suspension on tight budget

[s13_nismotuner]

time to focus on suspension...now to just figure out which set up is best for me.
i have a 1990 240 fastback and im on a tight budget so which suspension set up should i go with that would be good for drifting?
im thinkin of KYB AGX shocks, ground control coil-overs and front and rear strut bars wutcha think?

[Parry]

I have no personal experiance with them, but I know Ranlet rocks AGX's and he likes them a lot, I believe he has had them on 2 cars now.

Billstein makes a pretty mean strut. I like them, and will be putting more on my GTI.

Cheap coilovers are sorta meh. Honestly, being low is really overrated. Granted it looks good, but you might find your car handles better with just struts and stock springs, and perhaps sways, than it will with junk springs that make it feel like you're riding on struts made out of wood.

[_PG_]

Originally posted by Parry
Cheap coilovers are sorta meh. Honestly, being low is really overrated. Granted it looks good, but you might find your car handles better with just struts and stock springs, and perhaps sways, than it will with junk springs that make it feel like you're riding on struts made out of wood.

I could not disagree with you more. Firstly, Koguchi (yes, THAT Koguchi) told me personally that a drift car's ride height should be as low as possible. This dude has been tuning and drifting S chassis for 13+ years. I uh think he knows his sh!t Low CG (Center of Gravity) helps keep your car stable and predictable while drifting.

Sway bars? Not needed. I have stock front and HIcas S13 (same as JDM S13) rear sway bar. Those can be gotten for very cheap, and are not even really needed imo, though they do help a tiny bit if youa re like me and have relatively high HP (only 260ish right now) and therefore rock a softer damper setting for your rears.

Honestly Courts I say go with a set of SPL coilovers or Tein HE or somethin like that... around the $1200-1300 range. With $60 or so subframe spacers, the car would be MUCH better than shocks/springs, sways, and strut bars...

[Parry]

Hrm. If that is the case then that is the case. That's interesting.

I was basing my opinion on two general things rather than S13 specific things, because my knowledge of S13 specific stuff is pretty low but I have found these two things to be true on many cars...

-first, good condition stock is better than aftermarket junk, and

-geometry suspension matters.

The ride height of a car definately effects how it handles beyond just center of gravity. Roll center is the big thing that comes to mind, but a lot of the tendency for the car to roll as the geometry chages (extends or compresses, or is permantently compressed by lowering as we are talking about here) is overcome by running springs or sways that are stiff as boards, but then you start getting to a point where you are negating the point of having suspension, bump steer stuff, etc. It all could be non-applicable depending on the car's design and i'm rambling and not really making much sense. Engirsh, don't fail me now

Anyway, the real point was that she might be better off spending the dough on quality struts and retaining the stock springs and whatnot if she does not have the scratch to throw down for some more high-quality coilovers.

I would need time in the car beyond offering up any more advice than I have and apparnetly I'm wrong anyway, sooo. Fill me in here, lol.

Edited stuff follows...

Eh, here. This is from Sport Compact Car, so I guess it is up for debate.

The biggest problem with Nissan suspensions of this era is limited compression travel. Lower any Sentra, Maxima or 240SX from the '90s and you'll get to know the bump stops. To work properly, a 240SX suspension will either have to sit at nearly the stock ride height, or have shorter shock bodies that allow more compression travel. The problem with shortened shock bodies, however, is the amount of compression travel you can actually use depends on the size of your tires. Suspension travel is useless if the tires just bottom out in the wheelwells.

This is the kind of thing that I was wondering about.

[HX-50]

Originally posted by _PG_


Honestly Courts I say go with a set of SPL coilovers or Tein HE or somethin like that... around the $1200-1300 range. With $60 or so subframe spacers, the car would be MUCH better than shocks/springs, sways, and strut bars...

this really doesn't fit my definition of "budget" no offence but to me $1200 for suspension parts is a bit steep at this point, one thing i did with my fc that helped was i found a turbo II parts car and gathered the springs and sway bars off that, also when i purchased my car it came with a bomez strut tower bar which seems to really help stiffen up the front end of the car, I'm still looking for a cheap way to reduce body roll in the rear but i think over the winter i'm gonna break out the welding equipment and build myself a cage which should help reduce some body roll.

All the parts i have in my suspension cost me roughly $150, yes i would love coilovers but i'm on a college budget at the moment so i make due with what i can, but ask anyone who's seen my car up close, i'm usually pretty proud of how much i've gotten out of stock parts, one of the first things i'll have someone do is push on the front fender.

Oh i recently cut the springs, yeah rip into me for that, but it's a cheap way to stiffen suspension, as in it cost me nothing but the time spent to break out the tin snips. Again, these are not ideal suspension mods, but they sure do work for $150.

