1 set of H&R springs on their way. Should be in by the weekend. The Mustang is in permanant storage so I have nothing fun to drive until I decide what toy to buy. I might as well make the Fusion fun for the time being. After measuring the car, I went with the H&Rs due to the lower drop in the back. The car sits up higher in the rear stock so this should make it even and help balance the car in a corner. Pics and review when they're in.
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Gave in to the addiction
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OMFG!!!! It's a whole different car! Very BMW like ride and handling. To compare it to the V8 SHO that so many have here- It's very similar to that except the Fusion feels more nimble. I drove it very deep into a couple corners, totally flat. The only downside is pulling out of a corner the FWD shows its flaws, but that's the cars fault. For some reason, the car seems quieter now. It still could use a rear sway bar as it still pushes a tad, I'll be buying that shortly.
It looks great and it's not a G-Ride drop. Even with stock wheels/tires it's not bad. I think I'm going to drive on the stock tires until they're wore out, buy snows, and get wheels/tires next year.
Installation was pathetically easy. But I did have a dee dee-dee moment- All I'll say is F means front.
Bottom line- buy springs.
It looks great and it's not a G-Ride drop. Even with stock wheels/tires it's not bad. I think I'm going to drive on the stock tires until they're wore out, buy snows, and get wheels/tires next year.
Installation was pathetically easy. But I did have a dee dee-dee moment- All I'll say is F means front.
Bottom line- buy springs.
It's good to see you like the car a little more now, the springs are great and like you said, gives you an appreciation for the car. I'm in agreement with you too about the suspension flaws coming out especially in hard corners, lifting the inside drive wheel is not uncommon and the stock sway bars are piss poor. If you have a line on some bigger bars and brakes let the word out, both of those items need to be upgraded. Last week I had to do an emergency stop because of a cell phone challenged person pulling out in front of me and without ABS on the S-model, it was a smoke-n-slid show. A least it scared the crap out of her, but locking the brakes up doesn't stop the car fast.
The brakes aren't the greatest on this car after driving it awhile. I was impressed with them at first, but I was coming from a Ranger. It's like there's good initial bite then it just goes away. After about 2-3 corners of heavy braking, they start to really fade. When I put wheels on, I think I'll do the brakes at the same time. When I get around to calling SSB, I'll ask them to make a big rear brake kit as well as a brake bias adjuster. The more I've learned about cars, I realized that stock cars are like over the counter medicine; they aren't too strong so average people can use them.
[quote author=confusion link=topic=47263.msg739272#msg739272 date=1148659257]
It's good to see you like the car a little more now, the springs are great and like you said, gives you an appreciation for the car. I'm in agreement with you too about the suspension flaws coming out especially in hard corners, lifting the inside drive wheel is not uncommon and the stock sway bars are piss poor. If you have a line on some bigger bars and brakes let the word out, both of those items need to be upgraded. Last week I had to do an emergency stop because of a cell phone challenged person pulling out in front of me and without ABS on the S-model, it was a smoke-n-slid show. A least it scared the crap out of her, but locking the brakes up doesn't stop the car fast.
[/quote]
Putting bigger brakes on won't stop you any better if you're already locking the brakes. In fact they'll just make them lock up sooner.
Aftermarket bars are available for the Mazda 6, both front and rear. Both will fit right on, though the front is quite a bit of work. I think the Racing Beat front is a 27mm and rear a 24mm, quite a change from the stock 24/18.
It's good to see you like the car a little more now, the springs are great and like you said, gives you an appreciation for the car. I'm in agreement with you too about the suspension flaws coming out especially in hard corners, lifting the inside drive wheel is not uncommon and the stock sway bars are piss poor. If you have a line on some bigger bars and brakes let the word out, both of those items need to be upgraded. Last week I had to do an emergency stop because of a cell phone challenged person pulling out in front of me and without ABS on the S-model, it was a smoke-n-slid show. A least it scared the crap out of her, but locking the brakes up doesn't stop the car fast.
[/quote]
Putting bigger brakes on won't stop you any better if you're already locking the brakes. In fact they'll just make them lock up sooner.
Aftermarket bars are available for the Mazda 6, both front and rear. Both will fit right on, though the front is quite a bit of work. I think the Racing Beat front is a 27mm and rear a 24mm, quite a change from the stock 24/18.
Waldo, thanks for the intel, I'll definately look into the Mazda 6 bars for fitment. Your right about the brakes, I was just really suprised how much the car slide. I locked up straight but man it took a long time to get stopped and it was only from 35 mph. I wonder how much the back end locked if at all, brake bias adjustment??? Got me thinking, but considering the experience with my last Ford the rotors should start warping real soon anyway. Last question for you, do you think Strut Braces made for the 6 would fit on the Fusion?
Strut bars/sway bars probably won't fit because the Fusion is wider than a 6. A word of warning about brake bias, if you get lock up with too much set to the rear, you'll put it sideways or even spin around. This is something you shouldn't screw around with unless you know what you're doing and have had track time to know the limits of your car.
