Shock recommendations?

[Brett Dikeman]

At 5:48 PM -0400 5/24/02, Bryan Foster wrote:

>   I also read something about the '90 V8 shocks being the same as
>the '91 200.

Nope.

>   Will I have better luck asking for V8 shocks?  Already went
>through some hassle trying to get a quote from shox.com.

http://www.gatm.com/cars/200suspension.html

...that should help.  It was from Greg Amy, who answered me asking
almost the exact same question(except I knew I wanted Bilsteins/H&Rs,
because I had rode in his car/driven it once, and liked the combo.)

>Finally, are there other suspension components I should think about
>replacing in addition to the shocks?  I don't want to go overboard, but I
>do want a tight ride, and no problems later on.

If you've got the time, take the car down to Shine Racing Service in
Walpole(among other things, there is a commuter line stop nearby and
they're happy to drop you off+pick you up.)  I had my suspension done
there, and asked them to give everything a once over.  They are total
pros at this sort of thing, and the car came back tight as a button
and a total joy to drive.

We're actually working on organizing a tech session at Shine in
mid-June; they've said that among other things, they'd be happy to
work on a customer's car in front of everyone, and you may be a
perfect victi...I mean, uh, subject! :-)  I'll certainly be there, as
will probably a bunch of other folk..maybe at least one other
200q20v, so you could get a taste, at the least, for what options are
out there.

On stock rims and 215/65/15 tires, I absolutely loved the
H&Rs/Bilsteins.  The car had amazing composure on all sorts of road
surfaces, and the tires provided plenty of comfort(just not enough
grip; D60 A2's suddenly became the limit)  Only negative was that
ground clearance wasn't terrific; I'd scrape on things every once in
a while, mostly when laden down with coworkers and such.

Now, with the larger 17" rims and 245/45 Firehawk SZ50's, clearance
is no longer an issue(I have yet to scrape on anything), but I
dislike the ride(too harsh) and the weight of the wheels(29lb, almost
double the stock rims; Greg was running the lighter monobloc
calipers, so might explain why I loved his car, which also had 17"
rims, but find my car looses composure on bumpy roads; my sidewall
may also be much stiffer, dunno.)  Two people have told me now that
sidewall stiffness plays a big role in ride comfort, so if you run a
softer sidewall in the 17" size, you may be fine; I'd say that a
nice, lightweight 16" wheel would be the best choice overall,
however(easier to find snows for 16" rims, too, if you like to run
snows.  Same thing with more all-season oriented tires.)

Brett
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