Will upgrading suspension kill noisy ride?
 

Here's the thing fellas, I love my car, but why is it so damn noisy? Are all FD's this way or is mine just shity compared to others. Will some of the noise be eliminated when I start replacing rubber bushings and upgrading the suspension? I'm planning on a coilover setup in the future and know that it's going to be stiffer, but can I compensate for the added stiffness (leading to more noise/rattle) with replacing all the rubber suspension bushings?

thanks,

Ant

upgrading to a stiffer suspension will only make your noises get louder and probably add a few new ones too. stick with all stock stuff if quiet is what you want.

It all depends on where the sounds are coming from? If they are in the rear than replacing the pillowball bushings will make it much better. The rear Trailing arms and Toe links are another source of "CLUNKS". Try jacking the rear of the car up and moving the wheel if there is play side to side or up and down then look into the bushings.

what is a pillow ball? I've heard of the Tein's being available with pillow ball bushings, but don't know what they are.

My 7 got much quiter when I got good tires. Nitto 555's were the cure for me! The stick good too.

Here are some pics of the bushings. There are six of them in the rear I would replacing them all.

they are not talking about the "pillow ball bushings." They come with the "pillow ball mounts." they are the rubber pieces between the top of the coil-over and the body.

First of all guys, thanks for the responses. I have not been having much luck lately with responses on some of my posts. So then, what exactly is a pillow-ball mount?

Ant

Nevermind about what a pillow-ball mount is. I was just on Tein's site and read up on 'em. Apparently, they replace the OEM rubber bushing/mounts at top of the shocks with an aluminum type to rid of discrepancies in suspension play... cool. Would my ride be a lot stiffer if I went with these?

Your ride stiffness will depend on how you have your suspension set up. The beauty of the aftermarket suspension kits is that they are fully adjustable. My car is lower than stock, but rides better than stock with my suspension set to "soft". A quick turn on the dial, and my car is very stiff, for track or agressive driving. I have had the rear bushings replaced on my car, and that will make a huge difference. I also had some hatch rattle, so I replaced the bump stops under the hatch, and that has gone away! My car is remarkably quiet and rides well for a high performance sports car that is 9 years old!

Thanks, VRT, it's very good to see other older FD's out there are keeping their owners happy. I think coilovers sound the most appealing, like the Tein HA's like Glassman's setup. I like the height and dampening adjustability of them.

ant