confused on shocks/struts/suspension

[phreaknature]

my car bounces. i push down on the front, bounces. over highways, i feel the road and not in a good way. so i'm looking to replace. but what exactly am i looking at?

i want excellent cornering and maneuverability yet i heard that's at the cost of comfort. i want comfort, but then again it won't be great in corners.

the coily things on my (iono, shocks/struts???) are dying or dead. they do die right? one looks like its peeling bad and all rusty.

shocks. struts. difference??

isn't there a thread somewhere on here helping newbs like me to understand different points on shocks and struts?

damnit i want to drive comfortably while being able to take sharp turns, impress people if i ever learn to drift.

i don't want suggestions to actual brand name parts, i want information on "what is a strut" and "how to achieve comfort and handling at its maximum" come on tuners, help feed this brain please!

[sommmatt]

Your car is approaching 20 years old.

It's not a Cadillac.

Man up. Buy Coilovers.

[Darkness and Light]

Go down to Borders/Barnes and Nobles and pick up a book about car suspensions and handling. The cost of the book won't even be as much as replacing a worn out shock boot on one corner of your car. You'll probably have to replace your shocks and you might as well replace the front strut mounts and shock boots while you're all it. To just regain stock performance I figure you'll spend at least $400 in parts, not counting labor. Buying a handful of books about car suspension is a drop in the bucket.

[MastaYu]

^ or you could just got to howstuffworks.com

[adrianfromthecastle]

^^ or you can lurk around these forums and ask questions....

phreaknature, it sounds to me as if your shocks aka dampers are blown.

If however, you are looking for an slight upgrade in suspension and feel without sacrificing comfort, there are still options. What I recommend the most is RSR race springs on koni dampers.

Most often when you hear people say that their ride feel is harsh after an upgrade in suspension, its due to stiffer spring rates (probably horrible damper valving as well, but thats a different story) on their coilovers.

You should look into getting some koni dampers and some rsr race springs or ground control coilover sleeves...

[phreaknature]

adrians_s13 thanks for that sound reply. gave me a bit of insight. on what's going on.

mastayu i think i will check that site out, maybe it'll answer more questions aside from the ones i have here.

darkness and light i have thought about it, and i'm actually planning to get this book on understanding your car. another tech dude told me bout it.

so basically thanks for the input guys. its helpful and hopefully later on i'll be posting about my new suspension layout

oh and sommmatt, ur reply was just plain d!ck. thanks