They are 550/350 springs. And my god are they good. They ride as good as the OEM shocks, and obviously handle much better.

My one regret is they are so good that I have to go MUCH faster through the twisties to get the same enjoyment. Too fast for the street. 270° highway on ramp with a recommended speed of 25? At 70 it feels rather boring. And this is with 195/50 all seasons. I used to be sliding around that same ramp at 65.

Now I just need an alignment. Any of the Indy guys have a favorite shop? I will probably take it to AIM tuning.

Oh and I didn't take any pictures of the install because I don't remember where my camera is. It's a red '99 and I used the long bolt method, use your imagination!

 

where are the slammed pics?! how else are we to know if these are good shocks or not?

 

Of course, how silly of me.

Before:


After:



Ride height didn't change much. I didn't measure it from the pinch welds, but it was something like 12.75" front 13" rear from center hub to fender after I took it off the jack stands. I may need to adjust the spring perches still, as I noticed the rear helper springs were almost fully compressed with the car in the air and the wheel off. Is there any rule of thumb for setting the spring perch height?

 

Don't you wish you got 700/400 springs now?

I was absolutely floored to see how well the car drove on the street. Then realized that in a balanced car like ours, comfort = traction. I run 600/400 on my daily and it's smoother than 115/95, lol.

 

Ride height looks great. Low and functional. I dig. Needs more boost now!

 

no slammed = no care.

 

 

I plan on getting 700/400 springs at some point, but until I get 15x9s and run RS3s they are pointless. I would be interested to see what the difference in ride quality is between them. I already spent $2200 on the shocks, what's an extra $300 for some springs for the track?


What about spring perch adjustment? Is that something that will be adjusted during the alignment or should I take care of that before I get it aligned? How should they be set? I assume with the helper springs that I should set the perches so that the helpers are unbound with the wheel in the air, and they should be fully compressed when it is on the ground (which I haven't checked but I am sure is the case).

 

Just set the ride heights, preferably corner balance, and go from there.

 

Not slammed or flush, downvoted.

 

You know those extra black rubber pieces that came in the bag with the tools? You put those somewhere on the upper shock mount assembly to get more droop travel (ie, the helper spring isnt completely compressed). I forget the actual order of parts though.

 

Oh no, the droop *** crew flipped-on their bat signal.

 

If you have helper springs on your car, you're either part of the droop *** crew, or you got talked into buying a part you didnt think you needed.

 

AIM is where i would suggest if you can get in. While you're there, pick up my Hydra wideband that's been sitting on his shelf for 15 months while i've been trying to get him to tune my car. I'll buy you a 6 pack.

If you're willing to travel, there's a couple good shops in Louisville i'd recommend. I'm taking the Escort down there to get aligned and corner-weighted in the next couple weeks.

 

Have you ever been talked into sharing a bed with a woman?

 

Question:

If you are talking about an off-ramp, shocks are not really the determining factor of how fast you can go...sways, bump stops, spring rates have more to do with it. If the off ramp is really bumpy, then I would agree. I would think the real test of a new set of coilovers would be bumpy turns, transitions, stability under braking/trail breaking, how aggressive you can get on the gas coming out of a corner, can you make a mid-turn correction without upsetting the car,etc.
The shocks are pretty much along for the ride in a smooth steady state corner.

Would you mind updating us with some real world impressions under these types of conditions?

Thanks

 

Thats absurd, I own a miata.

 

Well, until I get the car to a track or autox I can't really give any impressions.

It's now too fast at the limit to safely push on the street. Not for lack of trying, of course. Like seriously I take hard turns faster than I did with the stock ones on and it just sticks. When I find enough clear space to actually get them to the limits, I will report back.

 

Thanks, look forward to your impressions

 

All I can is, I wish I had that suspension on my car. I have to settle for something less, like NB Bilsteins with NB FM springs.