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I finally got around to putting the stock springs back in the rear of the 9-3. These are the Viggen springs by the way. I don't think I mentioned that in my last message. In the last message, I posted about the stock front springs with rear B&G springs.
I was excited about having the car be more tossable and balanced. I had also noticed less traction when accelerating. I found out why the rear Viggen springs are so darn stiff.
With the Viggen springs in;
The car is less comfortable. Those rear springs are stiff and pretty tall. You are reminded of the road condition.
The handling is less balanced. The rear doesn't feel as planted and the front feels overloaded at times. It sticks pretty well though.
It's better in the snow.
Traction coming out of corners is the best I've had with ANY combo. Somebody had a theory about that. They were right. The stiff rear springs put more weight on the front tires than with softer rear springs.
The cars handling personality begs you to drive aggressively when set up this way. It's less of a "joy" to drive but it is more fun.
I had to re-aim the headlights because the rear is "lifted" vs the B&G.
There is pretty good ground clearance.
The car still grips the road well. It turns out that the car is more "tossable" because I'm not hitting the bumpstops all the time.
You certainly don't need a VERY stiff rear swaybar for the Viggen. Abbott was right about that. They should have a stiffer one for the SE though.
Visibility is better because the car isn't so low anymore.
I hope this proves useful to somebody. The Koni dampers make the stcok Viggen springs much more acceptable as they soften the ride without hurting handling. I've got them on 1/8 turn to stiff ie; soft.
Other suspension modifications include;
Abbott suspension bushings and rear swaybar
Koni dampers
Abbott steering rack brace
ps. That "crunching" sound I heard with the steering rack brace was caused by the huge amount of stress placed on it every time I hit the bumpstops with the B&G springs. It's torqued down very well but there still was the ability for the bolt to move a little inside the hole as the bolt is rather small. The difference with and without the steering rack brace is large by the way. I recommend it.
Bill
posted by 64.3.16...
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