Anybody else notice the ralli-art suspenion is pretty tight, to the point you feel all the lil bumps and pot holes in the road, similar to the evo? Im not saying its as harsh as the evo ride and IMO riding in the evo isnt as harsh as people say it is. Still when im driving my car i feel everthing, i road over a rock and my back felt it, like dam. Went in my friends evo and drove over the same rock and I felt it a bit more than my ralli-art. Thou in my lancer, suspension was soft and I didnt feel bumps that much.

Anybody else feel the same?

 

i used to own an ES b4 my RA, also. you are absolutly right. But, a softer ride always equates to poorer performance. The extra stiffness is just what makes the car handle well.

 

Go drive an RSX if you want a bumpy ride. It feels like that car has NO springs at all, it's as if the suspension was welded to the frame. The tires, stiffer/lower springs and shocks all combine to give it a stiff ride. I like the stiff ride, it allows very little body roll in corners.

 

The ride is pretty stiff. I love it that way, but unfortunately it makes my g/f carsick At first I thought it was my driving, but I tried being non-aggressive and it didn't make a difference. Probably doesn't help that she normally drives a Crown Vic, the thing floats on air.

 

Yeah, most of the reviews of the RA I've read say that its suspension is 'bouncy.' I agree with that to a certain extent. My Cavalier had H&R springs and Koni shocks, and that thing was relentless when it came to ride quality. It was unbelievably stiff no matter how you set the dampening strength to. The RA is pretty stiff, but it's still pretty soft compared to its competition.

When you get it on a smooth road, however, it's really really nice. I think the suspension is just right. Not too stiff to rattle your bones, but not too soft to affect performance.

 

-

You absolutely must feel the road if you want to be able to tell what your car is doing. After driving it for 6 months, I think the RA is okay as far as stiffness goes... but it has too much nose dive in long/fast corners. The back is also not as stable as I'd would have hoped at (really) high speeds. Now, I will not publicly go into more details about those two things... e-mail me for details.


All in all, I think I'll eventually have to install some nice anti-sway bars in the lower front and back to get it to handle right. I may have to ask for some advice to be sure I'm making the right move when I decide to do this....


But this shouldn't change anything as far as the ride confort is concerned, which is just as well. I still think the RA offers the best compromise between confort and handling... it just lacks stability in agressive driving situations. But hey, we are talking of a dirt cheap ride! I still can't beleive what a low price I paid for this level of performance. It will just need some fine tuning, that's all...

-

 

Along those same lines, are there any vendors out there who are planning to make a better front sway bar for the RA? The stock front one is just as flimsy as the rear one.

 

why do you want a front sway bar, you are already understeering into corners (at least my car does), in which case you would want a rear sway bar to promote more oversteer. But that is just my thoughts. If your car is not pushing through turns, and you can get the back end to slide out, then you might need more of a front sway bar.

 

Yeah, the rear end feels wobbly at VERY high speeds (180+KPH). A rear stabilizer would help that I believe. As for the front, you need better tires and/or more weight in the back to avoid understeer.

 

Oh good...I feel much better now knowing i'm not the only one who thinks that. A week after I bought my car last November I went, uh, "fast", and thought my rear end was going to swing out and around if I hit one little bump. Isn't a spoiler supposed to help plant the rear of the car a little?

 

It's not overly dangerous. Make sure your tires have the proper pressure in them and feel free. You won't lose control (unless you do something stupid with the wheel).
As for the spoiler, it is a cosmetic spoiler. Besides, even spoilers meant to put downforce on a car only work at extreme speeds (over 140MPH at least).

 

perhaps a cheap way to turn for oversteer is to overinflate the rear tires and/or underinflate the front tires. Gotta love free mods!!

the sportback I test drove was pretty stiff, but not gut wrenchingly stiff.

 

Thanks for confirming. Yes I do realize that our spoiler and probably 99% that come from the factory are cosmetic only. Well, I guess I'll just have to get one of those "useful" spoilers when I'm flying.

 

Since I'm already using the best tires I can afford (Pirelli P-Zero Nero), I thought I'd have to go with a rear lower sway bar next spring (no sense in installing that this winter)... I've read it cures much of the understeer. I hope it's true.

Since I also have a bit too much front dive, I'm also on the lookout for a (not too expensisve) solution to cure that too... but I'm not quite certain what to look at to cure this one. I'm openned to sugestions if anyone has experience with this...

-

 

..