Suspension Upgrades

Suspension Upgrades

One of the first things most people do, is beef up their anti-sway bars or stabilizers.
Sway bars work with the springs to keep a car flat while cornering. The stiffer the bar, the more pronounced the effect. For the Eclipse, a stiffer sway bar makes a huge difference.

RRE (Road Race Engineering), suggests the Suspension Techniques Rear Sway Bar (22mm) to help with body roll. It was a very noticeable improvement over the stock 20mm bar. The effect was to keep the car more level when making direction changes. Cornering felt more planted and the car didn't lean as much.

After hearing good things about RMDSM and their two bar solution (17.5mm front and 24mm rear), I had to give them a try. Especially when a group buy showed up with a great price.
RRE, however, does not recommend using a stiffer front sway bar (16.5mm) on the 3G. They say that it increases the likelihood of lifting the inside front tire in tight turns.

So far, though, I have thoroughly enjoyed the change. The car just feels more solid. It seems to turn in better with more responsiveness to the wheel.
NOTE: The RMDSM rear bar is currently mounted on the car with the front stock sway bar. The front RMDSM bar will go with the car if the new owner chooses to install it. (9/23/2009)

K-Sport Kontrol Pro Series Coilover Kit - ONWARD! Onward indeed, my attempts to cut corners bit me in the butt this time.
After sway bars, you really need adjustable coilovers to fully tune the car's suspension for the kind of driving you do most. Instead of spending $1800.00 on a fantastic set of JIC FLT-A2's, I tried to buy in on a cheaper "deal" from Robert Chang of Trix Motorsports and bought their group buy on a set of K-Sport coilovers.

When I got the setup it didn't even look like they were designed for the car. There were no mounting points for the front sway bar and later when a "fix" was sent the system simply did not fit as it should. After taking the advice of the shop installing the units to return them, I have been fighting for a refund ever since. After more than a year, it seems that Robert Chang and owner Nick Jackson have taken my money and run.

Next came the KYB AGX Adjustable Gas Shocks. In order to firm up the ride and keep the tires glued to the road, you need a shock that can keep up. The stock shocks are way too soft for performance. While not quite JIC Magic FLTA2's, the KYB's will allow me to keep the stock look while improving the handling for most daily driving or canyon carving needs. (And after the K-Sports, I have no money left for coilovers.)

After a few hours with rented spring compressors and some air tools, I installed the new shocks. The shocks can be set in one of four firmness levels. At 1 it is a stock like ride and at 4 it feels like a skate board. I have found that setting 2 gives a nice firm ride without being harsh. In fact, it keeps the car much more stable through the construction zones and the eaten up roads. The car doesn't feel like it's floating anymore.
Funny, I feel like I'm getting what I wanted to get out of the coilovers, and these are just new shocks. Great investment!

Finally! I got a set of Tein High.Tech springs and Eibach's front & rear camber kits to go with the KYB AGX shocks I got earlier this year. To go with the new springs, I also ordered the rubber lower spring pads from www.mitsubishiparts.com. After install, I found that I didn't really need the camber kits. The front was right on, and the rear just needed three hardened washers under each bolt to put the rear back to within spec.

The combination of Tien's High.Tech springs and KYB's AGX shocks has made a huge difference in the car's handling. Much of the soft floating boat feel is finally gone, without making the car a kidney pounder.
While performance was the motivation for the upgrade, I also found the stance of the car has improved. It looks more aggressive.

NOTE: After months of commuting, the extra pounding took it's toll. I finally decided to return the springs back to stock, and my butt has been the better for it. (9/23/2009)

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K r o n d o r

Copyright (c) 2005 Krondor's World. All rights reserved.
All other trademarks shown are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective owners.
Revised: Wednesday, September 23, 2009.

Suspension Upgrades


	One of the first things most people do, is beef up their anti-sway bars or stabilizers. Sway bars work with the springs to keep a car flat while cornering. The stiffer the bar, the more pronounced the effect. For the Eclipse, a stiffer sway bar makes a huge difference.

	RRE (Road Race Engineering), suggests the Suspension Techniques Rear Sway Bar (22mm) to help with body roll. It was a very noticeable improvement over the stock 20mm bar. The effect was to keep the car more level when making direction changes. Cornering felt more planted and the car didn't lean as much.

	After hearing good things about RMDSM and their two bar solution (17.5mm front and 24mm rear), I had to give them a try. Especially when a group buy showed up with a great price. RRE, however, does not recommend using a stiffer front sway bar (16.5mm) on the 3G. They say that it increases the likelihood of lifting the inside front tire in tight turns.

	So far, though, I have thoroughly enjoyed the change. The car just feels more solid. It seems to turn in better with more responsiveness to the wheel. NOTE: The RMDSM rear bar is currently mounted on the car with the front stock sway bar. The front RMDSM bar will go with the car if the new owner chooses to install it. (9/23/2009)

	K-Sport Kontrol Pro Series Coilover Kit - ONWARD! Onward indeed, my attempts to cut corners bit me in the butt this time. After sway bars, you really need adjustable coilovers to fully tune the car's suspension for the kind of driving you do most. Instead of spending $1800.00 on a fantastic set of JIC FLT-A2's, I tried to buy in on a cheaper "deal" from Robert Chang of Trix Motorsports and bought their group buy on a set of K-Sport coilovers.

	When I got the setup it didn't even look like they were designed for the car. There were no mounting points for the front sway bar and later when a "fix" was sent the system simply did not fit as it should. After taking the advice of the shop installing the units to return them, I have been fighting for a refund ever since. After more than a year, it seems that Robert Chang and owner Nick Jackson have taken my money and run.

	Next came the KYB AGX Adjustable Gas Shocks. In order to firm up the ride and keep the tires glued to the road, you need a shock that can keep up. The stock shocks are way too soft for performance. While not quite JIC Magic FLTA2's, the KYB's will allow me to keep the stock look while improving the handling for most daily driving or canyon carving needs. (And after the K-Sports, I have no money left for coilovers.)

	After a few hours with rented spring compressors and some air tools, I installed the new shocks. The shocks can be set in one of four firmness levels. At 1 it is a stock like ride and at 4 it feels like a skate board. I have found that setting 2 gives a nice firm ride without being harsh. In fact, it keeps the car much more stable through the construction zones and the eaten up roads. The car doesn't feel like it's floating anymore. Funny, I feel like I'm getting what I wanted to get out of the coilovers, and these are just new shocks. Great investment!

	Finally! I got a set of Tein High.Tech springs and Eibach's front & rear camber kits to go with the KYB AGX shocks I got earlier this year. To go with the new springs, I also ordered the rubber lower spring pads from www.mitsubishiparts.com. After install, I found that I didn't really need the camber kits. The front was right on, and the rear just needed three hardened washers under each bolt to put the rear back to within spec.

	The combination of Tien's High.Tech springs and KYB's AGX shocks has made a huge difference in the car's handling. Much of the soft floating boat feel is finally gone, without making the car a kidney pounder. While performance was the motivation for the upgrade, I also found the stance of the car has improved. It looks more aggressive. NOTE: After months of commuting, the extra pounding took it's toll. I finally decided to return the springs back to stock, and my butt has been the better for it. (9/23/2009)




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K r o n d o r Copyright (c) 2005 Krondor's World. All rights reserved. All other trademarks shown are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Revised: Wednesday, September 23, 2009.