HR Race and Bilsteins finally installed

Torinalth

Founding Member
Jul 16, 2002
952
0
16
Clayton NC
Well, I recieved the springs last monday and the Bilsteins on tuesday. I started the install on saterday and finished it up on sunday. following the guide from mustangworld, using the "cheater" method i had very good results.... except for the part they left out of removing the sway bar end links to get the A arm all the way down. I happened to notice it was binding a good bit and figured that was what the issue was.

after 3 hours on the front left, the front right took 40 min (now knowing what i was doing... and already worked out the correct order) I had friends confiscate me, throw m in the shower, and then drag me to a friends party... so the rears had to wait till sunday... the rear was pretty simple install only 30 min per side.

i went from around 28" front and 27.75" rear fender height to 27.5 front and 27.5 rear... but i'll give it time to settle in. I did NOT buy this setup for the purpose of going very low, i would have gone supersports if that was the case. oddly enough though it looks a good deal lower then i remember... but the numbers dont lie.... or do they...

the feel when driving is really interesting. back when i had my RSX i went to ground control coilovers before i sold the car and just switching to that gave a really harsh and ill-feeling ride, but it cornered better. the Race and Bil combo is a really odd feeling. associating with the standard NVH drawbacks i must say that i am kind amused with how the scales shifted. N - there is no increase at all... if anything there is a reduction. V - I was really getting irritated with the roads around here as my damn car shook and rattled like an epeleptic toaster jammed with forks, but now the bumps are handled VERY well, and i smile every time i go down a gravel road as it no longer annoys me. H - the ride is a good deal firmer, there is no mistaking that, cornering is tighter and so is steering, however everything i remember about my RSX trying to liquify my insides when hitting bumps is completely missing in the GT....

so i say again, the Race/Bil combo is VERY odd feeling... i have the best feeling of control and handeling, but i have gotten zero drawbacks, except that i now have a tendancy to slightly understeer if i dont push the throttle a little. the "test" onramp (one corner of a cloverleaf) would usually make me slow down once i hit 55, though with the new suspension i was able to reach 65 on the first go around. i think i can get to 70 if i manage to stop watching the speedo and keep my eyes on the turn. I have zero complaints about the components that i installed and now know why MM pushes this combo as hard as they do, maximum performance with a better then stock feel. on a side note i also used prothane isolators on the front and rear which mighht be the cause of the lack of drop and a little better ride quality and no noise increase.

please let me know if you have any questions or post in if you have an comments of your own. I will be posting up more reviews as my suspension gets built up. next will be subframes, and then possibly LCAs or tie rod ends and swaybars.

Torinalth
 
I'd agree with you squares... but he asked tom... and tom is a real fan of swaybars, bushings, and endlinks :) he very well might suggest going that route first :stick:

Tom - do you think the cobra front bar would be better then the steeda and their tie rod ends? I know litle about the swaybars and the other items you so love when it gets into the hard details.... I just seem to glean a load off the larger items (panhard, watts, trilink, etc) and miss the small things.

Torinalth
 
a rear swaybar and new bushings for the front will work better. springs/shocks/struts first but it also depends on what you want out of your ride. having an adjustable rear swaybar is fine tuning but solid replacement isn't.
 
still didnt really answer my ? there Tom :P

i am going to get an adjustable rear to make sure i can stabalize my setup... but for the front... think the cobra would be better then the steeda fornt with their tie rod ends (the front swaybar comes with new bushings)?

Torinalth
 
the stock swaybar is fine, it's just the bushings that run into the problems. I never seen complete metal brackets before but I would think that there needs to be flex where urethane would come into play.
 
KronicRacer - I am with tom on this.... i really dont see the need, especially for 150... thats almost the cost of subframes... i cant imagine it being worth it. asfar as pics, there really is nothing to show. it really didnt lower much at all... I'll remeasure in the morning as i drove 300 miles since sunday install time and see if the springs have settled any... if so then I'll snap a pic, but it really does not look much different... its all in the feel for now.

[Twitch] - I got the springs and isolators from www.stangsuspension.com and the bilsteins were like 480 shipped to my door.... i have not gotten CC plates yet, and probably will not for a while. the drop is negledgable, i got it for the stiffnes. if i wanted it low then I would have gotten the supersports and no isolators.

Torinalth