TrollTuner

This -03 9-3 of ours continues to amaze me. In the beginning it seemed that there was going to be little to gain suspension wise. Stock they are so much better than the old generation 9-3 94-02. Then we put some 17s on it and it began. After that on went the larger factory SportsChassis rear sway bar. This was a step in the right direction. With the increased grip we had a bit too much body roll. On went a set of H&R springs. One aspect that was lacking was the on center feel of the steering. You could also call it steering response when just going down the road. After analyzing the subframe that holds the front suspension and isolates it from the body I decided that some form of triangulation could help the problem. A few prototypes later we had a solution.
In search of further refinement I decided to analyze what was deflecting. I found the inner control arm bushings to have the most deflection. Using this info to make some new bushings about 50% harder with a lower ratio of bushing by using a larger metal insert, they were fitted and it was immediately apparent on the first drive. There are a few of us that regularly drive these project cars. The main thing my father noticed was the stability under braking. I noticed mostly the improved steering response. Mom noticed nothing. that means it is still quiet. She only notices more power and the bad noises..
There you have the short version of how a new part came to life.. There are a few secrets left out and also some tools like hardness tester for the rubber, the machine shop to make the molds and most importantly shop cars to play with so we are not testing on customer vehicles.
More images in the Gallery