iight i just got my tC like 2 weeks ago and i plan to work on the suspension and interior on it mostly. ive been eyeing the Hotckis Sway Bar set for a minute and ive been told its the best way to go for the tC.

now a friend at work who has his celica HEAVILY modded, he pretty much plants my face on this window his suspension is so tight. now he said he wouldnt reccomend that for me due to that fact that its not something that you can get get used too. he said the steering becomes ultra repsonsive and if your not familiar driving a car like that its not the safest thing to do.

my question is is that really the case? i consider myself a fairly good driver normal and aggresive driving .

is there another setup i should be considering. my goal is pretty much to be able turn when i want to turn and be able to take most any turn at any speed the stock engine can dish out.

what yall think??

 

if you want performance get a coilover setup.

 

Go all TRD..its the most cost effective and the results are guaranteed. When you go coilovers you have the option to adjust the car in such a way that it can be dangerous to drive. Even the Hotckis sways give you the option to dial in too much oversteer which is not what you are looking for. If you get TRD shocks, springs and rear swaybar along with some nice tires you will be able to handle anything you will ever see on the street and even be able to push it hard on the track if you ever decide to do that.

 

^ I agree fully as well... Best solution for real world driving.

 

I agree also, i just installed the trd sway bar today to go along with my trd springs/shocks and it feels great around corners. i'd recommend this setup for daily driving.

btw, what do you have it set on? street or track? i have mine set to street but it there that noticeable difference between the two?

 

If he wants performance don't get trd. Too much body roll for performance driving, thats what he said he wanted.

Get either S-techs, new shocks, and once you get used to that get some sways or go ahead and get coilovers and sways. I wouldn't recommend at all 19s or 20s for rims if you want to do a lot of agressive driving, and or performance driving at the tracks. TRDs and hotchkis aren't designed to be straight performance. For the most part, they are designed to give slightly better handling than stock but not so much performance. They perform better yes, but as i said above, still almost as much body roll as stock. Even with swapped shocks.

Also, the lower you go you do have to watch your driving a lot more. It becomes second nature once you get used to it, but you do have to be careful with steep driveways going in and out, pot holes and anything along the lines of that so you don't scrape. But, its worth it if performance is what your after. Plus, less wheel gap the cleaner its going to look. tC sits high anyway in my opinion.

Anyway, don't let that scare you from what you want. If you really want performance tuned suspension, s-techs or coilovers. if tanabe releases df210s, i strongly recommend them as well.

Cya

 

^Not Correct

The Hotchkis Setup SIGNIFICANTLY reduces body roll and is no way similiar to stock... it's actually too stiff for me... you can even notice a significant difference with the TRD setup... although the Hotchkis is tighter... There still is body roll, but nothing similiar to stock...

You have to be REALLY careful not to tune in too much oversteer... don't push things too far unless you take some track days and learn how suspension tuning impacts how you drive.

That's why instigator and I suggest more conservative modifications first... and the advice your friend gave you is good... step up a bit and later you can go as tight as you want... worst thing is to jump in over your skill level.

 

That is simply not true at all. The performance is much much better than stock with a significant reduction in body roll. For what he is looking for it is more than adequate. If he wants to upgrade to Hotchkis sways at a later date it will make even more of a difference but I cant see anybody needing more than TRD shocks and springs w/ Hotchkis sways on a street only car...ever.

 

LOL..were double teaming him

 

I think he just likes to contradict me...

Heck, if you and I agree about it... it must hold SOME merit.

I'm the Scion tC obsessed Mod freak and you're the brakes and track guy...

Tag Team Back Again!

 

I've beat a few tCs in autox. One had trd springs, trd shocks, i/h/e and a few other ins and odds. He had a pretty good amount of body roll, i've seen and beat also a tC with stock suspension set up obviously with lots of body roll. It made a slight visual difference, the trd guy still had a very good amount of body roll. More than you would want to with performance suspension. Even TRD doesn't claim the set up to be for performance. Its an upgrade from stock, but by no means is it tuned for straight performance such as track. And i've seen it in person to back up my statements. I never said it does nothing, it does help. But still body roll.

Cya

 

wedrivescions, why is it 80% of the time when we post in the same thread we debate? Oh well, atleast you know how to keep it friendly.

Cya

 

As long as you know at the end of the Day.... I'm the one with the tC! BOOYAA!

Just Kidding.... You know your stuff.

 

Youre right that they are not track setups, but he doesnt want to track the car..its a beginner setup for a guy that wants to improve over stock and still have it driveable everyday..that is exactly what the TRD stuff does. There is body roll I agree but its nothing ridiculous. Its very driveable and controllable. I posted this picture in a thread a while back and its also my avatar and it shows that the body roll is by no means excessive:



FYI, this is an extended 180 degree turn and the car maintains this level of roll throughout the turn..it would be very difficult to get the car to roll over more than this.

 

Hey, i beat your kind on the tracks. I know your kind, *squints eyes* Thats right.

Oh, and i guess you are right about the skill level. I've been doing this for a while, and been around it longer. So i suppose i'm not thinking in terms of a beginner level. Something we all agree on though, trd and hotchkis deliver body roll. I've seen trd first hand, lots of body roll. You guys claim its significant, so i suppose he will just have to try it and figure out if its too much for him or not. Hotckis set up is very similar to the trd in terms of how stiff the springs are, both have very similar drops as well.

Cya

 

How fast were you going though? I agree, thats not too bad as far as body roll goes but the trd guy i've personally seen had more body roll then that around quite a few corners and almost lost it during about a 120degree corner because he thought his tC handled better than it can with that set up.

Cya

 

The Hotchkis Sways are what he was looking into... I agree that springs are not going to do too much to kill the roll, but the Hotchkis sways are super-stiff, almost too much for some people... the TRD sways do help a lot as well

 

Obviously nothing touches coilovers, but i've had success with the df210s.

Cya

 

In the picture I am at corner exit..probably entered in the mid 40mph range and maintain throughout. Im accelerating out here so Id say 40-45mph. Depending on the driver and the track I can bet you have seen worse...and as far as spinning the car, I couldnt imaging even being able to do that on the track with this setup unless you are really ham-fisted. The worst I ever felt was a little wiggle and that was on a downhill braking zone.

If you were seeing more roll than that, then the driver was not very smooth and was probably just throwing the car around which is never a good idea. From inside the car its very controllable and confidence inspiring which is why I reccomned it so highly. Have you driven a tC yourself with this setup?

 

I totally missed your post...I have mine set on race...I installed it that way and havent ever changed it