Review of Prokit/Hotchkis

[jpo96sungt]

I have only had a few hours to test them, but I am both impressed and a little let down. 1st the car looks much better closer to the ground. Even with stock 16" wheels and tires. The springs seem only slightly stiffer that stock, which was a small disappointment. My Sunfire has the Prokit as well and seems to be much stiffer. Different application I know, but they are the same spring in name.

The sway bars were an eye opener. The first thing I noticed was when I took them out of the box. They were so light I thought they were plastic. I have Eibach sways on my Sunfire and they are solid and close to the same diameters but much heavier.

As far as the handling is concerned, it is a great improvement. The limiting factor right now is the stock wheel and tire package which I will replace with the next commission check.

Here is the wheel I was thinking about upgrading to. Whadya think?

[TagApl4]

I have the hotchkis springs and sways and love em. Nice rims. Not a fan of 5 point rims but thats the nicest set I have seen in a long time.

[jpo96sungt]

I have noticed that the rear is still higher than the front. Is this normal or did I somehow get FE3 rear shocks on the thing before I bought it? The rpo sticker says FE1.

[exesivefire]

Don't have an opinion, but nice to see another Fire owner around here

[CTS_FAN]

I just had my Pro Kit installed Monday and my front end is making some crazy noises...anyone else had this issue?? The installer told me they will make noise until I get an alignment and the springs settle a little, does this sound right? Thanks. I do love the look of the car lower to the ground!

[jpo96sungt]

Did your stock springs make noise before you changed them? If not, then why would new springs make noise? To my knowledge, unless the tie rods were removed, you shouldn't need an alignment. The only thing that would change is the camber. Someone correct me if I am wrong. Your installer is trying to get out of fixing it.

[hawkphotography]

Pretty sure a camber adjustment is considered an alignment...

[jpo96sungt]

Originally Posted by hawkphotography

Pretty sure a camber adjustment is considered an alignment...

The camber constantly changes through out the travel of the suspension. That is the nature of the beast. When the car is lowered the camber heads in the negative direction, but the alignment hasn't changed. Otherwise you would need and alignment every time you went over a speed bump.

[1badgmc]

But camber is still part of an alignment. Your alignment needs to be correct when sitting still and flat for proper tire wear. Sure your camber angle changes everytime your suspension is working, but your camber is still negative when you're driving down a smooth, flat road. With negative camber, you're going to wear the inside edge of your front tires a lot more quickly than with a proper camber adjustment. The car's alignment HAS changed because now it has negative camber.

[jpo96sungt]

Originally Posted by 1badgmc

But camber is still part of an alignment. Your alignment needs to be correct when sitting still and flat for proper tire wear. Sure your camber angle changes everytime your suspension is working, but your camber is still negative when you're driving down a smooth, flat road. With negative camber, you're going to wear the inside edge of your front tires a lot more quickly than with a proper camber adjustment. The car's alignment HAS changed because now it has negative camber.

Negative camber doesn't always wear the inside of the tire faster. Excessive camber does. Lowering the car 1" doesn't cause excessive negative camber. Toe has more to do with tire wear than camber.