My suspension woes continue.. (skip to end!)

[CalMac]

It feels like I'm only able to drive at about 40% of the cars potential at the moment. Granted this is partially down to the fact that I've only just gotten back in the MR2 after 5 months of winter, but I need to know what's best for fast road driving!

I've had a set of Ohlins shocks and springs on since Friday and played with the dampening today - they're just too hardcore even on the softest setting. They could be worn out as I bought them used on Ebay but I don't think so as there are no leaks and the adjustment seems to have a noticeable effect.
Prior to these I had Buddyclub coilovers which I really didn't like - way too solid, so I sold them.

I just want to be able to drive the car without having to constantly fight it to stay on the road! Anything other than motorway/A roads/very smooth B roads is pretty challenging - the Ohlins do improve with speed though and feel fantastic on smooth roads It's making the car a PITA to commute through town in too, especially when there are speed bumps and potholes every couple of metres..


So what should I try next? Alter something else to make the Ohlins shine? Or different set up? I'd like it to have a 30-40mm drop all round but if necessary I'll sacrifice aesthetics for handling. My friends 95 Integra DC2 is incredible on stock suspension - it would be good to know if an MR2 can achieve that level of suspension performance.

Current Spec:

Ohlins adjustable dampening shock and spring combo
205/45/16 and 225/45/16 Yokohama AD08R on TE37's
Whiteline F&R Anti Roll Bars
20mm RCA's on the rear
Full alignment 13/03/15
Rear aftermarket strut brace
No weight saving

If I'm going to go and have the geometry set up then I want to be happy with the suspension first!

[Mike 2]

If in good serviceable condition, there is nothing wrong with the standard turbo suspension.

You've lowered the rear RCA only?

[CalMac]

Yeah the RCA's were only fitted on the rear when I bought the car, so I figured it must be for a reason and just left them

[Mike 2]

If not done already I would check all bushes and remove the rear RCA kit and see how it drives, but low hard aftermarket suspension will nearly always make it more reactive to road surfaces than std stuff.

On mine (rev 1 based) I did all bushes, fitted Tein dampers and fitted softer coilover springs.

After a day or two or playing with the ride height etc I got the geometry set on a Hunter machine.

[danjama]

I find the standard turbo suspension to be very good depending on the rubber used! Compliant on bumpy roads and competent in the fast bends etc!

[CalMac]

Still not happy with this suspension

The Ohlins shocks are fine, and I've fitted softer springs but the car is still too darty and follows grooves etc. in the road more than I'd like. Also commuting over speed bumps and potholes is not pleasant - driving this car is actually pretty stressful when I factor in the paddle clutch

Also I discovered that I have RCA's front and rear, as well as TRD ARB's front and rear (not Whiteline as I previously thought)

At the moment I'm thinking either Yellow Bilsteins with -30/40mm springs (suggestions?) or Koni Sports (which are paired with H&R springs I believe). Obviously the Bilsteins were built specifically for the MR2 but I've heard great things about Koni too.

I just really want to sort this now. I've tried 5 different suspension setups on my MR2's and none of them have ever felt right I don't need height adjustment once they're on, and I doubt I'd ever adjust the dampening either. So in summary I'd like comfort, 'decent' road handling and a lower than standard ride height

[Gullzter]

You have some good branded suspension set ups there, but im guessing your problem lies elsewhere if the car is darty along creases..
Have you checked none of your calipers are starting to bind slightly which would pull it along creases and pot holes?

[rev3gtturbo]

If it was me I would just put new Toyota shocks on it.

When I got this rev3 turbo it had oem shocks on it that went through the mot but were very old, tired and probably the original shocks.
My other rev3 turbo on part worn oem shocks that I had fitted new would completely out drive it on twisty roads with the same tyres. (Compared by swapping wheels to eliminate difference between Toyo tyres and a cheaper brand the car came with). The car was better on the Toyo tyres but still did not handle as well as the car with the fresher shocks. Both cars had stock 15 inch wheels.

So I put new Toyota shocks on the car all round. It made a huge difference to the performance and the fun factor.

Bilstein yellows are firmer than oem. I cannot compare them directly as I have never wanted to spend that much money to compare 2 sets of new shocks back to back on the same car and video the difference.

I would not lower the car as it can give problems on speed humps or grounding the nose cone on the ramps of multistory car parks.

[cosmos]

Contact QUOC2008 and ask him about Meister R coilovers ?
He has a post below yours regards 1" bore master cylinder.

[cosmos]

Contact QUOC2008 and ask him about Meister R coilovers ?
He has a post below yours regards 1" bore master cylinder.

[Race Idiot]

Stock turbo suspension is pretty damn good, you can eliminate excess roll by using thicker arb's without losing too much ride quality.

That was the most compliant setup I had for the road until I had my old koni/trd spring setup.

I've ran the ohlins and they were horrible for road use, I blew one in about 3 months of driving around londons terrible roads.

I've got fairly tired yellow billies on now with trd springs which is liveable, but at some point i'm going to have to upgrade. Was going to go with H&R coilovers but I cant find them for sale anymore

[CalMac]

Yeah the Ohlins are pretty hardcore - I even bought a spare on eBay in anticipation of when I manage to kill one

Think I may try some yellow billies then, or Koni's if they're cheaper!

Any idea where to buy TRD springs?

