Roxy

(i

tekstar

you can scrape 3, 4, and 5. these will do nothing but add some bling to your engine.

zbrewha863

The Spoon X Brace will help with potholes and bumpy roads, as far as handling goes it will obviously help with handling on bumpy roads but not really increase your overall handling much. The other "mods" there are pretty much bs mods, you will feel very little if any benefit from the other four mods combined.

If you're looking for more comfort and a sportier ride, I would take a look at some Backyard Special seat rails to lower your seat, it helps with taller drivers (I'm 5'10" and my head sticks out into the wind if I sit up straight) and will probably make the car more comfortable unless you are about 5'8" or shorter.

Also along those lines, a good set of coilovers will definately help your car to handle better in all situations, and will even make your car ride better (depending on the settings). I have heard very good things about Bilstein coilovers as well as KWs, but there are alot of coilovers out there that will do a better job -- just make sure to go with a reputable company and get a good, adjustable model if you want the best of both worlds. Many people (including myself) feel that the rear shocks on AP1s (and really the entire suspension, esp. in 00-01 like yours) are damped to stiff, and many aftermarket coilovers are damped softer in the rear (again, depending on settings) which will help with your ride as well as make the car more predicable around the curves.

Sorry, I'm long-winded too.

stphotographer

I'm not sure where you are doing your reading but all of those mods you mentioned will do very little or nothing anything at all.

Your better off researching into coilovers and or stiffer front sway bar.

Roxy

great advice and thanks for being blunt rather than letting me waste my money.

the X brace was something suggested to me over and over again, and i made some (apparently wrong) assumptions about the usefulness of very similar other mods in light of peoples support for this mod. i will still probably stick with a strut tower bar, simply because it will work with the X brace as support from the top, and is very inexpensive. the others i'll scrap i guess. so, if the following is a good change of plans ...

some suggestions here would be great. if there is a set of coilovers that will both make the car handle better AND be more comfortable, i would definitely go for those, but was previously under the impression that coilovers typically do one or the other and it's hard to do both. i don't really want to trade comfort for handling, but if there are coilovers out there that will handle better and are more comfortable, i would love to hear about them! thanks!

sparrow

ditch all 5

U9aXy6Dn

i'm a relative newbie here myself too, drawing masses from doing reading through the night and trying my best to avoid asking questions. i've been a key member on a previous site and the usual questions drove me up the wall - as well as dodgy 'search' tools.

i've been considering the x brace and an engine torque damper myself, so it's really useful to read this.

I've had a set of kw v3s before anyway so i'm more than sold, but this puts it into perspective far clearer.

I think i'll opt for a x-brace, coileys and a set of sway bars.

One other thing.. i don't mind a tight stiff ride, my import is just about right although friends/parents find it a bit stiff - if i went for a set of poly bushes too and i going to further decrease the ride quality by minimizing flex?

I apologise for sweeping direction of the thread but im sure Roxy and others can benefit from my questions just as much as myself.

Many thanks to those tolerating our newbie questions too - sometimes you've just got to ask the obvious when you simply don't know.

GODZUKI

Hi,

I have the following.

spoon engine tor.damper.
not really that important but can help with engine mount wear.

spoon cross brace and rear beam.
this was added after the coilovers and it really kept
the car stable evan in the rain.

tein master control
I choose the teins because of the edfc unit as it
allows for in car adjustment of the damping which is
quite handy so the ride is not so harsh when driving
in town.

hope this helps...

Roxy

thanks GODZUKI. that does help. am i right that the torque damper is mounted thru the heat shield, similar to J's? my current understanding is installation is easy as long as the heat shield has the needed hole. please confirm. that said, after reading advice here and reading more, i'm convinced the X brace and rear beam are the best things to start with and the mods that offer the most value. thank you again for your input.