A sale is a sale, most buyers will be ignorant of the issues and will just want to drop the car as much as possible.

Coilovers give several key benefits, they are a wide range of available spring rates and lengths, the ability to adjust ride height and the ability to corner weight the car. IMHO it's worth the extra compared to stock type springs if you're serious about performance.

 

Honestly, for what you are looking for; it sounds like a simple tanabe + agx combo will suffice for springs + shocks. You will want a set of camber plates. I bought a used set for about $110 off ebay (tein) and they have been good. Overall, with the drop that most lowering springs give you, you won't need to really do anything much with the rear as what you get when you lower it around an inch or so is good for lateral grip in the rear. You will chew through tires a little faster though and I would suggest getting tires and wheels that you can rotate on a regular basis so as to keep tire wear to a minimum. That said, I usually rotate my tires front to back (straight not cross) every 2 weeks because I had to change my wheels for autox events. I have about 2.5 rear camber and about 2.2 degrees front and haven't experienced any odd wear on my few-month old cheap hankook street tires. I also run much higher spring rates than I am suggesting because I run r-compound at autox events. More grip= more roll= the need for more spring and/or roll bar.
Overall, I think you could get away with realistically spending just short of $700 for a setup that will work for what you want. I would suggest bushings, but without tools and some mechanical experience, they can be a bear. At least do the sway bar bushings as that helps with roll stiffness(and they can be had separately for pocket change from autozone or ebay). The front control arm bushings are a pain, as are the rear semi-trailing arm bushings. The bushings are normally what I consider a first modification necessity. In your case where you are budget minded. The larger gains are going to be experienced with shocks and springs. Bushings can come later because shocks usually are blown and have no fluid in them by the time you get around to modifying the suspension to handle a little more abuse. Just keep in mind that you will want to do those bushings in the near future after you do the shocks, springs, and camber plates.

Hope that was helpful

dpf22

 

2.5 degrees of camber in the rear is a lot. The rear gains camber as the car rolls, so the dynamic camber will be more, and the front looses camber, so you normally want a bunch more in the front and very little in the rear. Little in the rear also helps put the power down. Lots of rear camber will contribute to a potentially unbalanced car (understeer). Most racers are running lots of front camber (maybe 3-4 degrees) and very little rear camber (1-1.5 usually).

 

Like I said, higher spring rates to supress the roll. Actually I never said that specifically, but it was hinted rather largely. My set up worked for what I did and how I drove at the time, currently changing things quite a bit. I experiment a lot.
Also as you know, certain tires require different plans of attack as far as suspension settings go.

dpf22

 

With GC springs do I still need to buy camber plates?

For normal street driving what would be the recommended setup as far as camber goes?

 

It's not necessarily "required", but if you want to get the most out of the setup then it is. What's most important though is to get camber compensating stuff for the rear if you're planning on lowering it very much at all.

For street driving, maybe 2 degrees front and 1 degree rear.

 

I have tanabe gf210 springs and agxs, a rb front bar and a stock rear bar. To me thats the perfect street setup. With the shocks set at 1 it rides exactly like stock, probably better than stock for you since your springs are cut. At 2 out of 4 in front and 4 out of 8 in the rear the tanabe springs are perfectly dampened and I can drive over bumps and potholes at speed without the car getting unsettled. I have the rear camber link adjusted to the max to remove the camber and I got 2 degrees. The front i rotated the stock strut tops and got 1.5 degrees maxed out.

 

So what do camber plates cost? Only thing i've found is a set of front camber plates for 170. I'm liking the tanabe set up, or maybe something that won't require me to get camber plates.

 

sounds to me like your trying to buy wine with beer money.

with about 600-700 i would start replaceing all your bushings, ( full energy suspension kit, rear sub frame, diff, trans, motor, rear toe eliminators) get a pair of sway bars and STB's, then buy some steelies and a set of good track tires.

if your current tires and struts as you say are garbage, just throw on some junkyard parts that are in spec and get a set of discount tires for the road, you will notice a night and day difference in the handiling ability of your car with the bushings all set.

once you have more cash you can start the hunt for a more advanced suspension. that being said this way you have no issues with DD or alignment.

take your time and learn your car and how it feels, the bushings first are the way to go

 

Definately bushings have to be the most noticable difference for the price. Spend a little over $100 for the kit. Most you can do with a vice and some assorted sockets. Others, if you're not very mechanically inclined, you'll want to take it to a mechanic to have then properly delt with. DO NOT let them use heat on the cast aluminum pieces up front. It can cause them to anell and/or become brittle. Not a good thing for that which holds the front suspension of the car in place.
Camber plates are a must. Rear adjuster links (individual side are what I have, not the single one) are also recomended. That way you can actually level the camber in the car at all four corners. If you do nothing else. Get the bushings and camber adjusters and some Tein springs (straight rate vs progressive) which can be had cheap and easy. I'm not a fan of progressive. I like a linear feel vs the sloppy engagement feel of progressive rate. Do not get racing beat rear springs if you decide on them. They are softer in the rear than stock. Very stupid if you ask me. Why make suspension that has travel issues softer and THEN lower it as well. Doesn't make any sense. They make the rear end feel sloppy (ask my how I know).
Anyways, i have a knack for long posts it seems. Hope this was helpful.

dpf22

 

Oh and by the way, do not take what I said as an ok to drive on blown shocks. They are very important to how the vehicle transitions and acts as a whole. If you have leakage, replace them with some agx's. The price range of springs you're looking at are not at a high enough spring rate to justify a better strut unless you get into a considerable amount of money very quickly. If you go with ground control spring/perch, then you will need something stronger. Koni yellows are a good strut. I've had good luck with bilstein hd struts as well.

 

Especially if you have upgraded rear control arm bushings it's not a good idea to be using individual rear adjusters to do anything more than just adjust out the uneven camber you get from using a camber rod. The individual ones will twist the bearings, which adds sticktion and can cause binding.

 

No binding here ^_^
Personal experience is best.


dpf22

 

http://racingbeat.com/FRmazda2.htm

Are these Koni Yellows? If so they aren't really more expensive than KYB's. Would it be a better idea to get these?

 

Also TEIN S. Tech lowering springs? How are they?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Tein-...spagenameZWD1V

In the description it stats "non-turbo" however I can't seem to find one that says "turbo". Is this just a mistake or do I need to track down "turbo" ones?

 

Do you mean: http://racingbeat.com/resultset.asp?PartNumber=14290 ?

If so then yes. They're a much better shock than the KYB, so if you've got the money, go for them. The KYB's are fine, a good budget buy, but the Konis are superior.

Be aware that the Tein lowering (and the Tanabe's too) do cut down on front end wheel and tire room due to their shape (the coils at the bottom are fatter). Any lowering spring or suspension that works on one FC will work on all of them.

 

How much are we talking about cutting down. Could I still fit a 17x8 mutang wheel with 235/40/17 tires all around (would it be better to go 225/45/17?).

 

I run KYB AGX shocks all round with Eibach progressive springs, huge improvement over stock. I'm very happy with the way it handles and rides on the street. I only wish the rear was a little lower.