How would you rate your suspension upgrade (Koni, Steeda sway bars, KW V3)?

[chcdmj]

I know this is not scientific enough, but I figure a survey may still be useful for people who are deciding on which upgrade to go.
On a 0-10 scale (10 being the problem fully fixed), how would you rate the improvement after your upgrade?
Please answer
1. What upgrade(s) did you do?
2. What are improved (bounciness, handling, etc) and by how much? If you did your upgrade one by one, Please rate them separately.
Thanks!

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[markboris]

1. Eibach Sway Bars front and rear.
2. I will give it a 10 on the improved handling. Transforms the car from a boat to a decent handling SUV. it was the single best mod I have done to this car and I've done a lot of mods.

1. Wider, high performance tires. I have tested a combination of 9 different high performance summer and all-season tires. All of them perform much better than the skinny EV tires that come on the car.
2. I will give this a 6 on handling when pushing the car to its limit and an 8 on eliminating wheel spin off the line.

1. Koni rear shocks. While I started the thread on the Koni rear shock upgrade, I do not use them myself as my car has the Magneride suspension and has very little bounce to begin with. I did it to lessen the bounce others have in their cars.
2. That said, I would rate this upgrade between 5-8 depending on the roads the car is being driven on.

 

[sci_goat]

I would say that trim level and wheel size is very relevant and should be mentioned too.

A non-PE GT will feel less bouncy from the get-go, as they are already lower and stiffer before any upgrades. A Premium might feel different than a Select because of thinner tire sidewall. GTPE has magnaride.

 

[JoeyD]

Wider wheels/tires and both Steeda sway bars. They definitely compliment each other. The wider wheel/tire setup mainly because I didn't like the look of the skinny tires. It improved the handling a little, however, it completely eliminated any wheel spin and the car is now glued to the road. Tires are Pirelli Scorpion Zero All Season Plus. Changing out the stock bars with the Steeda's really improved the handling. Steering feels more responsive and definetely more flat in the corners. I would give the bars a solid 8 rating. I haven't done the Koni shock mod but thinking about it.

 

[Mach1E]

1. Steeda Sway Bars front and rear.
2. I will give it a 10 on the improved handling. Transforms the car from a boat to a decent handling SUV. it was the single best mod I have done to this car and I've done a lot of mods.

1. Wider, high performance tires. I have tested a combination of 9 different high performance summer and all-season tires. All of them perform much better than the skinny EV tires that come on the car.
2. I will give this a 6 on handling when pushing the car to its limit and an 8 on eliminating wheel spin off the line.

1. Koni rear shocks. While I started the thread on the Koni rear shock upgrade, I do not use them myself as my car has the Magneride suspension and has very little bounce to begin with. I did it to lessen the bounce others have in their cars.
2. That said, I would rate this upgrade between 5-8 depending on the roads the car is being driven on.

Which tires (and size) gave you the best traction for acceleration?

 

[bellyer]

I have the Koni shocks (thanks for all the testing and advice there, @markboris). I have found them to make the ride much more comfortable and controlled over bumps/potholes/expansion joints. It does not seem to fully address the harmonic bounce situation, but it definitely makes it more tolerable. I think to address the harmonic bounce over expansion joints, something needs to be done to the front of the vehicle, as I seem to notice the bounce introduce itself there in the front, but the back is where the really bad bounce used to really hit us from. The Konis have made a drastic improvement to my satisfaction with this vehicle. In terms of a scale from 1-10, I would probably put the Konis at an 8 in terms of improving the ride.

I am definitely interested in the sway bar now, too, hearing the positive reviews that folks have shared on that.

 

[markboris]

Which tires (and size) gave you the best traction for acceleration?

Hands down, the Michelin Pilot Sport 4s was the best for traction with the Pilot Sport SUV coming in a close second. As far as size, I've always ran a staggered setup so you have to factor that in. With the Pilot Sport 4s, I had two setups, 245/45/20 F, 275/40/20 R and 275/40/20 F, 315/35/20 R. With the Pilot Sport SUV, 265/45/20 F, 295,40/20 R. My Focus RS and GT500 both came from the factory with Pilot Sport 4s's and so do many other performance cars. As with any Max Performance Summer tire, the warmer they are, the sticker they get. The only other tire that I know is sticker is the Michelin Pilot Cup 2's but they are a track/competition tire (were available as an option on the GT500) and have a wear reading of 180 so you wouldn't get much mileage out of them.

