I have ITR with Mugen front & rear 26 mm. sway bars and I'm thinking to upgrade stock springs/shocks for street and some track weekends.

A lot of people speeks very good about the ERS Bilstein combination like a able choise to the Mugen lowdown looking at the of half price they came.

So having Mugen bars I was thinking to put ERS of the same rate (kg/mm. 6.8 f & 4.45 r) of the Mugen springs in the lowdown kit and have the car exactly balanced like the Mugen setup.

How will the Bilsteins work in the place of the Mugen Showa 5 way adj.?

I would have opinion of people that have experience with this stuff.
Paul.

 

Bilsteins are "self-adjusting" but you can have then custom valved and modified to turn them into adjustables. If you want adjustable dampers - then you should get Koni's or GAB's instead.

I run 400F/600R ERS spring rates with a stock front bar and Mugen 26mm rear bar. I think if I were to install the front bar - the car would go back to understeering - which I don't want. Since you're running both bars - you might want to change your spring rates a bit. But that's the nice thing about the ERS/GC setup - is that you can change spring rates inexpensively.

BPR

 

B P R -- did you have your rear shocks worked on, or are they still the stock Bilstein sports?

 

Stock. The shop I go to has been testing them upto 600 lb/in with no problems.

 

yeah, but BPR trimmed his bumpstops, ed.

 

I second that setup. very similar to mine, 400f 500r drive it daily on the street. I love it! but with stock r sway. how do u like the mugen rear sway bar?

Bryan

 

You only really notice the rear bar at the track. The car just rotates better, plain and simple - almost telepathically so. I have not run with full slicks (i.e. hoosiers) with this setup - but with A032R's and Proxes RA-1's it's a lot of fun. You have to be careful in the rain though - but who isn't.

 

Thanks, Yes, Yes ... bump stops to be trimmed soon, .......

The mugen rear bar is nice, but I also ended up with a Mugen front bar at the Expo, so I'm gonna set the car up:
front and rear Mugen bars (and STBs), Bilstein SP w/ trimmed bumpstops , 400F/500R Eibach Sportlines, and raise the car just a bit more so I can clear the local driveways.

But back to Paul's question ... the Mugen low-downs would be nice, but the Bilstein arrangement is cheaper (but not adjustable for damping).

 

yeah, i have a similar setup (konis instead of bilsteins), but mine is a little more, um, wimpy. 400F/300R, stock rear sway. it's enough to get me into trouble.

edit: didn't mean to bust your *****, ed . . . well, yeah i did.


[Modified by R1020, 3:22 PM 10/3/2001]

 

Sounds good, DId u install the bar before or during the suspn install? just wondering. I like my setup on the track with the AO32Rs as well, i just picked up a set of Hoosiers 205-50 to go along with my TE37s in 15x7 if they will ever get here. I might try the mugen bar as well. I also trimmed the bumpstops

Bryan

 

Not sure who you were asking, but "I" initially had the rear bar installed with my previous Eibach Sport springs on tired original shocks. Overall, the car handled nicely, ... but the shocks had 60-65K miles on them at THAT time (I'll turn 95K this weekend).

I'd love to get some 15x7 wheels on it (Comp SSR's for the OE look), but I've finally realized I've blown my budget for a while.


[Modified by zygspeed, 3:35 PM 10/3/2001]

 

yeah my budget was shot long ago I got a hella deal on the wheels, but after the 3mo wait i wish i had just ordered the SSRs. I was just curious as to what might have added the extra rotation of the car. I know using the 600lb springs on the rear would add a bit to it. thought if the bar was added at the same time it could be a combination of both. thanks!

Bryan

 

Bryan -- I gotta get out to the track and meet some of you guys, though not sure about the early Nov. date yet.

 

Nov Is deff gonna be a blast! i might try to get in one more FATT in Nov as well, all depends on $$$ VIR with speedtrial in DEC is a must!!! these guys are so much fun!!

Bryan

 

The rear bar added the most rotation. I found the handling to be pretty neutral if anything with 400/600 + stock bars

 

that's the set-up I am going with once I decide what spring rates to get.

 

How do you know what spring rates to get. Lets say I have only done a couple of track events(driving schools) and want to upgrade my suspension, (GsR). Where should I begin to choose rates? Any help or suggestion would be helpful.
BTW, it is a daily driver, but I think I could tolerate the stiff ride. thanks.

 

I myselh have been quite undecided between this type of setup or A Tein setup. Where did you guys purchase your bilsteins and ERS springs from? Where can I find the best price?

Thanks In advance

 

i should probably note that BPR, zygspeed, vatyper00 and i are all using the ground control perches with the eibach ERS springs . . . so that is an essential part of the equation.

if you buy them directly from ground control (my recommendation ), you can get pretty much any spring rate you want from them. and, make sure to get the bilstein/koni adapter kit. i didn't, because they didn't sell them at the time, so i made my own.

good luck. i'm extremely happy with my GC/koni combo . . . more and more everyday.

 

I got my stuff (perches/springs) from Ground Control. They like to sell you soft spring rates - you have to ask for the custom ones. Ground Control has an exclusive license with Eibach to sell their ERS springs. The Bilsteins I ordered locally. The Bilsteins can be custom revalved if you want - and they're the beefiest mono-tube dampers you can get.

I basically went with half the spring rates the RealTime cars are using (800/1200) and figured that would be still streetable - and it is! - just barely though.

Once my car becomes a true trailer queen - I figure I'll go with Mugen N1s and Eibach 600/900 #. But I still like driving it on the street too much and I still like listening to CDs while I drive.

 

http://www.shox.com/ for the Bilsteins (they say they guarantee lowest price)

http://www.ground-control.com/ for the coil-over kit