6G Celicas Forums

What is the difference between the Super Strut suspension on the SS-III and the MacPherson on my GT. Which one is better and can they be swapped??

takes a lot of work, extra brake lines and such(i believe).
nobody has done it,
the susper strut is less resilliant, but is better for handling.
the WRC went back to macphersons i believe, before getting kicked out.

A couple things to note here. I can't comment on the resilliancy of the super strut, but I am under the impression that it was designed specifically for WRC so as to retain the initial camber setting throughout its range of travel. While it is a good theory, for whatever reason, it was abandoned in favor of a more traditional setup. I think this fact alone speaks volumes. Also of note is the fact that it is near impossible to align the super strut car... couple that with the fact that there aren't any over here in the states, and I think if you pull into any alignment shop they'd be looking at your suspension as if it was some kind of alien thing... and probably refuse to touch it.

would it really need aligned then?
by your statement it seems like it would always be aligned, unless someone set the camber to a degree, then...yea, i'm guessing the engineers would have made it so there's a access part that changes it easily

Yes, it would need to be aligned. The odds of swapping out your whole suspension and putting another one in its place and somehow hitting upon perfect alignment upon assembly is pretty slim.

Well, yes and no. The camber setting will always remain constant; however, the toe settings may need to be changed, and the caster settings might as well. In fact (and I don't know this to be true) it is possible that while the camber settings remain static, the toe and/or caster may change under load.

My point was simply that it was designed for use in WRC, and they abandoned it. Seems to me like its not something I want on my car. Sounds like it was a good theory that didn't work in practice.

yet all the good coil-overs are for the superstrut suspension

Well i might be able to tell you soon, the difference in driving. I had the ST205 with Superstrut suspension, (which needed parts replacing when i had it as they where out at 60k miles). This cost me the best part of £500, which consisted of 2 camber control links and one bottom arm. Anyway have got rid of the GT4 (found it to be a little unreliable and very juicy on fuel) and am on the look out for a GT ST202. So when i get hold of one i'l be able to see what all the fuss is about.

If you wanted to change to super strut i think you'll need the following parts, new subframe, 2x no.1 bottom arms, 2x no 2 bottom arms 2x camber control links 2x new shocks and springs.

From Memory (could be slightly wrong) new from toyota
Subframe £????
Bottom Arm no 2 £280ea
Bottom Arm no 1 £120ea
Camber link £90
Shocks £ 150ea

Thats £1280 and that doesnt include subframe!!!!

I'm doing it now.

Shocks are more like 180 each on the front, and 140 for a pair of uprated items for the rear.

Arm #1 is a metal bar, that doesn't wear.
Arm #2 does wear. and takes the fig-8 joint with it. 280 an arm, and another 80 each for the fig 8.

That makes a set of TRD springs at 230 quid, and 4 TRD top mounts at about 60 each look cheap.

I considered TRD adjustables, but couldn't face 350 a corner.

Already £1500 in the hole, and I haven't fitted the bits yet.



TTE abandoned SStruts on the WRC car because they were an utter bitch to set up, and the McPhersons were readily available and race proven. So the road car has more trick suspension that the race car.

Go figure.

PIcked up the st202, and msut say, it handles very well. Ok its on 15's with standard suspension, but it aint bad. Go some lowering springs coming tomorrow and we'll see what she is like with them. I dont think there is gonna be a lot in it you know, super strut and mcferson

Sounds cool mate.