Alright guys, let's build some good Evo suspension guides

[Ludachris]

I want to start adding more Guides to our Tech/DIY section, mainly a guide on suspension setups. Since the Evo is a great performer right out of the box it only makes sense that we not waste time on guides for upgrades for the street. However, I'd like to build some guides for those who take their cars racing. If we can come up with a guide for setting up an Evo for Road Racing, Autocross and Rally I think we'll move closer to our mission statement and will show our visitors that we're serious about tech.

Some of the things I'd like to cover in these guides:

- Good wheel/tire sizes for Evo for road racing/autox/rally for use with stock fenders
- A list of suggested component upgrades
- Other tips (DIY) for a good track setup
- Links to helpful discussions on our site with good information

Here's an example of what we have done on our DSM site:
http://www.dsmtuners.com/sub.php?page=1gsuspension
(it's being improved upon as we speak to give more detail)

I'd like to make this as in-depth as possible. Anyone that might be able to help out with this project, please reply or PM me. Thanks guys!

[Ludachris]

Where are my road race/autocross guys?

[Warrtalon]

To date, I know 0 about suspension and handling other than what I've learned racing on the stock suspension the past year. My full bore race suspension setup gets installed here in the next few weeks, and then if I get my trans figured out, I'll be able to do some of the RMSOLO winter events, then provide some feedback. That will include suspension feedback regarding stock and race setups as well as a comparison of wheel and tire sizes/types.

[TSiBER RYDER]

the most tire i've put on in my tire shop was 255/40/17 and it cleared without fender modification. this was done on a 17x8.5 wheel. another mod i'm gonna implement on my car is to put a 17x9 wheel on the front and a 17x8.5 wheel on the rear w/ 255/40/17's on both so i get the quick response up front and smooth predictable breakaway in the rear due to a more squared shoulder. i read this helps quite a bit. in fact Bozz Tuning of Japan have their Evo's set this way. ill give ya'll an update when i get my wheels in.

[Silverghost]

I think we should first point out a number of the known weaknesses of the OEM suspension as delivered from Mitsubishi. As we al know, street suspensions are a huge bag of compromises. By weakneses, I am refering to those component areas that are routinely addressed by essentially all of the better suspension tuners. My somewhat uninformed and ovely brief list woulds have these items on it.

1) Rear trailing arm bushing is too compliant and should be replaced. There are at least 3 types of replacements:
a) AMS TPR plastic bushing
b) Whiteline polyurethane bushing
c) Nagisa pillow block style

2) Others might add the front control arm bushing. Most of these replacements that I have seen are the polyurethane type with a steel center bushing.

3) OEM springs are too soft even for the street and contribute to body roll and understeer.

4) Essentially no off the shelf spring sets or coilovers will perform anywhere near the level of the "tuned" suspension setups available from the half dozen os so quality Evo suspension vendors who provide very demanding component setup, corner weighting, ride height, and alignment specifications with thieir products. I think we should name these vendors and outline the proper way to successfully approach each one since they are all different companies. For example, some vendor(s) will come to your town and do installs and some won't.

5) OEM sway bars are matched to produce the corporately mandated "safe" understeer condition. A proper rear sway bar (adjustable) and a good street alignment will probably satisfy the needs of 75% of the street only driven Evo.

6) All susension tuning is a compromize amounting to a balancing act.

7) Don't go to a suspension designer and say I want it to be able to A,B,C,D,and E better than anything out there. That is the same as asking for a tire to be better than a Hoosier at the track while beating a Blizzack in the snow.

5) Adjustability can be a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing if you know what you are doing and a curse if you do not.

6) Sway bar adjustability can be a good thing. HKS seems to make both the most expensive and most adjustable front/ read sway bar package. See (Kami Speed)

7) Tires are a huge part of the suspension. Improper tire selection, inflation, tire management or alignment can and will damatically degrade the suspension's performance.

8) I personally believe there are negative camber limitations for predominatly street driven cars. However, I have seen and in my earlier years have driven autocross cars on the street with high negative cambers in a sufficiently aggressive manner that inside treadwear was not an issue. The solution here is the adjustable strut mount available fron a variety of vendors.

[Noob4life]

The Evo is an amazingly competent car out of the box. It would be misleading to let readers think that, as it sits, the car needs improvements to fix glaring weakpoints. Instead, I think this guide (or any guide like this) should point out that while the car will handle extremely well stock, there are some improvements that can be made to the car that are widely-recognized to improve handling beyond stock IF that's what you need. That way, readers aren't instantly feeling like they got jipped in some way from Mitsu, and then feeling like they need to spend $xyz to get the car to handle the way it "should". It's easy to get carried away with suspension mods.