Springs, braces or swaybars? Which is best?

[Zombie]

Hi guys,

I want to improve my car’s handling for my daily drive. I might eventually take it to an HPDE someday as well.

The only mod I have so far is a set of lightweight 17” wheels.

I have been considering the Swift lowering springs, Pierce chassis braces or a set of sway bars.

What improves the handling of our cars best?

Thanks!

 

[Jbooosted]

I would say springs are the best based on looks and performance

 

[anticon]

Yeah, from my limited understanding for mechanical mods it goes:
1. Wheels and Tires (lightweight wheels, wider treadwidth, stickier, etc.)
2. Springs and Shocks (lower the car, stiffen the springs)
3. Front Lower 2-point brace at least. (stiffen the front end to help with torque steer, an upgraded rear motor mount might help too.)
4. Bushings, Weight Reduction, More Bracing (these have limited returns though)

Driver education and experience is probably the first and cheapest thing to do. I have just started working on this as it is NOT the easiest thing to do.

 

[Xaendeau]

Hi guys,

I want to improve my car’s handling for my daily drive. I might eventually take it to an HPDE someday as well.

The only mod I have so far is a set of lightweight 17” wheels.

I have been considering the Swift lowering springs, Pierce chassis braces or a set of sway bars.

What improves the handling of our cars best?

Thanks!

Stock suspension minus struts.

I replaced the stock struts with Koni Yellows. They are adjusable. Set the rear end somewhat still and since the tops of front struts are easy to get to,it makes changing the cars behavior easy.

Want less understeer? Soften the fronts. Less oversteer? Stiffen the fronts.

Going from half stiff to full sift in the fronts can significantly change the cars sliding behaviour. It is the best mid for cheaply being able to tube your cars handling.

They also improved the ride a lot. The stock struts are kinda cheap and very overdampened. They skip over broken or rough concrete.

Also, lightweight tires. Those two things do most of the work. Aftermarket springs aren't too much better than stock, so there is a little benefit but not much. Most good Setups have the same or slightly stiffer max spring rate, but at the top of their travel they are progressive, so they are pretty soft around bumps, but stiffen when you turn the wheel and load up that spring.

 

[Kalter]

Can't help you with springs as I have not done it yet, but I went with TBPerformance stage 3 and it dramatically increase cornering ability as well as straight acceleration. A good motor mount will also help to alleviate wheel hop.

Chances are I will change my tune when I upgrade the suspension, but I believe the FiST suspension is already fairly good. Except if the suspension has to be changed, I'm planning lightweight wheels next and suspension later down the road.

 

[Meowoosh]

Tires and seat time will be your most important mods ever. Tightening the loose nut behind the wheel takes precedence. I upgraded my shocks without touching the springs. Plenty of directions to take it, but it all comes down to tire and experience.

 

[LanT5]

"Tightening the loose nut behind the wheel takes precedence."

So true. This is going to be my upgrade plan going forward.

 

[alexrex20]

Brace all the things! I have the Pierce 6pt, Pierce midship, and Pierce trunk braces, and the Pierce rear torsion bar. I am on stock springs and the balance is perfect. Rotates better than many RWD sports cars. And turn in is instantaneous.

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[Bizzareo]

It was night and day when I did the front sway bar and rear torison bar. The car stopped dog legging, and felt way quicker than my buddies fiesta (according to a 3rd party who drove both).

I have the swift springs ready to go on next, but I would start with some bracing and stuff.

TB performance is cheap, and really good.

 

[dailybean]

So far I have done a rear torsion bar, front traction bar, trunk brace, lighter wheels and swift springs. I went with Swift because many people have told me (including Ron from whoosh) that they are the only true performance upgrade spring. I can tell you there is a massive improvement with how my car handles both regular daily and aggressive driving. I don’t really listen to the dedicated track guys when it comes to suspension setups. This isn’t a track car and to me if it feels better, it is better. Suspension is *almost* entirely subjective unless the only thing your doing is racing it around a track and trying to be faster. I don’t plan on doing anything else except maybe koni yellows like I had on my MS3 years ago. I thought I would want a rear sway bar but after the springs the body roll is so much better that I don’t feel the need.


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[danbfree]

For '16 and up the stock car has a better stock rear torsion bar and I've noticed it doesn't have weird rear hop like other torsion rears I've driven... so I'm tuned and have a RMM upgrade but am looking at a Pierce 2 point or TBPerformance "Traction Bar" to help with torques steer. also looking at progressive springs for a bit more daily driver forgiveness but also somewhat better handling too.

