or springs/shocks? i put stages according to ride too, and i thought probably springs/shocks will give the car more harshness than sways, that's why i put sways in 1st stage

Neo

iTrader: (3)

I went from stock to L-tuned shocks/springs and 18s to sways. There was a noticeable change in the first step but not too bad. When I went to sways is when the so-called harshness started.

Like I said in the earlier message, this only affects bad roads. On good flat roads, the change was minimal.

LexFather

Garnet92 (O.G), good idea about the price.

Nothing definite yet, just brainstorming the stages. Funny but I did not follow any of these stages. I added part by part at a time to see the difference. But many members add almost everything at once.

Okay SH gurus (suspension and handling) what parts in what order make the most impact? Then maybe we can make the stages?

QBranchCars

IMO, springs and shocks, and thus lowering the car, has the most impact on handling. That was my first suspension mod; bilstein and eibachs (now I have coilovers). Wheels and tires should be way up there also, especially if you have the 16"s. FYI, my very last suspension upgrades were the 6-piece link and rear LCB. BTW, I guess I'm stage 6 or whatever, and no rear caliper mod.

KKelly

Nobody mentioned bushings. At some point, if you are really serious, some of the suspension bushings should be replaced with urethane.

Do you guys have a way to add camber to your cars?

In my M5, these were my stages:

1) Shocks and springs-difference but mostly just stiffer

2) Camberplates-- wow, the car weighs 500lbs less!! That is what it felt like. There is some tire wear but not so bad, you just flip them on the rims halfway through.

3) Swaybars-wow again!! About equal to the camber plates


4) Big brakes, finally, no smoking brake pads at the track.

Question for you guys, are the coilover springs you are using, Eibach, Tien etc., progressive? Does anybody know the rates? I am considering this application for my car. I may get Ground Control conversion but I can run any spring I want.

garnet92

I’ve given it some thought and I’ve come to the following conclusions – these represent MY own subjective opinions.

My sequence of suspension mods:

L-Tuned springs, shocks and steering ecu (done at same time). Degraded the ride to a small degree (not objectionable), lowered the car (desirable), and improved handling quite a bit (good move).

TRD STB. I know it stiffens the suspension-to-body link but … no noticeable difference.

19” wheels and 30/35 series Bridgestone S-03s. Degraded the ride quite a bit (still ok), hurt off-the-line performance, does looks great, and improved handling again.

TRD sways. Didn’t degrade ride appreciably (still satisfactory), almost completely eliminated body roll and did significantly improve handling again.

Result – for me, this was a (somewhat) intelligent sequence of mods. It’s resulted in a car that (I believe) will hang with any sedan around any corner. It rides firmly but still not bad on decent road surfaces. It looks good and is VERY satisfying to drive.

I’m not sure about “stages” and what fits – maybe assign a weighted value to the individual mods and let the point total define the “stage”?