To minimize body roll which would you do first? Shocks or sways?

I find the legacy stock handling to be downright scary with how horrible the body roll is as well as how bouncy the soft suspension is.

 

I've been finding mostly mixed reviews on best bet to eliminate body roll or at least significantly reduce it.

I do want to keep this car very comfortable and stock looking for the most part.

 

I'm trying to see between doing koni shocks or rear/front and rear sways.

 

If shocks would be the best bet I'd imagine even on softest setting it would be a vast improvement over stock? Soft setting still greatly reduce the body roll and bounce?

Shocks won't reduce body roll.

 

Springs will, but sway bars will more.

 

First, pick a spring, then match the shock/strut to the spring, then add sway bars.

Shocks don't reduce body roll on this car? I find that very hard to believe. Made a huge difference on my S2000.

I would plan to get the Eibach/epic springs with the koni shocks.

If your struts are shot then yes new ones will help with body roll or going stiffer. Sounds to me you struts are blown. Once you have sorted that out. You can improve even more with bigger sway bars and new poly bushings.

I don't think they are blown but who knows. My other car is a highly modified S2000 so I am sure that aids in how horrible the handling feels in the legacy. My 2008 legacy now has 75k miles on it. Bought it with 65k in January. Do shocks blow that early on in this car? No moisture around shocks or anything.

Well comparing it to an s2000 it probably will feel loose. That cars has a very short wheel base and plus you say it is heavily modded so pretty obvious your stock lgt wont feel anything like it. These cars have struts not shocks. They are similar in there jobs but different. If you hit a dip in the road and your car is bouncing afterwards then they are blown. Shocks and struts are meant to absorb the impact and keep your car stable. Struts can last 100k plus sometimes but all depends on driving habits. I think they recommended to be replaced at 60k but all manufacturers have diff recommendations. Ive seen strut blown in 30k but mainly on chryslers.

Hmm maybe they are. Did a push down bounce test and didn't seem bad but on big dips it certainly feels like it bounces a bit. When on highway if I jerk the steering wheel a little the whole cars feels terrible with how it sways/rolls.

Larger rear sway bar will immediately show results in body roll but that won't help with bounciness or lousy damping. Front and rear poly bushings and good endlinks will help even more but these won't help with bounciness or lousy damping.

 

Springs will help some with body roll but won't help with bounciness.

 

The ONLY thing that helps with bounciness is the struts. Most likely that and springs should be your first priority. Once you have the car back to where it should be with all these parts good, THEN, you can improve on it with sway bars. You may not even want to improve it once it's all good again.

Yeah looks like I'll do koni yellows and eibach springs and see how I like that.

I don't want a harsh ride at all but need it to feel at least a bit more stable and planted.

I agree with the above statement to just make sure everything is in good working order.

 

Then new sways. All of the components make a difference but sways will make the most change. Example, I'm an avid Top Gear fan (both UK and US). They had a Bentley Continental GT I think it was that was a stripped out Bentley basically with over 600hp. Do you know what the biggest change they made to get better handling was? Replaced the sways with massive ones. So I think sways will be most effective. I mean, that's the sole purpose of them. That and a diet but I'm personally not stripping anything out of my car.

 

On my RSX-S I just changed the rear sway and it was awesome. Just gave the car balance. Then, I put on strut tower bars. They don't help with body roll, but rigidity. It really improved the turn in response. Then I put on Aspec (sportier factory suspension) struts, shocks, and springs. I think the LGT suspension is already pretty decent. My personal taste would just be a rear sway and leave it. I'm not going to race it.

Shock control the movement of the spring, to a degree.

In quick back and forth movement, shocks help quite a bit.

In long sweeping corners, not as much.

Let me rephrase:

Shocks can help with body roll a little.

I'd list them as #3, behind sway bars, and springs.

 

If you want the best ride(compromise between comfort and performance), match the shocks to the spring, then add sway bars.

Yeah and as part of your checks, make sure the bushings are good on the sways. It can make a big difference.

Thanks for the tips guys! After I do konis and springs I'll do a rear bar with end links and mounts and see how that feels. The car on highway now feels like the cars a snake lol. Jerk the steering wheel and the car had that snake moving feel.

These cars have struts not shocks. They are similar in there jobs but different.

I always get the the terminology mixed up here but the rears are shocks, are they not? Only the fronts are struts...

 

Anyway, dampers well.... they dampen the force being exerted on and by the springs. SO, if you have 2 cars with the only difference being the dampers and you are on a loooong sweeping turn, the one with the stiffer dampers won't roll any less overall compared to the softer dampers, BUT it will take longer to "settle" in its most rolled position. This is good for 2 reasons:

• weight transfer is more controlled and gradual and therefore more predictable
  
• on shorter curves, the car will roll less because the dampers don't allow you to "roll" the full amount in the short amount of time you're actually in the curve
  

 

Furthermore, in a series of S curves where weight is transferred back and forth, stiffer dampers will significantly improve handling compared to the softer dampers.

 

So saying that dampers don't help with body roll isn't exactly correct. The real answer is: it depends, but yes, it can help.

 

Stiffer springs will also help with body roll, all other things being equal between two setups but bear in mind that a stiffer spring requires stiffer rebound dampening to control it.

 

Sway bars connect your left and right side suspension and should make the most noticeable difference with regards to body roll. They're also the cheapest to reduce body roll.

 

BUT keep this in mind: springs and dampers have much more affect overall than just the sway bars. Springs and dampers will improve predictability of weight transfer, drop your car a bit (if you want... Epics are about 1" all around), reduce brake dive and acceleration squat, and also handle irregularities in the road better. They also allow your suspension sides to maintain some independence whereas meaty sway bars don't.

Sways are the biggest change to the suspension after tires.

Just get a matching kit of swaybars, springs and shocks.

PM m sprank. Ask him for advice and buy the pieces from him.

 

He'll take good care of you.

 

It really is that simple.

 

Another great member is Mike at http://www.AZPinstalls.com

 

FWIW, the Koni's and Epic's I got from m sprank transformed my wagon. It handles better the my Spec B.

Ok cool. I'll send them a pm soon. I get really good deals from another vendor on s2ki.com since I'm also a vendor on there I get hook ups but I do like to support forum vendors as much as I can!

Ok cool. I'll send them a pm soon. I get really good deals from another vendor on s2ki.com since I'm also a vendor on there I get hook ups but I do like to support forum vendors as much as I can!

 

Great, my son has a yellow S2K.

Oh very nice!

The hotckis sways I'm running made a big difference on my car that was previously on just springs. The additon of koni's just completed the package.

 

Though now I want some KW coilovers. It never ends, sigh.

I think sways are the start.

 

Also when comparing it to the S, you need to remember that's one of the stiffer stock setups, plus if you're modified even stiffer. There are considerable limitations to teh chassis on the Legacy as well. It's very soft and flexy.

 

This was instantly noticed the first time I jacked it up. Just keep in mind, to get it close to your sports car will require heavy modification.

Yeah I have no plans to get it anywhere near as stiff as the S2000. That thing now has basically zero body roll at all. Feels like it is on tracks now.

 

I just want the legacy to not feel scary on bumping curvy roads. I've gone stage 2 so far and upgrading the turbo to a 16g soon which should be fine for my daily but think it is time for a little bit of a suspension overhaul.

Sways are the biggest change to the suspension after tires.

 

This

You ever think to check your alignment? It can have a HUGE effect on handling over bumps and on the highway.