Evo VIII suspension

There's been a lot of talk about mounting Evo suspension to our cars, so I had to try it out. Here's what I've got:

Evos and GVR4s have pretty similar suspension geometry, similar corner weights, and similar strut lengths. Some spring rate calculations and experience of other people on the board shows that a Galant will be about stock ride height with Evo springs. Evos handle pretty well stock, but a lot of people buy coilovers, and a full Evo suspension can be had for $100-$200.

The problems are: Galant struts have 22mm spacing between the strut ears, Evo struts have 27mm spacing between the ears. So spacers are needed for the front. The Evo rears have a fork, rather than a loop, so some welding is needed.

Idea for the rears:


Old struts are a cheap source of spacers: You need to drill out the spot welds, so you have 4 plates total. Grind the dirt and rust off, or it will be too wide.
Chris (Pivvay) is making some actual spacers and brake line mounts, they should work a lot better. I'd recommend them over the hacksaw approach.


A good welding shop can weld the bottom of the stock strut into the fork of the Evo strut. I got mine welded at Bugformance in San Jose for under $150.


You need to put the Galant top mount on the Evo struts. Normal spring compressors won't work because there aren't enough coils. There is a hole in the top and bottom spring mount that you can put a 3/8" threaded rod through, and compress it that way.


The two 2.5mm spacers, in place. They are between the ears and the mount. You have some wiggle room, so make sure to give yourself as much negative camber as possible. You will need some washers because the bolt holes on the Evo struts are larger.


The rears should bolt right in. I believe you can use either Evo top mounts or Galant top mounts here. The rubber in the Galant top mount will need the center trimmed, or the spring won't seat correctly, since it is a slightly smaller diameter.
EDIT: Don't use the Galant rubber here, it will break. Use Evo top mounts, or buy Evo rubber pads to put in the Galant top mounts.
EDIT II: Don't use Galant top mounts. Evo rubber + Galant top mounts can still eventually break.



Ride height is pretty high. I'm not 100% sure what the stock height is, so this may be slightly above or below:


I haven't aligned it yet, but so far it drives pretty well. Damping over bumps is good, and turn in is quick due to very stiff front compression damping. The rear motion ratio is higher on the Evo, so the same spring on the Galant will have a higher wheel rate. This is definitely noticeable, as the car oversteers easily.

One problem is that the Evo front strut bolts are offset 10mm more from the center of the strut. This adds positive camber. With stock top mounts, the car has a very small amount of positive camber, which will need to be corrected with camber plates or slotting the top strut bolt hole more.

Some tech info..
Spring rates:
Evo: 180lbs f /225lbs r

Motion ratio:
GVR4: .92 f / .844 r
Evo: .92 f / .75 r

Wheel rate of Evo springs:
GVR4: 152lbs f / 160lbs r
Evo: 152lbs f / 126lbs r

 

very nice work my friend! awesome contribution of info /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/applause.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jawdrop.gif

 

move this into the howto database...

 

Nick your brackets are done and ready to ship as soon as I get to the PO. I need a picture of a stock front brakeline AND ABS sensor. My car has neither right now so I could use a little help. As soon as I get that the other set of brackets will be done.

 

[I got one too]

vr4 owners = mad scientists

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/applause.gif nice job!!! definitely a 'how to'

 

[DarkDevilMMM]

Quote:
vr4 owners = mad scientists



you can say that again about Nick, you think this is mad enough? hehe, ask him about his engine/ECU setup /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Luke]

I just got my rear evo springs & shocks installed using the same mods as Nick's ( pudhed ).

I would suggest using the EVO rubber mount on top, and the stock Galant/DSM top-mount ( Top-mount is the one that bolts to the shock tower on the body of the car ).

It fits perfect that way, and you won't need to trim the rubber mount to get the springs to sit properly. I'm doing the fronts later today.

 

Some more tips on mounting Evo suspension:

Slot the strut, so you won't have positive camber. A die grinder and a carbide bit probably would work best.. The hole starts 16mm wide, grind until it is 19mm.


Here's what the homemade spacer plate look like:


Sand all the burrs, dirt, rust, and paint off, and make them smooth. If you don't, they will be very hard to put in.

Don't use normal washers, they will just get smashed, and you can't torque them correctly.


Use hardened washers:

 

[Luke]

Is JIC better than DMS ?



The duck seems to think so /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif



Nick has some more pictures of the "ported" EVO struts that he helped install on my car.

 

I went to Motorsport Techniques and got the car aligned. It handles awesome! 10x better than AGX, and better than DMS or JIC for anything other than hard-core autox or track. The car is pretty neutral, with just a hint of oversteer when you get on the gas, and grips strongly on steady state turns, transitions, and over bumps. Ride quality is pretty good, better than AGX or JIC, and about the same as DMS.

This is all for a grand total of $250 =)

 

[gtride]

Man, i have to check out your car sometime. I drive to Cal State Hayward 5 times a week and still haven't seen your car anywhere. So car still is still solid, because those spacers look kind of funky and especially having washers for alignment bolts don't seem like would work all that well, but i guess time will tell.

 

luke + nick = evo suspension whores

 

[teet]

evo 6 suspension works good too.

you only need one 2.5mm spacer in the front though...vs. 2 for the evo 8 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

other than that...same.

I know where there is a set of evo 6 dms gold coilovers that might be for sale...relatively cheap.

john

 

After some careful research in the name of science:

Rim of the World Autox:


Streets of Willow Springs track day:


The Evo suspension handles very respectably. The Kumho 712's though, not so much. The car did lean more than I would like, a large front swaybar might help here. Everything is still solid, and seems like it will stay that way.

 

Scott Yorga now has this installed on his car. When he has time he will update as well. Car handles nicely according to him! We took lots of pictures of the install process and resulting ride height etc.

 

[Scott Y]

As soon as I can free up some time, I'll post the details of the install. I am very happy with the way the car drives. I've still got the stock wheels with 195/60/15 BF Traction T/A tires, so the ride is not as firm as it would be with 'real' tires. Subjective street handling is worlds different that it was with the stock struts. The car has 155K on it and the stockers were wore out; anything approaching 90mph and the car would start to wallow around. That behavior is completey gone now. I have not upgraded any bushings or swaybars, and I don't notice any significant leaning, but I bet if I had the car on a track or on better tires that I would notice some lean or the always present understeer. I've managed to roll the T/A over 1/2 of the sidewall, something the car wouldn't do before.

We cut a coil off the front springs, and the ride height is very close to stock. Cutting that coil seems to have remedied the camber issue as well. The pics will tell the story, I'll try to have them up this week.

Thanks to Pivvay for the front brackets and the extra hands.

-Scott Y

 

[Hertz]

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