[Scourge]

So I've been trying to decide what to do for suspension on my car. I'd like it a little firmer ... but not too firm. I also don't want to lower it much (I like lots of clearance for winter). And just to make it a little more fun, I'm on a fairly tight budget for whatever I do. My car is an SES so I've got the front and rear sways from the factory (both 21mm if I'm not mistaken).

Are the shocks/struts identical between the S, SE, and SES? I've been led to believe that the ST springs fall about half way between SVT and stock in terms of firmness and ride height. Can anyone confirm this?

Any input regarding upgrading to ST suspension, either shock/struts and springs or just swapping the springs? What about better endlinks for the sways, any point upgrading them with OEM shock/springs?

Thanks!
-George

[Canadian ST]

Hay George;

The only difference in the ST suspension and the SES suspension was really the shocks/struts. I forget the exact % but I think I read somewhere that they are about 40-50% stiffer.
As for the springs on the 07 ST the front springs had a slightly higher spring rate but same ride height and the rears are identical to the SES.
The ST does ride a lot nicer then a SES due to the dampers for sure.

As for sway bars the front is 21mm and the rear is 20mm. About 2 months before my ST got written off I put on the 22mm Progress rear bar and I found it made a huge difference without any negative effects.

Well I hope this helps you out.

[Spinal]

by "ride nice" do you mean better handling or without feeling the road? i cant see stiffer shocks giving a smoother ride, unless im missing something lol.

Scourge,Jun 5 2009, 10:24 AM Wrote:Are the shocks/struts identical between the S, SE, and SES?   I've been led to believe that the ST springs fall about half way between SVT and stock in terms of firmness and ride height.  Can anyone confirm this?

the only diff would be the SES comes with a factory rear sway bar, the other 2 don't. IIRC the wagon was the only one that came with stiffer springs.

im not really sure how much of a difference you'd actually notice just changing shocks vs the cost of getting them. same goes for the springs, and if the springs were a little too stiff for the OEM shocks then you'd eventually have to replace those as well, then you'd be no further ahead.

since Canadian_ST said that the spring rates were slightly stiffer in the front, and the same in the rear, with the shocks being just a bit stiffer, IMO - it'll be negligable to see the difference when you're cornering hard and stuff. i dont think it'd be worth the $ to get it now, maybe when buying the car new, sure.

hopefully someone else can shed some more light on this, but the svt kit might be your best bet, either that or keep it the way it is until stuff needs to be replaced.

[NefCanuck]

SVT kit only works for sure on '05 and earlier (I understand that there are now adapters available that will allow the '06 & 07 to use the SVT kit but I haven't followed up on them)

NefCanuck

[Canadian ST]

Having stiffer dampers is a nicer feeling to drive with, like I said before I prefer to have stiffer dampers as aposed to the stock SES ones, it feels a bit more sporty too.

[Scourge]

I have in the past felt the difference between softer and stiffer dampers on the same springs and withing reason a firmer damper will give a sportier feel and stiffen the ride up a bit.

My thought at this point was to try and track down some used but lower mileage ST bits that people took off when upgrading. I'd think I'd be able to pick it up fairly cheap and I do my own work so install is free :P

-George

[GFXjamie]

grab up a omni adapter kit from massive speed systems and an SVT suspension kit. The omni kit will allow you to use 00-05 front suspension and rear suspension is identical throughout all years. All it does is acts as a spacer to allow you to use the smaller diameter struts from the previous generation. I did this on my car as i am using kyb agx on the fronts and have had no issues with it at all, just remember to use a lot of antiseize incase u want to go back to stock. omni kit will run you about 130 bux, but if you buy any other suspension pieces off them, they drop it to like 100 bucks IIRC.

https://ssl.perfora.net/www.massivespeedsys...ndex.shopscript

also, eibach springs have a nice ride to them (prokit) just looking at blown struts after a year or two depending on how much you drive

[Scourge]

GFXjamie,Jun 8 2009, 12:00 PM Wrote:grab up a omni adapter kit from massive speed systems and an SVT suspension kit. The omni kit will allow you to use 00-05 front suspension and rear suspension is identical throughout all years. All it does is acts as a spacer to allow you to use the smaller diameter struts from the previous generation. I did this on my car as i am using kyb agx on the fronts and have had no issues with it at all, just remember to use a lot of antiseize incase u want to go back to stock. omni kit will run you about 130 bux, but if you buy any other suspension pieces off them, they drop it to like 100 bucks IIRC.

https://ssl.perfora.net/www.massivespeedsys...ndex.shopscript

also, eibach springs have a nice ride to them (prokit) just looking at blown struts after a year or two depending on how much you drive
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I considered the getting Omni and STK kits ... but that's more then I want to spend right now. And the prokit is lower then I'd like to go, like I said, I like my ground clearance for winter. In a perfect world, I just get a coilover kit.

[GFXjamie]

you can only do so much with a smaller budget, but if you want to expand your possibilites in the future, then get the omni kit. The SVT kit will keep the car up as it only drops .5 and gives you the better dampners. That would be the best route for you or even if you could find a used set off somebody who upgraded.