My E feels like it will tip over every time o do a sharpe turn or quick move on the highway.

the stock suspension is working fine, but i need something more high proformance.


whats the answer??


wider tires??

better suspension? stiffer?


what have you guys done to improve the handling proformance?

A simple answer would be to relieve some pressure from the component behind the steering wheel, ie slow down before cornering, just like they do in NASCAR.:-)

I make what I'd call sharp turns. I've never had a problem with my E's stock suspension. My wife is always reaching for the panic handle over her door when I drive, but I'm always able to keep my E in my lane when turning at speeds driving under the speed limit. The stock suspension permitted me to avoid several interstate speed accidents, steering out of harms way without ever losing control.

It does feel like there's more roll than in a shorter vehicle like a sedan, but that could be because I'm sitting at least a foot higher. I guess that's why there's a yellow warning decal on the visor about sharp turns and high center of gravity.

You could try lowering your E, or widening the track (tires alone aren't enough), but I would think that anything to stiffen the suspension wouldn't improve the likelihood of rollover, just give it a less predictable, noisier, rougher ride.

^^ 2ed

It's the best handling box I have ever had on the track, other than an X5 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_X5). Not much will improve it to the point that it's a sports car.

Dom

It's the best handling box I have ever had on the track, other than an X5 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_X5). Not much will improve it to the point that it's a sports car.

Dom


Wut?! You had the E on the track? That's so cool. I am so sad that I had to hand back the keys to the BMW and that my track days were over... Hahaha... now I can mod the E... lol

Suspension techniques makes a front and rear swaybar kit. It is not listed to fit the 06 awd but from what I was reading it shouldn fit my 08 ex awd (not listed either).
I am pretty sure 06 is the same as 08 so you should be ok. I was about to order the kit but ended up buying wheels instead.

Better tires are the answer to get better handling. PERIOD. Put some good summer only rubber on the car and the handling can be transformed. If you want a really high performance street tire, get a Dunlop Direzza Z1 or Bridgestone RE11.

That said, I doubt they even offer these tires in E-approriate sizes (as they would be a ridiculous choice for this car), but a good performance tire will improve handling WAY mroe than any other suspension mod. A stickier tire will make your car roll more though, as you will have more grip.

If its ROLL thats your problem, and not overall grip levels, then sway bars are a good suggestion.

Better tires are the answer to get better handling. PERIOD. Put some good summer only rubber on the car and the handling can be transformed. If you want a really high performance street tire, get a Dunlop Direzza Z1 or Bridgestone RE11.

That said, I doubt they even offer these tires in E-approriate sizes (as they would be a ridiculous choice for this car), but a good performance tire will improve handling WAY mroe than any other suspension mod. A stickier tire will make your car roll more though, as you will have more grip.

If its ROLL thats your problem, and not overall grip levels, then sway bars are a good suggestion.

^^ +10

If you still have the stock tires get rid of them and head over to the Tires & Wheels section for some good recommendations.

^^ +10

If you still have the stock tires get rid of them and head over to the Tires & Wheels section for some good recommendations.

Yes! I just recently changed my OEM tires (had 35,000 miles on them) and man it makes a world of a difference. Feels like a completely different car.

The '05 E my wife had until July of 2009 had Cooper Discoverer ATR tires on it and handled very well in the twisties. The '06 she bought in January of this year had brand new (OEM stock) Goodyear Wrangler HP's on it. Her first driving impression was "Wow! this thing wanders all over the road compared to my old one." Then "I used to take that curve at 50 MPH in my other Element-now I have to slow to 40MPH."- The Wranglers are Super Horrible Insipid Tires (make the acronym folks:grin: ) The E will have new shoes before winter- anybody want some Wranglers with 7,500 miles on them:twisted:

I have 235/55R18 general exclaim uhp tires on mine and it handles great.

Get an SC, have independent suspension, twin sway bars and 18' wheels. Took mine in the GA mountains this past weekend and it stuck like glue. Don't know how the other models are set up.

I have 235/55R18 general exclaim uhp tires on mine and it handles great.
I have those same tires but in 245/40/20 on my E' and it handles so much better than any stock sized tire E I've ever driven. Drives like a totally different vehicle. 8)

Get an SC, have independent suspension, twin sway bars and 18' wheels. Took mine in the GA mountains this past weekend and it stuck like glue. Don't know how the other models are set up.


the SC just has upgraded parts stiffer struts,.9 inch lowering springs thicker rear sway bar. quicker steering rack, and the front and rear knuckles have the corrections cast in (camber,bump steer etc) and the 18 inch wheels

other then that they all have basicly beefed up ep3/rsx suspension hence why the SC feels exactly like my ep3 civic SI did till the tops of turns when the weight and height catches up to ya if you get alil overzealous


ide say go the same route the SC designers did. get the SC or aftermarket rear sway, light weight 18s/19s, good tires, i would say if you can go coilovers (over...struts,lowering springs) not sure what it would take to swap to an SC rack but im sure it would make it feel sportier

Some 18's with nice wide tires will do you just fine.

Ok, so I will upgrade to these tires from Discount Tires. Thanks for the help Matt:lips:

Goodyear Assurance TripleTred
235/65R-16 103T BSW

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/product/tires/gdypt5.xl.jpg



now for the suspension upgrade!

what do you guys think of the Ksport Kontrol Pro Coilovers/Springs
worth the $1k??


http://www.ninjamotorsports.com/images/ksport/KSPORT_KONTROL_PRO.jpg

Get an SC, have independent suspension, twin sway bars and 18' wheels. Took mine in the GA mountains this past weekend and it stuck like glue. Don't know how the other models are set up.

yes the SC handles more like a car compared to the LX and EX, one of the reasons i went for the SC.
Probably the most ideal way to get handling will be to convert the SC suspension to your car but I'm not sure if they are interchangeable. That rear swaybar is the key to how the Sc drives, but again I'm not sure if it'll fit the 4WD suspension.

