Suspension Questions???

[papasmith]

Drove my cherry 96 VR4 with only 9300 miles back from Tennessee and I was disappointed at the ride quality. I thought it would be on par with the 98 SL I had once but, not so by a long shot. I was hoping to take this baby on a road trip out west but, seriously, it would beat me to death on those 500 and 600 mile days.

I read somewhere that the 96 did not have ECS nor does it have the dual mode suspension option. If so, Mitsubishi probably defaulted the suspension to the Sport mode. Can someone point me to verifiable information about the ECS and the 96 VR4. I read this stuff somewhere but can't seem to find it now.

Also, does anyone have specific ideas how I can improve the ride. I will be changing out the origianal z rated Yokohama tires in the not to distant future. That will probably help some. Specifics would be helpful in regard to struts, springs or whatever. Thanks.

[Igovert500]

Yep, I have a 96 vr4, no active exhaust, no ECS (active suspension). Those were just additional features that were phased out over the years of production.

For ideas on anything, I'd check the FAQ. Plenty in there.

Congrats on the car, that sounds like an awesome purchase...how on earth did you find one with less than 10k (I thought there were only like 2 with such low miles), and how much did you pay for it, if you don't mind me asking?

[papasmith]

Thanks Igovert500 for the info. I just found out the same info from the wicopedia I think it is called. I am very disappointed that it doesn't have ECS. That feature is supposed to really improve ride for touring purposes and that's what I bought the car for. I understood other VR4 owners to say that the ride was like an SL's of which I had a 98 model. I know this probably isn't much of a problem for those who have younger "hinees" and/or are just going to be taking it on short trips. I paid $18,500. I think it was a good deal. About time I got one.

Oh, do you have the original rims on your car? Mine are beginning to flake from underlying corrosion. I think the wheels were defective as there is not a hint of any exposure to weather any place on the car including the undercarriage. The previous and original owner told me that the car was always garaged, never driven in the winter or even the rain. It was also covered most of the time. In addition, it appeared that he or someone, tried to arrest the corrosion by spraying on some clearcoat from a spray can. Didn't work of course and left a film over much of the rim which I had a hell of a time getting off. Do you know of a place I can get rims for the car. The rims on it look good but, they don't match the quality of the rest of the car. Ebay sells some triple chromed 3000 GT reproductions for $599 a set that look real nice but they are in the style of the SL and Base models. If I can inexpensivly solve the ride problem and keep the car, I might go with those. Thanks again.

[planet_keeper]

When I was looking for vr4s, almost every owner I ran into had problems with their stock chrome rims. From what I understand, Mitsubishi didn't do great jobs with their chrome and most of the owners had to have their tires beadlocked to stop them from leaking air.

[Igovert500]

That is an awesome deal, I paid a few grand more for mine, and it had 42k on the clock. As far as the ECS, I never missed it, if the ride really bothers you that much, switch down to a smaller wheel. The 18" stockers really do cause alot of bumps in the road to be felt/magnified...I can't argue that, but I enjoy 'feeling the road'...as long as it's not a construction site. But anyway, yeah the stock 18" chrome wheels seem to flake/peel no matter what. I really hate these wheels. They look great when they are new, but they are a pain to maintain, they look horrendous when they start to peel/pit, and they are ridiculously heavy.

You can sometimes find used stock ones on ebay or www.3si.org/forum in the parts for sale section, but keep in mind they tend to go for aroudn $400 a piece, if the seller knows what they are worth. To solve 2 problems at once, you may just want to get some smaller aftermarket wheels. I'm planning on doing that in the future, as you can pick up a nice set for around a grand.

[papasmith]

Thanks for the info Igovert500 and Planet Keeper. Good to know about the rims and a shame. I was thinking the original owner had switched them out or something. So you think that even with the low miles and tender treatment it is not surprising the wheels are starting to flake and pit? By the way, if either of you get a chance, check out the 3000 GT reproduction rims someone has got advertised on Ebay. Tell me what you think. Their inexpensive, look good, authentic but only 17" and probably heavy.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/17-Mi...QQcmdZViewItem

[papasmith]

One other thing. I did find repro's of the VR4 rims on Ebay for $799.00 as set if anyone is interested. They are nice looking rims but, as said, extremely heavy.

[Linebckr49]

i was perusing stealth316.com the other day, as i have done before many a time, and i re-read the production numbers for our cars. and the significance of those numbers just really hit me.

wow, you 2 guys, Igovert500 and Papasmith, are the proud owners of 2 out of 315 VR4s made in 1996. and they're both quite cherry with around 10k and 50k miles, respectively.

but all i know is when i DO get a VR4 someday, i'll have around 2595 1993 models to choose from

[Igovert500]

Yep, I love reminding people my car is one of 315, although I'm pretty sure 'people' are sick of being reminded

[papasmith]

Didn't realize that my car was so "Exclusive." I went to the site with the production numbers for the 3000GT and their kin referred to by Linebckr49 and discovered something interesting. The percentage drop in sales of VR4s between 1995 and 1996 was greater than any other 2 consecutive years. They rebounded somewhat the next year. Any comments??