OK, I've been doing a bunch of research on the OEM spring and swaybar rates across the model years, and come to the inescapable conclusion that of all the OEM setups, the CR has by FAR the stiffest front relative to the rear. And I'm not splitting hairs here -- it's seriously not even close. And what's more, there seems to be nothing mitigating that ratio: the rear tires are actually wider than the base AP2; the rear wing should only add more rear grip; even the weight savings seems to be mostly at the rear (softop motors, spare tire, etc.). Now I know equations mean next to nothing in the real world, but this really seems to be a case where, by and large, "all else is equal".

So, if you've driven a stock CR hard on the track, I'm curious to know how you perceived the handling balance. If you've had track experience in a stock AP1 or base AP2, I'd be even more interested to hear what you thought.

 

Seems link no one have the experience of drive an AP1/AP2 in the track and the a CR. I have made some research and I will put front CR springs and shock when the times comes in my 2001 AP1. I should be a good setup

 

Might want to post the question here Official CR Owners Discussion Thread

 

I'm actually picking up a complete CR suspension in the next few days. Being OEM, it offers a wealth of opportunity for cheap tweaks (i.e. springs/bars from other model years). Tentative plan is to use the CR parts all around, but with the '00 rear bar (and no CR wing of course). Combined with 225/245 tires (vs. CR's 215/255) this will presumably offer somewhat, ah, "livelier" handling, esp. at higher speeds.

No track days planned as yet, but I'll report back.

 

I don't know if this is any value to you, but Car n Driver commented that the CR does favor under-steering.

 

I personally very much dislike the CR shocks. Springs are okay. We swapped the shocks out for used Motons (purchased for under $3000) and the difference is night and day. Smoother and better. Wheels stick better to the pavement. The adjustability is nice. The "soft" setting is very cushy for street driving as a nice side perk.

 

Not for nothing, but that's like saying, "I really dislike the Holiday Inn Express, but I absolutely love the Waldorf Astoria."

 

But then again, some people pay for blingy wheels to go hard parking and intake / exhaust / header to make noise without power. For the daily benefit and the track benefit, it was probably one of my most cost-effective mods ever.

It literally transformed the car and expanded what I could use it for (preventing me from needing to pick up an additional car).

I was trying to dispel the misconception that the OEM CR shocks are what hold the magic of the car... and like Clarkson said, "Americans think rough ride is 'sporty.'"

 

 

Just a follow-up on this since I took my car to Streets this past weekend. Bottom line is that my fears of understeer after putting a CR suspension in my AP1 were unfounded; in fact, with my setup, the car had significantly more oversteer than I prefer.

My setup differed from a stock CR in several areas, of course (not least the fact that the car's an AP1!). I ran AP1 16" rims with 225 front tires and 245 rears (RA1 R-compounds), as compared to the CR's 17" 215/255 RE070s. Also, I used my '00 rear swaybar (18% stiffer than the CR). Both of these differences would significantly shift handling balance toward oversteer. I have a rear bumpsteer kit on my AP1, so that aspect should be fairly comparable. Also, Streets is not a particularly fast track, so the aero differences should be minor. I'd just had a good alignment, including adjustable swaybar endlinks to eliminate side-to-side preload (weight jacking).

Over three sessions, I found the car twitchy under heavy braking, and (for an experienced but still amateur driver like myself) extremely loose in corner entry. Simple throttle lifts would induce nice drifts, and any amount of trail-braking threatened a spin. It was fun, to be sure, but ultimately not confidence-inspiring.

For my final session, I disconnected the rear swaybar. It was a bit of overkill -- more understeer than I'd like -- but the instability issues certainly disappeared. The car would still rotate easily under lift-throttle and trail-braking, and I could attack turns more aggressively. As a result, my lap times were 1.5 sec quicker (which is its own kind of fun).

That's not quite the end of the story, though. My data-logger showed that with the swaybar in place, my "best theoretical" laptimes with and without the swaybar were almost identical. That is, I'd been able to drive individual sectors of the track just as quickly with the bar in place, but hadn't ever put together a clean lap. Basically, with the swaybar it was just too easy to misjudge a turn and lose time in a big drift; similarly, the risk of a high-speed spin tended to make me brake too early and too much. On the other hand, mid-corner and exit speeds were a bit better. So, a *very* good driver would probably prefer the car's handling with the swaybar.

Next up: Same thing but with an AP2 rear swaybar (27% softer); same thing but with stiffer rear springs and no swaybar; and ideally (if I can find a couple thousand bucks) a "square" tire setup (255/255 front/rear) with no rear swaybar (and maybe stiffer springs).