 

[Mach1E]

Hands down, the Michelin Pilot Sport 4s was the best for traction with the Pilot Sport SUV coming in a close second. As far as size, I've always ran a staggered setup so you have to factor that in. With the Pilot Sport 4s, I had two setups, 245/45/20 F, 275/40/20 R and 275/40/20 F, 315/35/20 R. With the Pilot Sport SUV, 265/45/20 F, 295,40/20 R. My Focus RS and GT500 both came from the factory with Pilot Sport 4s's and so do many other performance cars. As with any Max Performance Summer tire, the warmer they are, the sticker they get. The only other tire that I know is sticker is the Michelin Pilot Cup 2's but they are a track/competition tire (were available as an option on the GT500) and have a wear reading of 180 so you wouldn't get much mileage out of them.

Nice. I loved the PS4S tires on my last car.
Sticking with the factory GTPE wheels I won’t be able to go that wide but it should be a nice upgrade to the factory tires. I’m tired of having to ease into the throttle to not roast the tires.

 

[HuntingPudel]

1) Since I have a Magneride car I can only comment first-hand on the Steeda anti-sway bars. They’re a pretty solid 8.

2) The car wallowed a bit and had pretty significant roll from the factory. It still has more roll than I would like and there are odd deflections one the rubber suspension near the limit, but the car is more predictable and precise, even with the stock tires.

Now I just need to settle on a set of wheels for when my stock tires are gone. Nothing on the market currently floats my boat so I have to decide like I did on color for the car: the lesser of evils.

 

[markboris]

Nice. I loved the PS4S tires on my last car.
Sticking with the factory GTPE wheels I won’t be able to go that wide but it should be a nice upgrade to the factory tires. I’m tired of having to ease into the throttle to not roast the tires.

I’d get the PS4S’s in the 255/45/20 size and you’ll be doing the best you can without going with wider tires. I think you will be very happy. Oh, and run them at around 35 psi.

 

[21st Century Pony]

My car = Premium AWD Extended Battery.

I stuck with the Michelin Primacy OEM tires and tire size, for other reasons.

Mileage now: 52+ thousand miles.

I made three suspension mods, in order of mounting:

1. Steeda front and rear anti-sway bars, on the car about September - October 2022, on at about 10k miles. Improvements: A). much better tracking thru corners B). some mitigation of the "Extended Battery AWD front - to - back sway". Overall: 7 out of 10, with a ding for the well-known inconsistent Steeda quality in this and some of their other products (we had Steeda parts on two Ford Fusions before).

2. KW v3 coilover shocks and springs, on the car in December 2022, at about 13 thousand miles. WOW what an improvement! despite their salty price. Also, it took me a month+ and about three thousand miles to completely dial in my KW settings. Results: completely eliminated the front-to-back Premium Extended Battery sway. Also, I gained shocks which are rebuildable and of much better quality and longevity than OEM shocks. Overall: 10 out of 10. Still very very happy with the KW v3s after 40k miles and 27 states and many many varied types of roads. IMHO the KW v3s are the best suspension investment for non-Magneride Mach Es, if you can bear the salty price.

3. Eibach front and rear anti-sway bars, which replaced the Steeda bars. I put them on this September, and junked the Steeda bars. Better (very good) manufacturing and finish quality. Eliminates the problematic Steeda must-grease endlinks, Steeda's rust on their sway bar ends and other occasional Steeda problems like variances in their manufacturing dimensions. The Mach E handles just a shade better than with Steeda bars, IMHO. Had these been available in 2022... but they weren't. So far (about three thousand miles) I give them also a 10 out of 10.

So, if $$$ is not a problem, I recommend the KW v3 coilovers ($3k+) and then the Eibach bars. If $$$ is limited, I recommend the Eibach bars and then, "save up for the KW v3s".

 

[sleightofhand]

Martin, After dialing your KW V3 to your liking, what was the height of your car from floor to bottom of the fender? Could you share specific settings? What worked / what didn't work for you?

 

[tuminatr]

I will also mention both of these setups were installed on my previous Premium EX AWD and current GTPE

For me, the biggest difference out of anything was installing a set of Vredestein Ultrac Vorti+ 255/45/20 105Y XL and running them at 36psi. It made the car much more precise in cornering and braking and with the lower PSI took almost all bounce and harshness out of the ride. I have run about 14 different combinations of wheels 18,19,20" and tires the Vorti are my favorites. 9/10

My 2nd favorite thing I have done is Steeda sway bars. Now I have modified the front bar with a different aftermarket sealed end link and used bushings to remove the sloppy work from Steeda. Body roll steering precision and turn-in were all hugely improved. Some additional harshness was removed and more noticeable on the premium than the GTPE. I did buy the Eibach bars but at this point, I won't install them. 8/10

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