My suspension rant for people who PM me with questions:
This began as an answer to MonStar’s PM:
Quote:
MonStar wrote on 09-14-2003 07:39 PM:
How much is the Mugen Showa though?
And what is your opinion of the Tein Basic?
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And turned into this. It was too long to PM, so I’ll just post it, the writing is quick and sloppy, but I think you can handle it:
Mugen showa is around 1300 new, 700 used. Tein Basic isn't worth the cost savings from the SS, because it has the same spring rates without any of the adjustability. And given the harsh ride of teins, you are going to want adjustability.
Your car handles brilliantly from the factory, lots of intelligent people with white lab coats and clipboards worked hard and spent hours pouring over charts of data and analysis to derive the stock suspension so many people throw away like garbage. It's going to take a lot of money in research and development to improve upon this, and that is why I think the cost of the Showas is justified. They are the only aftermarket set for the Prelude that makes sense from a street driven handling perspective. (My reasoning behind this has to do with the fore/aft spring rate balance and the emphasis on firm shock damping rather than firm springs.)
You can throw stiff suspension on any car (Teins) and make is appear to handle well, but there really is a balance that must be found on a street driven car that just isn't addressed well by Teins and other race spec suspension kits. I think that many individuals on PO confuse good handling with stiff handling. There's more to having a car that handles well than just minimizing body roll and stiffening springs. One has to consider departure handling, transitional handling, streetability, and overall balance. If I could do it all over again, I would apporach this balance with the following setup, it seems expensive, but trust me, I spend more than all of this put together trying to figure out what I liked most:
1. 16 inch wheels, with stock sized (or wider) tires, either S03s, Michelin Pilot Sports, or Goodyear eagle F1 GS-D3s. Your car is going to be faster, handle better, and be more forgiving with 16s. Ride quality will also be significantly improved. There just isn't an argument for 17s or, god forbid, 18s other than aesthetics. $500.
2. ST Sway bars, F/R. The most effective handling mod to bring the car towards a neutral balance. Get both bars, it will reduce body roll and improve steering response better than just a rear bar. $250
3. Mugen Showa suspension. New. $1300.
4. Spoon/Neuspeed/JDM Type S Front strut bar. All work equally well, a necessity when stiffening the rest of the suspension. $100-$170
5. Spoon/Tanabe rear strut bar. Again, a good idea when stiffening up the dynamic components of the suspension. (More and more stresses end up transmitted to the chassis with stiffer springs/shocks/sways) $100-170.
6. Tanabe front and rear lower underbraces. You can't have too much chassis stiffness, it is a win-win mod, making practically no impact on ride quality while making a noticeable impact in the solidity of the car. $200
7. SPC Camber kits, all around. Alignment is critical to the proper handling and neutrality of the car, i would run 0 toe up front, slight toe in in the rear, about -1 degree of camber all around, and as much caster in the front as you can manage with the camber kit adjustments and the radius rod shims removed. $300
Total cost to have a prelude that handles better than stock, with minimal compromise to streetability:
$2665 + Install and alignment charges
At this point you should sincerely consider selling the prelude and putting your $2665 towards a RWD car that will handle better at the limit than the prelude ever will, namely an MR2, S2000, or S13/S14.
I don't recommend a particular order to do this in, either. I recommend you do it all at once, because each component you are upgrading is dependant on the rest to work to its maximum potential.
Disclaimer: This advice does not apply to people who AutoX or Road race. Tein lovers, flame away.
