400hp suspension upgrades

Zrain25

New Member
Sep 30, 2012
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Pelham,New Hampshire
I'm building a 400 to 450whp 7m supra. Before I took the car off the road 2 years ago I put new lowering spring s and struts the usual stuff. Now I have the subframes both out and I have a couple things I was going to upgrade I'm gunna list them off if anyone has any input in other things I should put in to beef it up a little

New bushings for the whole rear end
Solid subframe bushings
New slotted rotors and new calibers
New high performance pads
Beech end links

For the front new bushings all over.
I need a new steering rack already
Beech sway bar links
Cobra kit front brakes, rotors, pads, calibers
And I already have new sainleas steel brakes lines to calibers

Was thinking of doing the beech toe arms and traction arms. And front and rear sway bars. But I'm not gunna track the cat just weekend cruiser

Thanks guys.
 

black89t

boost'en down 101
Oct 27, 2007
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humboldt, ca
heres my recommendation for what you should do

for the rear depending on the mileage of your car id leave the bushings alone unless they're actually damaged or the eccentric bolts are seized. the subframe bushing id leave stock too. i have the beech subframe bushing and they're actually just spacers. they helped with wheel hop on a hard launch with drag raidals but thats about it. and the diff noise is a lot louder after them. if you want the best option pm ronniek and get a set of his poly bushings. they actually replace the stock bushing even though for what you are trying to do id leave it alone. the rest looks good

for the front id skip the endlinks the stock ones are fine. make sure you get new bushing for the steering rack though that will make a big difference for steering response and feedback if yours are shot. besides that though looks good. check the lower ball joints too as those are usually loose and never been changed.

then if you can swing it i highly recommend getting a set of st sway bars. you will see a drastic change it how well the car stays planted through corners and can transition faster. those with lowering springs and good damper make for a nice handling smooth ride. the only aftermarket arms that will help the car perform drastically better are the traction bars but thats only for launching with high hp.

and one other thing if you don't drive the car often get a set of hankook rs3 those will transform how fast you can take a corner compared to an all season or shitty tire. and will make you hookup accelerating. i never have anything above 200tw on my car lol. i always laugh when people are like yeah my car doesn't hook up yet they have some 600tw tire its like no crap its not gonna hook up :: facepalm ::
 
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steveyblack

Member
Jun 21, 2007
529
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Nj
Im at about 375 and I found that the driveline is the ends up taking the beating. If you have it out, I would do it while you are there. With my suspension regularly maintained (subframe retorque, new bj/tr, better pads/rotors) and stock drive line it drove nice and straight, however after a few years the diff and drive shaft were showing their age. I got a built diff and a 1pc drive shaft now and its nice to know that the drive line can take a beating. If you have the subframes out I would just do the bushings then, however unless your toe/traction arms are shot, id leave it stock.
 

emiliorescigno

Supramania Contributor
Sep 17, 2006
1,199
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Woodbury, MN
black89t;2034565 said:
and one other thing if you don't drive the car often get a set of hankook rs3 those will transform how fast you can take a corner compared to an all season or shitty tire. and will make you hookup accelerating. i never have anything above 200tw on my car lol. i always laugh when people are like yeah my car doesn't hook up yet they have some 600tw tire its like no crap its not gonna hook up :: facepalm ::

While I 100% agree on the "no tire over 200TW", I'm not sure Hankook RS3s are the best choice, they're known for having (comparatively) soft sidewalls. I would personally recommend Direzza ZIIs, Toyo R1Rs, or BFGoodrich G Rivals.
 

emiliorescigno

Supramania Contributor
Sep 17, 2006
1,199
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Woodbury, MN
IndigoMKII;2034909 said:
RS3 known for their soft sidewalls yet I could have sworn it was a autox/track tire.

Your statement is 100% correct. They are a tire pretty much designed with AutoX in mind, and I know a lot of people that use them. They have comparable (if not superior) grip levels to other 140-200 TW tires (ZIIs, R1Rs, G-Rivals, etc.), but they are also known for having relatively soft sidewalls when compared to their direct competitors.

The end result is a tire that is very fast and grippy, but doesn't *feel* very responsive. I've never used them, but I'd be very curious to see what a set of BFG Rivals is like with a Supra. A lot of small car drivers (miatas, MR2s, etc.) complaint about the rivals, but they seem to be really in their element and more highly recommended by drivers of larger and heavier cars.