So basically my point to this is, you don't HAVE to go out and spend so much money to learn, hell the car i've got is a peice, i know that, but i love it, and as i improve my skills and my bank account grows i add more parts.

but hey if you've got the $1200 to spend, definatly get a good set of coilovers, i'd avoid the cheap ones because in my experience at the shop more kids come in with those skunkz coils or the ground control ones and have blown struts or messed up their cross over weights, which is a very important thing to remember when setting suspension, when you play with ride heights you start moving the center of gravity around in the car, and you could greatly affect tire wear and wheel alignment and well all sorts of other things, it can be a true pandora's box if you're not careful.

Well that's my experience, anyway whichever you choose to do, make sure it's right for YOU, cause after all, none of us have to drive the car, that one is in your hands.

[_PG_]

Originally posted by Parry
Hrm. If that is the case then that is the case. That's interesting.

I was basing my opinion on two general things rather than S13 specific things, because my knowledge of S13 specific stuff is pretty low but I have found these two things to be true on many cars...

-first, good condition stock is better than aftermarket junk, and

-geometry suspension matters.

The ride height of a car definately effects how it handles beyond just center of gravity. Roll center is the big thing that comes to mind, but a lot of the tendency for the car to roll as the geometry chages (extends or compresses, or is permantently compressed by lowering as we are talking about here) is overcome by running springs or sways that are stiff as boards, but then you start getting to a point where you are negating the point of having suspension, bump steer stuff, etc. It all could be non-applicable depending on the car's design and i'm rambling and not really making much sense. Engirsh, don't fail me now

Anyway, the real point was that she might be better off spending the dough on quality struts and retaining the stock springs and whatnot if she does not have the scratch to throw down for some more high-quality coilovers.

I would need time in the car beyond offering up any more advice than I have and apparnetly I'm wrong anyway, sooo. Fill me in here, lol.

Edited stuff follows...

Eh, here. This is from Sport Compact Car, so I guess it is up for debate.



This is the kind of thing that I was wondering about.

Parry, SCC is notorious for embellishing and speculating and spreading ther conjecture. Sure, in theory, a bunch of engineers would laugh at a lowered car without rpositioning steering racks, suspension points, etc etc. But hey, guess what, F all that, this is real life, and that is what i am basing my opinions on: experience. Dave Coleman can base his theories on paper numbers and understeer at every event he wnet to in his "$3000" Silvia, but I sure as sh!t know what works.

Anyways, with 8k F 6k R spring rates (standard on most entry coilovers for S13) and short stroke dampers, there isn't much compression your suspension can do . I daily drive my S13 with 8/7 spring rates on JIC FLT-A2 in Los Angeles roads and freeways. Never hit bumpstops (or come close for that matter). For me, the ride is bearable. How much do you love driftng? If you go often enough, an uncomfortable, stiff, low, loud, bare car you have to drive everyday turns into a reminder of how much you really do love to get sideways, and you look forward to the next time the car can be put to its real use.

[UberSpeed]

Hey HX-50 way to go with fabricating your own cage and steez. Thats what I plan on doing, and once my friend gets his parents saab when he turns 16 we are custom fabricating everything we can. Tell me how ur cage works.

[Parry]

Originally posted by _PG_
Parry, SCC is notorious for embellishing and speculating and spreading ther conjecture.

Yea, I know. I just threw it up because it was quick and easy to find lol.

Anyways, with 8k F 6k R spring rates (standard on most entry coilovers for S13) and short stroke dampers, there isn't much compression your suspension can do . I daily drive my S13 with 8/7 spring rates on JIC FLT-A2 in Los Angeles roads and freeways. Never hit bumpstops (or come close for that matter). For me, the ride is bearable. How much do you love driftng? If you go often enough, an uncomfortable, stiff, low, loud, bare car you have to drive everyday turns into a reminder of how much you really do love to get sideways, and you look forward to the next time the car can be put to its real use.

Well, there you have it. I still think that if you cannot afford a good setup it is better to run good struts on stock springs and sways however. Anyways you're sorta preaching to the choir. Both of my cars are too stiff, too low, too loud, and half gutted.

[_PG_]

Originally posted by Parry
Well, there you have it. I still think that if you cannot afford a good setup it is better to run good struts on stock springs and sways however. Anyways you're sorta preaching to the choir. Both of my cars are too stiff, too low, too loud, and half gutted.

Right on. Rock out with your coc.k out!

[LOVMUFN]

In all honesty I used to run shocks so blown the only way they could be more so is if you drilled a hole in the bottom. The springs were real short too so the car just kinda sat REAL low. Going over bumps was not too fun because the car goes up and drops and sits again. And when you do high speed drifting the car wiggled a little on the switch but it was just because it was not super stiff but it didn't affect my driving too much. Best thing is mine will be given away (accept for the Cusco camber plates) for exchange of stock stuff once I get my Ohlins rebuilt.

It was a decent drift set up I am sure most of you guys doubt my driving, which seems to be a major thing here, but guess what, I don't care. I can be seen at every Drift Day in So. Cal. and I don't have to prove to any internet drifter what I can do.

[Ichi-Go]

I think you should get some used stuff. find some used AGX and RSR or another good quality spring. Dont go to low on AGX they can blow.