First off, its a 06 MCS with factory sports suspension. Is an adjustable 19mm rear bar really much of an upgrade? I'm most likely going with the VMAXX coils, but what if any will aftermarket springs actually lower me?

So in short, what is the best path for me to take to upgrade my sport suspension?

 

Depends on what you want to do with the car.
Lowering springs and new shocks (Koni Yellows or FSD).
The VMAXX coilovers are an inexpensive way to go if you want to lower an inch or more and want to adjust up or down or corner balance the car.
Fixed or adjustable camber plates for the front.
19mm sway bar if you add front camber plates or a 22 (or 25.5 hollow) sway bar if you do not add front camber plates.
Depending on how much you lower, you might need aftermarket adjustable lower rear control arms to reduce the amount of negative camber induced by lowering. An more than about 5/8" - 3/4" lowering you will probably want aftermarket control arms because the stock will not have enough adjustment.

 

The vmaxx coilovers are not really "handling" coilovers....there are much better ways to go depending on your priorities.

- Andrew

 

such as? I can go to all the online boutique's and look at everything that is available to me, but that doesn't really tell me much about a good setup.

 

What's your budget and what do you plan to use the car for? Any track time or auto-x? Daily driver? How important is a drop?

Under $1k, Koni yellows with TSW, JCW or tein h-tech springs. none of these are very low at all though, but will handle and ride well. BC coilovers are popular, and if you really want to get low for that much money, that's probably the way to do it. Not my cup of tea but they work.

$1k to $2k, custom KW's from WayMotorWorks, maybe a few other options.

$2k to $3k, AST 4100 or Ohlins

$3k and up, JRZ or AST 5000 series.


The under $1k is the hardest....to get something "good" for that much money is just difficult. I'm more partial to spending money on a quality damper (koni) rather than a worse damper that is height adjustable (Vmaxx, BC, Megan). The more drop you want, the harder things get because these cars have very little suspension travel.

I'm doing Konis with Tein H-techs, IE fixed camber plates, and IE rear control arms. Haven't installed yet. This set-up will get me a perfect alignment, good dampers, good spring rates and still keep me some suspension travel. Altogether around $1k, maybe a little over.

- Andrew