Back up to OEM Ride Height - I'm a recovering dumb ass.

[perfesserbob]

So, I ditched the coilovers on my Gen 1 Speed 3. H&R street/strip. Sorry H&R, but your stuff is too severe for what's passing as uh-merican roads these days. Above 85mph, things were golden. Otherwise, they were hard and too low. Altho they were installed/adjusted correctly, it seems like the car even scraped the damn white lines. It's costing me hundreds to fix the damage. I wasted 2-years, 15-hundred bucks, and now need medical cannabis for my sore back! Dumb ass.

I'm now on the OEM springs and Koni Yellows set on 2 clicks. I added an adjustable rear sway bar and returned to OEM wheel and tire sizes. Real world-wise, the car works better. My old Speed3 is comfy, tight for its age, and the wife has stopped making those puffing sounds. It loves to turn in, and doesn't move around during apex.

Moving during apex. That's the technical term for pants-peeing on freeway sweepers - caused by flying - after hitting expansion joints at 100mph. (Seriously, I don't know how sport bikers keep lunch down.) That, and the poorly thought out OEM strut/shock/bar combo were my only real gripes anyway. Probably FoMoCo parts.

 

[MSMS3]

Standard height and stock springs are actually pretty good with upgraded struts, alignment and sticky tires. Stock swaybar is actually not bad either. The weak component is the stock struts. I found the HD Bilsteins (B6) to be a huge improvement combined with the stock width Yoko Advan Neova AD 08s, which are very close to R track rubber. The tires do have very stiff sidewalls, and in combo with the struts are very aggressive. Turn in is "right now" sharp, dry grip is amazing for a street tire and the suspension keeps them planted. My issue is that expansion strip noise is very pronounced. The price we pay for performance.

 

[Rotus]

I'm afraid I'll be following in your footsteps, but for different reasons. I didn't mind the ride of the coilovers I have, but after three failed dampers, I'm going back to either stock springs and uprated dampers or a lowering spring/damper combo like Corksport. Keeping the wide rubber though.

 

[VAspeed3]

Interesting to see you came back to OEM except for the Koni Sport adjustable shocks. I've been running that exact setup for about 80,000 miles. My only real complaint about the car from new was that the damping was too light. With that tightened up, there's very little contact with the bump-stops any more. My wife still puffs about it, though.

 

[///M Compact]

I'm running FSDs on stock springs with Gen 2 wheels and 225/45-18 Pilot Super Sports. I'm very pleased with this setup. I have a JBR rear bar awaiting installation; I'm going to start off on the stiffest setting, as recommended by a couple of fellow track geeks who also run MS3s.

 

[VAspeed3]

I'm running FSDs on stock springs with Gen 2 wheels and 225/45-18 Pilot Super Sports. I'm very pleased with this setup. I have a JBR rear bar awaiting installation; I'm going to start off on the stiffest setting, as recommended by a couple of fellow track geeks who also run MS3s.

I think the FSDs are not quite as stiffas the Konis, if I recall from my research a few years ago.

 

[///M Compact]

I think the FSDs are not quite as stiffas the Konis, if I recall from my research a few years ago.

No, they aren't as stiff as Koni Yellows; but they are perfect for my purposes(DD/HPDE car).

 

[Rotus]

Ordered and waiting on the Corksport Spring/damper combo.

 

[VAspeed3]

I think I'll consider the FSDs if I ever have to replace the Yellows.