I like my sports setup, but lately I've been doing a lot more long distance driving and it's pushing me to get a setup for a smooth comfortable setup.


What is suggested for this?

I'm considering putting about 800$ towards a replacement to my stock setup. I'm not looking to specifically lower the car, or raise it, but if I can get a smoother/comfortable ride, I am willing to compromise.

Also, I'm talking about normal interstate highway noise reduction, under construction road smoothness, slight pothole impact sensitivity, etc...

 

Well the Fit has a short wheelbase so naturally we're gonna feel everything on the freeway, maybe worse if your car is dropped. Back to stock height, lower tire psi, larger sidewall I guess?

 

Currently at stock height, unmodified suspension, added rear sway bar, the shoes themselves are wider, 205/50/15, wider than stock (195).

I have no aftermarket anything else, so I'm at the best ride comfort already? no other "mods" I can consider for a more relaxing ride?

I wouldn't be making many turns, or maneuvers like I do in the city/track, just straight highways for 800 miles at a time.

 

first you can lower your tire psi down to 32psi cold.

you have a GD? get endura-techs. they are much smoother than stock.

if you dont want to swap out your suspension, then you can lower your spring rate by adding more weight to the car... yep, get a subbox or something heavy in there.

 

Swap to T1R dampers for $450 and dial them down to the softest setting, which should be softer than stock since the "4" setting is supposedly equal to stock dampening. Maybe get shoes renowned for ride--there are lots of reviews on tirerack.

 

Lowering my spring rate would be bad, I already carry a 2 12" sub box, my car is sound proofed with an additional 90lbs in tar+ padding.

The car is weighed down already, reducing or lowering my car would just bottom out all the time.

I'll look at the endura-techs and the T1r's. Are these the only options I have? should I get larger sidewalls? maybe 55's? I have 50's right now.


EDIT:

And I'm at 30PSI right now.... I had it at 40 in the back and 35 in the front for track (I needed rear slip, so the bubble on the back was perfect to lose some traction)

 

coilovers...lol.for $800 you can get some nice used ones. mugen and spoon/showa have dampers also but t1r's are def more cost effective. n tokico have new dampers too. dunno what else to say, I think swift springs are perty comfy if I remember too. or you could go with the t1r spring/damper combo, dunno if their dampers will work with the stock springs.

 

for $800 you can get
-t1r dampers and whatever spring you want.
-STD coilovers
-enduratechs
-or something used.

thats pretty much it.

 

for comfort definitely get the endura-techs.

 

How much is endura tech paying you??

 

yah, i kinda do sound like their salesman.

 

It doesn't sound to me like an aftermarket suspension is what you're looking for. The Endura-tech's are very comfortable, but I wouldn't say they're more comfortable than stock. If I arbitrarily put the factory setup at a 10, I'd give the ET's a 9 or 9.5 (I'm lowered ~1.25 inches).

It's gonna be real hard to quantify your results, but lighter weight wheels, tires, brakes, and suspension components will have a positive affect on ride quality. Sprung to unsprung weight ratio - the lighter all your unsprung components are, they less they'll upset the sprung portion of the ride (which includes you). Losing 8 or 9 pounds from each wheel off the stockers is very doable, but after that it gets a lot more difficult to drop.

But what tires do you have now? You can check out how they weigh, and then surf around tirerack or other tire sites to find comparable rubber that might save some pounds. That said, weight of a tire isn't necessarily a good indicator of their comfort - look to comparison tests for that information.

Another suggestion I'd make - get the Beatrush underpanel. It makes a very noticeable improvement in high speed stability and susceptibility to cross-winds, and doesn't break the bank either. Makes highway driving a lot more relaxing - I was surprised by the difference.

 

I heard getting air shocks help a lot for comfort and road noise.

 

I'll look into beat rush's underpanel. And from what I understand all the coilovers lower the car, would the weight from sound proofing, stereo equipment just lower the car too much on after market coilovers?

I've personally lost weight (down to 198 from 220 since january this year), which could compensate for the added weight to the car in terms of sound proofing.

and with all this input, I'm still not sure what to do... I'll look into ride quality shoes, which is something I should have done anyways.

 

That's the beauty of coilovers - you can set the ride height to whatever you want, regardless of weight. And most (all?) setups can be set at stock height, or even a little higher. So extra weight can be compensated for on installation.

 

Other than the Enduro Tech's, all the coilovers have a great increase in spring rate and you will hate life. I have gone thru a lot of product and dollars trying to enhance my ride and what I can deal with in my area of harsh roads.

Keep the stock springs. Add the T1R dampers. They work great with the stock setup and probably have about 40% more damping than stock in those lower settings. By keeping the car at stock height, you increase the comfort range and travel of your struts/shocks. If your rear end is dropped lower than the front, you can get a pair of custom springs made for $250 or so. Call Kevin at Coil Spring Specialties in KS at 785-437-2025. Just tell him you want around the stock spring rate but your car is drooping in the back. You'll specify that you want it raised X"s. I have had them make springs for me on a couple of cars before. My Honda Odyssey had 1400 lbs added to it and it drove like a dream; the extra wheelbase did help compared to a Fit.

I have 78 lbs of damping in my Fit also. How hard is the sidewall on your tires? I'm looking for a softer solution myself. I'm using 16's and might go to 15's next year.

It's true you can vary your ride height with coilovers, but they sure as hell don't have the proper valving for the street and their spring rate is ridiculously high. I even tried a custom spring with a lower rate and then the damper didn't keep up with what was going on. I feel your pain.

 

If you use 14's, you could have another inch of sidewall height. That could make a significant difference, but you'd lose some sharpness from the handling.

 

i would just go with the t1r dampers.