hey, i wasnt here, does that mean im not smart? LOL

man, if that is the case, i'd rice it out. i hate to say that, but what i mean is, i'd get the following first:

short shift - self explanitory, cheap, easy to accomplish. good first project.

aftermarket suspension/tires - not necessarily a must, but certainly worth spending a little money on. YOU DO NOT NEED Z RATED TIRES. coilovers are a pain in the butt. good 1/2" to 1" drop springs with nice adjustible struts & shocks are good with a set of fat sway bars. keep your stock sidewall height on the tires though, as it will soften the ride and make for a very sticky combo...

aftermarket brakes - something with aluminum calipers. reducing your unsprung weight will assist you in handling, and will also help the weight transfer of your vehicle.

aftermarket clutch - something ceramic. slips enough to help you hook up, but once it heats up it grabs hard.

quaife limited slip - ok, so this one cost like a grand, but your car will stick much better with one of these, and it'll handle like god.

those are all good projects that you can attain piecemeal. keep it stock power wise, and you'll be better off. that will allow you to really learn the intricacies of the chassis and handling before really pushing the car with forced induction.

it's a good way to go about it...

whatever you do, don't waste your money on ANY of the following:

clear lenses, body kit, wings, big rims.

they're a waste, and you'll regret it. ask me how, i know.

oh shit...oh shit...oh shit....nice...very very very nice.....awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Well, it already has a body kit on it, but I like it. I'm not a speed junkie, I just find it so interesting, and from the little I've done, I enjoy it. There is nothing to do out here, and the environment lends itself to enjoying this sort of thing.

I have the visracing battle z bodykit on it currently. It looks good, that is part of my enjoyment of the car. I don't even know what a short-shift is yet, truthfully. I'm not going to lie, I'm very newbish.. but I'm soaking up everything I can, every day, so that I can learn and have good utility and judgement.

Is it true that a lower ground clearance (with an adjustable suspension) reduces friction coefficient in turning? Doubt that is applicable to anything any of us would be doing with our cars, but I am curious.

Now with brakes, can you have your brakes balanced to the forward/rear of your car easily? Or is that a hard process.. because I know the balancing of your front/rear brakes affects cornering. Again, just curious.. =)

Thanks... this is all helpful and extremely interesting.

short shift is a short shifter so you can shift faster

Thanks Buddy,
Here is another one on the road, that isnt me driving that is one of the guys from the import service that I got it through
[External Image Removed]

Jc

Oh. Feel stupid about that one : )

Sweet pick Jc... can't stop drooling

Hey eclipse, i'm getting a short shifter soon to. I have problem's with my 1-2 shift and i figured it would help. Plus I get rid of the stock long ass throws, blech... I'll probobly go with a Skunk2, I like the company and they make some quality products, very JDM'ish, I think they're predominantly Honda though...

On another note, the first gen eclipse's kick ass, especially the GSX's, you gotta watch out for those on the street, especially you Muscle car dudes, they can be nasty fast

-Ben

ok...some more info on what i was talking about:

1. brakes. the most important part of brake system upgrades is how the weight of the caliper affects your suspension. now, upgraded brakes will also stop your car faster, but that's just a byproduct.

to balance your brakes front to rear IS important, but generally there is a static proportioning valve in the brake system (usually either right near the master cylinder or in line with the rear brake line/s. you can replace this with a wilwood adjustable proportioning valve which will allow you to change the % split between the two systems (front and rear).

2. suspension: the adjustible shocks & struts are good for one thing - creating a comfortable ride MOST of the time while allowing you to stiffen it up when you are running on a very smoothe surface (race track, tarmac for auto-x racing, etc). this stiffness on the street is not only harmful to your car (it'll rattle every loose piece off on that plastic eclipse), but also harmful to the handling abilities of the car, as variations in the pavement (potholes, etc) will max your suspension out and cause the car to behave irratically (seen any ricers on the freeway bouncing over the lines in the pavement lately? i have). anyway, if you have the adjustibility of the struts, and stick with stock rate springs, you will have a very wide band of tune-ability with the suspension.

the race coilovers that many people around here put on their import cars allow adjustibility, but it's all within such a finite and small range, that you virtually CANNOT tune it for actual street driving. avoid these things no matter how cool they look. they're not for street cars.

finally, lets talk short shifter....this is for you too ben. short shifters are good when you have two symptoms: 1. lots of play in the shifter (ie you can wiggle it when it's in gear), and 2. lots of travel between the positions of the gear shift lever (ie it's a 6 inch throw between 1st and 2nd). the way short shifter work, is they (generally) change the pivot point of the shifter, adding more distance below the pivot ball, and decreasing distance above the pivot ball. this does two things which depending on application may be harmful: 1. increases the notchy feeling of the shifter - if your shifter already feels notchy, you'll actually have a harder time doing quick smoothe shifts. if it feels sloppy, you'll clear this up and get the balance of the shifter into that sweet spot where it's notchy, but not so much that it's tough to get the car into gear. and 2nd, the short shifter will also increase the amount of force you need to apply to the shift knob in order to disengage one synchro and engage the next (when you pull the shifter, it makes a fork inside the transmission disengage and engage synchromesh rings which physically select the gear you want to be in)... so that breaks it down pretty well...but ben, i'm afraid the short shifter may make your 1-2 more difficult, especially if it's difficult right now because of synchro wear issues and/or how notchy the box is right now...just depends.

any more questions eclipse, just ask...

jason

one more thing on the brakes & adjustible proportioning valve...it is very easy to balance them with this installed. what you do is run the main rear brake line up into the passenger compartment (near the shifter would be nifty), into the valve, then run another brake line from the proportioning valve back to the brakes.

go out to a parking lot, fiddle with the knob as you brake-turn around corners...'nuff said. that makes it effectively adjustible on the fly. it would be prudent to cover it though, so it cannot be affected by crap in your car or nosy people...

jason

Cool Jason, thanks for the tips. I see you mentioned willwood, a was considering their kit for my front brake upgrade, (when I actually need it of course), the one that goes for around 500, rotors, 4 piston calipers, stainless steel brake lines ect. ect. waddia think? Will I need a new master cylinder too?

-Ben

yeah you will probably need a new mc. depends on how many lines your current calipers use. if they're one line calipers, you may not. my 4 piston calipers on the bimmer use 2 lines per caliper, and upgrading to the dynalites (probably the kit you refer to) requires me to use a later model 7er m/c with 3 line outlet (two per front, one to the proportioning valve out back). sounds like a pretty good deal at $500 with all those pieces. your stock m/c should be able to pump enough juice to engage them...you may be able to block any extra mc passages off with plugs...i dunno.

peace out...y'all have a good turkey day.

jason

Hey, you to man
Hmm, I believe it's one line to the caliper if my memoey precieves. Yeah, the kit seems like a good deal to me, I calculated buying all the parts individualy from different companies and it's far cheaper to get this kit

-Ben

oh, btw...do remember that with a car that light, you will make your passengers sick simply by touching the breaks. make sure they have a good dash mounted oh shit handle so they can keep their stomaches from flying through the windscreen. it's not so bad as the driver, because you have something to hold onto. as a passenger, people generally use their torsos to keep them from going forward, which cramps your stomach over time...hence they ralf on your floor.

just some good advice i got from a guy with an e28 535is with brembo's up front on custom 14" rotors, and 850csi rotors/calipers out back. talk about more stop than go!

jason

Hehehe, i'll just charge 5 bucks a head for the roller coaster ride

-Ben