Its Christmas time!!!!!!!

[littlecrunch2000]

So I get a call from Dan at Pedders and he says I have a present waiting for me at my local shop. And to my extreme delight, it was my new suspension. They got the new shipment in and I was #1 on the list. So now I am wiating to get them installed and then going to American Mufflers in F-burg to get it inspected. My appt at F-burg is set for 8:00AM if anyone wants to come by and take a look at it.

I got the full street 1 XA kit with a couple of extra goodies. I bought them from Frank at RSR. I was pleased with the customer service, even though sometime Frank was unavailable for an extended period of time, but when we did get to talk, he was always a stand up guy.

I am going to write a review of the system and its performance at SAR when I go on Friday. I will post up and you can read it. I am not a techie at all and the write up will be from my perspective from the differences from the stock system. Dan said he wanted to see someone write something up, so if you already have this kit, please help me create a more thorough review. I will keep yall informed of the process and the ride heights and firmness as we go along.

EDIT: yes the spring was taken out of the bubble wrap for viewing pleasure. It was shipped all nice and neat, btu it was Christmas time so I tore through the box (picture a little kid ripping up a present).

[my first gto]

Nice .......Good luck Adam.......Frank

[BillsMafia]

Very nice..

[littlecrunch2000]

Got them installed today. It took a long freaking time as the shop that installed them was not a Pedders dealer. I am taking it to American Muffler on Friday to have them inspect it for warranty purposes and for the rear cradle alignment. I will add pics a little later.

First review.......

We set the car down and the front tires roll right up under the front fenders.... pretty mean stance. The rears are right at the fenders, which is an even meaner stance. I drove it around and I am hitting fenders on 3 of 4 fenders (without any alignment done, didnt have time and will be done at AM) on decent size bumps. Othe than that, there is a huge difference in the quality, some for good some for bad. I have not touched the rear stifness settings, but the fronts are on 15 (halfway).

The Bad - The car feels A LOT firmer and almost too firm, I will probably knock it back a few notches after the alignment is done. Cant see the great looking coilovers as the wheels are completely covering wheelwell. Took a long time to install (8 hours).

The Good - The car feels a lot firmer. With this one I mean that the car is way more responsive. When I take off, the car launches forward, NOT STRAIGHT UP!!!! I feel the car is faster because of it. The system makes the car have an aggresive yet stylish appearance. I used to track a Ferrari 355 challenge car and I honestly think that the GTO has a better responsive suspension now. Granted the Ferrari was a 1995 1/2, but still..... it was built for racing only. I have reduced the amount of body roll in a slalom styel driving pattern.

All in all, I am very pleased with this setup so far and will probably like it more when it gets fully dialed in. As you can see, the bad is little stuff that will probably get worked out as the fine tuning begins. Look for my drag review as I am going to San Antonio Raceway tomorrow night (Friday night test and tune). I will post a pic of my car and if you can make it please come by and say hi. I will gladly talk to anyone so dont be bashful!!!!

[Poolshark1321]

WOOT! Nice suspension setup man... sounds like it really helped the ride overall and look forward to hearing how she performas on the track.

[littlecrunch2000]

Here are three pics I took today.

First one is a before install. Second was the fronts during install. Lastly was a pic of the after install.

The main difference you can see is the ride height. If you make the pic big, you will see that the car kinda looks slammed. It is actually a little too low for my taste, but feel free to opinionate it. I dont take offense, other than telling me I should have gone blue....:gr_jest:

Again, let me say a couple of thanks which I think are in order here. First and foremost, Thanks Rocksand Racing and to Frank for helping me understand that suspensions are more than just a spring and a tube that moves. Brake Specialists for their willingness to tackle this install. They really didnt know what to do, but we worked through it and I called Dan (Pedders Warehouse) a few times with some dumb questions, which he did not take offense to. Huge thanks goes to Dan for putting up with me through the install and the questions. I dont think I would have my car right now if it wasnt for him. It may have taken longer than I wanted, but the wait was more than worth it!!!!! THanks everyone that contributed, even to the last guy I talked to about anything that had to do with suspensi9ons and which system I should get.

[my first gto]

Here are three pics I took today.

First one is a before install. Second was the fronts during install. Lastly was a pic of the after install.

