RevvHii

Hey, well Im going to be trading in my 2007 Subaru STI in for a S2000 very soon. I really dont care which year S I get unless one is way betetr then other ap2?

well anyway it gona be a street/track car. Ill be doing the occasional autoX and timeattack events. So I plan on spending quite a bit in my suspension setup, but would like to keep it as affordable as possible. I plan on turboing the car on low boost to help the acceleration out of tight corners whenI have to greatly reduce speed.

So, whats the ideal suspension setup for around 5 grand or less???

Coilovers???
sway bars???
strut bars???
underbody reinforcements???

I was thinking about this so far:


- Ohlins, KW V3 coilvoers depending on money
- Spoon xbrace & rear bar
- J's Racing roll center adjuster

still doing research.
is ther a good coilovers for under 1500?
thanks !

krnmike

uhhhh perhaps you should get the S first before getting too excited
how can u know what suspension u want when you even haven't driven it on a course

RevvHii

[QUOTE=krnmike,Nov 21 2008, 01:20 AM] uhhhh perhaps you should get the S first before getting too excited

RevvHii

also Im wondering who maeks a good cage, other then cusco because Ive herd bad things about them from multiple sources.

krnmike

there's nothing bad about cusco (well.. bad things i've heard of seem to just be from people who never bought them before). I would just go with a full steel roll cage welded onto the chassis.

i've heard good things about moton.

check out:
scienceofspeed.com
saner bars
t1r

to compete i can very easily suggest you go with motons or JRZ or ohlins with custom valving and spring. honestly, it's all in the budget.

all the brands you listed are great brands and they put out good stuff in the market. good luck!

SlipAngle79

There was a great post by Maxrev a few months back who tested Kw's against the HKS hypermax III back to back on the same car. Do a search for it and read it. From what I have researched you can spend 5K on Motons alone or you can spend $1600 on the KW's, HKS, etc. and have a decent performing coil over plus extra $$$ for other parts/tires.

If you have driven plenty of AP1/2's then I would think you would know wich you like by now, but I'm not sure how and where you drove them. I can tell you that early AP1's (00-01) rotate considerably more than any of the other models in stock form. But if you'r gonna tear all that stuff out and replace it, then wouldn't you go with the cheapest/best conditioned one you could find? I would.

The US AP2's came with the F22 and revised gear ratios for the new engine. Also, there is a cluthc delay valve present on AP2's which tries to slow your upshifts down. I have read on here that the suspension mounting points are different on AP2's in an effort to increase suspension compliance over the AP1(?)

Don't waste your money on "chassis bracing" as there is no conclusive data that supports an improvement in handling. The front sway bar is a popular item for track and autoX alike as it helps to increase rear traction through increased roll stiffness. I run a Cusco 32mm on mine and added it once I could see the need for it (and because it was the cheapest one with actual stiffness data)....I have tracked mine for 2 seasons on stock suspension (not by choice) and street tires and would recomend your first track day in your S be as close to stock as possible. You will get a better picture of what areas need to be adressed. I can't afford coilovers but could see very quickly that they are what I need to become more competetive in timed events so they will be going on next. My only dilema is trying to decide what spring rate I want since it will be DD and track...well that and paying for them

However, last year I won my regional AS championship as a "rookie"(done plenty of track driving but never AutoX'd) in my friends AP1 with Koni's, Saner bar, and A6's. To put things into perspective, he won his TTC region championship this year as a "rookie" on the same car but with R888's - so it is possible to go fast on a tight budget as long as YOU are what's making the car fast. He and I both have formal road racing schools and some w2w competition in formula cars under our belts.

From what I have researched, the roll center adj kit is something you would want to use when the ride height has been lowered by at least 40mm or more. If you go with a coilover and R-comps and plan on running road courses you will likely want to buy a camber adj kit for the front to get into the 3+ degree range.

Conclusion: get the car first, do an HPDE stock and then go from there. You will learn the car properly that way, that is my approach when I buy a new car. I met a driving school instructor/race car driver once who said this: "I can teach an avg. driver to be a fast driver in 2 years on R compunds or slicks. I can teach that same driver to be a faster driver in 6 months on street tires".

FormulaRedline

^Exactly! Read what SlipAngle said, the read it again to make sure you understand.

Just to reiterate, braces are a waste of money. Strut towers bars and x-braces do nothing for this car. They sell because they make the average ricer who's got $300 and enough brain power to turn 4 bolts feel like he's done a mod to his car.

RevvHii

yeh I had no idea that the braces didnt do much, But you cannot argue chasssis stifness, it may not make you .5 faster around burtonwillow, but it reiforces the ridigidness of your car. thats why full race cars are seam welded, and tube reinforced. Running your car hard at the track all the time can causes chassis flex, this is why strut bars and body are for there not for increasing track times.

I have drove tons of s2000's im just wondering why your so ignorant as to think i should know what suspension to get by driving nearly stock s2ks on the street. I am in fact already a great driver, doing quite a few events in my stage 2 sti with whiteline sway bars and potenza re01's beating cars with much mroe upgrades. But I have chosen the S2000 platform as my new all out track car.

I want to envest msot of my money into good coilovers, I hear KW k3vs are good for almost every car i reaserch them on. I also considerred the infamous koni / ground control or swift springs, thats if i spend too much money on engine modifications out of the gate. Anyway I like the ohlins for the price, moton club sports are good too, but what are they like 4k? Im trying to buy an AP1 cus of price, but theres only 1 ap1 at a dealer nearby but hers almost 10 ap2's and it has too many miles. If I was rebuilding the engine miles wouldnt matter, but for now im not other then maybe a headgasket and studs.

Now my next question will be is are swar bars worth it? front and rear or just front? Ill also be running r compound tires. so Ill need a stiff spring rate on the track and perff. a lighter sway bar.

RevvHii

you are ill-informed and should not be making subjective postings. Strut bars are not made to make your car faster, your the ricer for thinking a bar can make your car go faster.. hah. Its to reinforce the rigidy of your car. Prevent chassis flex which happens with hard racing. It makes your car more nimble.

BKL