Where is a good place to find info on suspension mods and why you want them?

[matttheazn]

Hello all. I am starting to do some research on suspension mods for the track. Currently looking over springs vs coils. Just curious what I might need besides coils over or springs? Camber arms, Toe arms, controls arms, does anyone know a good place to start learning and explaining all this stuff to me. I know YT and googling but if anyone has any channels or articles with great explanations please link me. Can someone help me understand why a full coil over set is better than springs? Is it just adjustability or ride height and tire alignment, thus being able to have the car put down better grip in corners? I don't think I am that fast to put the car to the limits yet, but I am the type of person to buy once cry once. I'm thinking I should probably just skip springs and just do coils.

Currently looking at the RSR active coils to retain factory damper adjustment. If I were to go ohlins, or another brand that deletes the factory dampers, can I quickly adjust the settings at the track? Any good recommendations on a set of coils that are good at the track but don't cost a fortune?

Just an FYI I plan on doing all cooling and handling mods before any power mods. Thanks for any advice.

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[optronix]

Fair question, but honestly probably a little too vague for people to really be too helpful. Personally, I think the vast majority of people on forums like this really don't know much beyond the casual person on the street who isn't even into cars. You combine that with an open forum where everyone has a voice, and it can and will lead you down many rabbit holes where you could end up literally being dumber than before you started. Forums can be valuable in many ways- but from a pure learning perspective, I personally think it's not a great environment. Too much subjectivity, not enough accountability when people get it completely wrong.

So my advice, a random forum guy on the Internet? Is learn by talking to people... at track events. While you're getting true experience behind the wheel. The beauty is that this car is wonderfully capable as it sits rolling off the factory production line, so there isn't an absolute necessity to start throwing mods at it right away like 95% of other even "enthusiast" cars. Especially for a beginner/novice driver. You'll almost surely learn more by talking to real people who do this stuff in real life than the arbitrary chaos that can result from forums- all while being in the absolute best environment for learning- personal experience. And your completely stock car will be far above your limits when you start, so you can figure out what mods you need first (I think most would actually tell you to start with brakes...).

That said, there are genuinely some smart folks on here who can help you out. One thing forums can be good for is letting others do the trial and error for you- which sometimes is also the only way to truly learn if a mod is going to make things better or even worse. I like your phrase "buy once cry once". The best way to follow through on that is get behind the wheel and find out what you think would make the car better. In all honesty, you may just find that you don't need to do anything to it at all, at least not for quite some time as your skills develop.

Also some of it comes down to driving style and what you want out of your car. If you're only going to be spending 1-2 days a year on track, is it really worth sacrificing the adjustability of the factory adaptive dampers by switching to coils? Only you can answer that question... but that is another thing the forums can be helpful for, is bouncing ideas around off others with similar mindsets.\

But if you've read this far I will provide you with what I think are a couple specifics that I think are well-vetted and you'd find entertaining and educational. The first is one of my personal favorite channels- it helps that the content creator drives an ITS, which is what I have, but it is absolutely still relevant to any conversation around the FL5. Keep in mind this guy is pretty experienced and as you'll see from his channel has driven A TON of other cars in both track settings and the amazing California canyon roads. He just set his ITS up on Ohlins and has many nice things to say about them- so it's at least one data point in favor of the Ohlins. Here's the channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@Zygrene

The other is a general answer to your question that should just serve as a data point. Springs are a great way to achieve a "look". Performance-wise, changing the spring rate without touching the damper isn't really a sound way to improve over the factory engineering, particularly for this car. I don't think it will actively make things worse, as long as you go with a validated brand like Spoon or even Eibach for example... but if you're in the "springs and spacer" crowd, they generally don't tend to overlap too much with the serious "track rat" crowd- who would almost surely go with a full coilover that is at least engineered together with the spring and damper.

That's my .02, and I'm sure there will be some who agree, and others who disagree. And that's my whole point!

