ke35 handling

[method]

Hey

This isnt a yes or no question but i was wondering how well the ke35's chassis are designed and how well the handle.

From pictures they look like they have quite a narrow track and short wheel base.

Im thinking of getting a sr coupe but i want it to be fun to drive.

I really love driving my evo but cant really afford to run it. Its got big (as in oil resevior) coilovers (tein super circut master) 26mm front and 24mm rear sway bars, stiffening braces throughout, some nothalane bushes and i am very happy with the way it handles. It has a very nuteral steer, no real understeer and very controlable oversteer and it feels like its glued to the road. It was a ex super circuit car from japan after all.

If i bought a ke35 and got new struts and springs for it (probably just KYB's and some stiffer springs) and got larger swaybars what would it hande like?

I kind of am under the impression they are twitchy little things and when they let go they let go. Because in all honesty it is a 30 year old chassey it wont really be much of a starting point compared to one 20 to 30 years newer.

More after a discussion to do with the ke35's on this topic.
I would probably spend about 5k max on the suspentiuon (suspention mods are the worst when it comes to selling cars, i could spend 10,000 on suspention and ill only be able to up the price as much as jo bloggs with the D2 coilovers would. People just dont care about these mods but imo it makes all the difference), that should buy good bits and pieces. And i do want to race it on the track.

[RS13]

I've driven a couple, I wouldn't rate them as any worse handling-wise than say, a TE71, you get a fair bit of flex through the chassis and the leaf spring rear is pretty soggy, but I'd say with around 200hp they'd be a bag of fun to drive.. as the first thing you notice is the lack of power! Besides, if people can drift KP60s.. then you've got no worries!

And you really don't need to spend big dollars getting them right, I'd say getting suspension/braking parts off other toyotas would make them fairly cheap to modify. The main cost is finding one in decent nick.. even a worn-out factory one still goes for $2000+, you could probably get one cheaper but you'd spend more on rust removal and bodywork than what you'd pay for it!

[Caveman]

holy crap a sr coupe

talk to jono he'll take you for a ride in his, maybe let you drive

although its slow as hell

I think its all primered up right now

[ke_25]

yer they onyl run a small front sway bar.. so could always buy a 20mm fron white line, and they dont run a rear so buy a 16mm rear kit, then new shocks, harder leafs, springs.. and a strut brace? that shoudl stiffen it up a litle.. thats what il be doing with mine hoefullly..

[method]

Oh cool, didnt realise they had leaf springs in the back.
Yeah the prices for them are quite high for a car that old but they look quite good. I love that shape.

Yeah how interchangable are toyota parts?
Id definatly want to put bigger brakes on it and a different suspention set up. imo most of the fun comes from the cars handling. No point in power if it cant corner and stop. Can you get bigger hubs and brake packages from other toyotas that just bolt on? From a celica or supra or something maybe?? Or even go for a 5 stud conversion and get some huge brakes off a more modern car. Dont know much about toyotas but with mitsis you can easily do a 5 stud conversion and run the huge brembo brakes later model evos run. And the front shocks?

Sorry i dont know much about these cars, im still learning being a misti boy

Yeah ive been looking at jonos, its all primerd up too lol.

Im thinking of selling my car and starting a project car, a sr coupe would be my pick, probably with a 3sgte or a 4agte in it too:)
Something i can keep and wont depreciate like crazy!

Thanks for the imput, its exactly what im after.

[Mr Revhead]

you mention 5k on suspension... thats enough to do a fourlink and watts linkage with coilovers.... some seam welding and bracing and youd have a very good handling car. some good springs and shocks such as koni or TRD adjustables. im new to the KEs but i think you can swap in a few differnt front struts to give more choice of shocks and springs

[l1ttle_d3vil]

yeah I agree with mr revhead, 5k would be plenty to spend on suspension.
all ive done with mine is got 2" blocks in the back (standard leafs) with ae85 struts/brakes in the front with compressed springs and shortened shocks (these bolted straight in). by no means is it an expensive setup, but in my opinion it handles pretty well. not much body roll, and it sticks to the road pretty nicely.
i havent pushed it REALLY hard yet though, mostly because its been on the public road or i have people in the car who are scared hehehe but ill be taking it to taupo next month so i'll see what it handles like there.

as for bolt-in upgrades; there are a number of different options you can go with. ae85 and ae86 are a direct bolt in aslong as you have the steering arms. 86's have vented discs so are a bit better than standard brakes. otherwise there are some corona [or carina] struts that will bolt straight in, 10" or 10.5" vented disks. i dont know the exact model these come off though, ive got some 10.5" vented corona struts here and the top of the spring is too wide to fit in the ke35 strut tower.

[AE85coupe]

I've driven a couple, I wouldn't rate them as any worse handling-wise than say, a TE71

what are you kidding me? te71 handle about 50 times better, as they have a 4 link, bigger sway bars, bigger shocks, better weight distribution

te71 = ae86 with different panels

if you spend the coin on a ke35 you could get it to handle quite nicely though

[RS13]

I've driven a couple, I wouldn't rate them as any worse handling-wise than say, a TE71

what are you kidding me? te71 handle about 50 times better, as they have a 4 link, bigger sway bars, bigger shocks, better weight distribution

te71 = ae86 with different panels

if you spend the coin on a ke35 you could get it to handle quite nicely though

Build a bridge.. and get over it. It was my opinion, not cold hard facts. Maybe I've just driven well-set up KE35s then, I've owned 3 TE71s and driven a few more, and really didn't like the way they handled as much as the KE35.

[AE85coupe]

yep you must have driven some dam nice ke35's

or some seriously shit te71's

cause god dam ke35's are shite in standard trim, they feel like the suspension is made entirely of jelly, but it is a 30 year old car

good thing about them though is plenty of later model toyota gear will bolt into them

[method]

haha awesome, thats what i was worried about, and a fixed rear axel i guess?

If i do get one it will be repowered, along the lines of a 3sgte or a 4g63(because i know lots about them). Should be a pretty simple 200RW KW but ofcourse fitting could be a problem, especially a non toyota engine. May even have to go down the 4agte route.

Im just trying to guestamate how much this is all going to cost me (have had numbers around 12 - 13k in my head at the moment). And if it will be more fun than my current car or just a waste of money and tyres

It would definatly be much quicker in a straight line but thats only the shortest route to the next corner

Plus they look damn nice, everyone seems to have a evo and think its the fastest thing in the world when really they arnt that great apart from the 6's 8's and 9's. The rest are overweight. Unless some decent coins been spent.