new suspension

[Ken Keith]

Hi,

I finished the suspension on my 200q20v (mostly).  I went in the last
time to replace the control arms.  That's a fun job!  Those in
addition to Bilstein/Eibach's, 2B plates, S-car strut mount/spring
seat/strut bearings, dust boots, and tie rod ends.

I got it aligned and used up all the camber plate adjustment on one
side, while the other side was pretty much in the middle.  I'm
wondering if there's enough room in the subframe mounting area to move
it over and split the difference somehow.  I have heard the answer is
no.

I have the 1529.140 springs, and the rear is pretty low compared to
the front.  Of course the fender cutout is part of that, but the body
itself is either level or even lower in the back.  For example, I have
"half a finger" gap in the rear and "four fingers" in the front.  When
it is going down the road, it looks as if it is accelerating and
squatting, when it really isn't.

If it wasn't for the lack of further camber adjustment, I might cut a
coil off the fronts, but I want my tire wear to be decent so I'm not. 
I'm aware of the ECS spacers for the rear, and heard of some from
Shox.com too.  I would prefer to reserve the use of spacers for when I
have a speaker box in the trunk, and I think the 20mm spacers might
not even be enough to make it sit right.

I left a message with Eibach to see what they have to say about it, in
case they want to swap my rears for different springs, or offer
spacers.   I'm a bit surprised that it is so low in the back, because
I checked the part numbers on the springs themselves and they were
supposedly the longer of the different variations.  I don't remember
the numbers right now tho'.

Anyway, as far as how I like the suspension itself, how it handles and
rides, I have to say I like it.  When I first drove around the
neighborhood, I felt I had ruined my car.  All the ups and downs in
the road that were previously imperceptible moved the car, and the
texture of the surface itself seemed to be transmitted as well.  This
is even with the stock tires and wheels.

However, after driving it more and getting used to it, I have to say
I'm very pleased with the setup.  Shifting, launching, changing lanes,
and "emergency maneuvers" are much tighter and under control.  It does
transmit the undulations of the road surface, but I can't say it
bothers me as much as the initial shock of how dramatically the cars
personality changed.

Now I have to just deal with the low rear suspension issue, or accept
it, and then I will focus on getting some adequate braking in place. 
I'll work on getting some pics posted somewhere so someone can tell me
if its stance is normal for one of the 3 versions of 1529.140 kits.

Cheers,

Ken