How to improve the handling of the Corolla S

12913 Views 28 Replies 13 Participants Last post by PhatRoyale, Sep 4, 2010

Cadman1981

Discussion Starter · Aug 25, 2010 (Edited)

Hi Guys,
I'm just curious to know your suggestions. I have 2009 Corolla S, and i would like to help improve the handling, especially the side to side lane changing... (long story, but lets not get into that)

So i am looking at:
- getting 17" mags, so there is less sidewall flexing
- I saw someone made a rear cross bar, so i'll do the same
- I will look at getting one for the front

What else can i do, keep in mind, i don't really want to drop it - we have a lot of snow in winter...
I basically want to tighten up the cars handling. I'm used to a VW Jetta. I'm not planning on doing races, but i know this car can handle better, i've been in an Xrs and it wasn't as "wobbly"

Status: Not open for further replies.

1 - 20 of 29 Posts

thestone11

· #2 · Aug 25, 2010 (Edited)

Lowering Springs (TRD, Tein, Eibach)
Front strut brace (TRD, UR)
Rear sway bar (TRD, UR)
Various bars from Ultra Racing
Performance shocks
coilovers (megan)
Better tires (lower profile)
Wider Rims

If your city got a lot of snow in the winter, TRD lowering springs will be your choice, it has a mild drop. I started out with Tein S tech, but they are too low for me, so I am running TRD now.

Dragon-88

· #3 · Aug 25, 2010

TRD springs is the way to go. I did mine I live in Vancouver BC so we get a good amount of snow. My drop is barely even noticeable ride is nice but the curves are great.. I can take hairpin turns with no effort.

ilikebass7

· #4 · Aug 25, 2010

i say trd springs because little drop great ride quality and much better handling along with a rear strut brace and front strut brace and possibly UR 19 MM sway bar. Thats the setup im looking to get

ej063090

· #5 · Aug 26, 2010

+1 TRD Works. My Corolla handles as good, if not better than my VR6 did. MK4 BTW.

Dimaoala

· #6 · Aug 26, 2010

thestone11 said:
Lowering Springs (TRD, Tein, Eibach)
Front strut brace (TRD, UR)
Rear sway bar (TRD, UR)
Various bars from Ultra Racing
Performance shocks
coilovers (megan)
Better tires (lower profile)
Wider Rims

If your city got a lot of snow in the winter, TRD lowering springs will be your choice, it has a mild drop. I started out with Tein S tech, but they are too low for me, so I am running TRD now.

+1 Sounds good :thumbsup:

S_Project

· #7 · Aug 26, 2010

thestone11 said:
Lowering Springs (TRD, Tein, Eibach)
Front strut brace (TRD, UR)
Rear sway bar (TRD, UR)
Various bars from Ultra Racing
Performance shocks
coilovers (megan)
Better tires (lower profile)
Wider Rims

If your city got a lot of snow in the winter, TRD lowering springs will be your choice, it has a mild drop. I started out with Tein S tech, but they are too low for me, so I am running TRD now.

+1. :thumbsup:

PhatRoyale

· #8 · Aug 26, 2010

Strip the car of all its parts and spot weld the entire chassis.

SuperchargedMR2

· #9 · Aug 26, 2010

Cadman1981 said:
Hi Guys,
I'm just curious to know your suggestions. I have 2009 Corolla S, and i would like to help improve the handling, especially the side to side lane changing... (long story, but lets not get into that)

So i am looking at:
- getting 17" mags, so there is less sidewall flexing
- I saw someone made a rear cross bar, so i'll do the same
- I will look at getting one for the front

What else can i do, keep in mind, i don't really want to drop it - we have a lot of snow in winter...
I basically want to tighten up the cars handling. I'm used to a VW Jetta. I'm not planning on doing races, but i know this car can handle better, i've been in an Xrs and it wasn't as "wobbly"

My 09 Corolla S handles great, just like it's on rails & it still has a great ride. :naughty: My setup is as follows & you can search "Ultra Racing" & "TRD" for the threads to see plenty of pics of my car. :thumbsup:

TRD Springs
TRD Front Strut Brace
UR Front Lower Chassis Brace
TRD Rear Sway Bar
UR 19mm Rear Sway Bar
UR Rear Upper Strut Brace
UR Rear Lower Chassis Brace
17" Enkei 17x8 Wheels
225/45R17 General Exclaim UHP Tires

ilikebass7

· #10 · Aug 26, 2010

id be willing to say Jims car has the most suspension work done to it.

v8eaterWRX

· #11 · Aug 26, 2010

PhatRoyale said:
Strip the car of all its parts and spot weld the entire chassis.

hahahaha hell ya

This is the same basic mod for every vehicle. Sway bars, coilovers or good springs, good tires, any chassis braces.

I had coilovers with the springs at fully preloaded, tubular chassis, and sways on my Suby and it would dogleg in the corners on the track. Was literally on rails, zero body roll whatsoever.