Toyo R1Rs are somewhat the opposite. Small car drivers love them, and they seem to have almost unfair levels of grip and response, but they tend to overheat and get greasy when they're on heavier cars.

Regardless, tires are the single most important mod you can do to you car! (I really need to upgrade my tires, 300TW Kumhos are OK, but really nothing I'm excited about.)
 

black89t

boost'en down 101
Oct 27, 2007
951
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humboldt, ca
oh yeah reinforcing the subframe would be a good idea thats something i forgot. i broke two before finally doing it and its been good since. i made a thread about it along with others so you can get an idea of how to go about it.

as far as tires i said the hankook rs3 as they are the best compromise for price, grip, and longevity. i havent tried a set of their new version but i ran the old version and they were fast! and they never got to hot and started to fall apart. they like heat. also drove to the bay a couple time in heavy rain and they did great. i would have bought another set but they were sold out since theyre so popular. i ended up getting a set of re11a's for a great price from costco when they had a discount on buying 4 bridgestones. i like them they're really smooth for the level of grip they have and love rain. the side walls are on the softer side but if im used to that you can still be fast with them. when these are done which they will prolly be by spring im going with some rs3. the newer version is suppose to be better than the previous rs3's i tried so looking forward to see how they do :D

rivals are fast but don't do well in rain so idk how well they'd work for the op. and r1r is like the miata tire like you said our cars would grease those tires up really fast.
 

emiliorescigno

Supramania Contributor
Sep 17, 2006
1,199
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Woodbury, MN
black89t;2034969 said:
as far as tires i said the hankook rs3 as they are the best compromise for price, grip, and longevity. i havent tried a set of their new version but i ran the old version and they were fast!

Don't worry, the new version is actually the exact same tire, it just has a different treadwear stamp on the side ;-)
 

black89t

boost'en down 101
Oct 27, 2007
951
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humboldt, ca
emiliorescigno;2034975 said:
Don't worry, the new version is actually the exact same tire, it just has a different treadwear stamp on the side ;-)



actually that happened a couple years ago. it used to be a 140tw tire but they changed the minimum tw for street tire class to 200tw so hankook relabled the rs3 but it was the same tire. then last year they came out with a new compound for the tire but it has the exact some tread pattern. that is the one i haven't tried and want to try. sorta like how the re11 and the re11a are the same tw and pattern but different compound they just made it so you could tell the difference by changing the name. if you have wheels that fit the old version they are super cheap on tire rack cause they are on closeout. i run 255/40/17 all around and that the size that always sells out it seems.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Hankook&tireModel=Ventus+R-S3+(Version+2)
 

emiliorescigno

Supramania Contributor
Sep 17, 2006
1,199
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0
Woodbury, MN
black89t;2035049 said:
actually that happened a couple years ago. it used to be a 140tw tire but they changed the minimum tw for street tire class to 200tw so hankook relabled the rs3 but it was the same tire. then last year they came out with a new compound for the tire but it has the exact some tread pattern. that is the one i haven't tried and want to try. sorta like how the re11 and the re11a are the same tw and pattern but different compound they just made it so you could tell the difference by changing the name. if you have wheels that fit the old version they are super cheap on tire rack cause they are on closeout. i run 255/40/17 all around and that the size that always sells out it seems.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Hankook&tireModel=Ventus+R-S3+(Version+2)

You're right. I do remember now that there was both a compound and a TW change. Silly Hankook making things hard to keep track of.
 

black89t

boost'en down 101
Oct 27, 2007
951
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humboldt, ca
emiliorescigno;2035053 said:
You're right. I do remember now that there was both a compound and a TW change. Silly Hankook making things hard to keep track of.



haha yeah they didn't make it too easy to tell the difference
 

TurboStreetCar

Formerly Nosechunks
Feb 25, 2006
2,776
3
38
Long Island, Ny
You really dont need to do anything to the suspension for 400HP, its strong enough stock. Anything after market parts you put in would be to make the car handle better. Im at 520 and all i have is poly bushings front and rear. To be honest, didnt notice a big difference but my car is more of a drag setup then cornering. Otherwise im totaly stock suspension. Stock Springs, KYB GR2's, stock sway bars and all stock links and control arms.

Brakes on the other hand are needed. I have the Cobra brakes and they have been awesome. Never a complaint slowing down from 120 in a hurry.