It looks like I will be going with some stock 16"s on my 96 GLE. I hate wheel gap, but I like th ecomfort of my stock ride. What is my best option to get decent handling without a harsh ride. I want no more than a 1-1.5" drop, or will stay @ stock height. Where do I start? FSTB? New springs? SE springs? Drop springs? HELP!!!
I searched, but all that comes up is a million threads with signatures with my search terms...

 

I hear H&R springs give the most comfortable ride of all the lowering springs, but they also lower the least. 1.3 inches i think. If you hate wheelgap, then get shocks and springs first. If you just want better handling, you could go with RSB and FTSB first.

BTW.. If you have ever ridden in a BMW, you would not like the stock ride quality of a maxima.. way too bouncy. Getting new springs and shocks will definetely stiffen up the ride but you will get a much sportier feeling from your suspension, very similar to a bimmer (maybe a little harsher actually).

 

Keep your stock springs, keep your 16" wheels and get KYB AGX's. That setup rides incredable and handles awsome on ANY road surface.

 

What are KYB AGX's?

 

Hi performance adjustable shocks & struts.

 

B&G springs give a near stock ride as well - but they drop a little lower than the H&R's (they give you 1.6 i believe)

 

Is this the setup you have? spiff56747 said he wanted to drop the car KYB's with stock springs will drop the car??

 

eeh i dont think keeping the stock springs will drop your car at all... unless you cut them. get B&G's or Progress Springs or something else to drop it.

 

FSTB, RSB, RSTB... Then if you still want more, Sprints and KYB AGX's... Make sure you get the AGX's though, that way you can adjust to the ride comfort you want and they're also the best quality available for the Max, GR2's are cheaper and non-adjustable...
No offence to the Max, but i don't think it will EVER handle like a Bimmer... Ever been in an E36 M3 will suspension work

 

I agree that if you do suspension work to a bimmer, it will probably outhandle a maxima, but I can pretty much guarantee that my maxima with B+G springs and AGX's will handle better than a stock BMW.

 

I thought eibach was the spring of choice for not so low drop (1.3/1.0) combined with AGX's of course.

 

how many fingers fit in there with B&G springs, i got maxpseeds and they i can still put a tight 4 fingers in there

 

i want kyb agx's but i'm still not sure what springs to get beacause i want good ride quality and an awesome stance without cutting my springs. I also have two 12's in the trunk so...

 

A local shop recommended the Koni race setup shocks/struts. They said that there are 3 types of strut/shock setups that come from Koni - street, performance and race. Obviously the latter ones are stiffer.

Has anyone had any experience with those and care to compare/contrast against the KYB AGX? I hear that Koni is the best as far as shock/strut applications. Well... Bilstein seems to be the top brand, but they don't make suspension for the Maxima, so they're out.

So Koni race suspension better than KYB AGX?

 

Koni's may be better, but they are not a direct bolt-on, and require some cutting of the shocks assembly (I think). Do a search on this. The AGX's are a direct replacement of your stock suspension.

 

Tokico also has some adjustable Illuminas out for our car now, but I don't think anyone has tried them.
Mad Dhan: I'm happy with my B+G/AGX, but if your car is a 5spd. the rear will sit slightly lower. Here's a few pictures of my car withhttp://bba01.bus.utexas.edu/Matthew.Quon/max/bg.htm

As far as handling mods here's how I and many others went about it:
FSTB, RSB, AGXs, B+Gs, ES Endlink Bushings, ES FSB Bushings, RSTB
I am still in the process of installing my RSTB, but the bolts need to be cut to fit (on my car at least) RSTB install complications; the bar is too long
-hype

 

I second this theory of suspention makeover. There is no doubt the AGX'a are probally the best choice for struts in our cars. The sheer adjustability of the struts (8 way) makes them the perfect choice. Again springs are a tough call. everyone want to drop and stiffen the suspention and again everyone's tastes are different. So its hard to judge what combonation is right. but from the research ive done its either B&G or eibach with the AGX for the best ride.

 

As someone said earlier, outside of user friendliness, aren't the Koni yellows possibly better than the KYB AGX for performance on street/track? I assume that they would be 8-way adjstable too... just a standard?

 

The rear Koni's must be removed to be adjusted. Thus they are useless in my opinion...

The front Konis are just inserts too. You have to cut the OEM strut body apart with a hacksaw and pipe cutter and drill and screw the koni shock insert into place.

For several hundred $$$ that's just BullSh!t.....

-RMB