Best Suspension Set Up For Handling?

26th June 2008, 17:04

My vts is currently lowered 60mm front and 70mm rear

Wanting to get this changed for a set up that will give me the best handling, along with some looks

Been thinking about a bilstein kit, and 40mm at the back possibly?

Im a saxo newbie so any help would be appreciated!

Just had a look at the Bilstein B8 shocks with 50mm eibach springs on kam racing website

Looks like a decent enough kit and should be a fair compromise with handling / looks. How much would the torsion bar need to come down, 45mm?

26th June 2008, 17:31

group n billies with 200lb front springs lowered just 30mm with back to suit.polyrace iv heard are best for bushes.
rear end again billie group n's with 25mm anti roll bar and 22mm torsion bar again uprated pollybushes

26th June 2008, 17:40

If your really hardcore about handling and it has to be brilliant, then just bare in mind your probably going to be driving on the public road, this is not the smoothest of surfaces all the time. Bilstein group n shocks at the front and the rear are really very good, used with a full set of polybushes for the front anti roll bar mounts and front wishbone mounts, along with a full set of four rear beam mounts. You can also uprate the rear anti roll bar in sizes like 25mm (thick) which will help your handling further though i think it would depend on what your running up front as to how big you go with this as it can make your rear end twitchy apparently. Your rear torsion bars can be uprated, from 21mm through to 23mm on the saxo, OMP also make front upper and lower strut braces, and if your only going down 25-30mm then the lower one should be ok to use as your not scraping the ground, the upper will obviously be ok as its tucked away under your bonnet.

All of these things are available at www.kamracing.co.uk

26th June 2008, 20:07

it all depends on how you will use the car
on road I'd say
bilstein b8s or group ns
and some softer 165ish faulkners
and a 24mm arb

for track use as the first reply said but with polyrace bushes
or even custom solids like I have

26th June 2008, 20:44

budget?

intended use(sort of roads if any)?

miles?

comfort factor?

I absolutely HATE eibach springs.

26th June 2008, 20:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexR

budget?

intended use(sort of roads if any)?

miles?

comfort factor?

I absolutely HATE eibach springs.

seconded on the eibachs

waaaaaaaaaaay too soft
I destroyed a lower brace because they kept bottoming it on the road

27th June 2008, 10:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexR

budget?

intended use(sort of roads if any)?

miles?

comfort factor?

I absolutely HATE eibach springs.

Budget = around the £300 mark

Road use, back road blasts. Roads up my way arent the best, alot of bumps

Not overly fussed about comfort as im used to it now, used to have a corsa lowered 60mm. Just want something less bouncy

Thinking about the Bilstein B6 shocks, and 30mm H&R springs? Been reccomended them on SSC for road use and back road blasts. Also a bit cheaper than the B8 kit aswell.
WHere can H&R springs be bought from? Didnt see any on Kam Racing website

27th June 2008, 11:13

think europerformance sell HnR springs mate google it

27th June 2008, 11:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexR

I absolutely HATE eibach springs.

all of them or just the off-the-shelf ones.

The ones i've had on my track cars are brilliant. they don't break, they don't sag and work really well.

Sportline are arguably too soft for track use but they are well made

27th June 2008, 12:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by KamRacing

all of them or just the off-the-shelf ones.

The ones i've had on my track cars are brilliant. they don't break, they don't sag and work really well.

Sportline are arguably too soft for track use but they are well made

Im no suspension genius but i'd agree with that, my sportlines have never bottomed out with b8's on. Granted the sportline wont be the best track spring.

27th June 2008, 19:05

i had sportlines with B8s, and to be honest i'd struggle to think of a journey where they didn't bottom out over 20 times. Either you drive too slow, or the roads where you live are immaculate.

of course i just mean commercial springs.

the build quality is superb. the performance is useless.

Best handling for £300? Not gonna happen. You need to spend £450+ to get some decent stuff. For £225 you can get spax vsx and some bushes. that's it really.

27th June 2008, 19:30

Haha, theres obviously some serious hate around here for the eibach sports with b8 kit, cant believe your dissing it to be honest, i understand you know your shit but the b8's you had were obviously getting a shit load of abuse on a day to day basis, as im sure your more than awear they weren't designed to be driven proper fucking hard all the time. The roads in your area must be complete and utter shit mate! As for driving too slow its not about driving slow or fast its about driving safe on the public road and not like a complete idiot. Obviously you'd have me believe otherwise? Fast stuff on the track right?

