A year ago I begun this project with my Toyota Starlet EP82. Back then it was a stock EP with 2E-FE engine (75hp) with four stock Toyota Starlet GT springs and an airfilter and 185/55/14 Michelin Exaltos. I was visiting Megara Circuit with lap times around 1.22. I am not horsepower junkie, I like suspension tuning more. So I had to decide what to chose to do next with my Toyota Starlet EP82.

I was between the low budget option A Koni Yellow dampers with a set of Eibach lowering springs and performance option B TEIN Type FLEX Coilovers. I had to push my hand deep in my pockets to get option B but I couldn’t help it so I ordered it! :)

Installation of the dampers is pretty easy. It can be done by yourself if you got the tools needed and some basic mechanic skills. Aligning must be made by proffesional.

This suspension is a great combination between road usability and track performance. It can handle very well road abnormalities and can improve track driving.

The kit consists of four springs 5kg/mm and 4kg/mm for front and rear axle and dampers are 16 way adjustable for bound and rebound at the same time. This can help you setup your car at different tracks and also make you reduce the stiffness for street use.

Also you should replace your panhard rod with an adjustable one when lowering your car a lot. I chose a Whiteline but Cusco and RS*R are making too.

This is what TEIN has to say about this product:
‘”Want to have sporty performance, but don’t want to compromise on comfort.” “Want to lower the car down with sufficient stroke secured.” “Don’t want non-durable shock absorber.” TYPE FLEX is developed to meet various users’ needs, with lots of new features added, offering more flexibility and comfortability for long time.’

The first swaybar I installed on my Toyota Starlet EP82 was a front stock swaybar from a Toyota Starlet EP82 GT. It made the car roll less on the stock suspension. I guess most of you have that swaybar on your car.

Then after the installation of the TEIN coilover I decided that the car needed some more rotation to turn better. What I did was to find the thicker aftermarket adjustable swaybar and install it on my Toyota Starlet EP82. The sway was a Whiteline Heavy Duty Adjustable bought from demon-tweeks.co.uk.

The sway isn't direct bolt-on but instead you have to drill some holes on the chassis. The difference that swaybar made was huge!!! The car was rolling a lot less, gave me a better feeling of the car while turning and of course the car was turning faster. Highly recommended mod for your Toyota Starlet EP82!

There are some front, stiffer, aftermarket swaybars too like TRD or Whiteline, but I won't suggest them unless your suspension is pretty soft. The Toyota Starlet EP82 is understeering with the OEM one so adding a stiffer on the front axle will make things worse!

Starlets aren't a new car model. They are on the streets for at least 10-15 years. So their bushings possibly need change. Bad bushings effect the way your suspension components move mostly when inside a turn thus effecting the suspension geometry.

Because on a racing application you want the suspension components to move as less as possible you shouldn't replace your worn bushings with OEM but with aftermarket harder ones.

I chose TRD bushings and was very satisfied with them.

In order to fine tune you caster setting on the front axle of your EP you must get a kit that will do that job.

You can get a kit from Whiteline that also limits the lift of the front of the car while accelerating.

This is a bit up to you and your own setup but what made me go faster at the track is this:

Front Camber: -2.5
Front Caster: 2.0
Toe: 0