I have been collecting suspension parts for what seems like a year now. Finally got around to getting my car in the shop to have everything put in. Yes, I'm white collar so someone else does the work for me . Sorry, no step by step. Anyway, here is a breakdown:
Spoon N1's 14Kf/12kR
Skunk2 Pro F & R camber kit
Function7 rear LCA's
Mugen bushings(engine mounts, trailing arms, compensator arm, front compliance, steering rack)
orijin motorsports front upper and lower control bushings(solid top and spherical bottom)

I had the car lowered another 1/2inch front and 1/4inch rear just for ***** and giggles. I am going in for an alignment on Wednesday and I'll have them lower it another 1/2inch all around. I was riding kinda high on my old Tein HR coils. Specs I'm shooting for are -2.5front and -1.5rear camber, zero toe all around.

I went for a 30 minute drive after picking the car up to get a feel for it. Didn't want to drive too much without having the alignment done. What can I say.......UN-*******-BELIEVABLE . I don't even know where to begin, but I'll try .

The car is crazy responsive. Throttle response has improved thanks to the motor mounts. There is a tiny vibration in the steering wheel at idle otherwise it's like stock. No crazy dashboard shakes or anything. The car actually starts quicker at start-up. Less cranking before she fires.

As far as driving goes, the overall response is completely different. Very sharp. Total "point and shoot" feel. The car will go EXACTLY where you tell it to. The stiffness of the Spoon's is not as "harsh" as I thought it would be. The car is stiff, yes, but the dampers work wonders over sharp bumps(manhole covers, potholes, etc). In fact the ride is more pleasant than my previous 8Kf/6Kr Teins. Overall the car feels more stable.

So far the only drawback has been the orjin bushings. The front UCA bushings have a "click" to them like the bolt is loose in the metal sleeve in between the bushing itself. The shop spent like 4 hours trying to diagnose the problem. They had little microphones hooked up all over the front end and my mechanic inside the car with headphones listening. They narrowed it down to the uppers, which I was surprised because I thought for sure it would've been the lower since they are spherical and known to make noise. They packed the bushings full of grease but the noise came back after 10 minutes of driving. The weird thing is when they checked and double/triple checked everything, all the bolts were tight and within spec. No biggie. I will see how it goes over the next week and also ask the alignment shop what they think. Worse case scenario, buy Mugen front UCA bushings.

Once the alignment is done and I can start driving for real I will post a more solid review and some pics in this thread.

 

Awesome man, that sounds like a killer setup!!

Can't wait to see pics of the drop.

 

Dang did you get charged four hours of labor for the click they didn't fix? If you want some vibration get some motor mounts .

Can't wait for the pics!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by redGSRguy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Dang did you get charged four hours of labor for the click they didn't fix?</TD></TR></TABLE> No, not at all. I think it is the bushings themselves.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by redGSRguy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you want some vibration get some motor mounts .</TD></TR></TABLE>

Got those

 

before and after pics?

 

good job man,
when i told my friends about how my previous spoon n1 is unbelievable with 18/16 spring rate. they just feels like a bit harder than stock . no one gonna believe me.
thump up to spoon and showa

 

Ballinnnnnnnnnnnn

set up sounds like killer set up man

 

Sounds like a killer set up.

 

was wondering when you'd get everything sorted out... looking forward to the final review.

Glad you like the Spoon Showas.... ex-user here too

 

On my drive home from work the "clicking" noise from the front end has gotten worse. Sounds like a loose bolt or something. No biggie. If it ends up being the front control arm bushings I'll just replace both uppers and lowers with Mugen. At least then they'll match .

 

haha~

 

Wow, very nice set-up.Keep us posted!

In for before and after pics

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by frozenb &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">good job man,
when i told my friends about how my previous spoon n1 is unbelievable with 18/16 spring rate. they just feels like a bit harder than stock . no one gonna believe me.
thump up to spoon and showa</TD></TR></TABLE>


yup yup, Mugen/Showa N1's here with 16k front 14k rear. people just think they're going to be ROCK hard, but although they're firmer and more solid when cornering, the ride compliance isn't that bad

after a passenger ride, until i stick it into a few corners people think its stock

OP, sounds like a good setup, pretty similar to what i'm running except the rear LCA's and bushes. and i know exactly what you mean hope the knocking goes


however i've got 2mm toe out on the fronts, which i need to remove as its knackering my tyres

 

Sick setup! Me want!! Thanks for sharing.

 

I swapped out the front UCA hard bushings and went back to the stockers for now. That solved the "clicking" problem . I also had the car lowered down a bit. Tomorrow I'm scheduled for an alignment then later this year I'll get the car cornerweighted.

Here's a teaser pic of what she looks like now (Notice the crutches on the pass. seat )

 

im going with the same setup with coilovers

but im going mugen f/r sways, stock lac's with spoon 95 poly, spoon n1, skunk2 front camber, king rear.

im still iffy if i want to try omni f/r lca's

 

We need to trade cars for a bit I think.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Big Phat R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">We need to trade cars for a bit I think.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

I agree . We'll swap for a portion of our cruise that we'll eventually go on

 

What? Crutches in the pass seat and your driving like an A$$? How can this be? Ain't y0 $hit still Farked up?

LOL

Good stuff mang. Can't wait for a full review.

 

great review...how does she handle that low?

 

Good review. I also have spoon N1's with 14kg/fr 12kg/r and people dont believe me when i tell them the spring rates. I have a friend also with an ITR and he has 8kg front and 6kg rear Endless/Zeal coilovers and even with the shocks on full soft, his car is rock solid on the road with very little give on poor surfaces, mine glides over them!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ekay_jeremy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">great review...how does she handle that low? </TD></TR></TABLE>

I do have to be aware of driveways, steep inclines/declines and whatnot but it's not that bad. With the 17's the tires rub at full lock. I will be swapping my 15inch CE's w/ 205 Azenis rubber on this week to see how she drives. The car drives like it's on rails, no joke. It is stiff but DD-able. I can't wait to get it on the track.

However, with such high spring rates the chassis creaks even with my AP 4 point in there.

 

sick setup

bushings are next on the list for me. hopefully it will take away any of the leftover slop I have after my new susension was installed last week.

I think we need more pics of your caR!

 

are the spoons dampening adjustable?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Allen L &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">are the spoons dampening adjustable?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, 5 way adjustable