Suzuki SX4 strut/shock options

Well I gone and did it, I replaced my Olds Intrigue, and in its place there's a 2011 SX4 Sportback. Naturally I come to the GRM forums for information / inspiration / etc (instead of other forums that seem dubious in comparison). It seems like a good little car with a few things that could stand to be improved. The ride, while not bad, isn't great. It's a bit bouncy on factory 17" wheels and "Goodride" tires (smells like it came off lease and these were the cheapest option the PO could find), mostly when tackling broken side street surfaces. Looking around at Suzuki/SX4 forums, I see this sort of complaint a lot, and looking for replacement hardware is kind of depressing.

The Toyota Echo and '03 Jetta both seem to be looked at as sources for rear shocks. Assuming that this is a good idea, the Koni STR.T unit for the Echo looks good, p/n 8050-1053. Is there a way to get information on what sort of spring rates work well with this shock, and then what sort of spring rates are on the back of my car? I'm not lowering, these are stock springs.

At the front, things don't seem so bad, and a lot of forums seem to suggest that the front damping is noticeably greater than the rear. Anyone have a suggestion in case I wanted to do something up front? My first thought was adjustable Koni inserts but of course nothing is listed.

Finally (for now), does anyone have a suggestion on the best shop reference manual for this car? Eventually I want to do a speaker upgrade, I plan on doing my own maintenance, etc. I'm also wondering if a change from the 17's on the car down to 16's would be worth doing for a street driven SX4 in the hopes of reducing ride harshness. Oddly, these Goodrides are surprisingly quiet, this car seems just as quiet as my old Intrigue on Bridgestone Grid 009's.

Congrats. Should be a fun car.
The irony of out of one orphan brand, Olds, into another.

IMO, I would switch the springs to hte H&R's. Softer ride than the OEM, but still sporty.

In reply to JohnRW1621:

John: I bought an old Plymouth about five years before that brand died, I own a Ford/Mercury Capri (so not a dead brand exactly, more like a completely misunderstood zombie), I had the Olds and now this.

And at this point, my driveway is all red. Victory Red (Mustang), Italian Red (Honda), and Vivid Red (SX4).

In reply to Bobzilla:

H&R Sports are softer than OEM? Road Race lists a set of H&R's and they're kind of an aggressive drop and I still don't have a replacement shock suggestion. I dunno man...

Every set of H&R's I have been on have ridden better than the OEM's they replaced. Civics, Elantra, Swift, Subies etc. The OEM springs try to be too much rate and not enough shock. When they dial it back a hair it makes them much more comfortable.

The standard H&R sport springs are only a 1.4/1.3" drop, so they're pretty mild. I've used them with OEM springs for many of my vehicles and they were great.

In reply to pres589:

Is that the German/English Capri, the Mustang Capri, the Australian Capri, or the 2 door Contour Capri?

In reply to JohnRW1621:

German, built in Cologne in late-'72 as a '73. I really wish I could start working on it soon but I have career issues that make me worry about having to / wanting to move again.

Tadaaaaaa. These

For the price and quality, I wouldn't bother with anything else.

pres589 can you give a quick review of your car? Being a fan of small hatchbacks this car looks great on paper for me. ~150hp - 6speed - four wheel disk, etc... And dare say it, I do not dislike the looks on the fwd sportbacks. The rear suspension is some type of trailing arm, not fully independent, right?

In reply to fanfoy:

What are the spring rates? Hell, what are the factory rates for a Sportback? I know it seems perverse but I'm almost more comfortable throwing the shocks from Koni for an Echo at this thing first vs. something like that. At least until I find out more about the whole swap.

In reply to GTwannaB:

I really haven't driven it that much, maybe 35 miles, almost all in city. It's quiet, driving position is fairly comfortable for a tall male, the seat adjusts for height which helps. Stereo passable and mine has what seems like a very common half-dead amplified antenna that I plan on replacing with a Metra 44-UA20 mounted internally. Not slow but not quick; my Intrigue would see it off. 1st gear is very short, unless you're crawling I use 2nd. Shifter slightly vague and 2nd gear syncro is a little slow, I hear that a fluid change helps this common issue. This is no way that this car could have been sold without a reverse lockout, I can't find 6th without sliding along side the gate, if that makes sense.

Brakes feel nice and progressive. Everything works. It isn't an Olds Intrigue (this is a plus). I've owned it since Friday and I'm looking for a solution to what I find to be non-great suspension damping. Will report more later if you want and I have had more time with the car.

In reply to Bobzilla:

Let's assume this Internet Sourced Info is correct; http://clubsx4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1117&p=20000#post20000

What I'm seeing is that the rears are plenty stiff and most of the aftermarket isn't upping the rear rates much. They also aren't going down from there, either. I'm not sure what exactly to take away from this, but it seems like H&R's aren't going to make this easier on the rear shock.

What's interesting to me is that the ClubSX4 folks seem to really like the Monroe Sensa-Trac rear shock meant for an Echo. I think most folks here would turn up their noses at a Monroe. This isn't meant to be an insult or anything like that of either forum, just something I'm assuming based on what I've seen at both. Hrm.

Those Koni STR.T's or maybe Koni Special's for the Echo might be a pretty good idea?

In reply to pres589: Thanks for the review, keep us posted on your mods.

KYB GR2's with H&R springs is the go-to combo amongst the Swift crowd, and it works great on the street. No idea if that's an option for the SX4.

In reply to Zomby Woof:

KYB GR2's is what kept killing front strut bearings on my Olds. New GR2's all around, new strut tops on the front from Moog, and they'd eventually rip through. I'm not touching them again. I actually traded the Olds in for the SX4 with a strut rod hammering the bottom of the hood when encountering a bump.

How would a strut affect the bearings?

In reply to Zomby Woof:

The big plate, shown here;

After changing to GR-2's I kept having to replace this part as the strut would blow the center of the plate out. The bearing itself was probably fine. The plate would slowly rip and the damper rod would end up hammering the bottom of the hood. I thought these struts had extremely high compression damping and really not a lot of rebound. The rears didn't act like that, just the fronts.

Well, FWIW, in 12 years I've never seen that happen to a Suzuki.