Suprathai

Stuff the Firestone, don't think they are any good. Had a set before and got rid of it.

I got my Toyo T1R's 205/55/16 for $180 each...Try searching a bit harder

Of course having rock hard suspension is just awesome. Wheels and tyres make awesome shock absorbers, I'm suprised no one has caught on to this yet. The TEIN's at least are ADR approved from what I've been told. I've also read that you can be defected with Cusco's / DPoo's / GPoor's etc, because they aren't approved (contacted the RTA regarding this in a follow up call).

Having soft suspension of course makes the car handle really really bad anyway. Who wants to go around a corner when you can skip around it and look all 'fully'?

I'll buy any suspension setup, as long as it's hektik and makes the Ganga's boobs bounce in the back seat when I'm out cruising!

Lots of sarcasm and obviously not a fan of Coilovers for the street. lol

If you can handle the 'hectic' ride then why not I suppose. But remember the more stiff it is, the more stress is transferred to your cars chassis as well. Unless of course you drive on super nice road most of the time.

UPDATE

I love the car at the moment, for me its the perfect compromise between comfort and handling. Unfortunately I cannot comment on King Springs with the FSD vs the other shocks that koni supplies.

If there is one thing I must comment, then it would be the fact that the rear spring rate may be a little too soft in comparison. The rear doesn't feel like its keeping up with the front, but then again I am compairing them to coilovers. Maybe the super lows at the back might fix the problem, or its time to change tyres :D.

The teins (I may have a higher spring rate though) were great when the road was great, but for everyday streetability then I am happy with what I currently have.

Next mod would be to maybe order a rear underbrace for the sportivo and a seat to stop me from moving around so much.

I really don't think its necessary on the street though, a bit of a waste of money. Unless you've done your shocks,springs and bars. You won't see the benefit unless your really on the throttle hard every single corner. Energy Suspension motor mount inserts and stiff front sway bar will cancel out most of the wheel hop.

Drive safely on the road guys :D

Having said that, if your outta mods then why not I suppose

So if we do get a front sway, shouldn't we be looking at further reinforcement of the rear end so that it doesn't cancel out the effect of the rear sway? How about stiffer rear suspension??

I have lows all around, and the rear sits about 15-20mm higher at the back. Your car would be nice and level if you have superlows at that back.

I'm just concerned that with superlows on the rears and a full car of people that the rear wheels may scrub, although other people have reported that it is fine. Maybe its cause the rear are progressive spring rates which means that it won't scrub, unless you hit a large bump.

UPDATE: I finally took it for a drive

I ended up fitting king spring lows with the Koni FSDs.

My first impression was a bit scary as the car pretty much felt like stock, so I had doubts as to whether or not this whole 'FSD' thing was a gimmick or not. The missus said that it feels more comfortable then the stock shocks and springs, granted that the stock shocks were on their way out, but still :o

But after taking the first corner at a slight 'brisk' speed, I can confirm that its a nice (big?) step up from stock. With my previous experience with lowered springs and stock shocks were very horrible, the car didn't feel that flat and bumps mid corner really unsettled the car.

With the FSDs the car handles like a dream in comparison, mid corner bumps are just bumps nothing more. The king springs and these shocks matched up quite well, although maybe eibach springs might be a wee bit better.

It feels more controlled then ever, it feels more flat going around the corner then my brothers liberty B4. Which is really saying something from a car that comes with a boxer engine, suspension is tuned by bilstein with a BMW M3 in sight.

But if we are compairing against coilovers, then I would say its a bit of hit and miss. Coilovers had pretty much no body roll and was really flat, but once you starting adding bumps mid corner then the FSD would encourage me to go faster. M

So I say for the vast majority of people out there with a daily driven car, FSD + Lowered springs maybe the way to go.

Overall, I am impressed and really happy with the end result to date. The only problem is getting over the fact that a car that can go pretty fast around corners feels nice and comfy on sydney roads, including parramatta road. Its a really strange feeling indeed.

Will give an update once I'm driving on my own and the roads have dried up a bit more :D

What other suspension mods have you also done??

Its no big deal to be honest cutting the strut housing, I just did mine :D

I still haven't driven my car yet, but as it currently stands with the 'bounce' test, its more comfortable then the coilovers. Have yet to see how it performs.

Its alright, just means that now I can say 'Its easy man, just go DIY"

lol

Unfortunately I didn't get them in this weekend and my car is sitting on chasis stands. Just need to drive the auto rolla now :(

Do these have the same part numbers as the parts sticky? If not can you post them here, or in the sticky so I can update it.

If you bought the Teins second hand the previous owner may have changed/ordered them with heavier springs. They are meant to come with 3kg/mm springs, which are quite soft, but would be good for daily driving.