 

[Jester04]

Fair question, but honestly probably a little too vague for people to really be too helpful. Personally, I think the vast majority of people on forums like this really don't know much beyond the casual person on the street who isn't even into cars. You combine that with an open forum where everyone has a voice, and it can and will lead you down many rabbit holes where you could end up literally being dumber than before you started. Forums can be valuable in many ways- but from a pure learning perspective, I personally think it's not a great environment. Too much subjectivity, not enough accountability when people get it completely wrong.

So my advice, a random forum guy on the Internet? Is learn by talking to people... at track events. While you're getting true experience behind the wheel. The beauty is that this car is wonderfully capable as it sits rolling off the factory production line, so there isn't an absolute necessity to start throwing mods at it right away like 95% of other even "enthusiast" cars. Especially for a beginner/novice driver. You'll almost surely learn more by talking to real people who do this stuff in real life than the arbitrary chaos that can result from forums- all while being in the absolute best environment for learning- personal experience. And your completely stock car will be far above your limits when you start, so you can figure out what mods you need first (I think most would actually tell you to start with brakes...).

That said, there are genuinely some smart folks on here who can help you out. One thing forums can be good for is letting others do the trial and error for you- which sometimes is also the only way to truly learn if a mod is going to make things better or even worse. I like your phrase "buy once cry once". The best way to follow through on that is get behind the wheel and find out what you think would make the car better. In all honesty, you may just find that you don't need to do anything to it at all, at least not for quite some time as your skills develop.

Also some of it comes down to driving style and what you want out of your car. If you're only going to be spending 1-2 days a year on track, is it really worth sacrificing the adjustability of the factory adaptive dampers by switching to coils? Only you can answer that question... but that is another thing the forums can be helpful for, is bouncing ideas around off others with similar mindsets.\

But if you've read this far I will provide you with what I think are a couple specifics that I think are well-vetted and you'd find entertaining and educational. The first is one of my personal favorite channels- it helps that the content creator drives an ITS, which is what I have, but it is absolutely still relevant to any conversation around the FL5. Keep in mind this guy is pretty experienced and as you'll see from his channel has driven A TON of other cars in both track settings and the amazing California canyon roads. He just set his ITS up on Ohlins and has many nice things to say about them- so it's at least one data point in favor of the Ohlins. Here's the channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@Zygrene

The other is a general answer to your question that should just serve as a data point. Springs are a great way to achieve a "look". Performance-wise, changing the spring rate without touching the damper isn't really a sound way to improve over the factory engineering, particularly for this car. I don't think it will actively make things worse, as long as you go with a validated brand like Spoon or even Eibach for example... but if you're in the "springs and spacer" crowd, they generally don't tend to overlap too much with the serious "track rat" crowd- who would almost surely go with a full coilover that is at least engineered together with the spring and damper.

That's my .02, and I'm sure there will be some who agree, and others who disagree. And that's my whole point!

I agree with the conservative approach until your skill increases enough to warrant a mod in suspension.

I track my cars and learned the hard way. On the Type R I did springs only since the stock suspension is very good. So it was more for looks than anything else. But as of now I don’t see a need for myself to upgrade anything beyond that except a rear sway bar for more rotation but that is personal preference of driving style.

On my s2000 I have a full coil setup, with upgraded bushings, adjustable rear toe bars and it’s honestly more than I need.

 

[ForeverCar]

@optronix shared lots of great information. In today’s environment, I think it’s more difficult to figure out where to find good information. While I find Zygrene content a bit better than most, I would suggest understanding their background as a way for you to make up your own mind as well.

motoiq is a pretty good source IMO. Of course, it depends on the author as well. Mike Kojima is a trustworthy source.

More importantly, understanding why you want to go down this path and having clarity on your goals are very helpful.

 

[MERAKIAUTOWORKS]

I'm also throwing on some whiteline front adjustable bal joints and SPC rear camber arms for mine. I want to be able to dial in my camber perfectly.

We can work you a deal on a whole setup if its RSR or Ohilin.

-Josh

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