27th June 2008, 19:39

I have been driving for 6 years, done several hundred thousand miles, and not a single accident. There's driving quick and driving like an idiot

time and place etc.
I work at gatwick airport, 22 miles from home, and it's all country roads, all of which are littered with sunken drains, potholes, bumps, and are just generally shit. But i fitted faulkners 160lb jobbies, straight away the problems were all solved.

They even bottomed out all over the place on the ring, which is pretty damn smooth.

The eibach pro 30mm jobbies i had were utter shite too.

27th June 2008, 19:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanT

Haha, theres obviously some serious hate around here for the eibach sports with b8 kit, cant believe your dissing it to be honest, i understand you know your shit but the b8's you had were obviously getting a shit load of abuse on a day to day basis, as im sure your more than awear they weren't designed to be driven proper fucking hard all the time. The roads in your area must be complete and utter shit mate! As for driving too slow its not about driving slow or fast its about driving safe on the public road and not like a complete idiot. Obviously you'd have me believe otherwise? Fast stuff on the track right?

not a dig in any way but what setup's have you been in to compare?
you could thinkyour setup is great and it probably is but if you were to go in a different car with supposedly better spec you might just be suprised of how different they can be.

27th June 2008, 23:05

yeh i know im not taking anything away from better setups or anything and indeed i have not tryed alot of other kits to compare, i get to shoot around in factory stripped, bushed up, braced up porsche racers on billie coilovers (generous neighbour) all the time though my man so i do think i have an insight into what handling can be like. This has only started due to me not believing the b8/sprint setup bottoms out, probably due to my lack of experience in EVER seeing this happen, i live in the middle of the country side roads aren't brilliant but not as bad as what alex described. Just find it hard to believe when ive had the kit for a good year and nothing has ever happened like that to me i suppose lol

28th June 2008, 00:19

I've just bought myself some apx lowering springs, 40mm. What will the ride be like, an how will it look? I kinda jumped into it all an just bought the first springs that popped up, may live to regret that =/

28th June 2008, 00:30

fear not the apex are actually a good spring

28th June 2008, 00:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by KamRacing

fear not the apex are actually a good spring

Phewwww, hope it looks alright, got to wait till Wednesday to get them fitted though, 75 quid the garage is chargin me, this includes the torsion bar too, i don't really know about mechanics so is this an alright price?

28th June 2008, 02:02

labour will be on top pal ......
EXPENSIVE comes to mind!

if its 75 for the lot then be carful that they dont do it in the sline method! as that places more stress ion the stubb pins in the beam!!!

28th June 2008, 02:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexR

Best handling for £300? Not gonna happen. You need to spend £450+ to get some decent stuff. For £225 you can get spax vsx and some bushes. that's it really.

Just looking for a decent upgrade, dont want it to handle shit hot cause I realise im going to have to spend some money to get it - maybe in the future

But for the time being, I just want a decent suspension setup that I can work on. ie : get the ride height sorted with a decent spring/shock combo then get some new bushes and strut braces. Obviosuly not going to happen overnight

28th June 2008, 10:00

as bensambrook has done look at the apex kit. And the full one if you can stretch the budget to around £200. They are a decent mid range damper kit. Spend the money you save replacing bushes if worn and definately get a strut brace too.

Suspension is discounted on the SaxP page on our site.
http://www.kamracing.co.uk/club-disc...axperience-64/

29th June 2008, 08:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by piggy123

labour will be on top pal ......
EXPENSIVE comes to mind!

if its 75 for the lot then be carful that they dont do it in the sline method! as that places more stress ion the stubb pins in the beam!!!

Aww more stress? Damm! I can see this bein quite expensive =/ What do they do if they do the sline method? I'll have to keep an eye out while they doin the work.

29th June 2008, 18:20

Going to go for the apex kit now

Next decision is 35 or 50!

Will handling be much better on 35 than 50?

29th June 2008, 18:53

the geometry isn't too bad on the 50mm. Personally I'd err towards the 35mm.

30th June 2008, 09:08

I've just fitted 250lb 240mm length Faulkner Custom wind springs with GpN Billies. I've got 7x15 Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2's with Yokohama Parada Spec 2's

Rear is 22mm Torsion bar with GpN Billies.

Up front I also have 285mm Billet 4 Hi Spec Brake kit.

I am absolutely staggered how compliant the ride is. It's 100% road driveable, and I was a bit sceptical beforehand.

Overall, the front has not lowered much from standard, maybe 10mm or so? But the handling is awesome, and like I said totally road driveable. It's not in the slightest bit 'crashy'.

Andy

30th June 2008, 09:10

thats the beauty of the Bilstein shocks.. they seem to cope with everything