Yeah I got the Tein's second hand, and my initial impression even at full soft was that it was stiff. Like track stiff. I'm keeping the Teins once I hit the track and the FSD's are not up for it.

Ever since I drove my brothers Liberty B4 that was the type of handling that I'm trying to acheive. (Bilstein springs and shocks?)

Part n.o for the FSD's are 2100-4068

Then the set that i got must of been quite stiff. I had it on the softest setting, which is 16 from full hard. When I had it on full stiff I felt like I was riding on stilts!!

They set me back about $1300 and I thought that they would be a complete strut assembly, looks like i need to do some cutting and drilling on the existing housing to get them on.

These arrived at my doorstep yesterday afternoon. Thanks SB!!

Koni FSD

In my little quest for a solution to increased handling with minimal disruption to daily comfort, I did a bit of looking around.

I've tried the following setups already

Stock - Quite good compared to the normal corollas, but still too much body roll and soft

Stock + King Lows - Only had a brief one week encounter, and didn't like the fact that any bumps on the road really unsettled the car

Tein Super Wagon- One word 'STIFF'

Since one of the shocks was leaking and the opposite end was a new shock (covered by insurance), my car was not at all sitting at a nice angle. So its another excuse to spend more money! :D

I narrowed it down to the following few options.

Koni Yellows

Koni Reds

Bilstein B8 Sprint

Monroe GT gas reflex

But the marketing on the Koni FSD's really got to me and I decided to give those a shot instead. Will be installing them on the weekend and hopefully it will be good. I'm tossing between standard springs or king lows. Will have to see if the shock is the same length as the stock ones, if its shorter then I'll go the lows if its the same then standard springs.

Stay Tuned

How much is it for supply and install?

Some of you guys are getting excellant economy outta your stivo!

I do most of my driving most of my driving on highways or roads where there is not many traffic lights and can only consistantly get about 7.8-8L/100km. We should start to think about how much it cost for us to travel per kilometer instead of how much we can get per litre, then it would look more serious!!

$1.65/L multiply by 8L/100km = $13.20

$1.70/L multiply by 8L/100km = $13.60

Less then 5 years ago petrol was only $0.8/L, would of costed me less then $35 to fill up per week compared to the $70 or so I put into my tank each week.

I wonder when we will see a big impact on daily traffic once the petrol prices hit about $2/L

Interested in your cappucino, post up whats been done to it.

I'm pretty sure you will have another list for your corolla :D

For a TRD I would rather get a PPE header,

Is there any doubts with PPE headers?? I heard that there is only a problem with the flexi that is supplied with the headers.

I say for most people a ported stock header is a good enough option. Just like how a unichip is good for 95% of the tuning and the other 5% opt for standalone ecu.

I have nothing to add to this thread obviously cause I'm still running stock headers :D

I thought maybe you could add this to your list on the top regarding the spring rates of king spring lows

King Lows Front KTFL - 105 175lb/inch or 3.1kg/mm (Linear I think)

King Lows Rear KTRL - 105 160lb/inch or 2.8kg/mm (Progressive)

That is awesome!

A trip to the wreckers this saturday!! :D

Actually CAI can be tuned to a certain length, based on pipe diameter, air flow rate etc...

I know that with competition vehicles, where everything counts, the intake has to be designed to match the whole characteristic of the engine etc.

Ill be there. :D

cool phil u mite get 2 use ur photo gear this time before having to pack it up again abruptly ...... lol

lol yeah! Damn them! <_<

I might drop by and practice with my new sony alpha SLR camera :D

Also just got a lens with an aperture going all the way down to 1.4!

When we are referring to inlet manifold, do we actually mean the throttle body or the manifold itself as well??

I have read somewhere stating that the inlet manifold of the celica is superior then the corolla sportivo, but having said that its not that much of difference I think.

I'm Serious.... :P

But in all honesty people should adjust it if they have covered there fair share of kilometers, which reminds me that I think its time for me to adjust mine and get that awesome throttle response :D

If your car has done its fair share of travelling or you like to manage your throttle with very sharp inputs......

Another way to get better throttle response is by......

adjusting your throttle cable in the engine bay

The response that you get with the SRI is prolly good for about 10mins when your first start your car, its all down hill from there.

Get the base bushing and the shifter cable bushings

I don't know about a smoother shift, but my one is damn solid.

I'm using TRD SS + shifter cable bushings.

With the TWM, you will have to try and remove the round clip off your existing cradle which is a bit of pain. If you happen to destroy it in the process, have a browse through bunnings as they have some in stock, but not sure about the size. If their is one thing I don't like it would definitely be the istallation, I kinda butchered mine one.

The TWM will give you a shorter throw compared to the TRD SS but you will want a heavy gear knob to help with the shifting, if not then you'll be looking at sore forearms :(