Just in case you haven't noticed, we lowered our EVO GSR with AST 4200 coilovers by Vorshlag. I offer this photo of the car's striking new stance to illustrate that it is, in fact, much lower than stock (and because I love those Volk Wheels). Often times, this comes with unavoidable compromise.
Here's what the front fender gap looks like with the wheels pointed straight ahead. I'd say there are, optimistically, two inches there. Unbelievably, the tires, which are far wider than stock, don't rub -- even at full compression. J the K nailed the math on the wheel offset and tire width perfectly.
But after spending a weekend in this beast, which is every bit as bad ass as all other staffers claim (at least in a straight line), we've got some work to do. Our current setup is a real killer on the street. Ride quality is what I would call barely acceptable...and that's the good news. Compliance, either due to limited compression travel or high spring rates or both, is minimal. And this effectively kills one of the EVO's biggest advantages when it comes to covering ground rapidly. Being able to charge through mid-corner bumps and hurl the car into unexplored corners with confidence is what makes an EVO fun. And we've lost that.
I'm afraid I'm going to break something -- like a wheel, or a damper, or my face -- if I hit a hole too hard now. Balance, too, could use some work. The EVO's natural tendency to rotate off the throttle seems to have escaped.
Short of the balance issue, this setup seems to be smooth-racetrack tuned. And we aren't at a smooth racetrack. Yet.
Josh Jacquot, Senior road test editor
slickersdrip says:
06:53 PM, 06/ 8/09
I always thought of the EVO as a car that had a (little bit) of offroad ability-- considering its huge appeal was the WRC heritage. I kinda hate to see that go.
clarkma5 says:
07:25 PM, 06/ 8/09
Did you guys appropriately tune the bump stops when you changed to the coilovers? How about having it cornerweighted? Back off the adjustable dampers a couple clicks perhaps, at least on compression?
indy_mistert says:
06:00 AM, 06/ 9/09
cough ((needs to go lower)) cough
indy_mistert says:
06:08 AM, 06/ 9/09
and while I'm spending your time & money, for the love of pete slap some volk centercaps on those RE30s ;)
texases says:
06:53 AM, 06/ 9/09
Hope you can fix it. That includes Indy's suggestion on the centercaps (cotter pin+rusty axle = bad look).
corollasman says:
08:17 AM, 06/ 9/09
Maybe I missed something, but did it really need to be lowered? I thought it looked fine the way it was.
kitw says:
11:05 AM, 06/ 9/09
I went through 4 suspensions on my 08 Evo X GSR before I settled on something way more booty than I expected... WORKS springs on stock shocks. THE HORRORS! Amidst the foul cries of riceboy and against my better judgement, shockingly (punny I am!) the WORKS springs ended up having the best combination of ride and handling out of several different suspensions. (Megan Coilovers, HKS and KW V3s)
They do feel a touch floaty over mid corner bumps when the suspension has taken a set, but no worse than stock and with less body roll. In normal driving, they absorb bumps as well or better than stock, and provide a touch better turn in. Plus, they get rid of a great deal of the ugly wheel gap without making the car ride like the shocks are blown.
I'm disappointed that the ASTs aren't riding well, I'm a bit surprised, given the flexibility with valving and the claims on their blog of it riding just like stock and passing the wife test! the KWs and HKS definitely did NOT pass the wifey test.
ahightower says:
11:21 AM, 06/ 9/09
Ditto, didn't need to be lowered for looks, IMHO, and this is supposed to be a rally car which ought to have some compliance and ground clearance, right?
jjacquot says:
12:43 PM, 06/ 9/09
To my knowledge there's been no tuning of this system yet. And, yes, it should be highly tunable so we'll see what improvements can be had with some tuning.
Josh
jkavanagh says:
01:07 PM, 06/ 9/09
Josh is correct, we haven't strayed from Vorshlag's initial damper settings yet.
Also, the current alignment was done by me, using fairly rudimentary devices--a camber gauge and tape measure on a surface. Note the lack of the words "perfectly level" in that sentence...
As it sits right now, Project Evo X is about 1-inch lower than stock. This ride height is about *higher* than Vorshlag's recommendation. I set it this way to give it a bit more viability for real-world use.
We'll definitely be tweaking the setup.
vm_fair says:
02:18 PM, 06/ 9/09
Well you haven't adjusted the knobs for either rebound or compression, have an eyeball alignment on the car, and ran it higher than we recommended. It could as simple as a proper alignment and some knob adjustments. It can ride well and handles like a dream when properly adjusted...
Multi-adjustable shocks do need a few tweaks to find the handling balance and ride quality perfection. Call us - we can get you guys straightened out. :]
Fair - Vorshlag
hondacura4 says:
09:25 PM, 06/ 9/09
Im REALLY loving those rims.
redwoodaggie says:
07:03 AM, 06/10/09
The beauty of adjustables is that you can have one setting for track and one for the street. You should never try to have one setting that does everything well. Time to experiment...
jjacquot says:
09:57 AM, 06/10/09
Also, I found out this morning that we have higher-rate springs than Vorshlag normally matches with these dampers because of our track goal to beat the GT-R. This, no doubt, isn't helping our ride quality.
We'll be tweaking the damping settings soon and will let you know how those changes affect ride quality and performance on the street.
Josh
wongck says:
11:01 AM, 06/11/09
Why would you ever expect these to be comfortable? They seem like competition-grade coilovers (aka not very streetable).
ysat says:
06:00 AM, 07/ 7/09
did you notice paint chipping off from both back doors doors