UMI Adjustable Panhard Bar and Strano Springs

[Naaman]

Just got the car back on Tuesday after having the suspension refreshed and having the springs and panhard bar upgraded.

I now consider my suspension to be finished. It has Konis up front, Bilstiens in the rear, rear LCAs, and Strano's sway bars. I may swap the Bilstiens for Konis and swap the ball-end LCAs for some UMI Roto-joints, but that's further down the list.

So far, I have driven about 100 freeway miles on the new set up, with a bit of city/shopping center cruising.

The Strano suspension feels no harsher than the stock springs, yet the car seems somewhat more firm. The bumps that are absorbed feel more like they are liquid than solid, whereas with the stock stuff, bumps felt somewhat more jarring, despite a "softer" ride. I noticed a similar change when I switched sway bars. The ride was firmer, but the suspension travel felt more like a fluid/liquid rather than a solid/jolt.

I'm planning to take to some mountain twisties next weekend to get a real sense of the difference. As of now, for commuter driving, the biggest difference I feel is an increase in quality; the car feels like a much more expensive vehicle than it really is. Other mods that I feel improved the quality of the experience are the SFCs and the sway bars I mentioned earlier.

I'm not really sure what the panhard bar is doing for the ride, if anything, although I think I feel/hear it vibrating under very low rpm operation (the initial engagement of the clutch from a stop or after a speed bump, for example, giving the impression that it has stiffened things up back there; but I'm not sure if that's the case).

With the suspension done, the chassis has a few more items that it needs before I'm done with it. K-member, and transmission cross-member (possibly DSL, but that will come after headers). And then the "ride and handling" portion of my project will be done.

I'll post up more impressions after my mountain drive.

[pajeff02]

Did you drop your ride height in the process?

[35th-ANV-SS]

If he installed Strano Springs, the ride height should have dropped somewhere in the ballpark of around 1.25". I never took an official measurement of my before (OEM spring height) /after (Strano Spring height) install, but noticed a difference in the stance of the vehicle, as well as handling. With the Strano springs and stock OEM tire size, the wheel to wheel well gap is lessened and looks great. Any more of a stance drop I feel will give the car the appearance of it looking "slammed" which I am not a fan of.

[Naaman]

Yes, Jon is correct. My ride height is lower by just the right amount. There was an unsightly gap between the wheel well and the top of the tire (I guess that kind of thing was all the rage back in the 90s). Now, it's just at the right height for aesthetics. I assume that because of the source of the springs, the actual height, spring rate and other factors are optimized or nearly so for overall performance on a daily driver.

I agree with Jon: any lower and it looks like I'm trying to make some kind of statement that I'm not really interested in making. I prefer function over form, if I have to choose between the two. I also think that a "slammed" ride height looks silly (probably because I know that uneven road surfaces present a "special challenge" to such vehicles).