Ride height on IE3s vs Pro-kit?

[Fidhle007]

Dude, ride comfort has NOTHING to do with springs, it's all in the dampening. Unless of course you bottom out on every bump in the road, like on Eibachs. Sway bars are just a bandaid for weaksauce spring rates.

See, this is what I've always thought too! I come from a downhill mountain biking background and our saying was "the spring's only job is to return the shock to it's fully extended position." But eveyone in the e30 world makes such a big deal about springs that assumed there was something I wasn't getting.

In theory body roll should be able to be counteracted with the low speed compression damping setting on a shock absorber, a lot like how us bike guys use it to conteract the "bob" effect pedaling has on a long-travel bike. Granted you are working with a much heavier vehicle and the geometry is very different...

[Axxe]

Dude, ride comfort has NOTHING to do with springs, it's all in the dampening. Unless of course you bottom out on every bump in the road, like on Eibachs. Sway bars are just a bandaid for weaksauce spring rates.

[Fidhle007]

I already have Eibachs and with the amount of frost heaves we get around here I won't be getting IE3s until spring at least however, sway bars have been on my list forever and those will probably go on first. I'll keep my stock sways around though so I can fine tune things later, once I get on the track. My tech and I will be prepping our cars over the winter for some track action once the white stuff melts. Of course he'll be running in a different class than I will be, he's got a Dinan S/Ced M3....

I'm looking for a strictly street setup for now, which is why I'll probably stop with the sways, and then come spring I'll redo it for the track.

Anyone need some eibach springs in a few months? ;)

[Axxe]

Well, E30 M3 bar in the back and E30 M3 geometry in the front is as stiff as I'd go. Imagine that you put an insanely stiff bar front and rear, the car would effectively have a "live" axle. So by upping the rear stiffness, the car moves to an oversteering state sooner, however there is also more difficulty putting power down. FYI, I have been running 100% stock sway setup, and find the IE's to be a seriously badass and awesome setup for the street. If that's what you're using it for, and occasional autoX and track days, it's perfect.

[Fidhle007]

IE3's are a good intermediate spring setup for track. I was getting lots of body roll on mine, but at omg-you-are-crazy speeds on the track. BTW, don't go too stiff on sways, you sacrifice handling to make the car "feel" flatter. All a sway bar does it take out the independancy of the suspension, use them only to change vehicle dynamics, not counter body roll.

Care to elaborate a little? I understand the principals behind it all but I'm curious...

I know that running a stiffer bar in the back will counteract understeer a little but if you go too stiff you start to lose rear grip as the inside wheel is being lifted under hard cornering forces.

[Axxe]

IE3's are a good intermediate spring setup for track. I was getting lots of body roll on mine, but at omg-you-are-crazy speeds on the track. BTW, don't go too stiff on sways, you sacrifice handling to make the car "feel" flatter. All a sway bar does it take out the independancy of the suspension, use them only to change vehicle dynamics, not counter body roll.

[Fidhle007]

I'm thinking about getting the ST bars, either from Matt (if he ever PMs me back) or TMS and then perhaps getting the IE rear mount to stiffen things up later on...

[AdironRider]

Ive only heard good things about the ST sways myself. My buddy has em and they really changed the whole car.

[Fidhle007]

That said, ST was the route I was originally planning to go...

[Fidhle007]

Flying Brick said that ST's are notorious for a poor fit and that if I was planning on tracking the car at all I should go for the IEs, especially since they come with the reinforced rear mounts.

[Kruzen]

My car has VERY little body roll with the IE's, with no other suspension mods. That's the great thing about them, is that they're pretty stiff, but not to the point of being uncomfortable. That's where the nice part about the Konis comes in. When I start auto-x'ing this coming year, I'll probably be adjusting them up to full stiffness. My car's not being driven in the winters anymore, so that's something I don't have to worry about. I pulled a fender lip last year, and that was the last straw.

For sway bars, I would either go with Ireland or Suspension Techniques. I'm probably going to be getting the ST's, Jordan had them in his car and raved about them.

i love my ie3's as well. i was gonna run them with koni's but didnt have the money at the time, so i run bilstein sports and still have no complaints, i have little to no body roll with just this setup, and if iget unlazy and put my strut bar back in and get some sways ill be rock solid

[Jand3rson]

My car has VERY little body roll with the IE's, with no other suspension mods. That's the great thing about them, is that they're pretty stiff, but not to the point of being uncomfortable. That's where the nice part about the Konis comes in. When I start auto-x'ing this coming year, I'll probably be adjusting them up to full stiffness. My car's not being driven in the winters anymore, so that's something I don't have to worry about. I pulled a fender lip last year, and that was the last straw.

For sway bars, I would either go with Ireland or Suspension Techniques. I'm probably going to be getting the ST's, Jordan had them in his car and raved about them.

[Fidhle007]

I have the bilstein sports. I love them with the Pro-kit and this winter this setup will be a godsend, but come the track days next spring I'm thinking I'll want to go stiffer.

Everyone complains about slop in the pro-kit but I installed some TMS aluminum subframe mounts and some M3 CABs and it tightened the whole thing up. There is still some significant body roll but day to day I can live with it. I haven't had this car on the track yet and I suspect once I do I will see the shortcomings of the Eibach springs.

[Fidhle007]

My bunny says bring it on. I myself don't condone violience but the bunny is another story. Actually I was primarily interested in the sway bars but there too I may be going the IE route, I'm just waiting to hear back from Matt.

[Jand3rson]

The IE3's will give a pretty similar dop as the Pro-Kit springs, but will give a night-and-day difference in handling. Get the IE3's, you won't be dissapointed.

BTW, what shocks are you on? The IE's are just fine with Bilstein Sports, but even better with Konis, which is what I have. The adjustable damping is a godsend. I have mine set to about 50%, and my car handles like it's on rails without being bone-jarringly stiff.