Got the power, need help with suspension and handling

[cobracide]

Hi everyone, the ported Eaton (thx Posi!) 2.90/4# is in and now the cobra wheel hops in three gears, traction is non-existent and heat soak is an issue.

Cooling mods are on the way (Lethal Performance Intercooler coolant Reservoir, AFCO 03-04 Cobra PRO SERIES Heat Exchanger).

As far as wheelhop, Bruce's fulltiltboogie Full IRS Bushing Kit FT5000 and IRS Bumpsteer kit FT1800 should do the trick, yes?

(2) AFS 10.5 x 17 rims with 315/35ZR-17 Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3's should take care of most of the traction issue (Not drag radials but it's my daily driver and I need max wet traction). How are the different width front 17x9" rear 17x10.5" rims is going to mess with the handling. I'm not out to win an autocross event but need to be much better than stock. Is it that bad mixing 10.5" rear and 9" fronts? How does it handle for everyone?

The Steeda 4 bolt castor cambers look good and the MM's 4 bolt do too. Which one is better? Probably can't go wrong with either. Any experience there?

Now for springs, I really liked the Steeda Sports with my 2001 but progressive springs can be unpredicable in heavy handling situations. The stockers are linear and the steedas progressive. Are they good enough for the street and the twisties? Should I be looking for linear springs instead?

Ideally looking for a good compromise in handling on the street, twisties and drag.

Thanks for the help!

 

[mrose75]

I have MM Road and Track Grip Box with coil-overs. It's more for corner carving, not sure what you're looking for. But their stuff is quality.

 

[Posi]

Bruce's kit can do the trick and is one of the first things to do to get rid of the hop. I don't see any subframe connectors listed in your sig and they will help a little also by stiffening up the chassis.

Mixing those wheels won't do anything bad either and will only help with the handling. Only thing that will really happen is your car will want to follow "cracks" or any other imperfections in the road the wider you go on the tires.

I've got MM CC plates on my car and they can't be made any better. Not sure if I could say the same for the Steeda's from what people post.

You gotta make up your mind whether you want the car to handle better or run at the Drag Strip better. Then go from there. Or how serious you want to be at the Drag Strip. I tried to do both of what you're asking for 2 years and literally never got 1 good 60' with my car. Coupe's are easier to 60' generally but just saying.

 

[Jroc]

Add MM C/O's and Kmember and A-arm's, and that will really grib out some good handling from your car.

 

[cobracide]

Appreciate all your comments, thx Jesse, Brian and Marcus. MM FLSFC's are going on Wednesday. : ) I'm not sure I want to go as far as a k-member, A-arms and coilovers. Advangages/disadvanages on the K-member, coilovers and A-arms on the street? Thinking about added noise and ride "harshness".

Good to hear that mixing the 10.5's rear and 9" fronts won't destroy handling. MM camber castor cambers it is unless someone else has feedback on the Steedas.

Anyone with Steeda sport springs or a comparable set? How about linear vs progressive, ideal rates?

Just keep in mind it's a daily driver, just looking to improve things a bit without making it to noisy or uncomfortable.

Just saw the MM sport box package, anyone heard of or used that? It uses H&R sport springs with Blisten shocks.

thx!

 

[Jroc]

Appreciate all your comments, thx Jesse, Brian and Marcus. MM FLSFC's are going on Wednesday. : ) I'm not sure I want to go as far as a k-member, A-arms and coilovers. Advangages/disadvanages on the K-member, coilovers and A-arms on the street? Thinking about added noise and ride "harshness".

Good to hear that mixing the 10.5's rear and 9" fronts won't destroy handling. MM camber castor cambers it is unless someone else has feedback on the Steedas.

Anyone with Steeda sport springs or a comparable set? How about linear vs progressive, ideal rates?

Just keep in mind it's a daily driver, just looking to improve things a bit without making it to noisy or uncomfortable.

Just saw the MM sport box package, anyone heard of or used that? It uses H&R sport springs with Blisten shocks.

thx!

