Advanced Suspension Mods

[Advancedynamix]

I haven't. I've only used the kyb shocks on this car. You may also be able to save money on the sleeve kits. Afco makes them too, but you need to make sure that they come with adjusters and spring hats to know if your getting a good value. You can modify the stock shock washers ( the bottom ones that sandwich the rubber mount) to make a spring hat, but I didn't go that route.

[zoom zoom]

Have you tried monroes? I was thinking about going with them since they're a little cheaper and I'm a tightwad. Just wondering what the difference would be, the dampening properties?

[Advancedynamix]

Here is a little parts list for some of the components I used, where to find them and the cost.

KYB shocks for the Aspire/Festiva 116.00 for the pair. Ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Rear-KYB-G...ecb796&vxp=mtr

Small body shock sleeve kit-54.00 a piece, 2 required. Here http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Bilstein...ab4dbc&vxp=mtr

1 7/8" 10" I.D. springs- 35.00 a piece (when shipping is split between 2 springs) here http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-MIDGET-R...bbb547&vxp=mtr

Raceland VW mk2/mk3 coilover kit- 400.00 est. go to raceland.com or here is a set on ebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/1989-1992-vw...c6e16a&vxp=mtr

2 1/2" x 10" front springs- 35.00 a piece (with combined shipping of 2) on ebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-RACING-C...304e4d&vxp=mtr

The machining necessary for the front struts to fit correctly should cost between 100 and 200 dollars at a small job shop style of machine shop. the raceland coilovers come apart fairly easily so they don't need to worry about overheating the strut insert when they weld in the bushings. You'll need a loose knuckle to have them match the pattern. The rear shocks can be modified with a grinder and cutoff wheel, if you turn them on a lathe or have them turned make sure a sleeve is used to protect the shock body when holding the in lathe chuck. The shock body is made of very thin and soft steel (I messed one up when I made mine and had to order another shock ). I made my sleeve out of a piece of black PVC, you can see it in some of my pictures. I wouldn't pay more than 100 dollars to have the shocks modified since it really only takes a half hour on a lathe (that's not including the shortening, that takes more time and people should really know what they are doing with that).

All said and done I have around $1200 into my suspension. Not bad for how well it works. I was originally going to buy Tein coilovers from FMS, but.... well you guys know what happened there. I'm glad I went this route though, because I've been able to really dial this in and I have more clearance in the rear than I would have with the Teins. I would like to do a back to back comparison though with both setups to see what the pros and cons of each are.

My next setup will probably use some Afco aluminum threaded body shocks because I can rebuild them and change the valving to suit the car better and they are a little lighter. These KYBs have given me a great platform to determine shock length, stroke and baseline valving.

[Advancedynamix]

The bump stops don't actually stop the shock travel, they are simply there to raise the spring rate. They can be used to limit travel, but that's not what I use them for. The car will lean about an inch and then the stops progressively raise the spring rate on that corner. This isn't to induce overseer or to rotate the car at all. What this does is it allows the front inside tire to get traction when the throttle is rolled on using the outside rear bump stop (the extra spring rate works in conjunction with engine torque to keep from losing traction) To rotate the car I use the brakes and the front bumpstops do the exact opposite of the back, they take weight of the rear tires. Bump stops can be used to fine tune the spring rate of each corner. They can also be used to correct shock valving issues. On a front drive car I like to use fast compression dampening and slow rebound, this will stick the front end to the track when you brake before a turn and limit the amount if weight transfer to the rear under acceleration. The bump stops can be used to fine tune this.
Hope that helps.

[zoom zoom]

Basically you have about an inch and a half of body roll before you hit the bump stops and they make the car slide..or roll.. I'm not familiar with durometer or progressive rates of bump stops, pretty new to all this, I think I'm following what your saying tho!

[Advancedynamix]

I run about an inch and a half of clearance before using the bump stop at ride height on all four corners. I just used the ones that came with three raceland shocks. They are progressive, but I'm not sure what durometer they are. I have some different stops on order so that I can nail down what works best. If you drive in an area that is rough and bumpy you will probably want more space between the bump stop and shock hat.

[zoom zoom]

So if I put lowering springs on, should I lenghten or shorten my bump stops? I need new ones anyway, they fell out in pieces when I removed the cover on the shocks.

[Advancedynamix]

Just so I got this straight....

A Festy pulling 1.5 g's with the only mods being home-made (albeit well engineered) shock/spring assemblies, good tires and alignment tweeks? Almost makes you feel guilty doesn't it? When the high dollar car owners ask what you did, do you feel sorry for them and lie?

Lol, I tell them how little is done to the chassis and they just think that I'm a driving phenomenon. Lol. I'm not at all, this car makes it easy.

[neanderpaul]

:thumbright:

[blkfordsedan]

Just so I got this straight....

A Festy pulling 1.5 g's with the only mods being home-made (albeit well engineered) shock/spring assemblies, good tires and alignment tweeks? Almost makes you feel guilty doesn't it? When the high dollar car owners ask what you did, do you feel sorry for them and lie?

[Advancedynamix]

So far I've read the first post, I NEED to find time to finish reading all that great info

Once I get more time, I'll sticky this thread or move it to the article section

Thanks Chris, I'm glad to share this stuff with everyone. I apologize for being long winded, but I believe there is more to a car than the sum of it's parts. Glad you enjoy the thread.

[Advancedynamix]

Most of this performance stuff is gobble-dee-gook to me. But seeing pictures of narrowed-down springs is curious. Would allow Aspire/Rio swappers to take advantage of wheel well space when moving on to modern tires.
13s/14s and 15s are achievable, provided there is room, and in most cases, escaping from the old 145/12s is not that simple.
It's the diameter of the springs (and location of the spring perch) that are holding most of us back.
Keep up the good work. And keep us DD and other ordinary folks in mind.

Will do. After all, Tweak gets driven to work almost daily. I also have 2 bone stock festivas, so I can relate. Lol. This setup works great with 185mm tires that are around 21" outer diameter. I have 38mm of offset on 5.5" wide wheels and I use 1/4" spacers on the rear. My tire size is 185/60/13 but these R888 tires have a very wide contact patch for a 185mm tire, it's wider than most 195mm tires.

[Damkid]

So far I've read the first post, I NEED to find time to finish reading all that great info

Once I get more time, I'll sticky this thread or move it to the article section

[Advancedynamix]

Thanks, it is a ton fun.

How much did all the parts cost you?

I'll post a parts list with prices and where to get things if I get some time tonight. I don't know off the top of my head what it all cost. It's pricey for what a Festiva was designed to do, but extremely cheap for the performance of the car. This car can dance with cars that use 2 grand worth of tires in a weekend.

[Bert]

Most of this performance stuff is gobble-dee-gook to me. But seeing pictures of narrowed-down springs is curious. Would allow Aspire/Rio swappers to take advantage of wheel well space when moving on to modern tires.
13s/14s and 15s are achievable, provided there is room, and in most cases, escaping from the old 145/12s is not that simple.
It's the diameter of the springs (and location of the spring perch) that are holding most of us back.
Keep up the good work. And keep us DD and other ordinary folks in mind.