newb: bottoming out on hard driving through twisties
 

Hi,

I don't post often, but I appreciate all the insight and inspiration on here.

I woke up at 5am today to spend the morning driving pretty hard through some hills while they were empty. On hard turns, where it goes uphill on the last half of the turn, my tires scraped the wheel well. It has gotten to the point where the left side wheel well liner has started to wear through. I can look through the engine bay well bulge and see some tire. Inside the wheel well there are marks. There was rubber dust in my engine bay.

Right now my setup is stock springs and tokico shocks. These came with the car when I got them.

Will stiffer springs solve my issue? Or will the slight lowering defeat any increase in stiffness, thereby resulting in the same bottoming out? Does this mean my shocks are dead? I had them set at 5/5 front and 4/5 rear and I get a headache from all the shock that goes through my spine to my head.

Thanks in advance.

a better sway bar will help.

All i know is there are wires that run though that area and is bad news when it rubs. You can start having electrical issues. I am not an expert so i dont want to say anything about your shocks or springs but i do know that you should stop driving it hard before you mess up some wires.

zrokool85: yeah, its usually one side that bottoms out in the turn.

spr258: the wires are just above the holes. i was worried about water getting there, but you are right that friction and wear might also occur.

You might check to make sure the the shocks are still ok (i.e. not blown). I would suggest a new spring/shock combo as you shouldn't be bottoming out with stock springs (unless someone cut them).

Details on your rims/tires?

Mahjik: i'll ask my mechanic to check them out. thanks

gracer7-rx7: stock wheels. kumho ecsta XS tires. stock size

How much milage in the orig. set-up? There are many different routes to go if your stock suspension(which im sure) is worn out. A good set of struts like tockicos and springs are a good start. For all parts new (oem) you could put togehter a full coilover suspension as well. Do some searching. Howard coleman etc. Just make sure you get the rubbing issues resolved before you do major wiring harness damage through rubbing the front fender liners. Issues w/ the wiring harnesses can be a serious nightmare! Sounds like you are on the right track. G

im going to try out an addco sway bar this week. i will update you all on how it works out on the twisties on the weekend.
thanks again for all the advice.

a. your shocks may be blown
b. you may need stiffer springs
c. both

get stiffer springs.

Assuming your suspension parts are all in proper working order and your bottoming out I'd do as Mahjik said and go with a new shock/spring combo(stiffer springs), not a stiffer anti-roll bar.