 

[J_BadWOLF]

I bought my FiST with Mountune coils already installed and the performace from a higher spring rate combined with a lower COG has been significant. Expecially compared to a stock Fiesta ST. If I could go back I would have upgraded the entire package as the factory dampeners tire out quickly when roads get bouncey. I just figured at only 11,000 miles on the odometer, I might as well run them out a bit. Bang for your Buck, it's hard to beat coils. Sticky tires would be an immediate second, and then I would focus on tying down the unibody. I am suprised that sway bars made such a significant difference as they overall weight of a FiST is so low, and the factory components are rather beefey, that was a much farther down the road plan for me... maybe time to reconsider?!

 

[danbfree]

I bought my FiST with Mountune coils already installed and the performace from a higher spring rate combined with a lower COG has been significant. Expecially compared to a stock Fiesta ST. If I could go back I would have upgraded the entire package as the factory dampeners tire out quickly when roads get bouncey. I just figured at only 11,000 miles on the odometer, I might as well run them out a bit. Bang for your Buck, it's hard to beat coils. Sticky tires would be an immediate second, and then I would focus on tying down the unibody. I am suprised that sway bars made such a significant difference as they overall weight of a FiST is so low, and the factory components are rather beefey, that was a much farther down the road plan for me... maybe time to reconsider?!

I don't think the Mountune has a higher spring rate, in fact the initial rate is lower being progressive and I thought ended up same as factory?

 

[J_BadWOLF]

I don't think the Mountune has a higher spring rate, in fact the initial rate is lower being progressive and I thought ended up same as factory?

it's an increase of 5% (172lb/in vs. 181lb/in FRONT, 137lb/in vs. 144in/lb REAR). Nothing significant, but noticable. They are great if you still DD your car and coming from a fully built 180sx... It's nice to have a reasonably confortable commute sometimes! https://www.mountuneusa.com/mountune...364-msk-ba.htm

 

[danbfree]

it's an increase of 5% (172lb/in vs. 181lb/in FRONT, 137lb/in vs. 144in/lb REAR). Nothing significant, but noticable. They are great if you still DD your car and coming from a fully built 180sx... It's nice to have a reasonably confortable commute sometimes! https://www.mountuneusa.com/mountune...364-msk-ba.htm

Your link was broken but I just on their site anyway and found it, thanks! I think I'll lean toward the Eibach or Cobb as I'm looking for no more than another .8" drop in the front, especially since I plan to move up to 215 tires later...

 

[J_BadWOLF]

Sorry about that. They claim a pretty drastic drop, but it was not the case with mine. Front lip stay way out of the way during 90% of driving situations. I do wish they were a bit firmer. But still solid. We will see how they sit when the FMIC is in there. The photo should give some context to the drop you can expect.

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[danbfree]

Sorry about that. They claim a pretty drastic drop, but it was not the case with mine. Front lip stay way out of the way during 90% of driving situations. I do wish they were a bit firmer. But still solid. We will see how they sit when the FMIC is in there. The photo should give some context to the drop you can expect.

Yeah, I'm a relatively old man for this car anyway, so I want the progressive spring bit of initial softness to absorb some bumpy roads... I'm leaning more and more to the Eibach, Cobb and Mountune all being very close to the same, although Eibach says they tune them slightly different for each brand... If you want them stiffer, I'd go with a linear spring... How many miles do you have on your Mountune? If you decide you wan to go linear, I might take the Mountune off your hands!

 

[J_BadWOLF]

Yeah, I'm a relatively old man for this car anyway, so I want the progressive spring bit of initial softness to absorb some bumpy roads... I'm leaning more and more to the Eibach, Cobb and Mountune all being very close to the same, although Eibach says they tune them slightly different for each brand... If you want them stiffer, I'd go with a linear spring... How many miles do you have on your Mountune? If you decide you wan to go linear, I might take the Mountune off your hands!

I will see how they do with the new bilstiens or koni yellows (you know, whenever I make up my mind). I promise to let you know first if they come up for grabs. What would you recommend for a more linear spring?

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[danbfree]

I will see how they do with the new bilstiens or koni yellows (you know, whenever I make up my mind). I promise to let you know first if they come up for grabs. What would you recommend for a more linear spring?

Swift, by far... And yeah, just let me know if you end up changing!

 

[dailybean]

Swift, by far... And yeah, just let me know if you end up changing!

+1 on the swift springs. Been on them a few days now and I won’t ever go back to progressive springs (personal preference). The ride is so much tighter.


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