Stock suspension: Why change it?

[Draco-REX]

Our local Cars and Coffee mornings will see such sights as a 9 sec Camaros, slammed and stanced VWs, stickered-up Scions, and 3 ton diesel trucks sharing the same lot.

[Draco-REX]

Originally Posted by blu_

Probably throw on a slightly bigger rear sway bar to see if that stiffens the back enough to not want to do springs. Downside is I have found driving in bad snow with a big back sway to be a bit dangerous. I almost ran my STI into a snowplow with how loose the back end was... ended up just passing him in a glorious awd sideways drift.

Just disconnect it for the winter and zip-tie it up out of the way.

[blu_]

Yeah that requires effort :/

[shunya]

imho, I believe most people who change their suspension setups usually just aim for the appearances, some might do so for even better handling prior to their own driving styles. As for myself, I will definitely be aiming for a stiffer setup for dori dori since I dun have the car as of right now, I'm not able to judge and tell you exactly what I'm going to do. But as for my RX7 I had to create more steering angle, caster, etc. I am a old car guy honestly so I'm hoping on the back of my head that the fr-s won't be so digital if you guys know what I mean. RAW MACHINES = MOAR FUN

[koyv90]

Originally Posted by djliquidsteele

I'll be the first to say it. The only reason I want springs is to reduce the wheel gap. In order to do this, since the car is lower, you need to stiffen up the springs so id doesn't bottom out. After you do that, the shocks may not be ideally suited to those springs for proper handling. So in essence, I want either a spring/strut combo or coil over system that maintains most of the ride quality/performance of the stock suspension, but drops it 1.5-2 inches.

^This

I want the exact same as the stock setup but with lowering it.

[Moshpit37]

Lots of interesting information here. Thanks guys. Didn't mean to sound judgmental with the first post. Like I said, I'm going to trust the engineers for awhile. Going to be a daily driver, and the roads around me suck, so I'm just not going to mess with it.

[AVOturboworld]

We'll have coilovers for the car that, I'll be the first to say it, are for track oriented owners only. While they are reasonable on the road, they are not designed for it. We set them up based on a lot of time attacks and circuit events on race tracks in Japan.

I also have no doubts that half the sales of them will be for people that simply want to lower their cars and enjoy the extra firmness. That's fine too, it's their car and what I feel is comfortable for daily driving and what they feel is comfortable is going to be two different setups. Whatever the magazine writers will say about the suspension, even if it's the most perfect thing in the world for them, for a lot of people the stock suspension will be too soft, for some it will be too hard, and for others close enough.

Regards,

Paul Hansen
www.avoturboworld.com
www.facebook.com/BRZSportsCarClub

[Sasquachulator]

Well the reason i want to lower it is to get rid of wheel gap.

But considering the FRS has nowhere near the gargantuan gap that my Corolla had (2.5inches), it may not be neccessary.

I already hate driving over some of the speed bumps around here (some seem taller than others, so ive 'clunked' the underside a few times).....and it seems like my car is around the same or maybe slightly higher than a stock FRS ground clearance.

The TRD 86 ride height looks perfect to me, and that apparently only has 15mm of drop (which is nothing). Perhaps its bigger wheels helped fill some gap.

[chuie]

Would anyone consider tuning the suspension the other way, that is to make the ride softer for long distance driving? Or would that compromise the handling and the whole idea of the car?

[Draco-REX]

Originally Posted by chuie

Would anyone consider tuning the suspension the other way, that is to make the ride softer for long distance driving? Or would that compromise the handling and the whole idea of the car?

You can soften the suspension without hurting performance too badly. ou'll essentially be blunting the response. You will have to find some place that can sell you coilovers or struts/springs with custom valving and rates. RCE might be able to pull that off.

That said, however, the question becomes, why get a BRZ? The point of the car is it's responsiveness and communication with the driver. If you want a car that's sporty but comfortable, there might be some better choices out there. Maybe a 3 series BMW? Just maybe something to consider.

[samsam5886]

I feel the same way. I want to retain the original balance that was engineered into the car but I also want something lower and stiffer for when I get grippier tires. I was thinking of retaining the original F to R spring rate ratio and then adjusting damping to suit my taste. I think this should be possible with Swift custom coilover springs

[Dan Ruddock]

I am shopping nation wide right now for a manual Lexus SC300 which is a rare car.

As soon as I see an ad for lowered SC I move on and keep looking. Kind of frustrating and making my search more difficult. Suspension travel on the streets is as good as gold and the stock wheel gap looks ideal to me.

Yes I still want a FRS but it will have to wait a while and the SC will fill the gap. Dan

[chuie]

Originally Posted by Draco-REX

You can soften the suspension without hurting performance too badly. ou'll essentially be blunting the response. You will have to find some place that can sell you coilovers or struts/springs with custom valving and rates. RCE might be able to pull that off.

That said, however, the question becomes, why get a BRZ? The point of the car is it's responsiveness and communication with the driver. If you want a car that's sporty but comfortable, there might be some better choices out there. Maybe a 3 series BMW? Just maybe something to consider.

I think the 3 series is out of my price range. It also doesn't really suit my character; I definitely don't look the executive type, and I'm only 21 right now haha.

Ultimately I do want is a car that is fun to drive, even if that comes at the cost of some comfort. I'm still very much in favour of the 86/BRZ; I'm just looking at all the different options possible until the time comes when I can afford it Which sadly won't be for another few years..

[Khalis]

Originally Posted by djliquidsteele

I'll be the first to say it. The only reason I want springs is to reduce the wheel gap. In order to do this, since the car is lower, you need to stiffen up the springs so id doesn't bottom out. After you do that, the shocks may not be ideally suited to those springs for proper handling. So in essence, I want either a spring/strut combo or coil over system that maintains most of the ride quality/performance of the stock suspension, but drops it 1.5-2 inches.

I've wondered about this for months now but does the TRD lowering springs offer that? As in lower the car x amount of mm/inches but still have the stock ride quality/performance?