Suspension mods worth it?

[Coaster]

This was a surprise. Thought mods would boost cornering speeds.

[NoHaveMSG]

This video is an excellent example on how people can focus solely on one aspect and loose sight of the bigger picture

[jflogerzi]

It all depends on the car. But generally the MFGs know what they are doing it turns out.

[EAGLE5]

Some mods aren't worth it. Some are. It all depends on the circumstances.

[ZDan]

Suspension mods should pay off more so with more dedicated Extreme Perf 200tw tires vs. Max Perf. Summers.

To anyone interested in lap times at the track, I think it's better to go with time deltas vs. %age. On their short 30-second course, a 0.3-second difference is significant despite being only 1% ish. That might translate to upwards of ~1 second at the track. Again I'd expect any advantages to the stiffer setups to be amplified with more track-dedicated tires.

For our cars, IMO getting a lot more front camber is the 1st most important thing to do for performance at the track.

If not tracking or autXing, no real point to suspension mods with these cars IMO, except to improve looks by lowering (not a fan of the on-stilts stock look!).

FWIW here is link to Tire Rack test
https://www.tirerack.com/suspension/..._rd_2010_b.jsp

It's too bad they didn't do wet testing...

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by ZDan

Suspension mods should pay off more so with more dedicated Extreme Perf 200tw tires vs. Max Perf. Summers.

That is what made me lol about the video. The first part he goes on to talk about all the different aspects that affect grip. Then spends the rest of the video talking about just suspension as if each aspect of grip behaves completely independent of each other.

If they would have taken the same car with whatever tires where on it and did this test, but also did the same test with a 200TW tire, the results would have been completely different. I remember the first time I threw a wide 200tw tire on my mostly stock car and thought I was going to drag the door handles.

[RToyo86]

It would have helped to add in the video that throwing random parts at your car is dumb. Do your research or consult a platform expert on your goals. Aftermarket parts aren't created equal.
I saw somebody on local marketplace selling swift 40k springs. WTF

I am happy with my suspension combo for mainly steet use with 300tw tires. I am the tallest aftermarket suspension guy at every meet
But I also have the best ride from what I've tried/felt and hardly ever had issues scraping around town.

[DarkSunrise]

Isn't it generally understood that you decide what tires you want to use, then match your suspension to your tire in the context of the intended usage (track, autox, DD, etc.)? Seems odd to blindly select suspension without matching it to the tire.

Last winter, I threw cheap Federal tires on my car since I was using it in the canyons and wanted to play around with lower grip levels. The lower grip was welcome, but the suspension didn't feel matched to the tires. Then a few weeks ago in preparation for some upcoming track days, I put the car back on track tires and instantly I could tell how much better my suspension (RCE T2 with 7k/7k spring rates) felt paired with track tires, even in canyon shakedown runs. So much fun to drive. I also drove my friend's AP2 S2000 (on OEM suspension/UHP all-seasons) that day and really missed the responsiveness of my setup.

I'm sure this won't shock anyone, but track oriented-suspension will shine with track tires in a track setting. And OEM suspension will shine with OEM-like tires in a DD context. There's a sliding scale in between. Also applies to alignment and bushing compliance.

[Dirty Harry]

I have the STI pink springs, so a mild 15mm drop and 18 inch forged alloys with Michelin Pilot Super Sports (225/40/R18). It made the world of difference. Sits flatter through corners, more responsive, more grip and the wife even thought it was more compliant. I thought it was about the same compliance wise. I guess STI know what they’re doing. IMO it looks better too, closing the wheel gap.

To the Youtuber’s point, none of my mods have been tested at the track, so not sure of the performance gains if any, but I wouldn’t go back to stock.