Please earnestly consider that the stock chassis is not strong enough to take any serious road pounding from driving fast on any really rutted and uneven gravel or dirt road, much less "off road", no matter what the suspension setting, but stiff suspension would be even worse in this regard. I love to drive hard on "improved" mixed gravel and asphalt roads, but I always tiptoe on poor roads. Sport performance tires will not run on pure gravel or dirt, in fact they are deadly slippery on gravel, so it is always slow going in that case.

Two points I want to make straight with you. The seam welded, roll-cage stiffened rally car bodies are usually trashed after one or two seasons, if they even last that long. Just one mistake on gravel or dirt can bend not just the suspension, but the re-enforced chassis as well. Second, mountains and desert surround Los Angeles. Every month or so, I see a brand new 4x4 pickup truck, with just the dealer tag on it, no plates yet, driving down the road with a crushed suspension on one corner or a totally mangled frame or even having been rolled over. Their owners must be sick in their hearts.

The point to be learned is that if you dare to really pound the car without reinforcing the chassis, it will develop a case of "soft shell". Sooner or later. You will jack up the nose of the car and watch the nose of the nose drop 2 inches as the firewall sheet metal "oil cans" as you set it on jack stands. When you turn into a driveway, you will hear and feel the entire chassis twist due to the modest suspension load of raising one wheel against its spring only a few inches. This is not where SPD Tuning Service wants to see its customers wind up.

Driving on gravel roads that are regularly maintained is still a part of live in many rural areas of the county. You guys all know what I am talking about already. Maximum performance tires, Bridgestone S-03 type tires are completely useless on gravel or dirt. Persons anticipating frequent driving on mixed surfaces are better served by M+S rated tires or even the winter performance tires such as my personal favorites Bridgestone LM-22 or the Dunlop Winter Sport M2. You will be dog slow on dry pavement in comparison to high performance tires, but you will have the control you need in the gravel and dirt.