i dont see a thread about this. for someone like myself who doesnt really know a lot i would like to be able to read and get a better idea of getting the best suspension setup. lower is not always better right?

what are some of the most important things? spring rate? shocks? tires?

educate me please.

 

Based on my limited experience:

Tires are one of the 1st upgrades people do.

Sway bars are important for lateral stiffness. Most people go larger in the rear for better rotation to combat the inherent understeer of FWD setups. RWD peeps often go a little larger in the front. Large sway-bars can compensate for softer spring-rates to a certain extent (at least laterally).

The shock valving and spring rates are important. Typical "JDM" coilovers tend to emphasize higher front spring rates, however many prefer slightly higher rear-rates again for better rotation. One complaint is that this is a little harder to control (esp. for spirited driving on the streets). Note that the manufacturer gives us a front-bias for safety.

People tend not to run high rates on the streets because streets are not paved like a track would be. If we're bouncing all over the place then the tires are not delivering power to ground = not in control. However I personally run high rates (I'm lowering them in the near future).

Worn bushings can be detrimental to performance. Replacement with hard rubber bushings is recommended (mugen/oem/hardrace) - or all-out spherical bearings for a more serious setup (all-metal, less deflection joints). I'm not too keen on the polyurethane setups.

Stiffer motor mounts can also decrease engine movement...this may help some.

Chassis rigidity can play SOME role, but perhaps not as large a role as commonly suggested. I notice that a front strut bar with perhaps a bit more front bracing (maybe something like "framelocks" - which I have not tried) seems to reduce at least the squeaks of little bumps. I know that some people fully seam-weld their chassis and report positive results, but I have no clue how that goes... Note that on the ITR Honda saw fit to add a rear trunk brace, so perhaps the dc2 chassis needed some reinforcement in the rear.

It should be noted that front lips (properly designed) and rear spoilers can provide beneficial downforce for cornering at higher speeds.

Additionally, Traction Bars can help reduce 60ft times and overall handling. This is a worthwhile upgrade.

A little weight reduction (maybe in the suspension components and unsprung weight as well) will also help.

Basic alignment settings can be tweaked for increased cornering performance (such as Camber), however a lot of this is already done in our lowered vehicles.

That covers quite a few topics. Without modifying suspension mounting points and changing geometry (I'd look into buying a different car if this turns out to be cost prohibitive), I'm not sure how much further we can go. I think all of this could net us 1.00+ lateral G's on the skidpad.

Oh, and IDEAL: probably NOT a FWD honda. S2k is more like it, or actually... Exige/Atom or even NSX perhaps. I'm not sure what the hell I'm talking about here though...heh --- Go read some susp. books! Then report back with an outline of major topics.

Edit: Lower is not always better (at least on our commercial cars, we need some suspension travel for our shocks to do their job... the lower we go, the less room, the more often we'll be hearing clanks off the bump stops... we'll then need horridly stiff springs to prevent this... blah blah blah etc). There are some concepts concerning suspension geometry which you'd have to familiarize yourself with...however, for the most part, these go beyond what is needed for the typical sports car. Highly tuned alignment parameters... roll-center... weight distribution... all come into play here.

Note: I made this post to organize my thoughts a bit...even though my thoughts were poorly organized in this draft. Others are encouraged to chime in to correct any of my misconceptions/errors or otherwise comment.

 

whoa dude. you wrote a lot that was exactly what i was looking for. at least it gives me a better idea. i mean i'm not planning to be racing on the streets or going to teh track or anything. i wanted to make my suspension a bit better when taking turns or getting on and off freeway ramps.

the 2001 honda prelude handles pretty good but i think for the most part i'm going to go with a nice set of shocks, maybe some springs after i do my research and then front and back swaybars, and front and back struts.

that should do the trick = )

 

thats alot of useful information... but to the member who posted the thread i hope you dont mind if i narrow the question of suspension a bit:

lets say money was not an issue, due to experience and not just word of mouth, who knows what is the best brand suspension for fun times on late night streets?

 

Thank you to the OP for asking a question thats been on my mind as well. Thank you to archmage as well for such a great answer. I would like to see more thoughts on this from other members.