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Nobody has replied to this, although many have looked.  I've been busy and haven't paid much attention to the site lately, and assuming you're still looking for a reply, I'll give it a shot.

The answer is, it depends on how big a bang you're looking for.  A nice set of double adjustable dampers like JRZ (adjusted well) will give you a transformation you'd never believe if you hadn't driven it.  The support you get from JRZ is excellent.  Personally, I'm using AST 5200 series dampers and am fairly pleased with them.  Compared to the PSS9 setup I was using before, it's night and day.  Using the PSS9 is going to be night and day over the stock or M030 setup.

-Michael

I'm doing more track days with my '97 and want to improve cornering speeds.  Planning on using race tires this year.  I'm looking at the Taret suspension stuff approved for spec racing.  What gives the best bang for the buck?

Do I hear crickets?  Anybody home?

Losing first gear on my 5-speed.  Some moron rammed me from behind as I was leaving a light (I always worried that the rear-end job would be because I wasn't paying attention and mashed the brakes, but no, I was frickin' accelerating but apparently too slowly, that'll teach me).  The sound is rhythmic like a broken tooth or something, and is getting worse, so a new box is in my future.

Used to support engine while transmission is out... for clutch overhaul, rear main seal change, or the IMS repair.

No need to remove top engine cover or jack to support engine.

Aluminum Plate Manufactured in Canada.

MantisSport has developed a new sump extension slightly less oil contained, but 5/8" thinner in profile. More ground clearance. Better oil control due to machinced in dams to direct oil to the oil pickup. check out Excellence ad, or Mantissport .ca web page.

(Somehow forgot to check this site for quite a while...) John, the shoulders on the Evo are no problem at all for fit. It depends how you mount the seat to the floor, but with the setup I described, the front side bolster (where your right knee goes) will touch the stock center console (just left of the shifter) when the seat is slid forward, so that limits how far forward it will go. It goes far enough forward for me, and I'm average height. The only other thing that is a clearance issue is if you slide the seat all the way back it will just touch the underside of the Brey-Krause roll bar extension padding if you have that. But it's not a problem.

The first step is fit. There are some pretty narrow seats out there, so I'd recommend you visit every shop in your area that has demo seats, sit in them, and find a model that you could live with (if it's not comfortable sitting in a showroom for 15 minutes, it won't get better under track conditions). Might as well pick a seat that is FIA certified so that you probably won't need to install a seat back brace (required by some sanctioning bodies if the seat's not FIA).

Unless you are planning on installing a removable steering wheel, I'd avoid race seats that have high thigh supports on the sides, like the Pro2000 or the SPA, as you may not be able to get in or out of the seat (this happened to a friend). If you're going to use the seat on the street, you also might want to avoid seats with a big helmet wrap-around (besides the visibility issues, you also may find yourself whacking the back of your head on it from time to time). In general, shoulder width of the seat is not an issue; however, if you use a wider seat like an EvoL or EvoXL, the inside front thigh support of the seat might start rubbing against the front part of the center console (depending upon how far forward your seat is mounted).

I like the Brey Krause mounts that include a threaded boss on the inboard side so that the stock seat belt latches can be retained for street use (but pay attention when you order them, as they make several models for different models of seats, and because of the seat belt latch bosses, the part numbers for drivers side and passenger side are different). The other nice thing about these mounts is that they bolt directly to the factory sliders, which you can unbolt from the factory seats (start looking for your torx bits).

In order to pass the "broomstick rule" with a BK Roll Bar extension, I actually skipped the sliders and bolted the side mounts to two flat pieces of steel which bolt down where the sliders would be. BK also sells a similar item, which also includes a sub strap mount. (I use a factory GT3 sub strap bar which bolts to the BK side mounts).

I'm interested in fitting a race seat in my '97 so I can use it for track days and hillclimbs in the summer and then switch back to stock seat for winter.  Any suggestions?

Hi Trygve,
I am considering the Sparco Evo or the Tec for my '97.  I'm concerned about the shouloder width of 23.6 inches of the Evo.  Did you have to modify interior to get it to fit?
John

you'll recall the engine would not rev over 4K and I was getting the P1579 code. I got in the garage this weekend and removed the tranny and here is what I discovered. The head on one of the small bolts that holds the friction surface to the flywheel had broke off. The bolt was then bouncing around inside the bellhousing and bent one of the shutter wheel teeth. That is the tooth that was hitting the CPS.:









You can see some scaring on the flywheel where the bolt was hitting the bolt holes. It sucks to have to do this all over again, but Aasco has been very easy to work with has a new unit on the way. If something happens 1 out of 100,000 times, gotta figure it'll happen to me! Don't come near me during a thunderstorm!