adrenalinmotorsports Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 Howdy all,Well im thinking of lowering the EP91 with King Springs & putting Monroe Sensatrac's in aswell. I've read a few different things about peoples opinions of also installing a magic camber kit and / or an adjustable panhard rod to smack the whole alignment of everything back together after its lowered.I was just wondering for those of you who haven't installed these extras, whether you are getting excessive tyre wear or lack of handling or anything like that...i mean its only 30-40mm lower - does it make that much of a difference??Thanks in advance,Craig Link to post Share on other sites
scutch0 Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 enzo (geo) will be the best person to speak to about this, he's a handling junky Rich. Link to post Share on other sites
shelly_star Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 Geo would suggest P.I springs, because they make the car look a lot lower when settled. Link to post Share on other sites
adrenalinmotorsports Posted September 13, 2005 Author Share Posted September 13, 2005 my car has only done 46k so do you reckon i need to replace the shocks front & back - the only reason i originally thought i should is cause i read somewhere that when you lower the starlet the shocks are prone to bursting - what does everyone else think? Link to post Share on other sites
Ryno Posted September 13, 2005 Share Posted September 13, 2005 dunno about bursting but genrally they won't last long once the cars lowered, best to get up-rated shocks if your lowering the car!and once it's lowered i would get the tracking done asap! Link to post Share on other sites
Ivan Posted September 13, 2005 Share Posted September 13, 2005 Providing your lowering your cars with lowered springs, regardless of who makes it, you should upgrade your shocks as the new shocks are actually shorter (should be anyways) and will give you the travel that you need with the new springs.As for what to modify for handling reasons, i would go the following route:1. struts - shocks and springs/coilovers + a panhard rod to centre the rear axle2. Rear sway bar from whiteline3. Anti-lift/caster kit from whiteline4. Strut braces - front, rear and lower controller arm (whiteline supply these, you can use the ep82 stock one on the ep91 aswell)5. Front swaybar6. All new bushes from SuperPro Bushes.7. Now you go back to the start and get a better set of shocks and springs from Bilstein Hope it helps,Ivan Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Enzo Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 yea..what im sayin is tried and testedid say the anti lift/castor kit is an essential mod and should be the first thing you should do to your starlet for the most noticable difference....just fitting this alone on standard suspensions settings is recomended..then you can realy see how much of a difference it makesit totaly transforms steering feel making the car feel alot more direct..if you could think of a primative lsd you get the picture of the effect on handlingif your after a chassis you can exploit usin different weight shift technics to throw the car into a corner a rear arb is a must ..lifting off will eliminate virtualy all understear...leaving you with a very safe and predictable tail end that you can experiment with.....any non adjustable shox will burst at some point or another if used in conjunction with lowering springs..ive been through a few of these along with strut tops(mabe this is because of the way i drive or the bumpy roads i drive on)..koni yellow adjustables are a quality shox to try and match the spring rate of any lowering spring...idealy you only should lower the car 25-35 mil to keep all the geometry correct but this is not gospel mine is lowered 70ish..everything else mentioned by ivandr is not essential but would be nice to have..all added up together would give you an imensly capable chassis that could hold its own with any car on the right road in the right conditions....let us know what you do decide Link to post Share on other sites
Ivan Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 Enzo, you are right about the anti-lift kit...however i found the rear swaybar to be slightly more useful as a first upgrade... (note the shocks were the first on my list cause genearlly people want to lower their car before they do anything else - looks wise so thats why it came in first).I will be writing up a starlet specific article about suspension and so forth.i would suggest bracings as the amount the starlet chassis flexes is not funny Its nice to have a predictable corner and the braces work well Regards,Ivan Link to post Share on other sites
BlackTarw Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 I'll throw my 2p worth in too, I found new poly bushes makes a big difference, especially on a car over 50k miles whose rubber is a little tired, steering feel is hugely improved, also just because you have standard suspension that it's all perfectly correctly aligned, any problems that exist now will be exagerated when lowering the car so once you've spent moeny on modifying it, get it all set up correctly, it makes a big difference!I've had good experience with KYB shocks, I bought them as they were cheap, but I was suprised at their ability, but I agree with the guys, get shocks designed for the amount you are lowering.Set up wise you'll want about 1-1.5 degrees of negative camber at the front and 0-0.5 degrees at the back.Jon Link to post Share on other sites
Ivan Posted September 16, 2005 Share Posted September 16, 2005 Set up wise you'll want about 1-1.5 degrees of negative camber at the front and 0-0.5 degrees at the back.Jon<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Rear camber is fixed when it comes to starlets and it cant be changed...Ivan Link to post Share on other sites
adrenalinmotorsports Posted September 16, 2005 Author Share Posted September 16, 2005 Thanks alot peeps Link to post Share on other sites
BlackTarw Posted September 16, 2005 Share Posted September 16, 2005 Rear camber is fixed when it comes to starlets and it cant be changed...Ivan<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Can't you get nagative camber brackets? Link to post Share on other sites
Ivan Posted September 16, 2005 Share Posted September 16, 2005 Can't you get nagative camber brackets?<{POST_SNAPBACK}>NO, the rear is a solid axle, and the only adjustment you can do is with the panhard rod... do a search, im sure i have covered this before...Ivan Link to post Share on other sites
BlackTarw Posted September 16, 2005 Share Posted September 16, 2005 NO, the rear is a solid axle, and the only adjustment you can do is with the panhard rod... do a search, im sure i have covered this before...Ivan<{POST_SNAPBACK}>ah ok, I've not much experience with solid axles...Will go and read up, thanks! Link to post Share on other sites
glenn Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 reading all this has me confused i rang my local tuning shop & asked to get all the above for the rear of my glanza i got the adj panhard rod ,anti lift kit & adj arb all from whiteline but they said they couldnt get uprated bushes off them is this true & did i need the adj arb it just sounded better so i bought it Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Enzo Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 bypass your tuning shop and get uprated bushes from whitline..if your willing to wait i could supply you with front control arm bushes,..also i have a batch of 100 semi complete anti lift kits almost ready..just need to stump up some extra cash for tooling of the bush clamps then they are ready to go.they are similar to whitlines except they have 12mil plates for added castor.the adjust anti roll bar is esssemtil in making the ep handle better, eradicating understear.. almost iliminating it. each of the items you have meantioned will give you a noticable leep in handling performance, this will make you realise just how shit the standard starlet handles..fit each one individualy and learn how the car reacts to each mod.that way you willl realy be able to get a grip of what the ep chassis can realy doif you like driving your in for a real treathope this helps Link to post Share on other sites
glenn Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 a big help again mate thanks have you got whitelines number & i will definately be up for those front control arm bushes if it improves the handling Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Enzo Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 cool.whitleines adress is www.whitleline.com.authen go to there webshop and buy from there.let us know your impresion once you have fitted the parts Link to post Share on other sites
glenn Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 will do thanks again Link to post Share on other sites
Ep91 Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 Make sure you dont leave it too long before you get the tracking redone!!!!! Link to post Share on other sites
glenn Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 will do i will have my trd strut bar to put on aswell cant wait Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Enzo Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 to get the most benefit from a strut brace its best to also invest in a lower tie bar.which links the bottom of the struts together in effect creating a box of strenght. Link to post Share on other sites
glenn Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 will i get these from whiteline mate Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Enzo Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 im not sure.i know cusco manufacture a set Link to post Share on other sites
glenn Posted October 23, 2005 Share Posted October 23, 2005 im going to ring whiteline tonight i will let you know if you can or not just incase anybody wants to know in the future Link to post Share on other sites
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