lowering questions + suspension set up please

[ESPER]

when considering a performance set up for a 95 240sx i was wondering:

could comeone please give me the entire listing of components for a complete suspension?

do you really need lowering springs or are they just for looks?

thanks!

[pancito]

Aftermarket springs are stiffer and lower (lowers the center of gravity of your car) they offer better handling.

They are perfomance orientated (sp?) some people just passes the line betweeen functional and "looks", when you lower the car in excess or buy cheap "coilover" they tend to affect the handling and lower performance.

Springs should be used with aftermarket shocks and struts to control the force created by the spring. it will be harder in your back.

Is it real that pro-kits lower the car no more then an inch? with my roads, bumps, and potholes i can't afford to drive a lowered car.

[ESPER]

so in other words, when you are customizing your suspension, lowering springs ARE a necessity? and then you combine those with struts, shocks, etc?

[pancito]

Exactly, you want the car to be the more neutral possible, or depending on your application, What are you going to do with the car AUTO-X, Drag Strip, Circuit, or is it just going to be a daily driver that you want to be able to fill confident that you can hang with almost 100% of the cars in the streets???

Depending on your application is the setup you need. What are you going to do?

The most impact in suspension mods are according to some people are:

Wheels (More contact to the pavement, less flex in the sidewall)Shocks and struts (Firmer better feeling from the road)Strut Tower Bars (Less Flex of the body, cheap mod)Springs (Lower, firmer fill)Suspension Bushings (??)Swaybards or AntiRoll bars ( to eliminate understeer or oversteer, and/or to feel flat on the street (i forgot the word)

instead of the shocks and struts + spring combo, you can buy coilovers, cheap coilovers are just for looks, NOT for handling, good coilovers (that almost always cost $1000 or more) can be tweaked to the special need in the moment. Do you need that much tweaking???

[pancito]

sorry for the lenght, but i like to be detailed, LOL, also if I said something wrong or have your own opinion, DONT FLAME ME, correct me, we all can learn something new...this is for this thread and every thread i do reply to. :ylsuper

[C-Kwik]

Exactly, you want the car to be the more neutral possible, or depending on your application, What are you going to do with the car AUTO-X, Drag Strip, Circuit, or is it just going to be a daily driver that you want to be able to fill confident that you can hang with almost 100% of the cars in the streets???

Depending on your application is the setup you need. What are you going to do?

The most impact in suspension mods are according to some people are:

Wheels (More contact to the pavement, less flex in the sidewall)Shocks and struts (Firmer better feeling from the road)Strut Tower Bars (Less Flex of the body, cheap mod)Springs (Lower, firmer fill)Suspension Bushings (??)Swaybards or AntiRoll bars ( to eliminate understeer or oversteer, and/or to feel flat on the street (i forgot the word)

instead of the shocks and struts + spring combo, you can buy coilovers, cheap coilovers are just for looks, NOT for handling, good coilovers (that almost always cost $1000 or more) can be tweaked to the special need in the moment. Do you need that much tweaking???

Over this list, I would add tires to the top. It's the only 4 things holding the car to the ground.

As far as suspension tuning, it is important to remember that it is not what kind of parts you have on your car. It's really how those parts work together. And like most things on a car, everything tends to compromise something else. I would also move wheels down on the list quite a bit. And I am assuming you are referring to larger wheels. There are plenty of tires out there that have very stiff sidewalls and even with relatively small wheels would still give really good response. Secondly, wheels tend to add more unsprung weight and rotational mass. But then again, bigger wheels tend to look better.

Lowering springs can help, but you want to make sure the shock used with them can control the movements, and that it is not so low as to take away too much suspension travel. Bottoming out a suspension is a quick way to transfer weight to that wheel and cause a loss of control. Particularly in the front suspension of a 240sx. And firmess is not always a good thing. It really depends on the use. This goes for both the shocks and spring. If roads could be perfect, there would be no need for a suspension.

And as far as adjustable coilover set-ups, unless you want to cornerweight the car everytime you make a change to ride-height, I would not recommend these. If you don't properly cornerweight the vehicle, the car may have strange handling characteristics.

[ESPER]

i just bought this item

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBa...38052

so this item is just for looks? is there anything i can do with these? are these better than my stock springs ? help please!



:thinker

:help

p.s. thanks you guys! your replies are TRULY informative!!

[ESPER]

also i am going to participate in track racing and drifting! what kind of suspension set up would i need? thanks a bunch!

[Two-Forty]

don't 4get to overlook bushings, if your stock bushings are worn out they might cause a problem for you. suspension enegry makes cheap bushings if you're lookin into it.

[S14lover]

I just bought some tanabe pro-sustec springs that lower the car about 2" and i was told these were also for looks as well and are too low for our cars i am very concerned about this and i do not want to look rice ...so i also think i bought the wrong thing as well...please tell me i didnt