Suspension Dilemma

Bumpity-bump.

Suspension Dilemma

I'm not normally one to double-post (all those on vvt-i.net will recognize my thread), but this is an important topic to me. (yes, this is a copy/paste of my other thread.... too lazy to type it again... too tired.....)

I've been debating on what I want to do to my Corolla's suspension for a while. I hate the stock suspension with a passion. Plus, my rear shocks are going out (the bounce test yields about 4 bounces off of one push!).
I've narrowed my choices down to 2 options:

A) Bilstein schocks and Tein S-Tech springs (comes out to around $500 total)

or

B) Ksport Kontrol coilovers ($800 shipped)

Which one would be better in the long run? I like the adjustability of the Ksports, but with the extra $300 I'd save with option A, I could afford Hotchkis sways as well.
I'm a rather spirited driver, plus I'd like to take my car to the track for some autox's every now and then. Mostly just street driving, tho. Spirited street driving.
Give me some opinions.

i just went from A to B (installed last night). I'll post pictures once i get home from work. Probably late tonight. Along with my opinions of both setups.

How much does ride quality (comfort) matter?

I've got a 2000 Chevy Prizm (Corolla w/Chevy badges) with Tokico HP's and Tein High Tech springs in all four corners and the Hotchkis swaybar set w/ the rear at the stiffest setting. Stock 14" steel wheels and P185R65 BF Goodrich Traction TA H-rated all-season high-performance tires.

This set-up is very fast with almost stock comfort level. The Tein H. Tech springs are linear rate w/ approx an inch of drop and a slightly lower spring rate than the S. Tech springs. The lower linear spring rate gives a very comfortable, compliant ride with less chassis upset over bumps.

The Tokico's have held up very well after about 30,000 miles and keep the car under control at all times, even when making sudden lane changes and turns at supra-legal speeds. They have the added bonus of being quite inexpensive.

Finally, the sway-bars fix the one major problem with the stock suspension, namely excessive body roll and understeer when cornering. In the stiffest setting, the car feels very tight and quick, kind of "on-edge", and can even be coaxed into breaking the back end loose in a corner with a bit of effort. I'm still not sure if I wouldn't rather move the rear bar to the middle setting. For dry roads the stiff setting is fun and fast, but when the traction becomes harder to come by the spin happy nature of the stiff rear end becomes a bit more of a concern. Overall though I would definitely say get the sways.

If you are running oversized rims with low profile tires, I would advise against going too low/stiff with the set-up. A car that's bouncing all over the road is neither fast nor comfortable and you're bound to damage something sooner rather than later.

Regarding your options, I've heard good things about Bilstein's and put a set of replacements into my wife's VW New Beetle with good handling, though we kept the stock springs, so I can't say how they would work with the S. Techs. The beetle's stock suspension is pretty stiff however, so they would probably be fine. One of them did blow a seal within a week of installation however. Bilstein replaced the shock for free, but if it was a strut that needed replacing and not an independently mounted shock, the labor cost for the switch would have been much higher.

Like I said before, I have H. Tech's in my car and am very happy with them, so the S.Tech's should be OK, but they are lower, with a slightly higher spring rate and are also linear rate spings. I have heard of people having problems with excessive bottoming out with those springs, but if you listen to everything you read on the internet, you'd think nobody was ever happy with anything they bought.

So, in summary, I'm leaning toward the first option with the sway bars. If you are interested, there is also a company out of Australia called Whiteline Automotive that makes swaybars for 98-02 Corollas. They sell the front and rear bars separately and offer a wider variety of bar sizes than Hotchkis.
This their site URL: http://www.whiteline.com.au/

Finally, I'd like to recomend the BFGoodrich Traction TA tires. They have nice stiff sidewalls for good cornering, directional tread design for better everything except tire rotations (Just keep your car aligned and you're good. Also you have to make sure to check them if you have them rotated at a shop, particularly a Sears Autocenter or Tires Plus cause they will sometimes cross-rotate them and put the rear ones on backwards. In fact, never go to a Tires Plus, they suck and then lie about it.), are very long wearing (65k warranty), and reasonably priced. I've also used Firestone Indy 500 Firehawks, but the BFG's are just better performance tires and last longer. Remember, the best suspension in the world isn't gonna do you any good if your tires don't get enough traction.

Hope this helps and I hope you enjoy the way your car rides as much as I enjoy mine once you're done.

Thanks for the advice! I've been leery of the HP's because many people on boards across the web saying that the shocks have blown out prematurely on them. I've also heard that they are ungodly stiff for daily driving.
Also, I have 16" Rota wheels with 205/45/zr16 tires on them. How will the H-techs look with that on my 98?
Also, how much are the whiteline sways?

Ok so here was my previous setup

Bilstein Struts with tein s-tech springs 205/40/17 Falken ZE512

No body roll. I could take turns at 50 and the tires had great grip in both dry and rain.
Only thing is that they were noisy. The ride was not bad for the most part. But on big bumps it was horrible. You would go bouncing up and down.

New Setup

Ksport Kontrol pro and 215/45/17 Falken fk452's

On the softest setting they are livable. But you feel every little imperfection on the road. But on big bumps, it takes them with no problem. Almost as if it were stock.
Even on the softest setting they are stiffer then my previous setup. I have not had a chance to test out how it compares in cornering, because i need to get a 4 wheel alignment. After that is done, I’ll feel more confident and push it harder to compare to the old setup.
The tires ride smoother and are very quiet compared to the ze512. It has not rained here since i got the tires put on, so I can’t comment on grip in the wet. Well I can’t really comment on dry grip either until I get an alignment.

Its harder to compare ride quality because i went with wider and taller tires.

Ksport Kontrol Pro
Pros:
Dampening adjustable
Height Adjustable
Cheaper they any full coilover setup. I got them for $759 shipped overnight. If it were to be shipped ground, you could probably knock at least 50 dollars off that price.

Cons:
Cheap tabs to hold brakelines.
Universal collar to hold rear swaybar

I'll post pics of install soon.

Links to pics. They are pretty big so no 56K

http://studentweb.tulane.edu/~cchan/

I'll take pics of the car in the day time and post them later.

Pics a-f are the reason i had to get the ksports. The tires were too tall and the rears hit the bottom of the spring perch of the strut.