The engine mods are fun, but I believe the biggest bang for the buck driving improvement came from suspension mods. Once again I stepped my way through a few stages to get to the present state of tune.
The first mod was to switch to the Dinan shocks/struts and springs. On the street it is very evident that the stock suspension is allows the car to squat under acceleration, dive under braking and roll in the corners. On the track the stock suspension shows some really weird hopping attitude which makes the car really twitchy. And lets not forget the giant amounts of understeer the factory dialed in to keep us from wrapping the car around a pole. The Dinan Stage 1 suspension does a great job of giving the car the ride it should have some with from the factory. It lowers the car every so slightly (maybe a 1/2"), stiffens the springs and refines the dampening. The end effect is a ride that doesn't feel harsh (though it is stiffer then stock it could easily be mistaken for an OE sport suspension) but rids the car of the motorboat-style squatting and diving. It also lessons the body roll (not enough) and understeering (also not enough) while curing the car of the twitchiness it displayed on the track. NOTE: If you are track or autoX bound don't limit yourself to just upgrading the shocks and springs because you should update you camber while the shocks/springs are out of the car... it will save you money down the road. Read on to see why.
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| Koni Adjustable Strut |