Hey guys... I auto-xed my 8 a few months back, and was very impressed with my results. I want to make it even better, by getting rid of the slight understeer the car has. I plan to get progress tech sways to almost eliminate this, but was considering coilovers as well? I don't auto-x a lot, on did it once, but would love to do it again! My car is a DD, but even for that, I find the suspension a little soft for me. I like to do a lot of spirited driving around town, on/ off ramps, and the occasional canyon run. Would coilovers be a waste for me? I was thinking of getting Stance GR+'s since they have gotten great reviews for the price. I don't want to spend a lot, because if I did, I would just get KW V3's. How easy is it to install them for someone who's never done it before? If I have to drop like $500 for an install, forget it. I was also considering just upgraded struts since they are a little cheaper, but the coilovers seem a lot better for not much more. I basically want a stiffer ride with no body roll, that isn't too harsh for a DD. I have RE-01R's and they have made the handling of the car exceptionally better, but I want even more. Lol. Another key thing I am look to achieve is keeping the stock height relatively the same, which is why I believe coilovers would be better. My car already is too low on a stock suspension since I have a bodykit. I couldn't imagine it any lower, nor do I want my bumper damaged. If anyone could help clarify some of my questions, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

 

What class do you want to run in? That will depend on what the rules allow you do to with most of the car

 

^Yes. But he's already on 19's so hes most likely in STX, and not worried about being too competitive.

Also, If you don't want your car any lower why not just get a set of Koni Yellow shocks? They run around $595 and will improve the handling of the car by alot. They also lower the car by around .5".

Also don't think you need to go out and buy new suspension after just one AutoX event. Maybe it is understeering because you wern't braking enough? Learn the car a bit more before you jump straight into coilovers.

And yes, the Progressive Tech sways are a good choice, and will help with the understeer.

 

Yeah I have 19x8.5 wheels and 245 tires, so I got put in STX due to wider wheels than stock.

Thanks for the advice. I will try that. I was able to drive my dad's BMW 530i with the sport package, and the handling on all season tires felt almost better than the 8! I better with my tires, it would be better than my car. We'll see. I bet once I get the anti-roll bars, it will be better than that for sure. Thanks. Again. I probably will try and look into struts over coilovers. What about the Mazdaspeed or Tokiko D-spec's? Are those better than Koni yellow's? How would they be with stock springs? I may get aftermarket if I get struts, but just need to decide on which ones will have the least drop.

 

Most struts won't drop you. That is just springs. Except for the Koni's.

The best struts out right now are the Koni's, if you look at all the B Stock RX8's, they are all on Koni's. They will be fine with the stock springs, but since your already in STX you are allowed aftermarket springs as well, it will benefit you to get some stiffer spring rates, such as the RB springs, which will only drop you about .5" if I remember correctly.

 

I have Koni's and love them. For the price they are hard to beat. When I added the Koni's and Sprint springs the handling of the car transformed.

Install isn't that hard, it just takes a while, you have to do everything twice (two rear and two front).

You will need a spring compressor, tho, if you are doing struts and springs (you will still need pieces off your stock strut spring combo) and a manual spring compressor will give a workout unless you have an air compressor with an impact gun

 

How is your front and rear camber?