suspension dynamics

[mudwaa]

this may be obvious but on the Pedders Suspension site there is a pic of an LS focus with lowering given as 600mm centre of rim to guard. Now this means they have obviously lowered the rear far more than the front thus changing the total dynamics of the cars handling. If i want lowering totally for the purpose of handling than the sus. should be lowered equally front and rear eg: 35mm. ???? Or is there a reason the rear is factory higher such as an allowance for towing?

[photn]

My sujestion is to get a set of Eibachs off european-parts.net .

They lower the car 35 front and 30 rear.

The Kings in the Focus have leveled out the car heaps, and grips a lot better - Less oversteer and understeer. But fairly uncomfortable hitting those Sydney potholes.

If you are primarily after handling my recommendations
-povo - cut standard springs (lol don't do this)
-cheap - King springs
-value - Eibachs
-performance road - Whiteline Springs Shocks and Swaybars(or antiroll bar?)
-track - Coil Overs

If you just want to make the car sit flatter try the Whiteline bar, heaps of people on the Mazda forums use this on their 3, lowered or unlowered, with excellent results.

My ultimate budget setup would be Koni FSDs, Eibach 35mm springs and Whiteline XL swaybar.

[Piotr]

If your after only handling you should be more worried about the spring firmness or more correctly suspension frequency. There is no reason a "coilover" should offer better handling than seperate spring and damper setup.

[4dlvr]

what about reseting the original springs? is that any good compared to sat a new set of low pedders???

[mudwaa]

From what ive read, yeah swaybars should be the first thing in the way of better handling.unfortunately Bowers in Newcastle couldnt give me a quote as they've never put a set of whitelines on an 05>. going to get quotes for both konis and pedders suspension wise, and i agree the cost of coil-overs isnt warranted for a street car. But the main reason for my question is if the car say 25 higher in the rear from standard then you shouldnt drop it to match the front as this may have an adverse affect on handling. True or not?

Check out re swaybar installation (not sure if you need to be a member)
http://www.ozmazdaclub.com/forum/sho...p?t=638&page=2

Whiteline Heavy duty is around 50% stiffer than stock, extra HD is 100% stiffer. Does not affect ride quality as much as lowered springs would.

[mudwaa]

Thanks BlackLS. From what i saw on the Whiteline site putting the adjustable on the rear with the harder setting improved turn-in.

Originally Posted by mudwaa

Thanks BlackLS. From what i saw on the Whiteline site putting the adjustable on the rear with the harder setting improved turn-in.

The documentation with the swaybars states "use the softer setting first", which was also suggested to me. I'm gonna start off on soft and see how I go before lowering or setting the swaybars harder.

Then again, as I've always said, the Focus isn't gonna tear up a 1/4 mile, so I want it to handle like a Go-Kart. :eclipsee_

Give these guys a call, might be able to help ya with springs/shocks (in Sydney).
Wholesale Suspension

Perhaps it may be worth getting contact with a Lovells distributor and support forum sponsors.