I still have the factory Kmember and A-arms, but I took some Mustang guys for there first ride in a Terminator today, and they were amazed at how well my car rode for a lower Mustang. I've been DD my car with C/O's and Bruces bushings since June of 07, and I love my suspension.

I even went with the highest recommend C/O street settings from MM.(375 front, 575 rear) Many DD their cars with even stiffer C/O's though, and say it works fine. I do have MM's valved Bilstein Sport shocks/struts also.

When you first put them on they are stiff as hell, but after about 200 miles they wear themselves in nicely. The ride with them is pretty firm, but certainly not harsh unless you just get on some extremely bad road, but in that case even the stock suspension would beat you up pretty good.

Some say that supporting the cars weight solely on the strut/shock towers is a negative to C/O's as the car wasn't designed for that from the factory, but I've never had a problem with them. Their biggest drawback to them is spending $1,500 for the C/O's and shocks/struts.

If I was going to drop the car with springs I would use the Steeda Sports. They are made by Hypercoil(the same company who make the springs for MM C/O's) and they give these car a very nice stance. There are a few people on here that I've seen with them.

 

[cobracide]

Checked out the MM coil over package (COP-53) for $1,600. Wow, looks impressive and expensive. I'll see what I can find out about that over at corner-carvers. This may be what I was looking for. Whom did your install of the coil over kit? Any clearance or noise issues? Thanks again Jesse!

 

[thomas91169]

Good coil-over kits are always at least $1,500+.

Id get that, Bruce's (fulltiltboogieracing.com) IRS bushing kit, MM-FLSFC's and nice sticky tires will do the trick.

Hell i had just lowering springs, some cheapo custom sfc (subframe cnnector) and Nitto's all around and i loved the handling characteristics i got with those mods and even sloppy stock-bushing IRS over my old 02 GT. Went for a nice twisty ride up Mt. Hamilton against a modded subie and dsm and had no issues keeping with them in the corners, my tires werent even making a squeal while theirs were howling and i was about to rear-end either one.

 

[cobracide]

Good to know, definitely getting the boogie bushings first and maybe just some steeda sport springs for now. I've burned all my cash on the ported setup. : )

 

[mrose75]

I went through one of MM's authorized installers at the end of the year in 07. , Apparently to be one of their authorized installers they have to sell a certain amount of product. Anyway, I got the MM Road and Track Box and F/R coil-overs for $17XX installed. If you combine some of the kits that share common parts, saves you cash. Call up MM and see what they can do for you. Good people.

 

[mu22stang]

The driver mod is THE most important element of vehicular dynamics - not suspension parts.

If you haven't taken the car to an open track event, I'd suggest that first and foremost. I drove my stock suspension Cobra at Texas World Speedway and couldn't believe how amazing it felt. I won't spend a dime more than I have to on this car because it will NEVER be a Miata or a Corvette. This car, completely stock, is WAY faster than you can drive...unless you're a seasoned track vet.

 

[cobracide]

So performance-wise how does that Road and Track/Coilover setup work for you? Just looking for some real-world experience on the street. Are your drag launches good (if you drag at all)? I'm sure at autocross it rocks! What rates did you go with?

 

[cobracide]

The driver mod is THE most important element of vehicular dynamics - not suspension parts.
....
This car, completely stock, is WAY faster than you can drive...unless you're a seasoned track vet.

Interesting comments, it's an ancient platform and it will never be a vette. I just think there are options and parts to make it a bit better. CO's are probably overkill for what I need. Iit's tough to decide on a full MM CO kit or maybe just Steeda sport springs/shocks with boogie bushings and be done. My thinking now is to go the latter route and get springs/shocks/bushings. If I need more then a full MM CO kit is an option.

Thanks again for everyone's insightful comments.

 

[mu22stang]

Interesting comments, it's an ancient platform and it will never be a vette. I just think there are options and parts to make it a bit better. CO's are probably overkill for what I need. Iit's tough to decide on a full MM CO kit or maybe just Steeda sport springs/shocks with boogie bushings and be done. My thinking now is to go the latter route and get springs/shocks/bushings. If I need more then a full MM CO kit is an option.

