Hi all. Long time lurker here, but first time poster. With the track day/time trial season looking like it will be shortened because of COVID, my car is only going to be seeing street driving for the foreseeable future. Instead of springing for a new set of coil overs for the track, I think the $$$ would be better off spent on a nice set of shocks & struts for the street. My car is a 2012 GT with Steeda shocks & struts that have 30k+ miles on them, and don't exactly provide the best ride possible. I'm looking at Koni, Bilstein B6, or Ford Performance right now and was wondering what others would suggest. Some specs for reference:
Tires: Michelin PS4 275/40R19 all around
Springs: I have both BMR lowering springs for the street (165 lb/in front, 160 lb/in rear) or SR lowering springs (225 lb/in front, 200 lb/in rear) that I use for the track
Bump stops: Ford Performance kit
Front mods: GT500 strut mounts
Rear mods: full BMR kit (re-location brackets, trailing links (poly/rod end), 3rd link (poly), adj PH bar with rod ends)
I realize my rear end setup isn't helping me for street comfort, but it's not really the gear whine that bothers me as much as the bouncing over the pothole'd New England roads. I'd think that the softer BMR springs would give a better ride than the SR's, but since they are shorter they engage the bump stops earlier which probably makes them act stiffer overall. I don't generally want to cut bump stops since the Ford engineers are smarter than me when it comes to designing these things, but I think it could help make that initial bit of travel over smaller bumps a bit softer. I'll have to be very careful to ensure I cut both sides about the same (+/- .1 in) to ensure consistent engagement. A lot of this is thinking aloud, but I would like to get some input before breaking out the cutoff wheel and blindly charging the credit card.
Tires: Michelin PS4 275/40R19 all around
Springs: I have both BMR lowering springs for the street (165 lb/in front, 160 lb/in rear) or SR lowering springs (225 lb/in front, 200 lb/in rear) that I use for the track
Bump stops: Ford Performance kit
Front mods: GT500 strut mounts
Rear mods: full BMR kit (re-location brackets, trailing links (poly/rod end), 3rd link (poly), adj PH bar with rod ends)
I realize my rear end setup isn't helping me for street comfort, but it's not really the gear whine that bothers me as much as the bouncing over the pothole'd New England roads. I'd think that the softer BMR springs would give a better ride than the SR's, but since they are shorter they engage the bump stops earlier which probably makes them act stiffer overall. I don't generally want to cut bump stops since the Ford engineers are smarter than me when it comes to designing these things, but I think it could help make that initial bit of travel over smaller bumps a bit softer. I'll have to be very careful to ensure I cut both sides about the same (+/- .1 in) to ensure consistent engagement. A lot of this is thinking aloud, but I would like to get some input before breaking out the cutoff wheel and blindly charging the credit card.