suspension & handling Options

[dagreat1]

Ok i've heared everyone talk about how for about 2 grand you can drastically improve the handling of your vehicle... well I saved up a little more than that and I have a stock ST that I'd like to fix up in terms of handling... so what should I do? i already hav a CF hood making the car a little lighter but can anyone point me in the right direction as to what else i should look to buy or do?

[playr158]

Coilovers
Sway bars
rear strut bar
lightweight 17s, and good tires
slotted rotors and Hawk/Akebono/EBC pads

and ur good

[Shink]

Coilovers
Sway bars
rear strut bar
lightweight 17s, and good tires
slotted rotors and Hawk/Akebono/EBC pads

and ur good

Good start. But you haven't spent enough of his money, yet

Decat pipe / tuned exhaust
Cold air intake
(those working together might help throttle response a little)

Manual shift? Then how about a lightweight fly wheel?

And this one is free:

Strip out as much of the interior and sound proofing as you can handle.

Other than that, the ST is going to need a 3S-GE engine to be much quicker

[dagreat1]

haha i know i have a 3sgte in another celica.. this one is just for pure handling.... It is stick... does a light eight flywheel make a big difference?

and when u say lightweight 17's we talking about 20lbs?

[Galcobar]

Try more like 15 lbs.

[Shink]

haha i know i have a 3sgte in another celica.. this one is just for pure handling.... It is stick... does a light eight flywheel make a big difference?

and when u say lightweight 17's we talking about 20lbs?

Lightweight rims are getting lighter. These Rota Grid are 5kg (11lbs), though that might be the smaller rim. I think a good lightweight wheel is about 7kg (15lbs) now.

Haven't done it myself, but you can lose weight on the flywheel. This means that the engine has a lighter rotational mass to turn, so less inertia. This should result in slightly better transfer of torque to the wheels. Better engine acceleration means better vehicle acceleration. In other words, she should be a bit quicker and more responsive around gear changes.

This post has been edited by Shink: Dec 24, 2007 - 5:32 AM

[dagreat1]

those are nice... but who would pay the extra 60 for light weight nuts?

[6strngs]

those are nice... but who would pay the extra 60 for light weight nuts?

if you've ever held 20 lug nuts at one time, you know that the weight can add up to a couple of pounds. lightweight lug nuts might save you 1/2 a lb. per wheel, maybe more. for the average joe it's not going to make a difference, but if you're shopping for lightweight wheels and willing to spend a few hundred dollars extra to save a couple lbs. per wheel, what's $60 to save another 1/2 lb?

[playr158]

i would pay $60 for LTW nuts....rotating mass is the BEST mass to get rid of.

1/2 per wheel x 4 wheels = 2lbs now do the science for rotating mass at various speeds

its much more than a 2lbs shave!

[6strngs]

btw 1/2 lb. per wheel is just a guess, it could be more if you're going from OEM 21mm toyota mag shank lugs to lightweight splined "tuner style" lugs. heck, even just regular "tuner-style" splined lug nuts weigh a lot less than OEM toyotas.

[dagreat1]

someone told me that every pound on a wheel is actually equivilant to about 4 lbs in the car... is that true?


also i have an update... I think i was going to get this coilover kit at advance auto parts:

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail....artNumber=40782

I really don't know where to buy and what constitutes a good sway bar.
Like is this good? and do i just need the rear?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-REAR-Sway...sspagenameZWDVW



and where do the hell do i find rear struts for our celica

[6strngs]

someone told me that every pound on a wheel is actually equivilant to about 4 lbs in the car... is that true?


also i have an update... I think i was going to get this coilover kit at advance auto parts:

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail....artNumber=40782

I really don't know where to buy and what constitutes a good sway bar.
Like is this good? and do i just need the rear?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-REAR-Sway...sspagenameZWDVW



and where do the hell do i find rear struts for our celica

get a good brand name if you're getting coilovers. Tein or ground control or something of that nature. as for a sway bar, what you posted is just the sway bar end links. the only aftermarket sway bars for our cars are made by suspension techniques. and for rear struts, kyb gr2 (oem replacment) or koni yellow's are the only ones I know of. of course, if you buy a full coilover kit like tein you won't need them anyway. you can get all this stuff at www.horsepowerfreaks.com but that's probably not the cheapest place to buy it from.

EDIT: just realized that you posted eibach springs. those aren't coilovers, they're just lowering springs. they'll improve handling but not as much as a coilover kit would. if you do get those, you can find them a LOT cheaper than that too, so I wouldn't get them there.

This post has been edited by 6strngs: Jan 9, 2008 - 12:38 AM

[thespacepanda]

I hate it when companies can't keep their domains current. It's not hard.

This post has been edited by thespacepanda: Jan 8, 2008 - 11:19 PM

[dagreat1]

huh?

[jason]

coilover- tein ss 1200
shocks- koni 400
sway bars- suspension tech 300
get the beefy end links from twosrus 80
better brake pads - 60

since you have a hatch look to get a rear strut bar to stiffen that up 200

also a good alignment to more handeling specific charactaristics will help alot too, it will have you going through tires faster, but the handling will eb improved - another 80

prices are ballparked, but thats a pretty good shopping list for a noticable gain, anything else you will notice, but in my opinion wont be that great. i still roll on 18's and handeling is still awesome. i have some 16's that are for fun, but they look stupid on the car imo and the handeling gains arent worth as much as turning heads

[playr158]

coilover- tein ss 1200
shocks- koni 400
sway bars- suspension tech 300
get the beefy end links from twosrus 80
better brake pads - 60

since you have a hatch look to get a rear strut bar to stiffen that up 200

also a good alignment to more handeling specific charactaristics will help alot too, it will have you going through tires faster, but the handling will eb improved - another 80

prices are ballparked, but thats a pretty good shopping list for a noticable gain, anything else you will notice, but in my opinion wont be that great. i still roll on 18's and handeling is still awesome. i have some 16's that are for fun, but they look stupid on the car imo and the handeling gains arent worth as much as turning heads

A) if you get TEIN SS coilovers you can remove "shocks" from that list....since coilovers COME with shocks (except for ground control)
B) an alignment is a NECESSITY after performing suspension work. it will REDUCE the rate you go through tires it does not make you go through tires faster a bad alignment (ie too much toe (in/out) too much neg. camber (helps in the corners but reduces braking performance), too much caster) these things will make you go through tires FASTER.

looking cool > performance

[jdg371]

OTS Koni Yellow - 650
OTS Ground Control - 400 [Custom if you prefer, but only if you have good calculations]
ST Sway Bars
Upgraded End Links
Front Strut Bar of Choice [NO Ebay]
GT4 Rear Strut Bar or any 3PT Rear Strut Bar [NO Ebay]
16x7-7.5 with proper offset, keep them under 15LB
215/45/16 Falken Azenis 615s
Agressive Alignment. An example would be 2.6F 1.6R [on my 00 GTS]

That should improve your handling dramatically.

[playr158]

2.6f and 1.6R being -camber ?

[jdg371]

yerp. forgot to state it. thats camber and I have 0 Toe F/R

[thespacepanda]

OTS Koni Yellow - 650
OTS Ground Control - 400 [Custom if you prefer, but only if you have good calculations]
ST Sway Bars
Upgraded End Links
Front Strut Bar of Choice [NO Ebay]
GT4 Rear Strut Bar or any 3PT Rear Strut Bar [NO Ebay]
16x7-7.5 with proper offset, keep them under 15LB
215/45/16 Falken Azenis 615s
Agressive Alignment. An example would be 2.6F 1.6R [on my 00 GTS]

That should improve your handling dramatically.

??