Suspension combo: Eibach + Tokico + 17" rims, pictures and impressions

[Piloter]

Blah blah blah, had Konis in the front and junker struts in the rear. Discovered on taking the Konis out that they'd been blown for some time...as in pissing oil all over themselves and so drained that they wouldn't even rebound when compressed all the way by hand.

The rears, of course, were just as bad.

Can't say much for my strut mounts, either, given that the rubber piece in the front that's supposed to be concave ( \_/ ) was in fact convex ( /-\) and had two rings of cracking on each mount.

Ride quality wasn't great. Soft and floaty on the highway, underdamped, I was sitting extremely flush but mostly thanks to sag. In-town bumps would cause oscillations beyond the initial impact, almost like driving a land yacht. Turn-in was also a little intimidating for passengers. I'd swerve hard into a turn and you could feel the body roll dramatically from the shocks, then a little more from the progressive portion of the springs, then a little more still from sidewall flex. Granted there was more than enough grip that Jez would always hold the line I threw her into, but that initial lurch gave a lot of people a lot of panicked moments when they figured we were going to just roll right over, swaybars/Eibachs/good tires not withstanding.

So, some parts and labor later....






The rear trim panel is giving me fits, I've got the Krylon Fusion to paint it black so it STAYS that way and I've got some silver vinyl chrome tape on the way to replace that mockup matte-silver stuff on there now...but one of the bolt studs is utterly stuck in the fascia so putting a wrench on the nut just spins the stud. I can't pry it off by pulling on the rest of the panel while wrenching, I don't want to risk snapping the panel in half by pulling harder, there's no real way to get under it, and it'll be infeasible as hell to try and put down newspaper in the panel gaps so I can paint it while it's on the car. I may have to rip it entirely off and just start working on a new one. *Sigh* Anyway, the wheels are nice and wide.

And now the moneyshot.



The ride is still very informative, a bit harsh, but bumps damp out quickly. I found a place in town that rolled the fenders for $100 all around and so far it only rubs a little in back when I've got a 300-pound passenger and hit some of the bigger road surface irregularities. Yes, I've already gone up and down pothole/speedbump-fillled roads at speed, because I have NO USE for a car that can't back up the looks with ability. Riding on the highway is actually a little quieter than the 185/65/14s were but I can feel the increased weight in the wheels/tires when I go to turn, or accelerate, or brake. It's hard to describe, maybe a bit more of a resistance in the steering, but I'm aware they're there. There's a slight tracking tendency for road surface ruts (running the factory-recommended alignment) but the turning response is just unbelievable now. A super-tight onramp that I used to take at ~45 in a four-wheel drift, steering with the throttle and leaning way back in to counteract the body roll, I can now take at 45 with no noise from the tires, body roll only the camber of the corner, and with my foot planted flat to the floor, meaning the only reason I'm not going faster is because there's not enough horsepower to both accelerate and steer with that large of a contact patch. That ought to be taken care of in a couple months.

Tomorrow I'm heading down to Brookings via the mountain passes on 5 and little back roads through the national forests. I'll be sure to report back on how big of an improvement this setup really is in my familiar stomping grounds.

Anybody want a set of 14" Kosei K1-TS wheels, complete with 3 General Altimax and 4 Kumho Solus HP4s, 3 Generals and 1 Kumho mounted & balanced and three spare Kumhos, about 60-70%+ tread left on all of 'em? Hit me up, I'd like to see $500 (plus shipping) for the whole shebang. Pictures available, missing two center caps ($13.50 at Tire Rack, c'mon) but I've got the lug nuts and the tools and the centering rings and everything.

[Buurin]

Originally Posted by Piloter

Anybody want a set of 14" Kosei K1-TS wheels, complete with 3 General Altimax and 4 Kumho Solus HP4s, 3 Generals and 1 Kumho mounted & balanced and three spare Kumhos, about 60-70%+ tread left on all of 'em? Hit me up, I'd like to see $500 (plus shipping) for the whole shebang. Pictures available, missing two center caps ($13.50 at Tire Rack, c'mon) but I've got the lug nuts and the tools and the centering rings and everything.

Me want! Should save me some gas when I'm going on long trips.
But I can't use 14 tires? If they're off rim you can sell them separately.

[Piloter]

Originally Posted by Buurin

Me want! Should save me some gas when I'm going on long trips.
But I can't use 14 tires? If they're off rim you can sell them separately.

Not 14 tires... Just 7. Four are mounted on the wheels, three are spares. I have a thread in the FS forum with pictures and details if you're interested, feel free to PM me.

[Rip The E Brake]

Ditch the egay tails and that ricer chrome trim shit and you'll be ridin' dirty.

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Looks great man. Not too low, but low enough to give it a much better stance. The new wheels look nice too. Great to hear that your ride quality has improved. My bodyroll reduced dramatically once I installed my springs, struts and low profile tires. Let us know how she goes when you take it on the mountain passes

[Piloter]

Originally Posted by Rip The E Brake

Ditch the egay tails and that ricer chrome trim shit and you'll be ridin' dirty.