The main difference you can see is the ride height. If you make the pic big, you will see that the car kinda looks slammed. It is actually a little too low for my taste, but feel free to opinionate it. I dont take offense, other than telling me I should have gone blue....:gr_jest:

Again, let me say a couple of thanks which I think are in order here. First and foremost, Thanks Rocksand Racing and to Frank for helping me understand that suspensions are more than just a spring and a tube that moves. Brake Specialists for their willingness to tackle this install. They really didnt know what to do, but we worked through it and I called Dan (Pedders Warehouse) a few times with some dumb questions, which he did not take offense to. Huge thanks goes to Dan for putting up with me through the install and the questions. I dont think I would have my car right now if it wasnt for him. It may have taken longer than I wanted, but the wait was more than worth it!!!!! THanks everyone that contributed, even to the last guy I talked to about anything that had to do with suspensi9ons and which system I should get.


Adam we were happy to help on this LONG Road......Enjoy...Frank

[BillsMafia]

Love the stance now... Very nice write up as well.. I want to get the Street 2 with a drop.. Well see. So much stuff I want to do to this car.. lol

[littlecrunch2000]

Alright, went to the track, but dont have time right now to post up the review. I didnt get a better time, mainly because I only got 3 runs in a 5 hour time frame. I will say that the system worked flawlessly in the regards to launching. I will get into more detail tomorrow (later today).

[littlecrunch2000]

Ok so I am writing this review while sitting at the MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station), so it will be kinda brief.

In first review I said the launching was awesome. I was totally correct when I said this as the car literally feels like it was going straight forward anstead of up and then forward. I set the damper settings to 28 all the way around (1 being softest and 30 being hardest). The car was very predictable in the movement and did not create any suprises. I will also have to add that I actually had to lay off the launching as I cant afford to break the car as I am leaving for the military. Sorry for those that wanted me to launch at 4,000 or higher.

After I felt it launch a couple of times, I decided to go against a 2007 Mustang GT that was lightly modded. I told him I would launch that hard because I feared breaking the car. He said cool, but he was going to launch as hard as he usually does. I ran a 13.46 to his 13.63. I guess I got my nice litle GT kill before I left.

That was unfortunatly the last run of the night. I only got 3 runs in a 5 hour session. There were a ton of cars out there. I set my car back to the usual setting (10 for normal cruise) and proceeded to leave. I dont know what happened, but for some reason (possibly breaking in the system), the system now rubs against the fenders in the front. When I first installed them they were really REALLY low and would rub. We took the front up 1/2 inch adn the rears 3/4 inch up. I dont rub in the rears except for a really really big bump, but I rub the fronts on minor bumps now. I will have to get that looked at when I come back.

I have to give major props to Heath and Jimmy at American Muffler as they worked for an extra 4 hours than expected on getting my car situated. They saw me pull in and were mortified at how low it was. They also had not seen the new xa's kit yet and used it as a test to see all the parts and their workings. I was very patience with them as they looked like they were having fun and helping me out (and letting my help them out as well :D). All in all I left there around 4:30pm and got back in to Austin Friday around 6ish after taking my time. I had no problems getting home and did not rub, so it was kinda disappointing to see them rub on Saturday and Sunday. Seriuosly, if you are close to Fredricksburg and want a really good standup guy to work on your baby, go to American Muffler and have them do your work. They dont get annoyed at people in the shop and they will show you anything that is wrong and if you have questions (no matter how retarded) they will answer it for you.

So now my baby is sitting in a garage in Georgetown and will be taken out of the coupe about once a week if not every other week. If you see an '04 TR with CSL's riding around G-town, feel free to stop the girlfriend (Tara) and say hi. She is a very friendly person and loves to talk, but probably not as talkative as me though. Either way, I hope she enjoys the goat as much as I have so far and I definately look forward to coming back so I can play with her some more.

[GTOwhat]

Very nice write ups. I am thinking about getting the xa's. Was curious how well it handled in everyday and hard driving. I believe you have answered my questions about that. I personally love the stance, does look at little low, but nice. Nice csl's and ride by the way...

[littlecrunch2000]

so in mid December I get home and will continue the testing of the system. The girlfriend is saying that the car is riding pretty good. She keeps teasing me saying that she gets to drive around town. I hate her, but love her at the same time!

[Robofuzz]

I'm glad to hear a review of the shop in FBurg. I have been wanting to at least take my car down there for a cradle alignment.

[Kjhallex]

I want Coil overs! lol