[quote author=Waldo link=topic=47263.msg744503#msg744503 date=1149016972]
[quote author=confusion link=topic=47263.msg739272#msg739272 date=1148659257]
It's good to see you like the car a little more now, the springs are great and like you said, gives you an appreciation for the car. I'm in agreement with you too about the suspension flaws coming out especially in hard corners, lifting the inside drive wheel is not uncommon and the stock sway bars are piss poor. If you have a line on some bigger bars and brakes let the word out, both of those items need to be upgraded. Last week I had to do an emergency stop because of a cell phone challenged person pulling out in front of me and without ABS on the S-model, it was a smoke-n-slid show. A least it scared the crap out of her, but locking the brakes up doesn't stop the car fast.
[/quote]
Putting bigger brakes on won't stop you any better if you're already locking the brakes. In fact they'll just make them lock up sooner.
Aftermarket bars are available for the Mazda 6, both front and rear. Both will fit right on, though the front is quite a bit of work. I think the Racing Beat front is a 27mm and rear a 24mm, quite a change from the stock 24/18.
[/quote]
Waldo, you got me thinking about this whole brake thing and I always thought the need for big brakes was to increase the area of clamping force and distribute this force over a larger area. This is not to dispute what you stated but rather I'm in agreement but in situation like a spoke of with an emergency stop the reason for lock up was more a function of normal braking function was not adequate to stop the car in time and because of the limited amount of brake pad contact addition braking pressure lead to the lock up. Even clamping force lets say from a 4 piston caliper and a pad face 2 inches larger on a larger rotor may sound like over kill and touchy but spreading that same amount of pressure over a larger area makes me think the car would stop faster. I'm really looking for that happy medium where you can trail brake or hard brake without having to press so hard that lock up occurs. Hummmmmmm !
[quote author=confusion link=topic=47263.msg739272#msg739272 date=1148659257]
It's good to see you like the car a little more now, the springs are great and like you said, gives you an appreciation for the car. I'm in agreement with you too about the suspension flaws coming out especially in hard corners, lifting the inside drive wheel is not uncommon and the stock sway bars are piss poor. If you have a line on some bigger bars and brakes let the word out, both of those items need to be upgraded. Last week I had to do an emergency stop because of a cell phone challenged person pulling out in front of me and without ABS on the S-model, it was a smoke-n-slid show. A least it scared the crap out of her, but locking the brakes up doesn't stop the car fast.
[/quote]
Putting bigger brakes on won't stop you any better if you're already locking the brakes. In fact they'll just make them lock up sooner.
Aftermarket bars are available for the Mazda 6, both front and rear. Both will fit right on, though the front is quite a bit of work. I think the Racing Beat front is a 27mm and rear a 24mm, quite a change from the stock 24/18.
[/quote]
Waldo, you got me thinking about this whole brake thing and I always thought the need for big brakes was to increase the area of clamping force and distribute this force over a larger area. This is not to dispute what you stated but rather I'm in agreement but in situation like a spoke of with an emergency stop the reason for lock up was more a function of normal braking function was not adequate to stop the car in time and because of the limited amount of brake pad contact addition braking pressure lead to the lock up. Even clamping force lets say from a 4 piston caliper and a pad face 2 inches larger on a larger rotor may sound like over kill and touchy but spreading that same amount of pressure over a larger area makes me think the car would stop faster. I'm really looking for that happy medium where you can trail brake or hard brake without having to press so hard that lock up occurs. Hummmmmmm !
Don't forget that your tires are part of your braking system also. I don't know what tires you have but the 16in Contis are VERY hard and skinny. If you go with a softer tire, it will brake better.
Braking distance is a function only of your tires. The fastest way to stop is always to brake at a point just before the tires lock up (except maybe in snow/gravel). It doesn't matter how much clamping force you have, if you lock up the tires, you won't stop faster. Only when you start getting fade and the brakes are no longer providing enough force to lock the wheels can bigger brakes actually reduce stopping distance (this is why race cars use big brakes). But on a stock car, even with a high performance tire, you will likely always be able to lock up the wheels on a one-time emergency stop, thus bigger brakes are never needed.
Think of it this way, the pads stop the rotors, the rotors stop the tires, and the tires stop the car.
As for the bars, everything in the Mazda6/Fusion suspension is the same or at least is only tuned differently. The only thing that makes the Fusion wider is the offset of the wheels. Any part will bolt from one to the other. Strut bars might be a different story though since I think the intake manifolds are different so there might be clearance problems, but for sure it will bolt on correctly and the width will be the same.
Think of it this way, the pads stop the rotors, the rotors stop the tires, and the tires stop the car.
As for the bars, everything in the Mazda6/Fusion suspension is the same or at least is only tuned differently. The only thing that makes the Fusion wider is the offset of the wheels. Any part will bolt from one to the other. Strut bars might be a different story though since I think the intake manifolds are different so there might be clearance problems, but for sure it will bolt on correctly and the width will be the same.
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