Persian Scarface

· #12 · Aug 26, 2010

SuperchargedMR2 said:
My 09 Corolla S handles great, just like it's on rails & it still has a great ride. :naughty: My setup is as follows & you can search "Ultra Racing" & "TRD" for the threads to see plenty of pics of my car. :thumbsup:

TRD Springs
TRD Front Strut Brace
UR Front Lower Chassis Brace
TRD Rear Sway Bar
UR 19mm Rear Sway Bar
UR Rear Upper Strut Brace
UR Rear Lower Chassis Brace
17" Enkei 17x8 Wheels
225/45R17 General Exclaim UHP Tires

i always thought you had 18" rims lol

SuperchargedMR2

· #13 · Aug 26, 2010

Persian Scarface said:
i always thought you had 18" rims lol

I liked the look of the 17", plus they are lighter & have a better ride without giving up any handling. In fact I read a comparison in a magazine a while back that showed the 17" tire actually handled better than the 18" as it was able to give better feedback with a slightly more forgiving sidewall. The same thing happened with my MR2, when I tried 205/40R17 tires they handled worse than the 205/45R16 tires that I'm running now.

Persian Scarface

· #14 · Aug 26, 2010

thats good to know, ill keep that in mind. thanks :thumbsup:

Cadman1981

Discussion Starter · #15 · Sep 2, 2010

Thanks for all your help guys! I had a Jetta MK2, so if you say it handles better than a VR6 MK4, that's the direction i want to go!

- Anyone know the average price of the TRD springs? (i'm in Montreal, Quebec)

- My 16" mags that came with the car are actually heavier (!) than my steel rims for winter. Are the stock XRS 17" mags just has heavy, if not more?

- Are the TRD swaybars worth it? or should i got aftermarket?

thestone11

· #16 · Sep 2, 2010

Cadman1981 said:
Thanks for all your help guys! I had a Jetta MK2, so if you say it handles better than a VR6 MK4, that's the direction i want to go!

- Anyone know the average price of the TRD springs? (i'm in Montreal, Quebec)

- My 16" mags that came with the car are actually heavier (!) than my steel rims for winter. Are the stock XRS 17" mags just has heavy, if not more?

- Are the TRD swaybars worth it? or should i got aftermarket?

TRD springs are about $150USD, and because you will have to order over the border, so about $50 CAN to go on top for brokerage fee when delivery. The 16" on the S is lighter than the 17" on the XRS for sure.

For suspension work, one bar isn't gonna give you really noticeable difference...it adds up. So go step by step....until you hit up to jim's level...haha. Then your corolla will handles very nice, "like on rails" quote from jim..

PhatRoyale

· #17 · Sep 2, 2010

thestone11 said:
For suspension work, one bar isn't gonna give you really noticeable difference...it adds up. So go step by step....until you hit up to jim's level...haha. Then your corolla will handles very nice, "like on rails" quote from jim..

Example of a car that handles like it's on rails:

Unless your car can do that regularly, I would say it doesn't deserve that kind of bragging right.

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qcfc88

· #18 · Sep 3, 2010 (Edited)

thestone11 said:
TRD springs are about $150USD, and because you will have to order over the border, so about $50 CAN to go on top for brokerage fee when delivery. The 16" on the S is lighter than the 17" on the XRS for sure.

For suspension work, one bar isn't gonna give you really noticeable difference...it adds up. So go step by step....until you hit up to jim's level...haha. Then your corolla will handles very nice, "like on rails" quote from jim..

FYI, when I ordered my rear sway bar from TRD Sparks they shipped it to me via USPS, not UPS (to Nova Scotia) and I didn't pay any fees or duty. Never get anything shipped to Canada via UPS or FedEx ...

FWIW, the rear sway bar made a noticeable difference. When I added my DIY front and rear strut bars, it helped the handling even that much more. At the moment I'm working on frame braces ... then I'll be half as worthy as Jim!

thestone11

· #19 · Sep 3, 2010

qcfc88 said:
FYI, when I ordered my rear sway bar from TRD Sparks they shipped it to me via USPS, not UPS (to Nova Scotia) and I didn't pay any fees or duty. Never get anything shipped to Canada via UPS or FedEx ...

FWIW, the rear sway bar made a noticeable difference. When I added my DIY front and rear strut bars, it helped the handling even that much more. At the moment I'm working on frame braces ... then I'll be half as worthy as Jim!

They no longer ship with USPS. I talked to those guys lately, they said they changed their shipping company to UPS now. So there will be brokerage fee for Canadian buyers.

v8eaterWRX

· #20 · Sep 3, 2010

PhatRoyale said:
Example of a car that handles like it's on rails:

Unless your car can do that regularly, I would say it doesn't deserve that kind of bragging right.

Exactly. I always laugh when I hear that term thrown around. It takes a hell of a lot more than springs and sways to handle that good.

1 - 20 of 29 Posts

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