Hi all,

I'm planning on getting Bilstein HD shocks and H&R Sport Springs with my workplace bonus money. I only have so much to spend and am trying to decide on what would give me the most bang-for-the-buck. Would it be worthwhile to also buy a Cusco strut tower brace and Racing Beat front/rear swaybars? Would these two make a significant handling difference on a street-driven car? For the same amount of money, I would forego the brace and swaybars for say, a new Racing Beat exhaust, or some other performance item. Input appreciated!

 

Weeeellll I'm no 3rd gen expert but I do know you can gain about 60 HP easy with intake/exhaust. You haven't posted any mods that you've done so far, so I can't say what would work best BUT if you don't yet NEED the struts and springs, don't get them. Your car, stock, is nicely set up for stock power. Those struts and springs will majorly stiffen up your ride (pretty drastically) and unless you plan to autocross your car or need the extra handling, you won't see much performance boost from replacing them driving around daily. Of course, if you do, then by all means!! I'm doing it to my 2nd Gen convertible.

The strut braces are a good idea in any case, new struts/springs or no. But you'll get a noticeable boost in power from your exhaust/intake, and if that's what matters to you, then I'd personally recommend that first, maybe with the strut bars, then go struts and springs themselves later. Assuming you are bone stock right now and don't need (for repair reasons) to replace anything yet.

 

What was your Price Budget?
Thanks,
Jeff

 

I prefer Koni's over Bilsteins for the adjustability. I had some bad experiences with Bilsteins.

I'd say skip the sway bars for now and get the exhaust. Better yet, get it used and get the front strut bar. The front strut bar makes a very nice difference.

Oh and don't forget to replace those upper strut/shock mounts and spring pads. Those rubber things that mount the top of the strut assembly to the shock towers. Quiets down the car a bit.

 

Thanks for the input folks. Much appreciated!

DigitalSynthesis: Car is stock but for a DP. My previous car was a turbocharged "R(ace) Package" Miata which came with manual steering, thicker OEM swaybars, and it had Bilsteins shocks and H&R springs; I loved how it handled and would like to duplicate that. Plus, I hate the jacked-up look of the RX-7 with the factory suspension. It does handle quite nicely as is though.

Jeff @ TriPoint: Budget is about ~$1200. Do you have a good street suspension package in this range?

alberto_mg: My car has only 24K original miles. Would it it be prudent to replace the upper shock mounts and spring pads with the new suspension, or can that wait until the car has much higher mileage and I have to replace the shocks/springs again at a later time?

 

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