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Anyone in Hawaii have Pedder's Suspension

3095 Views 25 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  JusticePete
Anyone in Hawaii got Pedders Suspension on their LX?

I spoke to Pedder's Suspension USA owner, Peter, via phone yesterday. I need to take some photos and check some things underneath. He is going to give a quote for parts/shipping. Pedders is a pretty in depth company, as far as it is not just coil overs / sway bars. It is a custom suspension order just for your car.

I was going to do the heads and cam package, but I think the suspension would be more sensible at this point, so I don't kill my self w/ the extra power!! ....especially when I am chasing the blacked out rice burners on the H-3 at work.
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Just got a couple of e-mails from Pete BASICA, president of Pedder's Suspension, USA. He is going to cut a deal on LX Street I eXtreme package. Retails for about $2,000. He actually said he will fly down here to Honolulu to supervise the install, seeing how they don't have a dealer on island. Maybe he just wants a working vacation. I just have to pick the shop so he can call them up to arrange it. That's pride.
Just got a couple of e-mails from Pete BASICA, president of Pedder's Suspension, USA. He is going to cut a deal on LX Street I eXtreme package. Retails for about $2,000. He actually said he will fly down here to Honolulu to supervise the install, seeing how they don't have a dealer on island. Maybe he just wants a working vacation. I just have to pick the shop so he can call them up to arrange it. That's pride.
Is this new package including the new Xa coilovers? If not, you might want to hold out for them.

I have the Track II setup on my car, and I am hoping to get the coilovers on my car soon. I placed a deposit on them back in December!

And Pedders always has one of their techs show up for the first installation at a new shop. Mike (DMS) was at my installation in Northern California.
Is this new package including the new Xa coilovers? If not, you might want to hold out for them.

I have the Track II setup on my car, and I am hoping to get the coilovers on my car soon. I placed a deposit on them back in December!

And Pedders always has one of their techs show up for the first installation at a new shop. Mike (DMS) was at my installation in Northern California.
This is the LX Xa Street I / II Extreme package. Wow! December! that's a long time to wait! Hope you get em soon. Are you happy w/ the performance so far? (despite the wait). I hear nothing but good things about their performance. I know of no one down here that has even heard of them, let alone has them on their car...............Andy
Yeah the Xa coil-overs are just getting released now. Any day....I hope.

The bad:
I am an autocrosser and the Pedders package didn't really help autocrossing performance and put me in a class where I royally get my ass kicked. I am forced to compete against full race cars with race rubber. The local course we have are low traction material and very tight courses. The Pedders can't make up for the weight of the car and in those tight low speed corners the car understeers horribly. I am forced to use the throttle to rotate the rear-end. Basically I have to fish-tail the car around the course. It makes a good show, but it is VERY slow for my class. And I should mention I used to race professionally, autocross competitively, and instruct. So this isn't sue to the driver being a complete moron.

The bottom line is the LX is a crappy autocross car to begin with. The Pedders doesn't help and actually makes me less competitive.

The good:
The car handles *much* better at speed. Normal street driving the car handles like a much different car. Good turn in, far less vague, much more grip. I won't take my car on any local "big tracks" since I don't want to risk bending the car, but I suspect it would be very solid there.

The car is quite stiff now, but it doesn't bother me much. In areas with bad roads (which is how I remember much of Hawaii's roads when I last drove there) this is VERY noticable.

Overall I am very happy with the suspension. I figure I had the choice of adding power or handling, and I think I went the right route. I get some serious performance out of my ride and I am not risking my engine like a supercharger might for about the same price.

I am not sure if you will be quite as happy with your package since you aren't getting the bushings. But this might be better as you will have less issues with rough roads.

Let me know if you have any other questions.
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Just got a couple of e-mails from Pete BASICA, president of Pedder's Suspension, USA. He is going to cut a deal on LX Street I eXtreme package. Retails for about $2,000. He actually said he will fly down here to Honolulu to supervise the install, seeing how they don't have a dealer on island. Maybe he just wants a working vacation. I just have to pick the shop so he can call them up to arrange it. That's pride.
Check with Eurosport! Know a few guys over there...
Yeah the Xa coil-overs are just getting released now. Any day....I hope.

The bad:
I am an autocrosser and the Pedders package didn't really help autocrossing performance and put me in a class where I royally get my ass kicked. I am forced to compete against full race cars with race rubber. The local course we have are low traction material and very tight courses. The Pedders can't make up for the weight of the car and in those tight low speed corners the car understeers horribly. I am forced to use the throttle to rotate the rear-end. Basically I have to fish-tail the car around the course. It makes a good show, but it is VERY slow for my class. And I should mention I used to race professionally, autocross competitively, and instruct. So this isn't sue to the driver being a complete moron.

The bottom line is the LX is a crappy autocross car to begin with. The Pedders doesn't help and actually makes me less competitive.

The good:
The car handles *much* better at speed. Normal street driving the car handles like a much different car. Good turn in, far less vague, much more grip. I won't take my car on any local "big tracks" since I don't want to risk bending the car, but I suspect it would be very solid there.

The car is quite stiff now, but it doesn't bother me much. In areas with bad roads (which is how I remember much of Hawaii's roads when I last drove there) this is VERY noticable.

Overall I am very happy with the suspension. I figure I had the choice of adding power or handling, and I think I went the right route. I get some serious performance out of my ride and I am not risking my engine like a supercharger might for about the same price.