Tires will help out, but without getting rid of the body roll first you will never be able to use the tires fullest potential, so it will be a waste of money.

That said I will change the suspension first, then tires.

yes the SC handles more like a car compared to the LX and EX, one of the reasons i went for the SC.
Probably the most ideal way to get handling will be to convert the SC suspension to your car but I'm not sure if they are interchangeable. That rear swaybar is the key to how the Sc drives, but again I'm not sure if it'll fit the 4WD suspension.



ide assume the sway would fit an EX. from what ive gathered the only diffrence in the rear sway is the diameter of the SC one

30.0 / 21.0 F/R EX in mm compared to 30.0 (solid) / 25.0 F/R SC

ide say the rear makes alil difference but the solid front should be a huge diff over the hollow unit. esp being that all your weight is in the front on sharp turns

ide assume the sway would fit an EX. from what ive gathered the only diffrence in the rear sway is the diameter of the SC one

30.0 / 21.0 F/R EX in mm compared to 30.0 (solid) / 25.0 F/R SC

ide say the rear makes alil difference but the solid front should be a huge diff over the hollow unit. esp being that all your weight is in the front on sharp turns

The SC sway will NOT fit on non SC E's. It has a different shape. As well as
different mounting points (I believe). People who have the SC tried to put on
the Suspension Techniques sways, and they didnt fit.

what about the coilover guys???:?

Suspension techniques makes a front and rear swaybar kit. It is not listed to fit the 06 awd but from what I was reading it shouldn fit my 08 ex awd (not listed either).
I am pretty sure 06 is the same as 08 so you should be ok. I was about to order the kit but ended up buying wheels instead.

im curious if anyone has used these and what kind of feedback there is? also what is the size of the oem sway bars? and the size of the suspension techniques bars??

im curious if anyone has used these and what kind of feedback there is? also what is the size of the oem sway bars? and the size of the suspension techniques bars??

I was wondering this as well. I am considering an ST rear bar.
I was hoping the solid SC bar would swap to the front but it sounds like thats not an option.

The front SC sway fits the an 04 EX rear however has different mounts and is a different shape.

The front SC sway fits the an 04 EX rear however has different mounts and is a different shape.

is that suppose to say the sc front sway fits on the ex but the rear sc sway will not fit the ex?

correct, I apparently didn't read before clicking submit.

The SC solid front sway is same diameter and shape swaps easily to the EX with no other parts required.

The rear SC bar is a different shape, the end link points are in the same place same but it would appear the bushing points are different.
It may fit with some modification.

correct, I apparently didn't read before clicking submit.

The SC solid front sway is same diameter and shape swaps easily to the EX with no other parts required.

The rear SC bar is a different shape, the end link points are in the same place same but it would appear the bushing points are different.
It may fit with some modification.

did you try it with the ex or sc rear endlinks? not sure if they are the same or different

did you try it with the ex or sc rear endlinks? not sure if they are the same or different

I used the non-SC endlinks, they do have different part numbers but I dont know if they are actually different. anyway, I dont think the endlinks are going to be a problem, Its the mount points for the bushing brackets are slightly different. It looks like on the SC they may be about 1-2 inches outboard.
I was hoping someone with an SC could take a picture of their setup.

Here are some photos to makle it easier to understand.

front bars = only difference is weight, solid vs. hollow.
http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/3618/img2218wo.th.jpg (http://img191.imageshack.us/i/img2218wo.jpg/)
rear bars are a little more complicated...
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/5549/img2224w.th.jpg (http://img530.imageshack.us/i/img2224w.jpg/)
Front bar installed.
http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/2254/img2223a.th.jpg (http://img408.imageshack.us/i/img2223a.jpg/)
http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/8116/img2222m.th.jpg (http://img837.imageshack.us/i/img2222m.jpg/)
http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/8011/img2221sg.th.jpg (http://img834.imageshack.us/i/img2221sg.jpg/)
Issues with bushing mount points for SC rear bar. The brackets fall right on the curved part, they need to be spaced outboard about an inch or two.
the current brackets are just in with 1 bolt threaded a few turns to hold the bar up for the photo.
http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/682/img2226z.th.jpg (http://img522.imageshack.us/i/img2226z.jpg/)
http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/2742/img2225o.th.jpg (http://img203.imageshack.us/i/img2225o.jpg/)

fabbed up an easy solution for the rear bar with simple hardware store parts:
worked on it again tonight.
came up with a simple solution for the rear bar to move the mounts out. Went to the HW store and got some angle iron and nuts/bolts.

http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/7841/img2235.th.jpg (http://img585.imageshack.us/i/img2235.jpg/)
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/1760/img2234m.th.jpg (http://img163.imageshack.us/i/img2234m.jpg/)
http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/8036/img2232h.th.jpg (http://img261.imageshack.us/i/img2232h.jpg/)
http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/886/img2228.th.jpg (http://img600.imageshack.us/i/img2228.jpg/)
http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/9346/img2227h.th.jpg (http://img180.imageshack.us/i/img2227h.jpg/)

how thick is that plate? curious bc of potential flex under hard cornering

how thick is that plate? curious bc of potential flex under hard cornering

its about 1/8'' thick steel right angle.
With the right angle steel and it being a short distance I am sure the flex is negligible if any.