Why performance suspension upgrades?

Tuning your car's suspension with suspension upgrades will normally reduce ride height, improving the centre of gravity which in turn improves handling and responsiveness.

When you corner your car, the chassis rolls, and the faster you corner, the more it rolls. During the time that you're cornering, the weight of the car is transferred to the four corners. If you're taking a right corner, more weight is distributed to the front left wheel and the least weight is carried by the rear right wheel. If you add braking into the mix as you're cornering, even more weight is distributed to the front right wheel.

During a corner manoeuver, whilst the weight gets transferred as discussed above, but the suspension can compress, changing the angle of the tire, and therefore reducing the amount or changing the section of the tyre which has contact with the road.

Also as you corner or accelerate, the car chassis rolls and compresses the suspension. If your car has a higher centre of gravity, you will have more body roll and when you brake you'll be transferring more weight to the front tyres. This chassis roll will change the suspension angles, which again will alter the footprint of the tyre by changing the location of the suspension mounting points in reference to the road.

Lowering springs

Lowering springs can make a difference in handling by lowering the centre of gravity and preventing body roll. Best bought with new shocks and struts, as if you install new springs on worn shocks or struts, the new springs are going to overpower the rebound and compression dampening capabilities, making your ride even worse.

Anti-roll bars

Anti-roll bars are often overlooked as a suspension modification. They work like springs with levers that only work when the chassis rolls. Bars attach to the chassis and then links connect them to the lower control arms or struts. The change in position of the control arms will cause the bar to lift the chassis on one side and pull it down on the other depending on the direction of the turn.

Poly Suspension bushes

Whilst suspension bushes are there to act as a cushion, controlling the amount of movement in the joints reducing road noise and vibration, performance poly bushes will offer longevity along with an enhanced feel for the road that rubber bushes won't. Non poly suspension bushes will sometimes slow down the response time in your handling with lots of excess suspension movement, which is OK when you're driving at 40mph down a straight road, but what if you want to corner quickly? Polyurethane bushings are firmer than most rubber, so it doesn’t flex or deflect as much as rubber. By reducing the excess suspension movement, polyurethane makes the suspension more efficient and more responsive to the driver.  Polyurethane is not just for race car drivers, but any driving enthusiast who wants more performance and handling from their vehicle.

Uprated rubber bushes are also available, from the likes of Hardrace, who use their innovative rubber compound rather than polyurethane to minimise noise and vibration transmission. Check out our range of suspension bushes here > 

Coilovers

A coilover is essentially a spring wrapped around a shock absorber that helps with 'damping', absorbing impact on the road. Coilovers will help to improve your car's handling, and setting up a custom suspension can help to do more of the work in cornering and other parts of the drive. Coilovers are adjustable, which is great for anyone who want's a low ride for their car. The ability to set your suspension any way you want (for instance setting it to high for off-road driving) is a big plus for coilovers.

Coilover manufacturers like BC Racing, Eiback, GAZ Shocks, MeisterR, TEIN, Whiteline and Yellow Speed Racing all offer excellent quality and build in their coilovers. View ID-Workz full range of performance suspension upgrades here.