Ground Control Coilover Installation

The rear-right GC coilover installed. Note: That's not the actual ride height! The rear end was still on jack stands at this point! =)

A closer view of the GC coilover.

A high front quarter shot of the car with the new GC coilover suspension. We still didn't roll the car around, so there was still some tension in the suspension bits--it didn't settle down, yet. For now, Ut decided to leave the collars adjusted to the highest positions which gave a stock ride height. The spring rates were 300 lbs./in. for all Eibach springs at all corners. The Koni strut inserts were set back to their "full soft" settings to see how the new coilover setup felt.

Unfortunately, this and the "toes" picture are the most that you'll see of Ut! Here's Ut's dirty hand! It actually looked worse than the pic, though! =) Damn, dude--sorry for not stopping to take some shots of you!

Okay, enough talk! How does the car handle now?!..
At first, I thought that the 300 lbs. at all 4 corners was too stiff for the car, considering it only weighs ~2400 lbs. But, after we took the car around for a spin to Kragen then grabbing some lunch, I thought that it wasn't too bad! Granted, having the stiffer Koni strut inserts prob'ly helps a lot, but it wasn't too stiff. I wouldn't mind driving the car all day. His car just felt more "attached" to the road, rather than just sitting on top of it. After lunch, we drove to an empty parking lot and did some constant radius turns at increasing velocities to see how the car behaved when pushed to the limit. Mind you, the Koni's were still at their "full soft" settings. Ut let me drive the car and as I pushed it to its limit (my ribs were starting to get sore from the forces! Hahaha...), I found that the car wasn't too far from being neutral. A higher spring rate in the rear (say, around 325-350 lbs.) and full soft Koni's would prob'ly do the trick. He could also just have the rear Koni's a little bit stiffer than the fronts, which is the cheaper way--you've gotta love the Koni's for being adjustable! =) So, what's my opinion on the Ground Control coilovers? As Tony the Tiger says, "They're greeeaaat!" Quality and build are tops. Plus, if you feel comfortable enough, you can even choose your own spring rates. The only thing that was "off" was the front top hats needing to be re-sized to take the Koni strut shafts--but, GC prob'ly designed 'em to work perfectly with the OEM struts, so you can't really fault them. If you do decide to get the the GC coilover kit, I'd recommend getting a slightly higher spring rate for the rears to help balance the car out. Or you can see what it'd be like with a stiffer rear sway bar from //TRD or the like.