Suspension Installed FSDs on Madness Lowering Springs
#51
Got the FSD installed. what a different it made. The ride feels more planted and the ride is very solid. It feels silky smooth on the expressway. It doesn't bounce back and forth when going through a crappy section of road to work. All those dash rattles are gone. will take it for autocross next month to see how it handles. I used the stock springs with 123K. I still have not installed the LCA bushing. overall, I am very happy with it, it does not have a harsh ride over bumpy roads and very stable at high speed.
What tyres are you running I need those too, I am thinking the PSS!
#53
I cannot comment on the OP and those aftermarket springs.
Koni changes the ride quality vs the stock struts no matter the mileage. Higher mileage suspensions should obviously be in good working order to run them. At 2k I switched from runflats to conventional tires because the stock ride was a bit harsh but the car with 17's and V12's lesson the harshness but the car loss its quick turn in. Mines a daily driver with factory 18"s and runflats and with the FSD the stock sharpness with a smoother ride quality is still there. I'm not some spokes person for Koni but I've had Koni's in my other cars I've owned and I've always wish I installed them sooner.
Koni changes the ride quality vs the stock struts no matter the mileage. Higher mileage suspensions should obviously be in good working order to run them. At 2k I switched from runflats to conventional tires because the stock ride was a bit harsh but the car with 17's and V12's lesson the harshness but the car loss its quick turn in. Mines a daily driver with factory 18"s and runflats and with the FSD the stock sharpness with a smoother ride quality is still there. I'm not some spokes person for Koni but I've had Koni's in my other cars I've owned and I've always wish I installed them sooner.
#54
#56
Just keep in mind, as a reminder, you CANNOT use lowering springs with FSDs; they are not compatible with any, and were not designed for it. Some people made that mistake. If at any time you want to install lowering springs, you'll have to go with a different shock. I do love FSDs though and intend to install them as well in a few months.
#57
Just keep in mind, as a reminder, you CANNOT use lowering springs with FSDs; they are not compatible with any, and were not designed for it. Some people made that mistake. If at any time you want to install lowering springs, you'll have to go with a different shock. I do love FSDs though and intend to install them as well in a few months.
#58
#59
Those tires are supposed to be one of the best for the winter! How many miles do you have on your stock suspension before you replaced it?
#61
Just keep in mind, as a reminder, you CANNOT use lowering springs with FSDs; they are not compatible with any, and were not designed for it. Some people made that mistake. If at any time you want to install lowering springs, you'll have to go with a different shock. I do love FSDs though and intend to install them as well in a few months.
could it be that, since they don't want to define an exact spring stiffness range, they assume all lowering springs are going to be too stiff for the FSDs? just conjecture, I'm not a suspension engineer. Otherwise, am curious to know what about a lowering spring is the problem.
Not disagreeing, just hoping to understand better.
#62
I'm no engineer, but I think that FSD's don't work well with lowering springs because of the way they affect the length of travel, not because of the stiffness.
The valving and fluid in the shock changes depending on how the shock is compressed (fast, slow, short, long) which is why the FSD's provide such a good ride while maintaining a decent level of performance. When you lower the car, you're compressing the shock and shortening it's length of travel, which throws off the way all that fancy valving works, and probably bottoms out the shock too.
I've read that Koni can tell if you've been running lowered springs by the way the shock wears and eventually fails, which kind of makes sense if you're not ever extending it the last inch or so, that inch should look better than the rest of the shock.
That's just my guess, but I think it's probably worth Following Koni's advice and running FSD's. I lowered my first R53 with H&R lowering springs and the performance was amazing, but the ride quality definitely suffered. I have a buddy who just souped up his BMW 340i and loves it on the track, but is actually driving his beat up honda civic to work because he can't stand the exhaust burble and back firing in the parking garage. The moral of the story is consider what the use of the car is and what you can tolerate. I didn't want to re-install the stock springs on my lowered r53, but I have no intention of lowering my new (to me) R53. For me the performance gains aren't worth the sacrifices on my daily driver/2 track days a year car. I'll stick with performance tires, chassis stiffening, stiffer sway bars, and maybe some front camber.
The valving and fluid in the shock changes depending on how the shock is compressed (fast, slow, short, long) which is why the FSD's provide such a good ride while maintaining a decent level of performance. When you lower the car, you're compressing the shock and shortening it's length of travel, which throws off the way all that fancy valving works, and probably bottoms out the shock too.
I've read that Koni can tell if you've been running lowered springs by the way the shock wears and eventually fails, which kind of makes sense if you're not ever extending it the last inch or so, that inch should look better than the rest of the shock.
That's just my guess, but I think it's probably worth Following Koni's advice and running FSD's. I lowered my first R53 with H&R lowering springs and the performance was amazing, but the ride quality definitely suffered. I have a buddy who just souped up his BMW 340i and loves it on the track, but is actually driving his beat up honda civic to work because he can't stand the exhaust burble and back firing in the parking garage. The moral of the story is consider what the use of the car is and what you can tolerate. I didn't want to re-install the stock springs on my lowered r53, but I have no intention of lowering my new (to me) R53. For me the performance gains aren't worth the sacrifices on my daily driver/2 track days a year car. I'll stick with performance tires, chassis stiffening, stiffer sway bars, and maybe some front camber.
#63
#68
#70
#73
Next mod I would recommend is a quality exhaust such as the Stratmosphere , Milltek or Borla Race system, both sounds great, but the Stratmosphere/Miltek systems are proven to be more power productive.
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#74
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