shock/spring and........?

[Fat Felix]

Hope it's ok that I'm putting a suspension related topic in the General forum, so please notify me if it's inappropriate. And yes, searched, but wasn't able to come up with what I was looking for..

A deal fell through on a set of coilovers, so I'm currently set on the Christmas tree setup(AGX/STech).. Was thinking about using the RSR springs(significantly more money) or the Megan ones(scared that quality is too poor) due to the fact that they're both stiffer than the Stech's, but decided against them for right now..

Please do chime in if you feel the ever so popular Christmas tree setup isn't all it's cracked up to be..

I would like to pick up a few more things that'll help my car handle better(not counting tires, since they're already on the way)..

I was thinking about: =Tein Tension rods or Kazama Tension rods.. does the price difference yeild proportional performance difference?=Kazama Rear Subframe spacers.. read that it helps rear traction greatly=RUCA.. is it that important on a car that's not lowered all that much?=Nismo power brace.. clean up some slop up front.. but are there any other alternatives?

What order of importance would you folks place these in ? And anything else you would add to this list?

My car is not a daily driver, but see's a lot of street action, with only 5-6 planned track days per year.

Thanks!

[Juujai]

what you buy depends on what you feel your car needs (most at the time) of course we all want everything haha.

for stiffening try stabilizer bars, strut tower bars. for further stiffening you can just add bars at random locations lol. front/rear ladder bars, front/rear under braces (nismo power bars), some insane roll cage, you can use the urethane foam, stitch weld and many other things can also be done.

i personally dont like tein at all (had bad experience) so i dont support them. id rather buy anything from silkroad, jic, cusco, tanabe, kazama, battle version and whatever else is out there before tein but thats me.

oh yeah stay away from cheaply made parts on ebay that'll break on you. its just a lot of metal welded poorly together you need parts thatll hold some heavy static load.

i think since you care about handling enough to think about tension rods, spacers, camber arms etc you should invest in a set of coilovers first. the difference in struts/shocks vs a set of decent coilovers is like a worlds difference in performance that is. theres some pretty good stuff out there for under $1500.

yeah i dont trust megan either their manifolds crack.

the first 3 performance upgrades id do after all the maintenance is done blah blah tires, oil change, pads whatever

coilovers2-waybucket seat

[frsh13]

I just installed tein tension rods on my s13 two days ago....you can feel the difference from stock, definatly a smoother ride and it was very easy to put them on. They are beefy and in my opinion where worth the 200 bucks. As for RUCA's....they are defintly needed, right now im on sportline springs so my car is dropped a few inches. Since i dont have RUCA's or camber plates up front my camber is off since its dropped. unless you want to pay a lot for new tires all the time get the RUCA's! My tires are completly bald on one side and have atleast 30 % tread left on the other, due to my camber issues. All i can say is that my next investment will be a set of RUCA's, proly from spl parts unless i can find some cheapier some where else.

[240DRFT]

i'd go with the s-techs. the rsr springs have a high spring rate that the agx's arent made for. and the megan springs...they're made by megan.

i have tein tension rods and they seem real nice. i dont know what frsh13 is talking about when he said the ride got smoother after installing his. it should get harsher...you are replacing rubber bushing with solid metal.

i think it was already said but look into swaybars and strut bars too. spl has great stuff you should check them out.

[nismofly]

id definately say look into spl, great stuff

im getting spl/kts coilovers this summer, plus a few other parts from them

[Fat Felix]

Well c/o's are out of the question right now.. I just dont want to spend that much money right now, and do see a whole lot of street use.

Are there any other advantages to having RUCA's besides being able to correct camber?

What about the Kazama subframe spacers? Anyone have these on their cars??

[EstoMax]

the kazama and spl subframe spacers are essentially the same thing and i have the spl ones.. their great... rear feels much less sloppy when accelerating and turning. definately noticable

o and u get to hear the differential at 1000-2000 rpms too hehehe

max

[cheez80]

yeah i dont trust megan either their manifolds crack.

i would like to dispel the rumor that only cheap manifolds crack. even the high dollar full-race, hks, silk road, gp sports, etc., manis crack. it depends on how well you have your exhaust supported, whether you have a flex-pipe on your dp, how stiff your motor mounts are, if the turbo is braced or supported or not, etc., etc.