"hot off the press" Aspire/Festiva suspension swap

[Bert]

This was one long winter for 'playing' with Festivas. My 97Aspire/92Festiva suspension swap is now mobile (see previous posts for lead-up) and the modified car was field-tested this afternoon. Drove fine and she even looks OK. There are stock Festiva springs and shocks on the car in the included photos, and the original cheesy Aspire wheels. The car sticks to the road like glue (Aspire sway bar and trailing arm) and has another couple of inches ground clearance. But the brakes are fantastic! This whole thing was a whole lot of work and I wouldn't recommend it for Sunday drivers, cheapskates or lazy fixers. During the swap I installed the Aspire lower control arms which turned out to be a serious mistake. This moved the tie rods and everything else out another 3/4 inch total (3/8 each side) which then popped the drive shafts (and transmission fluid). Re-installed Festiva control arms and new axle seals last weekend (lesson: never throw away parts until you're completely done) and that solved the problem. In theory the longer Aspire steering rack plus Aspire axles would work but then the castor/camber problem of retaining Festiva strut locations would rear it's ugly head. No quick fix for that one.
Next sortie is to find decent wheels. All 14s and 15s 4x100mm rims I've looked at have a 5 1/2 inch backset whereas the Aspire 13 inch wheels are 4 1/2" backset. This seems to be a common trend as rims get bigger and tires get wider/shorter. 185/60-14s would have looked great on this car! I have a line on a set of VW 13" alloy wheels that should fit and have so far had to pass by 5 sets of pretty Honda/Toyota/Kia/Hyundai and VW 14" alloy wheels that sat too deep.
On my daily driver/stock car (93 Festiva 5 speed manual) I achieved 600 km with 31.5 litres of fuel last week. You'll want to own a Smart car or a diesel to try to beat that.

[Safety Guy]

Those Aspire hubcaps actually look kinda good on your Festiva!

Get some Miata "Daisies" for some nice wheels. Or any 14" Miata wheels should work with little or no worry. Although you could run 185/60-14s, you might want to try some 185/55s or 165/60s instead.

I have VW alloys on Aqua:



They are 13 X 5.5" with 38mm offset and fit fine. I did have hubcentric rings made for them though, and you need to use proper "ball" seat VW wheel bolts. Tires are 175/70s, but I wish I had 165/65s or 185/60s. It's just that those were common and thus, cheap. Plus I had two of them already.

Karl

[TominMO]

Use Aspire Monroe rear struts to get a higher spring perch. This will let you run 185/60x14s for example.

[thered56]

In theory the longer Aspire steering rack plus Aspire axles would work but then the castor/camber problem of retaining Festiva strut locations would rear it's ugly head.

hmmmm...I wonder if anyone has attempted this...I just may be interested in having a go at it...well something like it.

Thanks for sharing your swap!

[Bert]

Thanks for the tips regarding rims. Has anyone else out there found 'ready fit' wheels 4x100 with correct hub size? Springs and shocks are next on the list (already have the new Aspire Monroes on hand) but first I want to drive the car for a week or two.

[Safety Guy]

Some direct fit 4 X 100mm bolt pattern wheels, with correct centerbores:

-all Miata four bolt wheels
-Protege and 323 from 1990 up
-Toyota Corolla and Geo Prizm (at least, 1989 on)
-Kia Rio, 2001 to 2005 (early Rios used exact copies of Aspire steelies)

Offset may still be a problem, depending on your ride height, rear struts, tire width, etc.

Karl

[Safety Guy]

I forgot to say also, Escort wheels. Years 1991 and up.

Karl