I am not sure if you will be quite as happy with your package since you aren't getting the bushings. But this might be better as you will have less issues with rough roads.

Let me know if you have any other questions.
Talk to me about your alignment specifications and sway bar settings.
Talk to me about your alignment specifications and sway bar settings.
I can't find my records of this at the moment. Maybe Mike can speak up. I know he put on a super agressive alignment and set up and told me not to excede 110MPH or so since it was so agressive. He also told me not to drag race or I would destroy the rear tires in short order.

The car does get very nervous at high speeds which fits what Mike was telling me.

I did tell Mike that once we get the Xa's in I would like to see if we can refine anything, but I honestly don't think it is going to really be fixable. I think the car is just too heavy to run tight autocross courses.
That or Rev Motorsport!

Too bad I don't live on the island anymore!
Tentative Pedders Day Hawaii is Saturday August 29
Sounds good Pete......did you talk w/ Revolution?
I can't find my records of this at the moment. Maybe Mike can speak up. I know he put on a super agressive alignment and set up and told me not to excede 110MPH or so since it was so agressive. He also told me not to drag race or I would destroy the rear tires in short order.

The car does get very nervous at high speeds which fits what Mike was telling me.

I did tell Mike that once we get the Xa's in I would like to see if we can refine anything, but I honestly don't think it is going to really be fixable. I think the car is just too heavy to run tight autocross courses.
It is tough to defy the laws of physics regarding speed and mass. On the other hand, we can get an LX to pull over 1G on a skid pad at the right ride height with the right set up. Lowering the car as much as possible while still being able to drive over speed bumps and such will make a huge difference and you will be able to do just that with the Xa coilovers. Corner weighting the car to improve balance will help. Tires are a critical element of setup. Combine them all with a perfect alignment and you may surprise a few people at the autocross.

I have invited Mike into this thread to get the specs.
Sounds good Pete......did you talk w/ Revolution?
I'll call today.
Check with Eurosport! Know a few guys over there...
I have left 2 voice mails and 2 emails to them since Dec of last year, and have never heard from them. I think I sent them to a Jeff(?) I have given this information to Pete.

mike
dms
That or Rev Motorsport!

Too bad I don't live on the island anymore!
Who is the owner?
Tenetative Pedders Day Hawaii is Saturday, August 29
Quote:
Originally Posted by JusticeDeb View Post
Tentative Pedders Day Hawaii is Saturday, August 29
You can also try Ron's Performance: http://www.ronsperformance.com/

345-A N. Nimitz Hwy
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 528-2022
Sorry, couldn't get the link to work.........Andy
__________________
'07 R/T..R1 Concepts (d/s rotors, ceramic pads, SSB lines, silicone b fluid), JBA headers, Borla cat back, 180 stat, C&L CAI, Predator, Diablo catch can ACES IV & Quantum Blue, SRT Super Bee wheels, w/ Falken 452s , Marine Combat Vet Plates....and Trunk Monkey! Pedder's Suspension in the works!
Hey guys, I'm "tappin out"....worked last night and going to catch some sleep...............let me know what else I can do for you.......either on the threads....(two are getting redundant--------------my fault), or on e-mail...........later, Andy

PS thanx a lot for all the effort.
It is tough to defy the laws of physics regarding speed and mass. On the other hand, we can get an LX to pull over 1G on a skid pad at the right ride height with the right set up. Lowering the car as much as possible while still being able to drive over speed bumps and such will make a huge difference and you will be able to do just that with the Xa coilovers. Corner weighting the car to improve balance will help. Tires are a critical element of setup. Combine them all with a prefect alignment and you may surprise a few people at the autocross.

I have invited Mike into this thread to get the specs.
I did the trainng on Grimlocks sweet ride, and boy what a difference it was!. We set the alignment up for more aggressive street rather than autocross.
Here is what I remembered the alignment angles were:
Front:
camber -.8
casters 10.5
Toe .05 toe out

Rear
-1.5 camber
.05 degrees toe in

Now for auto cross, we can go much more aggressive on the front cambers and go to toe out to the 1.5 degrees each wheel. You have not describe your handling to me, but we can seriously play with setup to improve your ride for autocrossing. I would imagine one of the biggest issues Grimlock is experiencing is understeer, and even though our girl is a big girl (LOL) we can improve this significantly with the XA coil overs

When they come in, I will be at Synergy to oversee the installation, and will use your ride to document the install instructions, which I have already written, but just need better pictures.

thanks
mike
dms
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Pete,
Just got back from Lex's a few minutes ago. Cooper said the head mech / admin guys were just checking w/ their insurance guys. He said Pedder's would be possible, as it is a system / kit type. They don't modify stock suspensions due to liability (understandible). They definitely have the space and numerous bays, w/ lots of equipment. Parking is great. Cooper said it doesn't seem like a problem, and seemed very positive about it all. I told him there are a lot of guys at HPD who have the LX platform and a potential for some good business via Pedder's.

If there is any place else you need me to scope out I will. I leave tommorow for Oregon and get back on the 1st. I will check my e-mail.

You can also try DJ's Motorsports...several locations. Not sure of their equipment, but have a fairly extensive knowledge base of suspension work: They actually have 3 locations, I think....let me know, Andy


www.djsmotorsports808.com

45-618 Kamehameha Hwy # A
Kaneohe, HI 96744-2000
(808) 234-6222
:bigthumb:
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