Mista Weava 0 Posted September 22, 2007 (edited) My friend and i will shortly be converting his 205 1.6 gti into a track specific car. the bilsteins (non-adj) that he has on there, are items i gave him a while ago and that had been on a car of mine for many years. consequently they are pretty knackered. we want to change the suspension for new. we are keen to find out what other people are using and what ride heights they recommend for a track car. my initial inclination was something like konis all round and a drop of 30-40mm (2 splines on the the torsion beam), with uprated springs - eibach or similar. we poly bushed the car at the time of the previous suspension change, so that is all in hand. can people please comments on the above and provide recommendations for the overall set-up. obviously we dont want to spend a fortune, so 400 quid on a set of shocks is the budget, coming in under that would be nice. we intend to strip for lightness and also we have a good stock of 1.6 14" OE speedlines, which we wish to continue with. Thanks Edited September 22, 2007 by Mista Weava Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Longfield 0 Posted September 23, 2007 Hi there, i don't think you'll find a bad word about the billies on the rear - on ebay xsport sell a pair for approx. £180. As a starting point these are probably the best value for money. For the front and on a budget, I'm using Spax RSX that as a damper I have no complaints about at all. The spring rate is 285lb which i personally think is too soft for a track only car. The thing i've recently learned about dampers and have been told by manufacturers and those who build the cars is that with dampers it really is true that you get what you pay for. So whilst [if you use the billies on the rear] you will have approx. £200 to spend on the front then any manufacturer whether it be Gaz, Spax, Koni etc... you'll only get a basic [but reasonable] shock. As for TB's my own are currently down 2 splines but as a track only car i've been told it'd be beneficial to lower it just a little bit more. But i've also read and been told that for a track only car you'll never truely benefit from any suspension work if you don't put a quality cage in that mounts to the suspension points. I hope this helps, in my rambling way! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mista Weava 0 Posted September 23, 2007 Longfield. thank you, that is very helpful indeed. i would be keen therefore to find out what front spring rates people find preferable for a track only car and i think i will act on your info and lower the car 3 splines [as a youth i had this in a road car, so i know its not too much for the track]. i think a cage will be a given in the car, bearing in mind its intended use. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mmt 14 Posted September 23, 2007 Longfield, You say You think 285 lbs is far too soft for a trackcar only. Do you have any thoughts on how hard the springs preferrebly should be? Sorry for hijacking ! Cheers Martin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mista Weava 0 Posted September 23, 2007 MMT - no-hijack there mate, i want to know this as well! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baz 421 Posted September 23, 2007 Do a search, spring rates for tarmac/circuit etc have been covered before, there's a lot of depending factors, ie. what tyes you use, what rear setup you're considering, ARB's etc etc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mista Weava 0 Posted September 23, 2007 the tyres will be 14" ex-road tyres i should think. possibily some competition items - maxsport or similar cheapies. the idea is to do what is necessary on a sensible budget. thus i think probably some koni adj's at the front will be the order of the day, although if the spax rsx coilover can be had for a reasonable cost, they may be the ones to have. the car has upper and lower strut braces at the front already. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baz 421 Posted September 23, 2007 I'd stick with the Koni's rather than Spax coilovers tbh, but ditch the ever-so-hard rears in favour of some Billies. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mista Weava 0 Posted September 23, 2007 perfect advice, thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Miles 331 1 Cars Posted September 23, 2007 The Billies front and back are great for a non adjustale damper, The Koni's are good but not quite there but cheaper at about £105.00 per front strut (Billies £150.00) same goes for the rear, Koni's are around the £70.00 each (Billes again £90.00 each) The Eibach's are the only std dia spring to use at around a 30mm drop so the £400.00 budget is a hard one to come close to using those parts Might be worth looking at getting the current ones rebuilt, as this will give you some spare cash (Hopefully) to get a uprated rear anti roll bar which makes the world of differance. But suspension is a personal thing, What some people like other don't so it's always hard to recomend something without trying it first Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mista Weava 0 Posted September 23, 2007 thanks Miles. incidentlly, i believe you are building an MI16 engine for my good friend Daniel Morgan. i had not considered the rebuild of the bilsteins - where and who doe this service? also, where can you get the uprated rear ARB? many thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Miles 331 1 Cars Posted September 23, 2007 The rear ARb can be bought from 205 Parts, Have a seach for them on Google and you'll find them Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Longfield 0 Posted October 22, 2007 MMT - no-hijack there mate, i want to know this as well! If it helps I'm ordering 350lb for the front. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nick 3 Posted October 22, 2007 Just for reference, martin (crf450) uses 500lb springs on his 306 track car (fully stripped, 1000kg) and was thinking about going harder. That handles very well indeed, and suprisingly it's not too bad on the road. He uses AVO monotube coilover dampers on the front which I think makes a lot of difference (the quality of the damping that is) Nick Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oli-pug 6 2 Cars Posted October 22, 2007 (edited) my current budgetish spec is: koni adjustable fronts £200 eibach springs £90 bilstein group n tarmac rears £100 (2nd hand) whiteline adjustable rear arb £120 over your budget i think but this is a really good fast road/trackday setup with plenty of adjustability for my liking Edited October 22, 2007 by oli-pug Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Batfink 201 Posted October 22, 2007 my current budgetish spec is: koni adjustable fronts £200 eibach springs £90 bilstein group n tarmac rears £100 (2nd hand) whiteline adjustable rear arb £120 over your budget i think but this is a really good fast road/trackday setup with plenty of adjustability for my liking I think for track use your choice of spring is way too soft . the eibach springs are really designed for road use Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
