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alright, whats the consensus on the evo 8 suspension now?

these are the ones. http://www.optionsauto.com/prodinfo.asp?number=ESP-ESA058 i didn't want to go too low, and i think i remeber a post showing oe spring rates of dsm,gvr4,and evo, and the evo's were a little higher than gvr4 to begin with and these are 20-30% higher still. i cruise w/ frt. set a 1, and the rear on 2. i tried it at the auto-x on 2 frt. and 4 rear and felt ok before a busted brakeline ended the day. but that was on 225/45/17 falken 512 i think. i have some 235/40/17 hankook z212 tires on order and i'm sure i will set the agx's much higher.
 

Luke

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Joined
Jul 16, 2002
Messages
752
Location
San Jose, CA
Quote:
i'm not sure what everyone else is doing with slots and cuts and such, but here's what i did, and it rides awesome!!! it feels like a bmw (tight but compliant over the small stuff) i have espelir evo8 springs i believe they're 0.9 in drop all around. i figured if you can use oem evo springs, why not better aftermarket ones? and i have 1g awd KYB AGX struts all around. i'll take some pics soon if you guys want to check it out. i have my original tops all around. ive autox'd it and it was great. soon to road race at houston motorsports ranch. one thing i did in the back was flip the spring. so it sits on the upper part of the perch. but iv'e had no problems (squeaks,ratlles or anything) and like i said, no cutting, notching, or modifications.
and it is lower than stock, looks good. and to be honest i havent even taken it to get an alignment yet. no abnormal tire wear whatsoever. 3k so far. as soon as get my afco rear arms, and my frt. upper pillow moiunts in,i will be getting one.



Your experience with KYB AGX is quite the opposite of mine.
I found AGX shocks ( I had mine with Whiteline springs ) to be either bouncey when adjusted to "soft", or harsh/bumpy when adjusted "stiff".

I found the problem to be that AGX shocks adjust both bumps and rebounds with the knob. The shocks are setup with relatily high bump, compared to rebound.

Therefore, when adjusted soft, there is not enough rebound force to control the springs, thus the bounciness. ( I don't think it was enough for my whiteline springs, let alone the stiffer espelir springs )

On the other hand, when adjusted to a stiffer setting in an effort to control the springs, the bump curve also goes up. This is causing the bumpy/harsh ride on that end of adjustment.

So basically, I had problems with getting them adjusted for the whiteline springs that I have. It is either bouncy or harsh.


 
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I have tried it all. Here they are in order:

1. Stock suspension.
2. Whiteline springs with AGX shocks
3. JIC with 8kg/6kg springs
4. JIC with QA1 progressive springs
5. EVO shocks and EVO springs
6. EVO shocks and Espelir springs
7. ( current setup ) Hotbits with 8kg/5kg springs



Can you post a little blurb about each setup?



+2

 

Here is my experience with cut springs and KYB AGX shocks.

I cut the front springs only, one coil. Pudhed is partly right... the bottom coil isn't exactly "flat" as he indicated, but it has a much shallower pitch compared to the other coils. However, even the bottom coil has a little pitch, hence the corresponding pitch in the spring perch on the shock.

As far as the spring coming off the perch, this isn't very likely as long as you only cut one coil. At least with KYB AGX shocks (which I THINK are the same length as stock) there is a good bit of tension on the spring even with the shock fully extended.

I found the combination of the factory springs (one coil cut in front, stock in back) and 1G awd KYB AGX shocks to provide excellent ride with some handling gains over stock shocks. (Or at least over well worn stock shocks) I run the fronts full soft and the rears one click firmer than full soft. This combination seems to reduce understeer under all conditions without adding any snap-oversteer tendency in wet conditions.

The ride is at least as good as factory and is not the least bit bouncy. The old shove-down-the-corner-of-the-car-and-release test shows just a single rebound cycle and the chassis immediately settles to its normal ride height without any bounce. Handling, particularly cornering, is improved enough that my son, riding with me for the first time after the swap, immediately asked what I had done to my suspension...not on the bumpy streets around the house but after a couple of corners taken with enthusiasm. I have no track or autocross experience with this setup. I don't know how handling and ride would be impacted by other more aggressive settings on the shocks.
 
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okay, i have read about that before,(bouncy when on softest setting etc... maybe it was even your post. and thats why i didn't even consider buying whiteline springs which i believe are much stiffer than oe. that's also the reason i bought the espelir springs which are 20-30% stiffer than oe evo. maybe my springs are a good match to the agx which is important to a good performing suspension. whiteline/agx=too stiff ,
oe cut springs/agx= too soft? espelir asd/agx= just right!!! if i keep the car forever, im sure i'll eventually go to a hardcore true coilover setup, but for now i think i'm good. i can't wait to hit up a real track with it. the next nasa event is in august at texas world speedway, but i'm gonna try to go to a time trial or hpde at the new houston motorsport ranch a.s.a.p. and i'll let you guys know how it was.oh and i'll post some pics tomorrow.
 

