[Nis01]

Isn't this setup of OEM springs with adjustable struts (Ohlin's) pretty similar to what the SCCA T2 guys are running on the track?

[RaceComp Engineering]

Originally Posted by Nis01

Isn't this setup of OEM springs with adjustable struts (Ohlin's) pretty similar to what the SCCA T2 guys are running on the track?

Those guys are usually running custom (and super expensive) JRZ dampers.

- Andrew

[SWortham]

Man, I'm not cut out for this kind of work. Of course it doesn't help that I'm still not 100% after being sick a week ago. But I spent nearly 10 hours working on my car today and I'm only about half way done. There were plenty of little problems along the way and I kept doing some stupid things to make it harder on myself.

Now I'm exhausted so I decided to stop before I start making stupid mistakes and work backwards. The good news is that everything I've put on the car so far I've made sure to install correctly, and the front Ohlins struts are in and intact.

[SWortham]

The front end is all done and I just went for a drive. There were no strange noises and everything felt like I expected which was a relief.

The amount of compliance in the front has changed dramatically. The suspension used to bottom out over some of the bigger bumps around here but not anymore. It feels very comfortable on the highway as well. I've got the front struts set for 10 clicks from full stiff and it feels good like that for now but I may end up playing with it a little.

As far as handling goes, it feels like I lost a little bit of that initial crisp turn-in feeling the car had with the RCE springs, but thanks to the bigger sway bar overall body roll is pretty comparable.

More impressions to come when the rear-end is finished (I won't be able to get to that today)...

[r12rex]

Very nice. Thanks for the review. Glad you are enjoying your set-up. Don't see too many guys staying on stock springs! So +1 for you. Good luck and keep us updated on those auto-x days!


Kind Regards,
Ryan

[SWortham]

Thanks, I'm enjoying it so far. I can't wait to finish it up and get it aligned.

I was just reminiscing about my weekend. Here's just a few of my favorite stupid mistakes, lol:

Mistake #1: I started out trying to put the rear spring in the front strut and realized what I was doing after I had it fully compressed in the spring compressor, doh!

Mistake #2: I had stripped a nut on my old camber plates and now I was in for a chore of getting the nut off of there. It absolutely would not back out even when I had vice grips on it and I was pulling and turning it simultaneously. So I went to the grinder and cut it off. I didn't exactly have the right tool for this. I had a rotary cutout tool but I only had a small grinding bit -- no cutting wheel. So it took longer than it otherwise could have.

Mistake #3: I installed the sway bar with the endlinks flipped the wrong way. I didn't realize it was wrong until I bolted the subframe back on and the subframe hit the sway bar. I was scratching my head over that one for a bit because I knew that the sway bar wasn't backwards. Then I realized I needed to rotate the whole sway bar in place. But to do that, I had to remove the subframe again, remove the endlinks, rotate the bar, re-attach the endlinks, and then re-attach the subframe. When I had that altogether the clearance looked good to me and it was obvious I finally got it right.

Total time invested: 14 hours. But I can't tell you how much of a relief it was to drive it out of the garage without any problems whatsoever.

[supermarkus]

You had to remove the subframe just to rotate the bar so you could reposition the endlinks? Oh, yeah... the tie rod is in the way.

[SWortham]

Yes, well the problem was such that I couldn't rotate the bar without removing the end links. And with the position the endlinks were in (kinda tweaked), I couldn't remove them without sliding the sway bar to one side or the other. And I couldn't slide the sway bar over without at least lowering the subframe so the sway bar wouldn't make contact with the subframe as I slide it, and also I needed to loosen the sway bar mounts. So I just loosened the bolts for the subframe so I could let it hang which gave me just the clearance I needed.

Well that was tough to explain -- I hope that made sense, lol. It was a test of patience but I got it figured out.

[SWortham]

I've been waiting to give my full review of this setup until it's completely finished. Unfortunately it's not finished because I made another stupid mistake in stripping a rear sway bar mount. The dealer didn't have that part in stock so I've been waiting for it. So for now I'm not running a rear sway bar. Everything else is done though.

Anyway, at least for now I'll give my review of the ride quality. I'm running at 15 clicks from stiff right now in front and rear. What can I say that hasn't already been said? If you've ridden in a car with Bilsteins you might have some idea of what to expect because these Ohlins have a similar quality to them. The damping is how it should've been to begin with. My typical highway commute is much more comfortable and the bobble is nearly gone (there's still a little from the springy seat if you want to be picky).

