woohoo, I'm back for a day and my favourite topic is back too
The big thing with the spoa vs spua argument is the end use and ease of conversion. My big poblem with spoa is that it is preached as the be all and end all of conversions. For certain people and certain driving styles and terrains yes but it is not for everyone.
A well thought out spua is just as effective for cetain conditions as well. that is what needs to be looked at, what suits that person and their needs.
If you have the know how to do a spoa and understand the ramifications of the conversion then it is an easy and cheap mod, but it can also turn into a very expensive and ineffective one too. It used to be the case that there were more bad than good spoa being done, obviously as people have learnt from mistakes and had access to better inf they have improved.
A spua is a cheap and effective way to go as weel. All you need are some quality springs. Any backyard mechanic with an ounce of intelligence can swap some springs over in the backyard. you get a lift to fit bigger tyres, better ride from the better springs and none of the worries involved with steering etc mods.
So which is better?
Both, horses for courses.
All you people who say "Well have you driven a SPOA, because you don't know what you are missing?" I answer so have driven a well setup spua?
Mine, Gregs and LjExtreem handle and perform a hell of a lot differently than just a standard spua but also handle in a completely different way to a spoa. We are all running either 34 or 36" tyres, granted with body lifts and guard trimming, but the springs are basically just longer with no lift as we are running less leaves than a full pack. they are all flexy, can be driven on the road comfortably (well as comfortable as a Suzuki gets) and all perform pretty good offroad.
Are they better han a spoa? in our eyes for our use, yes. For everyone else, maybe not. But they aren't better or worse, just another option that shouldn't be discounted. If there was only one way to do things we would all be driving the same car with the same setup and that would be boring
