To fill everyone in on where the car stands right now.
A few weeks ago I got the privilege of being the first Saturn Ion to sport the new Pedders Xa coilovers. I have been very pleaseed so far. This coilover set is unique among other suspension options because it has remote damper adjustment from inside the engine bay and trunk for the rears. Due to our unique upper strut mount we have not had this available in the past. Pedders solution works great.
I have been daily driving the car for the past few weeks and I can say that the ride is far better than the B&G spring I had on the car for the past 4 years. I would expect the ride to be harsh with the spring rates being nearly double what I had, but the ride is very good. The harsh Michigan roads are absorbed far better that the lowering springs. There is an occasional bounce over uneven/rolling surfaces. Nothing that annoys me and something that I can live with for the performance gains.
I have been looking forward to putting them to the test on the auto-x course. I got my chance this past Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday me and my co-driver put the car through its paces on the r-comps and it was a very good thing. The car stays flat and pretty neutral. I need to play around with everything a bit more to try and dial in some oversteer. I also had the front end set too low. The front tires polished some of the wheel well :lookaroun . An easy fix. My raw times were great, but I could not stay away from the cones. I have become programed to drive with the understeer over the years and found myself turning into the apex cones a lot. Normally I would turn in early and the car would push out and avoid the apex cone, even with the r-comps. That is not the case anymore. It's almost point and shoot.
On Sunday I ran a different event on my street tires. A similar story with turn in, but oversteer was abound. Easily controlled though.
For those looking just to ride low they will go lower than springs witha better ride.
Here are a few pictures. Forgive the poor quality. I will try to get more Friday.
A few weeks ago I got the privilege of being the first Saturn Ion to sport the new Pedders Xa coilovers. I have been very pleaseed so far. This coilover set is unique among other suspension options because it has remote damper adjustment from inside the engine bay and trunk for the rears. Due to our unique upper strut mount we have not had this available in the past. Pedders solution works great.
I have been daily driving the car for the past few weeks and I can say that the ride is far better than the B&G spring I had on the car for the past 4 years. I would expect the ride to be harsh with the spring rates being nearly double what I had, but the ride is very good. The harsh Michigan roads are absorbed far better that the lowering springs. There is an occasional bounce over uneven/rolling surfaces. Nothing that annoys me and something that I can live with for the performance gains.
I have been looking forward to putting them to the test on the auto-x course. I got my chance this past Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday me and my co-driver put the car through its paces on the r-comps and it was a very good thing. The car stays flat and pretty neutral. I need to play around with everything a bit more to try and dial in some oversteer. I also had the front end set too low. The front tires polished some of the wheel well :lookaroun . An easy fix. My raw times were great, but I could not stay away from the cones. I have become programed to drive with the understeer over the years and found myself turning into the apex cones a lot. Normally I would turn in early and the car would push out and avoid the apex cone, even with the r-comps. That is not the case anymore. It's almost point and shoot.
On Sunday I ran a different event on my street tires. A similar story with turn in, but oversteer was abound. Easily controlled though.
For those looking just to ride low they will go lower than springs witha better ride.
Here are a few pictures. Forgive the poor quality. I will try to get more Friday.



