Suspension Choices - What to Pick?

[lil_mike]

Wheelbase is front to back. Track is side to side.

And no, going that wide will completely throw out the steering geometry

sorry, it is track. my mistake

i dont think it will ruin the steering geometrey. it will need adjusting no doubt and possible modification but after consulting my mechanic and trusted friend he said that we could make it work. so i will see how things go.

we have moved off topic, still need to know about this suspension. What about JIC? i was perusing a pair of theirs today?

[Adam_NAclubman]

You're going to want to run way more camber and way less castor and you'll probably go through front wheel bearings quite quickly.

Why not just leave it as it is and enjoy it, rather than spending more money on it and ending up with something that won't be eligible for anything. Your mechanic will say that you can do this and that... but he knows it will take a lot of hours worth of work to do it, at a cost to you of what... $60 an hour?

[lil_mike]

You're going to want to run way more camber and way less castor and you'll probably go through front wheel bearings quite quickly.

Why not just leave it as it is and enjoy it, rather than spending more money on it and ending up with something that won't be eligible for anything. Your mechanic will say that you can do this and that... but he knows it will take a lot of hours worth of work to do it, at a cost to you of what... $60 an hour?

no, he's a good friend of mine, and doesnt charge me by the hour, he just says "i'll do it for this much" and thats it.

again, this is going off topic, my real concern at the moment is the suspension.

[adamjp]

If you are serious about race use as the primary then I suggest that you consider coilovers from

Spax http://www.spax.co.uk/
Proflex http://www.proflex-shockabsorbers.com/
Drummond Motor Sports http://www.dmshocks.com/
or Murray Coote (Aus made using Proflex parts - very popular in the rally scene) on 07 5494 8177.

All the above companies are either built with racing as the first use or offer a product that is. IMHO the TIENs are popular because of the JDM effect and their availability from Whiteline, but they would not be my first choice for a track car. But it does depend on what kind of competition work you intend to do.

All of the above can be rebuilt quickly here in Australia, with some companies offering a rapid turnaround time to get you back on the track.

[lil_mike]

i had a look at Drummond Motor Sports, might be a little too exey for me.

looking to spend around 3k tops. it will be for street but i would like to race it frequently.

[Daz 27]

Spax http://www.spax.co.uk/
Proflex http://www.proflex-shockabsorbers.com/
Drummond Motor Sports http://www.dmshocks.com/
or Murray Coote (Aus made using Proflex parts - very popular in the rally scene) on 07 5494 8177.

with all of these brands it is all on you to work out how to set them up for spot on handling which is fine for a big budget race team but not really practical for a street racer.
with something like Teins you have the experiences of thousands of users around the world for setup advice.

[Benny]

Just because a damper is stiff, it doesn't mean it will handle well.
After, every road has bumps in it, and if your suspension is very stiff, all the car will do on a bumpy road is bounce up and down, and the tyres can even loose contact with the road.
This does not make for fast track times.

The real trick is wheel control, and this is what you pay your money for.
A car can have quite soft suspension, and still handle and grip really well if the up and down motion of the wheels and tyres are well controlled and not allowed to make any movement which is not desireable.

I have PSS9's on my SP, and I'm very happy with them.
It goes around Wakefield with the best of them, yet the ride is very comfortable. So comfortable that you don't even notice it.

I have experimented with the settings on the track, and I've found that NOT having them set to full hard is the way to go. I usually have the fronts set to one or 2 notches off full hard, ad the rears on the middle setting and I find this gives the car very good balance in the corners allowing me to use the throttle to steer the rear end and the steering wheel to control the front.
Putting the rears to full hard just makes the car oversteer all over the place.
With my normal track settings the car can just ride up over the bumps without ever lifting the wheel off the tarmac.
This means I have full grip everywhere.

And isn't that what you want?

[Ted]

One thing I would definitely look at, is your weight distribution given that it is now running a chook cooker. Buying something off the shelf for a 1100kg car with 52/48 weight distribution may not work for you. On the plus side, coilovers with a small ID generic spring platform means that you can just order new springs and get your shocks re-valved if the valving and adjustability doesn't suit.

For $3K, and if you want a competition setup, I would look at getting some Bilstein bodies with coilover collars and springs. At least this will get you into a 36mm monotube. For about $100-$150 per shock, you can even get external rebound adjustment added.

BTW a well setup car will ride so well that you would think its on the softest springs available even though its running 800lb springs. Just remember that the goal is to keep the tyres on the deck and the body above not bouncing any more than it should. So look at amount of travel you can get (both droop and compression), very important on a MX5. Look at the geometry, esp the lower arms. Getting more track can work well, but look at the stress you will place on the components.

[lil_mike]

i was planning on getting it balanced when i bought new ones anyway, probably with just a little bit more over the rears than the front.

so it seems there are a lot of options for what i want. might pay to go visit a suspension specialist and have a chat with him then as well.