Thanks again for everyone's insightful comments.

I understand what you mean. I'm certainly not saying there aren't parts that improve this platform. However, you can just as easily take a step backwards in comparison to the stock platform as a step forwards when you start adding parts. Furthermore, it's important to learn the relationship between the vehicles capabilities and characteristics at its limit and your driving ability at the limit. How will you ever know if the component you add induced understeer or oversteer if you never drove the vehicle stock? What other parts will you have to add to reduce the understeer or oversteer you induced? What if the vehicle you have in your garage now represents the quintessential handling feeling you've always dreamed of and you don't have to spend another dime on it? I'll say it again, hit the track in a controlled environment with an instructor and you won't spend a single second thinking about what parts you need next. My 4x4 handles great!

On a side note, you cannot go wrong with Bruce's bushing upgrade.

 

[cobracide]

Thanks Trent, I just remember the steeda sports on my '01 definitely made handling better. We will see how the 10.5" rear rims and 315 tires do and go from there. Bruce's bushings are definitely on the list too. Good call, I'll take small steps first.

 

[mu22stang]

Thanks Trent, I just remember the steeda sports on my '01 definitely made handling better. We will see how the 10.5" rear rims and 315 tires do and go from there. Bruce's bushings are definitely on the list too. Good call, I'll take small steps first.

I don't have experience with aftermarket springs on an IRS Cobra, but I do know these pigs are difficult to tame as far as weight transfer is concerned. If you plan to stay with street tires, you will probably be fine with conventional springs/shocks/struts. However, if you decide to go r compounds, my research has led me to believe there's no choice but to go coil-overs. The front just loses too much ground clearance under heavy braking to utilize conventional springs. I'm personally going to run H&R Race springs, poly isolators (to limit ride height woes), and Maximum Motorsports Bilsteins.

Another side note: Have you thought about/researched the handling characteristics of a staggered wheel/tire combination?

 

[Ray Lucca]

On My Vert I did R. 17x10.5 AFS Reps W/ Nitto 315x35x17 NT/05's, 1/2 coil cut Coupe Springs, M.M. C/C Plates, Bruces Full Kit, Bolts, Grease Fittings, and R. Bump-steer Kit. M.M. Full Sub-frames and a 4 Wheel bump-steer Alignment. No more wheel hop but the car was Darty and floaty in the front. Added M.M. Alum. Steering Bushings and Front Bump-steer Kit and had the car re-aligned. WOW, what a difference, the front is tight, the steering slop is gone and the car feels and handles with great balance, and tracks great, and straight. As good as it can be without Coil-overs.....

 

[mu22stang]

I reread your original post and see you are indeed concerned about the staggered wheel tire combo...D'oh! Carry on.

 

[cobracide]

On My Vert I did R. 17x10.5 AFS Reps W/ Nitto 315x35x17 NT/05's, 1/2 coil cut Coupe Springs, M.M. C/C Plates, Bruces Full Kit, Bolts, Grease Fittings, and R. Bump-steer Kit. M.M. Full Sub-frames and a 4 Wheel bump-steer Alignment. No more wheel hop but the car was Darty and floaty in the front. Added M.M. Alum. Steering Bushings and Front Bump-steer Kit and had the car re-aligned. WOW, what a difference, the front is tight, the steering slop is gone and the car feels and handles with great balance, and tracks great, and straight. As good as it can be without Coil-overs.....

Nice list of mods Ray, I'm leaning more tward a conventional suspension setup such as this. Don't think I'll need CO's (yet?). Thanks!

 

[Ray Lucca]

I forgot to add the B.F. R. Diff. Brace and a Rear Diff. Flush and Fill at the same time. The Front Bump-steer kit and Alum. Steering Bushings really balanced the car out on the Freeway and in high-speed sweepers. Very happy with the results