Cosmos I'm going to steer clear of coilovers I think - don't need the adjustability and not too bothered about going silly low so I'd be wasting money tbh. I've got JIC coilovers on my project MR2 but still haven't driven her yet..

Gullzter I don't think any of them are sticking - it went through the MOT rolling resistance tests etc. a couple of weeks ago with no advisories so maybe that could've highlighted a sticking caliper?

[Nic]

TRD springs tend to be quite stiffly sprung, I've not used them on the MR2 but on other cars I've driven they have been far from comfortable.

I'm using Eibach Pro springs with the optional OE black Bilstein dampers and 16" wheels, for me they give a perfect balance of ride comfort and handling.

[Race Idiot]

There are (were, dont make em anymore!) several types of trd spring. Iirc there were some non-progressive ones sold in Japan which were pretty damn stiff and some progressive ones which were available in the US.

The us ones were branded TRD but manufactured by eibach.

Mine are the second progressive type and they were pretty damn comfortable paired with koni sports. Not so much with the Billstein B6, but they would probably match pretty well with the oem billsteins.

The chance of finding a new set is pretty slim now so yeah i'd say get the eibachs.

[CalMac]

Just called a couple of suppliers and found that the c. £600 price tag for a Koni Sport Suspension kit doesn't even include the damper body - so that's just damper inserts and -20mm springs Will these inserts fit in standard MR2 bodies?

[Nic]

Just called a couple of suppliers and found that the c. £600 price tag for a Koni Sport Suspension kit doesn't even include the damper body - so that's just damper inserts and -20mm springs Will these inserts fit in standard MR2 bodies?

You'll need to check what suspension is currently fitted, they'll either be one piece dampers or rebuildable with separate insert and body.

If you don't have rebuildable dampers then I'd look at either OE black Bilstein or B6 yellow Bilsteins. The blacks are the softer of the two types.

This link may help http://www.mr2-ben.co.uk/categories/vie ... n-steering

[CalMac]

I'm sorry to keep bringing this subject up but it's really starting to p*ss me off and make me hate the car now Especially when some of you have been driving MR2's for years and always praising the handling, I can't believe that it's just my perception of the inherent characteristics of a midship car with light front end (which is what my mates are telling me) so there must be something going on with the car.

Had the geometry set up by Northampton Motorsport at the end of November and have had a few chances to take her for a good drive over the winter break since. Still not happy - can anybody advise what to try next?

I gave them a printout of Dino's recommended settings (see below) and asked for a fast road setup but left it up to them as they have experience with setting up MR2s so figured they may want to deviate from the settings slightly. From what I can tell (and it mostly goes over my head) the settings they've done are quite different to Dino's.

The car is cornering beautifully - very neutral, no complaints there. But on uneven B roads it's a real handful especially when putting down the power and even on the motorway/dual carriageway it just weaves all over the lane - especially when exiting onto a slip road etc. probably due to ruts in the road. Other road users seem to avoid me thinking I must be drunk Even in town it seems to wander wherever it fancies and I have to be really careful where I'm braking because I'm worried it'll lock up over a bump and head towards a curb (the roads in town are pretty rough too).

Suspension etc. as follows:

16x7 and 16x8 Te37 with 205/45 and 225/45 AD08R
TRD ARBs
Koni Yellows with Eibach springs
Front Tein top mounts
Delphi drop links
No PAS afaik (I know that sounds stupid but the steering is bloody heavy however it makes a whining sound sometimes related to steering input when making low speed manoeuvres)
Camber bolts all round for further adjustment
All wheel bearings are fine
Arnage RCAs all round (20mm or 25mm, can't remember)

It doesn't seem to pull to the side on a decent straight road, although I get some light vibration through the steering wheel (Sticking caliper? Wheels are balanced ok).

I kind of feel it was better behaved on my previous settings where I'd just maxed out the negative camber with bolts and had basic tracking done at a tyre place, but the cornering feels lightyears ahead since the new setup as it used to understeer intially.

Chris at Northampton Motorsport also pointed out that despite having a set of Eibach springs fitted, the front was sitting noticeably higher than the back. I have a set of lower front springs which I could fit if this might help, but not sure of brand - I ran them on my old Ohlins shocks. Speed bumps and ramps will just become even more of a challenge



Dino's recommended settings:



My results:

[CalMac]

Another thought - would anybody local-ish be willing to meet in the near future and drive my car to give me some feedback in comparison to theirs?

[2barGee]

I run a similar geo to you but -2 degrees front and -1.5 rear so opposite to yours. I also run total 0.42 rear toe and mine handles sweet as, loads of grip and very predictable on the road and track.

What damping settings are you running? Different front and back? I run about 10 on the road so very soft to allow for our crap roads.

How old are the units? Mileage covered? What tyre pressures do you run as well as I find the mr2 is pretty sensitive in this area.

I know I rant on a lot about corner weighting but the difference is night and day.

Standard suspension makes me feel sick in the bends like driving a boat id go back to them as a last resort.

[CalMac]

At the moment they're all set to softest as corner roll was minimal and I wasn't sure how else to judge it besides wallowing and comfort!

The shocks and springs are pretty much new, less than 1000 miles since fitting in June iirc.

So I should probably go back to Nptn Motor Sport and explain, might try and persuade Chris to come out for a drive so he can see for himself.. Then hopefully they could tweak the settings and see how it fares should I ask them to take a look at the corner weighting too then do you think?

And 29psi front, 31psi rear seemed to be what most people go with so I've stuck around there tbh.