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any pictures of your car with espelir springs?



What do you think about mine?
OEM Evo 8 struts with Espelir ASD (the blue ones) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif


Don't let the ride height fool you. It doesn't bottoms out, it's firm without being too bouncy & the springs are the right free lengths. This means, no worrying about them becoming unseated. My cut evo 8 front springs never came unseated /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif.

My impressions:
I don't autox my car or intend to. I don't drag my car or intend to. What I do do is daily drive my car. I think coil overs aren't necessary unless you want to drag, autox or fit the widest wheel combination possible. So for me a simple affordable compromise is perfect.

That's not saying this setup isn't great. For the cost & upgrade for a daily driver, I don't think you can beat it. It's fairly smooth yet responsive & firm. I don't really know how else to explain it.

I'd recommend it to anyone on a budget over the kyb agx combo. I too found the kyb agx couldn't satisfy my needs as it was either too soft or too hard for a daily driver. For autox or drag, they may serve a better purpose. If anyone is thinking of doing this, I don't think you'll regret it. I love my setup as it measures up to my expectations.
 
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rez

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Joined
Feb 14, 2005
Messages
440
Location
champaign,illinois
So the espelir springs by themselves lowered and leveled everything out? I was thinking about getting those springs, but I was a little worried they would leave the front end a bit higher still. I'm also using the GVR4 tops in front, are you doing the same? That ride height is sick!
 

JB

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Aug 15, 2004
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MA
Quote:
That ride height is sick!



+1 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 

The thing I saw that people seem to forget is that EVO struts, and STi struts are 48MM Inverted Dampeners! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

That means that AGX's are no longer a good choice for the money, since their design is inferior.

So with that said, why can't an EVO coil-over bolt into a GVR4?

With the lack of an abundance of choices, this might be a good compromise.
 

belize1334

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Joined
Nov 18, 2003
Messages
3,316
Location
Bozeman, MT
Quote:
So with that said, why can't an EVO coil-over bolt into a GVR4?


+1
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So the espelir springs by themselves lowered and leveled everything out?


+2

Also, how well do the EVO shocks deal with the increased spring rates? I was under the impression that one of the crowning glories of the EVO suspension was the perfect mating of spring and shock stiffness...so is this going to change that?
 
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I'm also using the GVR4 tops in front, are you doing the same?



Yes. I'm however using the evo rear top mounts. Curtis redrilled the holes in the front in order to use the evo front top mounts & is happy with them.
 

My whole experience with suspension setup has been, worn out stock, kyb gr2 (not recommended when loweing the car), kyb agx & evo 8. I'll take the evo 8 any day over the rest. If you want adjustability & wheel/tire clearance go with the agx combo.
 

gtluke

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 16, 2001
Messages
4,210
Location
dirty jersey
i am absolutely stunned with the performance and ride quality of my evo8 suspension in my gvr4
its a whole new car
 

I'll reiterate, you don't need coil overs for daily driving. The evo 8 is very well suited for daily driving & I'm pretty sure it will hold up to the demands of autox & drag racing. If your car is a dedicated autox or spend more time on the track than the road, then coilovers may be for you. If you car spend more time on the road than the track, a good set of sturts & springs will be more than enough.

If you want to run 10" wide wheels & 245 width tires then coilovers is for you. Let me ask this question for the people with coilovers on their daily driver sometimes track car, how often do you adjust them? I'm not knocking coilovers as they are the ultimate way to go. All I'm saying is you really don't need them.
 
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boostedinaz

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Joined
Apr 20, 2006
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4,085
Location
Scottsdale, AZ
I completely agree^^^^. This is why i went with Whitelines, but the car doesn't seem to sit the way I want it. I REALY like the way your car sits and will hopefully duplicate this as my next setup.

One question that seems to have gone unanswered is did you haver to cut the Espelir springs or did you attain that ride hiegth with them out of the box?
 
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NO CUTTING OF THE ESPELIR SPRINGS, NONE, ZERO, NADA, ZILCH, YADDA, YADDA, YADDA..... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

rez

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Joined
Feb 14, 2005
Messages
440
Location
champaign,illinois
^^That's great to hear. I now know what mod I'm doing next......after my new galant gets back on the road......espelir springs! (already have the evo suspension)
 

hah, i'll get pictures up of mine soon, the galant is at the shop. i bought mine awhile ago for 75 shipped on ebay brand spankin' new. i'd check it out.
 

$75 brand new shipped is a steal. They're normally $250. I got mine for $50 shipped with about 2k miles on them. My car is a little lower on the driver's side than the passenger side. I thought replacing the suspension would've solved that but it didn't. What can be done to level it out?
 
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