Suspention vs Horse Power. !st stage upgrade...

[scottsee]

Hello, thank-you for reading my post. I am a new 96 eclipse gsx awd owning enthusiast. I am planning my first stage upgrade on my car, and am very interested in seeing what everyone thinks I should do first. Being new, it’s impossible to know what’s best for the “do it right the first time” routine. So lets explore my options on a “modest” budget.
My planned 1st stage upgrade was to upgrade the suspension, cambers, brakes, and install strut bars. I have been looking at buying Tokico Illumina shock & spring sets. I’m not entirely sure I need the adjustable shocks yet, but the ideas indulging. Maybe for street use the Tokico Hp shock and spring set might be best. I don’t know… I’ve heard many different ideas on what application is best for street / drag use. Many people swore buy kyb agx’s, ive heard noting but bad news about them for the 2nd generation eclipse awd, due to the 1 inch elongated rear struts design flaw, that promotes harsher suspension and handling. But again.. I don’t know.. Tokico’s spring and strut package looks good enough for me. they say their springs are designed to fit best with their shocks but, would it be better to get the Tokico illumines shocks only, and buy a good set of Tein type s springs, or eibach sport lines?.. I know the answer lies in what I’ll be using the application for. And at this point, I just want a great driving, nice ride. And will very rarely go to the drag strip.
Assuming for the moment I go with the tokico Illumina $450 AWD shock and spring set that drops my GSX 1.75 inches, is it important, or necessary to install a camber kit, Ingalls, Eibach, how will I find out? I am torn between the two camber kits, I would like some help with that section of my question. I also don’t know much about strut bars, other then their inexpensive in comparison to everything else. So maybe an idea on quality strut bars would be Extremely helpful, thanks.
It was suggested to me I wouldn’t need a sway bar, because I am doing this as an enthusiast (poser) not as a racer (top dawg). It’ll save me $, and im not sure that eclipse roles that much at 1.7 drop. But their you are again. I don’t know. While I upgrade the Suspension, I realized I might as well install AEM’s OEM rotors front / rear. I like the red. That’s me. im not sure I’ll need to replace the calibers, or the brake lines, but for 4-5 hundo, why not, I’ll be under their already. Please let me know your ideas on the brake and suspension ideas.

Now……. As a stage 1 upgrade, suspension is important, but is it more important then Horse Power. I figured the Iluminas & springs, Cambers, struts F / R, aem brakes F /R, brake lines, upgrades fluids, and calipers will run roughly around $1800 + help and labor.
Evenly I’ll get to the engine, the engine is at 112k miles, I have to replace the timing belt at 120k, that’s 6 months away. I was thinking about just upgrading the engine 6 months down the road when I have to pull it to replace the belts, h2o pump and plugs. What I really need help with is splitting the hair and deciding what I should do first. If I did go with the engine first, I would only “want” to upgrade the fuel pump, fuel lines, fuel regulator, fuel filter, AEM rail, 550cc injector, water pump & AEM 4 channel ignition, Cam gears, Under Pulley. Witch is like 2800 roughly. Personally I would rather get a better everyday driving car, save 4000 in 6 months, and do things right the first time.
Thanks- Scott…

[spyderturbo007]

This link might help you out.....

http://www.extrememotorsports.com/g2stage/stageall.htm

[scottsee]

thanks, intresting website..

[BoostedSpyder]

it sounds as though you have really done some research!!! good for you. you deserve a write up as opposed to a couple of links.

as far as suspension, if you really want to go with a great ride, look up the entry-level Tien coilovers. they are reasonably priced, and you will find that a spring/shock setup will run you a bit close to that, so they are worth the extra $$'s. i believe the HP springs look the best, they drop the front a bit more than the back, so it looks better because the front wells are higher [although i don't know how great of a ride they are]. camber kits are cheap and the 2 you like are equal i would say. i think strut towers would be up to you. the fire wall, being so close to the mounting points of the suspension acts as a very good roll bar for the front. and the rear tower will be much more benificial to performance vs actual need.

with brakes, you really only need to upgrade the fronts. get the AEM upgrade kit, and use the your stock 2 piston front calipers. paint them and you have a great kit. and SS brake lines too. for the rear, you can just get slotted or crossdrilled or dimpled rotors and paint the calipers. all the weight is in the front. that should do it for your brakes.

and i think that you may get all this for around your target spending price.


as far as performance upgrades, well i'm sure you will get a lot of mixed opinions. here's mine:

i think that you should build starting with the things you will need to support other things properly. while fuel tuning is neccesary down the line, there are more important things to accomplish first.

most important is a boost gauge first. the one in the dash has no #'s and is not even a real boost gauge. there are many to chose from, all will work fine. check out Lotek for some cool gauge pods.

start with the breathing basics:

Air Filter: K&N FIPK - great filter, many recco's

Intake Pipe: cheap is Home Depot, or a more expensive more explicit model like the Injen Technologies IS model Intake

Intercooler Piping: cheaper [in price, but are great pipes] would be Dejon Tools, and on the more $$ tip would be a set of Greddy pipes.

Intercooler: you might as well keep it stock for now as to save some $$$, but later on you will want to upgrade.

BOV [the most controversial issue, i'll try to be as open as possible]: cheap is a 1st gen crushed BOV, and it is great for price [like 40 bucks]and functionality. i recomend the Greddy Type-S. whatever you choose, make sure you can recirculate it.

Down Pipe: RRE [also a great all around site for info and good parts] makes a great down pipe for cheap. i have an Apex'i GT Cat eliminator DP, but i have heard that it has a not so great flex section [although i have heard the one i have is an upgraded one]. but, could i go back i would have gone with the RRE model.

Exhaust: Cat-Back is certain. full 3" is too. now you can get a full custom from an exhaust shop for cheap, and just get an Apex'i N-1 muffler or a full N-1 from RRE. i have a Greddy Evo2 exhaust and i like it tons. i think they are both equal in performance, but the Greddy has a deeper sound.

now you will get into a boost controller to up the boost. Manuals are the cheapest and easy to hook up, but you have to pull over and pop the hood every time you want to adjust it. the Greddy Profec B-spec II is a great electronic one if you can afford it.

next is a fuel pump. a 190 lph will suffice without a Fuel Pressure Regulator or a fuel rail. a 255 lph will be at the top, but you need to support it with a FPR.

see how you feel at this point. next would be a bigger intercooler, then a bigger turbo and some fuel tuning electronics, and some sort of datalogging software.

wow this is a long one... hope it clears some stuff up for you...

[scottsee]

hey thanks alot for your depth. It makes sence to open up the breathing. Any good exaust + Intake should power up the Ponies 25+. I should have taken that into consideration. formost, as for the Suspention, i'll take some serious consideration with the Tein Coilovers.

Thanks again. Scott