Thread: Suspension
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      10-20-2011, 12:23 AM   #4
Amnizu
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Drives: 502 of 740
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Seattle

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The general idea behind a modified suspension in any car is sacrificing ride quality for more neutral handling and or a better visual appearance.

I have not and will not be touching my 1M suspension. I have however, modified suspensions on many cars.

Here are some cliff notes for you, upgraded springs, struts or coilovers tend to give you the following:

* Lowering, depending on suspension type, tends to give the car a lower center of gravity. It also improves the visual aspects of the car by removing the gap between the tires and the wheel well.

* Less body roll and less transfer of road contact from the inside corner tire to the outside. This coupled with upgraded sway bars tend to allow the car to retain better contact across all four tires when cornering.

* Stiffer struts / dampening allow for faster recovery and returning to neutral after contact with an uneven road surface (a bump) or when going from a fast left hand turn into a fast right hand turn. Also, springs that are too stiff tend to wear softer dampeners faster. This is typically why people upgrade both springs and struts at the same time

* Coil over suspensions offer some additional advantages. The main being customizable height adjustment and dampening adjustment. This also allows the car to be corner balanced which is an adjustment in the ride height between front, rear and side to side to achieve a more neutral weight distribution when there is a driver in the driver's seat of the car.

* Modified suspensions also tend to allow for greater degrees of caster and camber. Negative camber is used with sway bars and springs to maintain tire contact when cornering. Caster also allows for quicker turn in allowing the driver to brake and turn the wheel slightly later than on a car with more neutral caster.

Of course, the cost of all of the above is a stiffer, harsher ride, increased inside tire wear and potential decrease in straight line stability.
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