Suspension Advice for a Cruiser/AutoX Car

[CSquared]

I decided that I want to do an intermediate suspension setup to hold me over for the next few years, with my budget being $500-600 at the most. Car is mostly a weekend cruiser, but I do plan on some autocross, so I'm looking for a good mix between comfort and performance (at least the closest I can get to that within my budget range). So far I have decided that I am going to run the Tokico HPs, and I should probably also mention that I'm running TT wheels (stock tire size) with no spacer or anything like that.

After hours of research, I'm now more indecisive about my spring selection than when i started. So far I have looked into Eibach, H&R, Suspension Techniques and a few others.

Eibach: I have these on my daily eclipse with some AGX gas adjustables (previous owner), and I feel like I'd want something with a little less initial body roll for the supra.

H&R: LOVE the drop, but seems like too many folks complain about scraping (whether it be on the road or tire to the fender liner). For that reason, I've got to imagine these would be the worst choice if I planned on autox.

Suspension Techniques (ST): These were the favorite for a while as folks claim they are linear, which is the best match for the mk3s suspension geometry. However, I've seen a few pictures and posts that suggest only the front springs are linear. This seems like it would create an odd handling characteristic with the rear being more lively than the front.

Other: Apparently intrax is linear, but in a short search I saw a number of complaints about these.

Opinions (aside from "save up for coilovers") or experiences would be awesome.

 

[suprarx7nut]

I'd look at Tanabe as well. Not a ton of drop, if i recall correctly, they may be linear, which is good for auto-x and reliable handling. Since it isn't a huge drop, it'll be daily friendly as well.

 

[Backlash2032]

B&G is fairly comfortable. I can't drive on some gravel roads because the mud flaps scrape, and some speed bumps.. but I think it's the perfect drop. Never once have I hit the liners, and if im careful, I never hit anything else on the car.

The downside for auto-x is they are progressive. It makes for a decent ride though..

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2

 

[CSquared]

Thanks for the replies. Bump for more.

 

[IanC]

I've used B&G on other cars and always loved the drop and ride quality. I plan on running them with the Illumina II's on the Supra.

 

[xzeror]

just save for coilovers, used with low miles can be around 600ish. Best mod ive done to my car. You can make it stiff for the track then simply adjust back to daily driver setting.

 

[CSquared]

To be honest... I really want the tein flex. But I have more than a few other things to address before I drop that kind of money on coilovers.

No other suggestions?

 

[te72]

I have heard good things about the effects of aftermarket swaybars on our cars... Any plans (or already upgraded?) for the sways?

Also, the Megans I have for sale (I noticed you posted in my FS thread), they have a pretty stiff spring rate. I'll be honest, I'm not certain if they are linear or progressive. I do however, have about 3 years of daily driving on them. My biggest complaint about running such a stiff setup is that it wasn't great at dealing with bigger bumps, for lack of travel. My understanding is that most coilovers are like this though, so I didn't give it too much thought. Control wise, my car was setup to understeer a bit on hard turn in, but enough throttle, or a bit of braking would get the car to rotate in much better.

 

[CSquared]

I have heard good things about the effects of aftermarket swaybars on our cars... Any plans (or already upgraded?) for the sways?

Also, the Megans I have for sale (I noticed you posted in my FS thread), they have a pretty stiff spring rate. I'll be honest, I'm not certain if they are linear or progressive. I do however, have about 3 years of daily driving on them. My biggest complaint about running such a stiff setup is that it wasn't great at dealing with bigger bumps, for lack of travel. My understanding is that most coilovers are like this though, so I didn't give it too much thought. Control wise, my car was setup to understeer a bit on hard turn in, but enough throttle, or a bit of braking would get the car to rotate in much better.

Yeah eventually I will upgrade the sway bars (I like the suspension techniques). This car sat for a couple of years and turned into a POS, so I have more than a few other things to spend money on at the moment. My stock suspension is SHOT though, which is really the only reason I'm considering an upgrade. Care to elaborate on how to created said handling characteristic?

 

[te72]

Well, I'll explain as best I can. When I bought the car back in 2008, the Megans were on the car already. I have NO idea if the previous owner (owners? Not sure who put the suspension on) set the preload in any particular manner. I did my best to try to adjust the suspension as evenly as possible from side to side, and set the height and dampening where I liked it. Dampening was set about 3/4 to stiff (possibly more, I forget) in the front, and about 1/8 to stiff in the rear.

Even on 275's in the rear, I had to get as much squat as I could to keep tire spinning to a minimum when launching on the rare occasion I got to play with it, hence the seemingly strange balance. Stock sway bars by the way.