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Hotchkis Stage 1 Tvs Kit

by thermal, May 26, 2009



Hey all:

Anyone have any experience with this kit?

Looking for installer around Chattanooga.

thanks!

This the sway bar set (8th gen) or the springs and sways deal (9th gen)? Hotchkis Sports is a decent name out there. I know of a few that have installed their sways on their Corolla and has good results with them. Only bad thing I've heard is that the poly bushings come with zerk fittings (a nice touch) that might get sheared off by road hazards -> speed bumps. Other than that - really have a heavily controlled ride - some might find it a bit stiff, since the suspension travel is shortened, but others like it.

Depends on what you are after - if you plan on tracking the car, then these are nice to have (assuming you don't bump yourself out to a tough class). If you do anything with SCCA SOLO Auto-X stuff - this will almost automatically bump you out of the stock class. Myself personally, I though about installing upgraded bars - but given what I do with the car, sport springs and better struts had the most influence in the handling. Sways would have pushed the chassis too far - unless I was running really sticky tires. Only way I'd run these is with an adjustable strut - but I don't think they too many to choose from for the Corollas (at least it used to be that case).

thanks so much for the reply...it's for a 2007 and I just use the car for the streets

you make some great points and the roads around here (chattanooga) are rough but I'm going to give it a try

i guess i will feel the road more but it will be more fun to drive

this kit contains the front and rear sway bars and the springs

is there any need to replace the shocks?

Since your car is so new - I'd ride the OEM shocks until they die, and then swap it better struts. The drop is mild enough that it shouldn't cause too much of a headache (I think it is a 1"-1.25" drop?). Most like to do it all at once, to save on labor costs down the road - but I'm usually of the opinion that don't fix what isn't broken. Unless you have 100K miles on the struts now - I'd save the money for struts later. Never know that you might really like / dislike the suspension - could use the money for other components.

Got the kit installed today and had a 4 wheel alignment done and WOW!

The car hugs the road now! What a different, I feel the road now, but I like that. Not smooth like stock, but it's not bone jarring either. Just love it!

Adding set of Bridgestone Potenza RE 960 AS Pole Postion 185/65R15 88H tomorrow.

Is there anything else I can do to increase the handling, or this enough?

Anything else to make the car more fun to drive?

I have the stock steel wheels, would really like to stick with the stock wheels so I don't attract attention to the car.

Like the Volk Racing TE 37s (8.5 lbs. ea) but I'm afraid that my car would stand out too much.

Thanks all for the advice!

Great to hear - thanks for the info and review.

I think once you put on the tires - the handling and ride will be even better - as those Bridgestones are highly rated. Couple the new tires with a higher performance brake pad - might also be very helpful. Something like a higher performance ceramic pad for stepup from OEM pads, Hawk HPS or Porterfield R4S for stronger initial bite and better fade resistance, etc.

Not a whole lot you can do to increase the handling aside from chassis braces and better bushings. They make a number of bars and braces that bolt onto the strut towers (front and rear - these tend to "sharpen" the steering more than stiffen the chassis) and bottom braces (brace the front and rear subframes - these will stiffen the chassis, keep it from twisting). You already have stiffer bushings for the new sways - might look to replace other bushings/mounts with better materials to help make the most of the suspension mods.

Polyurethane motor mount inserts - especially with a manual transaxle, but still applies to an automatic. Will increase vibration in the steering wheel, but you will be able to put power down much more evenly than before. The only thing that will help further would be to add an LSD - but that is some $$$$ and will not be fully exploited unless you do extensive engine mods.

Lighter wheels would be the next logical step - but like you said, don't want to attract unwanted attention to the car. Love Volk wheels - clean design, but depending on where you live at, I'd be worried about installing them on my ride. There are many good makes Konig, Centerline forged, Kosei, etc. have wheels that are much lighter than OEM wheels and can be had with a subtle design.

Yes, that's why I like the Volks also...very clean.

But, I would be uneasy leaving my car unattended.

Now I'm incognito with the ugly stock steel wheels.

Hello, Thermal and fishexpo. I was reading about your swaybar upgrade and it sounds awesome. I have a question for both of you tho, I have a Tein full coilover kit on my car but I didn't upgrade my swaybars, was this a bad move, should I upgrade my swaybars. I mean the car handles awesome, hugs the road, extremely fast turning, it handles just like an expensive sports car. I guess what i am trying to say is am i getting all the handling i could as opposed to upgrading the swaybars, will I damage anything if i dont do so etc? Also on the note of rims/tires I have Falken rims (gonna have to get to you back on the exact model) they are 18"x 7.5", the tires im using are Falken Ziex ZE-512s, they are 215/Z35/R18. Let me tell you the rims look great and the tires perform awesome (Never tried bridgestone, Thats what I'll get when I need new tires...). The extra width really helps for cornering, acceleration, etc. especially since my car is turboed. The small ridgid sidewalls also help alot with cornering, they keep more of the tire on the road. You said you were scared someone might steal your rims if you got better ones, try wheel locks, but if you really want to remain "incognito" at least consider a wider rim, trust me you wont regret it!!

Not upgrading the sway even with the coilover suspension is not a deal breaker. Depends on what type of handling you are after.

All that sways do is to resist the bodies tendancy to roll while corering. Coil-overs allow for more ride height adjustability and corner balancing a car. A car that is already reasonably "stiff" - i.e, running coils-overs and low aspect ratio tires - the car will not "roll" that much anyways, compared to a car on OEM springs. Add sways with further "flatten" out your cornering attitude.

Key it optimizing the handling aspects for the specified duty. In some cases, running a performance spring and strut with the appropriate sways, coupled with a reasonally sticky tires, will out grip the same car with full coilovers running the widest tire they can fit under the wheel wells.

go with 195/60 tires, little more width and within 1-2% overall diameter to stock.

Hey thanks fishexpo i was just on andysautosport.com and i saw the Hotchkis kit and i think I am going to order it. Ill keep you guys posted. I really appreciate the help, and i am so sorry about the whole turbo post (I just wanna drag some one with my car).



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