I'm about to do a complete overhaul of my suspension (bushings and ball joints are showing their age) and will be doing some performance upgrades along the way.

I'll be upgrading the following:
-A set of front and rear H-sport sway bars I bought a long time ago and never got around to installing.
-Adjustable Konis
-Urethane bushings

But, I have a few questions:
1.) I was thinking of keeping the stock springs because I need a compliant ride and reasonable ground clearance for the types of roads I drive. I had Spax coilovers on the car several years ago and they were way too low and stiff (awesome handling though). I would consider a set of sport springs if there was something out there that's only slightly stiffer and didn't change the ride height significantly. Anyone know if such a set exists?
2.) I'm going with Koni because I my goal is adjustability. Are there other good quality adjustable shocks out there that I'm not aware of?
3.) I'll do urethane bushings on the front and rear control arms. I was thinking of leaving the rear trailing arm bushing stock to keep the ride compliant. How badly do urethane RTABs effect ride? How much do they improve handling?

Thanks!

 

Imo the front swaybar is not needed....and is generally counter productive handling wise, and a pain to install....
For a compliant ride, the koni fsd are great, but not adjustible..and progressive as opposed to liner...the koni yellos are adjustible, but if i recall, you cannot eassily adjust them once installed unless you modify the tops if the strut mounts...
Stock springs imo usually outperform many aftermarkt springs ride quality wise since they are matched to the cars weight ....aftermart is based on "typical" options.

 

Sounds like you would be happy with the red JCW springs on a good set of struts.


Edit for clarification: All JCW springs are red. I mention the color because occasionally you will find someone selling the stock suspension off of a 2005 or earlier JCW with black springs. Not all early JCWs had JCW suspension.

 

Good idea. I have an early JCW (200hp) and the standard black spring sport suspension. Do you know who sells the red springs or do I have to go to the dealer? Also, can anyone give some insight on the poly RTABs?

 

If you elect to order the springs from the dealer, they will use your vin number to calculate tge weight based upon the options...mostly sunroof, trans, and a/c, and will give you the correct springs for the weight....if buying them used, get them from a similarly equipped car for a good ride. tsw springs also provide a very minimal drop, pretty close to the jcw's.
Not so sure about the "red" jcw springs on a gen1...the springs do have strips of paint on them detonating the version, and the spring rate.....