I've also been putting the suspension travel to the test. With the RCE springs and stock struts, the car was pretty easy to bottom out if I hit a big enough bump. And that wasn't too hard to do with the way some of the roads are near by. I actually had to slow down below the speed limit over some areas just to avoid bottoming out the suspension.

But now with the Ohlins and stock springs I can go over those same roads without any worry at all. In fact I've tried again and again to find the limits of suspension travel but I can't. I've even caught about an inch or two of air over the crest of one road and the suspension handled the landing beautifully. I did find the limit of travel on one occasion now, but surprisingly it wasn't the struts. It was the sound of my front-right 245/45-17 tire rubbing under heavy compression. I think I'll probably buy 245/40-17's next time.

Needless to say, the setup has been great for me so far. It feels a little weird without a rear sway bar obviously. It's kind of hard to break the rear-end loose right now. But I think once the new sway bar is in it should have enough roll stiffness for my purposes. And I've got an autocross event July 15th where I can put it all to the test.

[edy]

... man, I'm still itching to get those struts. Glad to hear it's working out great. I'm curious as to why you decided to go back to the stock springs vs using the RCE springs though.

[SWortham]

Originally Posted by edy

I'm curious as to why you decided to go back to the stock springs vs using the RCE springs though.

I wanted more suspension travel for the reasons I've stated above. A lot has to do with the roads I drive on. Put simply, I decided that the long-suspension travel character of this stinkin' rally car was more important to me than ultimate track prowess. Now it has a little of both.

[RaceSTI]

I have used eibach pro's, RCE yellow and the red prodives. Happiest with the prodrives Good response, handling and ride. Eibach just not right, and RCE too noisy and I thing it was not the bumpstops bottoming as much as the spring collapsing together. Dont be afraid of the prodrive reds.

[SWortham]

Well the new rear sway bar is installed finally. The handling is fantastic now. It's amazing how flat the car corners even with the stock springs. I have an autocross event coming up July 15th at the Texas Motor Speedway infield road course. That's one of the coolest autocross events of the year and I'll be putting my new setup to the test there.

[RaceComp Engineering]

Originally Posted by SWortham

Well the new rear sway bar is installed finally. The handling is fantastic now. It's amazing how flat the car corners even with the stock springs. I have an autocross event coming up July 15th at the Texas Motor Speedway infield road course. That's one of the coolest autocross events of the year and I'll be putting my new setup to the test there.

I was just driving there( TMS) last week with the BMW experience tour. Wish I had known thats your area. You are right , that track has a great infield.

Myles

[SWortham]

Originally Posted by RaceComp Engineering

I was just driving there( TMS) last week with the BMW experience tour. Wish I had known thats your area. You are right , that track has a great infield.

Myles

Cool... too bad I missed you. My favorite around here is the MSR road course in Cresson because it's so long and technical, but the TMS infield is pretty cool too. There are some fun sections of that track.

I don't have the official results yet but I wrote my little race report...

Originally Posted by SWortham

Yesterday was a long day at the Texas Motor Speedway infield. We had an amazing 225 people signed up for this event. That's gotta be a record of some kind. Unfortunately that meant that we only got 3 runs. The course designers are somewhat limited to make a road course into an autocross so of course there were a lot of slaloms. And essentially, if you're not good at slaloms, you don't have a chance.

But anyway, I drove before my friend did and I had the challenge of trying to figure out how to drive the car through the slalom with the new setup. Just before the race I had turned the damping way up to where I think it should be. I had literally never driven the car like that before so I didn't know what to expect. Well... the car turned-in better than ever... almost too good. I was oversteering through the slalom, the tail was sliding out on me and it was tough to keep it tidy so I nailed a few cones.

When I got around to the long sweepers the car felt excellent. I was amazed at how neutral it was and how incredibly predictable it was at the limit. I got all 4 tires screeching through the corner just right. It's a much better feeling than the simple modulation of understeer that I had to deal with in previous setups.

Unfortunately I never really got the hang of the slaloms in the car and since there were so many slaloms on the course, that killed my times.

But my friend, on the other hand, is good. LOL. This was his first time driving my car and yet he beat my best time of the day by 5 seconds and got 2nd place in STU! I think he officially confirmed for me that running the stock springs on this car is not the handicap so many people make it out to be.

http://www.iwsti.com/forums/showthre...22#post1401522