My first weekend racer....Suspension?

[IronFreak]

I have read, and read, and read some more on setups.....it hurts my head because most threads turn into a stupid argument. I'm building this so I can do some cone chasing, and maybe even some HPDE events if there close. I don't really have the funds right now to build a spec 30 and travel around and there's enough stuff around here to keep me busy until school is over.

I have extensive fabrication abilities, been welding for a long time. I was thinking about building my own coilovers in the front with Billie sports, possibly Koni adjustables if I can land a good deal. and in back, do the 82-02 camaro KYB adjustables. What do you think I should do for rear springs? I was going to see if I could pick up some "lightly" used H&R's. Possible try my hand at modifying some adjustable spring mounts I have for height adjustment.

This all being said, I'm here to learn, if something looks off tell me why, don't give me some butt hurt BS on why it's a stupid idea and walk away. Keep in mind my use of the vehicle. I want to be able to tool around town, but have it usable for light track use as well.

Thanks for reading!

[Emre]

Best low-budget track set-up for the E30:

• Turner Motorsports "J-Stock" springs
• Off-the-shelf Bilstein Sport dampers
• K-Mac camber/caster plates for the front
• OEM E46 M3 Cabrio rear shock mounts
• Ireland Engineering swaybars/links
• 15x7" ET25 wheels of your choice
• 225/45-R15 Hankook R-S3 tires

[Artful Dodger]

Best low-budget track set-up for the E30:

• Turner Motorsports "J-Stock" springs
• Off-the-shelf Bilstein Sport dampers
• K-Mac camber/caster plates for the front
• OEM E46 M3 Cabrio rear shock mounts
• Ireland Engineering swaybars/links
• 15x7" ET25 wheels of your choice
• 225/45-R15 Hankook R-S3 tires

I can agree with this. Just be aware, the off the shelf bilstiens will not have great valving for the J-stock springs. But they will work. We are using off the shelf bilstiens with 500# front and 650# rear springs. but we want to revalve our dampers or get adjustables.

[Emre]

If you revalve the Bilsteins to "Firehawk spec" they'll be perfectly matched to TMS springs. But even totally stock, the Bilsteins are good enough.

Just keep in mind that the idea is to be low budget. If you start spending a bunch of money on the J-Stock/Bikstein/KMac combo, at some point it starts to make more sense to just scrap the whole thing and start fresh with Ground Control.

[djjerme]

Plus, Bilstein's are much more durable then Koni's.

Maybe it's just the adjustablility factor, or the parts they used, I don't know. But we have seen a lot of Koni DA's dying recently. I ran used Bilstein Sports with WAY to heavy of spring in some home built coilovers for a few seasons, and they survived. Also, seen plenty of Billy's pulled from road cars with high mileage and they still work (almost) like new.

Keep it simple now, then approach coilovers down the road. Chance's are with the setup mentioned above. the suspension's abilities will exceed yours as a driver. Not trying to flame, just giving advice. These are momentum cars, and if you can learn to be fast with a soft suspension, you will be better for it.

[Jb325is]

I agree with the sentiment on the Koni's, but I think it's worth it to do Ground Controls now. There is no reason to do it twice. Stock housings with springs and stacked camber plates won't get you much camber, and you won't get any adjustability. Sure you'll need to focus on your driving for the first couple years but it is useful to have some adjustability, even doing simple stuff like adjusting rake and cross can be a good learning tool. That and spending the money twice doesn't make sense to me.

Oh and don't buy KYB's under any circumstances for a track car.

[Eric]

Buy the ground control kit. It will work great for auto-x and tons of driving schools. When you (driver) become skilled enough to compete, then move on to something more expensive.

[kingston]

Just FYI, this is an old thread. Ross (IronFreak) has built (& sold) a couple of sets of coilovers already. One set came to me :)


And I love `em!

[IronFreak]

Holy buckets hahaha, I think this was one of the first threads I ever made hahaha!

And thank you Kingston!