That's kind of the design scheme for the car--black and silver. The side chrome strips need to come off and the resulting silver will be from a window tint...but I can't afford that right now, so they may as well stay there.

As for the back, there needs to be more silver higher to balance the chrome and the license plate frame, so I need to get somebody to make my custom emblem. But until I can get somebody without, shall we say, too many copyright concerns to design it properly, and get it professionally machined, I'll have to make do by changing the mockup tape to proper chrome.

I'm not going for the riding dirty look--automotive style changes FAR too fast to try and keep up with the Joneses. When my grandparents first got Jez in 1998, she was a knockout for the times, the second-highest trim level, every single option checked except weight-adding ABS and sunroof, custom 5-spoke wheels (installed in 1996), a 10-disc CD changer in the trunk and remote controls for it in the cubbyhole (no wonder the guy didn't want the factory CD radio!), great speakers all around, even Camry-esque factory woodgrain in the interior.

My aim is to make Jez the car that Toyota COULD have made as a 1996-97 Corolla GT-S, not to make a 2010-design-language BMW/Mercedes/Acura-aping econobox. In 1996, Toyota had a car in their lineup with 16" 5-spokes, they had a car in their lineup with projector-styled halogens, the upper trim levels already came with swaybars and these are just bigger, the muffler is from an IS300 (cheating a LITTLE as that was 1998) and that same "Toyota Altezza" was the one that introduced and popularized those 'egay' style of taillights...the intake's the same path as stock just less restrictive, the future engine was built with their stroked block and a head they were starting to make 20V versions of in Japan...whille the electronics are NOT going to be stock, nevertheless the stock computer will still do everything it does now except control spark and fuel and shift points, up to and including still outputting accurate OBD-2 information via the diag port. As such, exterior design is being mostly done to demonstrate what might have been possible had Toyota Motor Company decided to keep their 'baby Lexus' generation of Corolla sporting as well.

On an unrelated note, stock 15" steelies with covers apparently weigh around 20 pounds--couldn't find a weight for our stock 14s--these 17"s weigh a shade under 14. I guess I was just really spoiled by those 14"s being less than 10 each.

Originally Posted by Kiwi-Corolla

Let us know how she goes when you take it on the mountain passes

Can't be too crazy, it's daylight and I have yet to acquire a radar detector, but I'll check in tonight for sure from the hotel.

[GTChink]

Why are there 2 valve plugs on each wheel??? Do Koseis come like that? LOL

[Buurin]

Originally Posted by GT*****

Why are there 2 valve plugs on each wheel??? Do Koseis come like that? LOL

I think only the K1 TS has it. It's good for quickly purging the tire while inflating with nitrogen.

[Piloter]

Yeah, it pretty much exists to draw attention, be pretentious to nitrogen fill and air drain, and make the job of the tire monkeys who balance them just a little more difficult.

OK, after a fast trip through the Cali passes and some time on 101 and the redwood forest roads, the net result can be translated as "Holy crap". There's only the slightest bit of sidewall flex, the suspension is firm, you don't even feel the springs go from progressive to linear, and it's possible to take ultra-tight 20 mph hairpins at 45+ mph (again, with 300+ pounds of passengers) without the slightest noise of protest or the slightest feeling that traction is slipping. Recovery is prompt and neutral, I was able to whipsaw back and forth through the curvy bits as fast as they came (doing about double the recommended speed) without any chassis uncertainty, even with the 7th-gen's overboosted power steering, and I was taking them consistantly fast enough that being thrown back and forth and with the rapid elevation changes added in was enough to make me and the passenger quantity start getting nauseous. High-speed bends on the highway can best be described as uneventful...pick a line, steer to it, there's a tiny bit of initial tipin and then you're just there, holding that line, if it weren't for the speedometer and lateral Gs and noise of the engine you'd never know from the feel how fast you were going.

The ride's a little 'busy' in town but smooths out nicely on the highway. After about 600 miles of 5 and 101 I've scraped once, and that was on a huge construction bump on 101 around Brookings. Overall I give this combo one and three-quarters thumbs up, the remaining quarter-thumb being not granted just because it's not a little softer at low speeds. Nothing bad or aggravating, just noticable. I have more cornering capability than I have power or the necessary insanity to exploit now, which suits me fine. All this stuff has basically taken all the drama out of corner-carving and left the speed. I won't say I don't miss the four-wheeled drifting but it's nice to have this kind of grip for damn sure.

[PhatRoyale]

Nice upgrade!

What are your wheel and tire specs? offset?

[Piloter]

205/40/17, the wheels are 17x7 (I'm pretty sure) and the offset is +32.

[topnotch]

nice ride bro and great improvement on the rims ive already rolled on large rims and everything u have said is true about them, they take alwhile to get ur car up too speed but when they do you go faster as you build momentum and it dose decrese body roll. i had on my previous rolla 215x35x18r 18x7.5 and ther where great but also heavy so am currently on tracklites 16rims 16x7 with 205x45 after doin a swap ill invest in 18" rims again but they have to be light weight. but again your ride looks very nice