1G Ground Control Coil Overs worth it?

[Bladeliger]

Hi,

Will ground control coil overs help in handling or it just looks?

I have a 17" mags the evo 8 oem

Diveline is stock but will soon upgrade the rear to a LSD 4 bolt.

Suspension techniques rear swaybar.

Agx shocks

My car will be mostly streer driven with occasional weekend track use circuit style not drag.

and I'm open for suggestions.

Thanks

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

Hi,

Will ground control coil overs help in handling or it just looks?

I have a 17" mags the evo 8 oem

Diveline is stock but will soon upgrade the rear to a LSD 4 bolt.

Suspension techniques rear swaybar.

Agx shocks

My car will be mostly streer driven with occasional weekend track use circuit style not drag.

and I'm open for suggestions.

Thanks

I just put the Ground control kit on my 2g. It sits about 3 inches lower, although you can set it about an inch lower than I have it, and 4 inches higher. They are not only for looks, they actually really help with the performance. My car corners much much better than it did on the stock suspension. The only negative that I noticed is harsher driving over speed bumps. Since you stated that it will be a track car, I highly recommend this kit.

 

[pagosa dsm]

I have ground control and ground control camber plates. I made some custom housing to fit a set of Bistein HD struts and shocks. I use 375 lbs in the front and 250 lbs in the rear.

 

[Murdertalon]

Ground control kit on a 2g is great. 600/400 on konis. I may try 350# rear later. I set it up for about a 1" drop. The performance difference in handling is quite good. I have my car jacked up pretty high for winter which actually didn't hurt handling nearly as much as I thought it would. Keep in mind the suspension linkage is much different 1g vs 2g so what works great on a 2g spring rate might not be ideal on 1g. I wouldn't go any lower spring rate front on my setup.

 

[609DSM]

When I was researching I consistently found that a lot of people praise feals over any other suspension. I've never owned them but I read that feals actually did research with the eclipse cars when making their product for the vehicle. I have also read just as good reviews about koni and ground control kits. I suppose it is what you ultimately decide to go with, depending on price point and the specific use and what you want to get from them. I believe feals are the most expensive but I could be wrong on that, havent looked up prices for all of them

 

[609DSM]

Just looked it up and a full coilover kit from GC is about the same as the feal kit

 

[Ludachris]

Largely depends on what shocks you use, how you pair those shocks with the right spring rates for what you're doing, and how you set up the geometry to make it all work together - as well as the condition of your other components (bushings, end links, tie rod ends, etc). If you install the kit and use crap shocks then the kit won't do much besides give you the ability to adjust height and make the car feel sporty because it's lowered. If you read through some of the suspension FAQs and articles, you'll find that Ground Control kits, paired with Koni shocks have proven to give good results for those tracking their 1G's.

For 2G's, they aren't the best option due to them not having a proper upper mount on the fronts.

Resources > 1G Upgrade Paths > Road Racing Guide:
https://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/1g-dsm-road-race-setup-guide.476777/

 

[Ludachris]

When I was researching I consistently found that a lot of people praise feals over any other suspension. I've never owned them but I read that feals actually did research with the eclipse cars when making their product for the vehicle. I have also read just as good reviews about koni and ground control kits. I suppose it is what you ultimately decide to go with, depending on price point and the specific use and what you want to get from them. I believe feals are the most expensive but I could be wrong on that, havent looked up prices for all of them

For the 2G, Feals are the way to go due to their upper front mounts. The 1G's have a couple other good options - you can actually get a set of Ohlins designed for the Evo to work from Muellerized. That's probably the top option available for the 1G. The 2G doesn't have many quality options that don't have to be pieced together outside of the Feals, outside of the bargain coilover kits out there with improper upper front mounts.

 

[609DSM]

For the 2G, Feals are the way to go due to their upper front mounts. The 1G's have a couple other good options - you can actually get a set of Ohlins designed for the Evo to work from Muellerized. That's probably the top option available for the 1G. The 2G doesn't have many quality options that don't have to be pieced together outside of the Feals, outside of the bargain coilover kits out there with improper upper front mounts.

Thanks for the clarification luda! That's probably why I kept seeing feals, I love the 1g but I am more interested in 2g for my future build car since there are more supported mods being made for them than the 1g

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

The Ground Control kits are perfect for the 2g only if you pair them with the proper struts. Stock struts are stepped down to fit stock springs. You need to buy struts that are flat instead of stepped, this way they will fit the Ground Control sleeves, which are flat.

I used Tokico struts with my Eibach Ground Controls with a washer and half bushing, to keep from having to spend even larger money than I already did, just for some flat struts.

 

[LaserRS92]

I believe the op was in regards to a 1g application.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

I believe the op was in regards to a 1g application.

The same rules still apply. Stock 1g struts are also stepped similar to the 2gs.

 

[Ludachris]

And for what it's worth, if you do go with Ground Control on a 1g, the only shocks that I know of that are designed with a shorter travel (lowered ride height) and stiffer spring rates in mind are the Konis, at least they were years ago. All others that are designed for the stock ride height are susceptible to premature wear when you install them on a lowered car with substantially stiffer spring rates. The KYB AGX have always been a common option due to their lower price point, and some have done well with them in autocross, but quite a few have found that they don't last too long with lowered ride height (me included) and are less compliant than the Koni yellows. For whatever that's worth.

 

[LaserRS92]

Konis haven't been available for awhile for 1gs. I'm unsatisfied with an agx/pro-kit combo so Feals are next for me. No decent out of the box strut option for the GC kit anymore.

 

[pagosa dsm]

I suggest you call Bilsein USA tech service and ask them what might work. That is how I discovered that a 3000gt would work for my 92 Talon
Rick

 

[Ludachris]

Konis haven't been available for awhile for 1gs. I'm unsatisfied with an agx/pro-kit combo so Feals are next for me. No decent out of the box strut option for the GC kit anymore.

The rears were discontinued but some have been making the 2g rears work with some modification. Are the fronts discontinued now too?

 

[Jon Lane]

And for what it's worth, if you do go with Ground Control on a 1g, the only shocks that I know of that are designed with a shorter travel (lowered ride height) and stiffer spring rates in mind are the Konis, at least they were years ago. All others that are designed for the stock ride height are susceptible to premature wear when you install them on a lowered car with substantially stiffer spring rates. The KYB AGX have always been a common option due to their lower price point, and some have done well with them in autocross, but quite a few have found that they don't last too long with lowered ride height (me included) and are less compliant than the Koni yellows. For whatever that's worth.

I found all that true for the 2G. The AGX have a very finite lifespan and compared to the Koni Sports, ride poorly. When set up well in a GC kit, the Sports are just fantastic, at least for GT. Tremendous ride and control on the street.

Must-haves include a Dennis Grant-style top assembly: Spherical shock rod bearing plus Torrington spring seat bearing, plus your choice of aluminum spring seat and shock mount flange. Use sensible springs and ratios, which for a 2G fall in the 400/250 range. Set the Sport's damping to about halfway for those rates.

Even with Paul Volk's excellent LCA arms and their solid sphericals the effect is significantly better to drive than the stock arrangement with its softer springs and rubber mounts all around.