AutoX Suspension Opinions

[Hick]

Just looking for some advice and maybe some person experence to go with it.

With another season around the corner and some money in hand im looking to improve the performance of my car without killing its daily driver duties. I have several ideas on what i can do to make this dual purpose car work better at the autocross.

Currently:
'91 318is
H&R Sport Springs [185F/380R]
Bilstein Sport Shocks
M3 Offset bushings
Hartge Front stress bar
21mm front sway bar
19mm rear sway bar [disconnected during autocross]
225/50-14 Hoosier A3S05's

For next season i am going to buy Vorshlag camber plates without a doubt. I had a set of 'street plates' last year that did not get me to 3 degrees negative; what Hoosier suggests for the S05's.

So camber plates will go on, and most likely a Sparco front strut bar, as the hartge bar covers the top of the strut.

My question:

I would like to go with a higher sping rate, say H&R Race springs [315/570] or IE Stage 3 springs, but i feel that this would kill the driveability of the car outside the autocross. Would I be able to get by with my sport springs a larger front bar [25mm] and connecting the 19mm rear bar? More importantly, has anyone tried this?

Thanks for any advice!

[nefarious7907]

after putting 8-10k on my HR Sports I think they are too soft, if you are going to be going with camber plates anyways and are looking to spend around $200 check out the cosmo coilovers. I dont really think its necessary to disconnect the rear sway bar for Auto-X, Chris C took his E30 M3 to the solo nationals and he didnt disconnect his rear sway bar and he is using ST sway bars. In fact I cannot think of anyone here locally that autox's with there rear sway bar disconnected.

[cheades]

What kind of lots do you guys run on? Ours were all bumpy so a softer suspension worked better, but if yours are smooth then you can go stiff. I have 440/660, the only time it gets unbearable is when there are sharp bumps.

[Hick]

Well, the Vorshlag camber plates w/ adapters will be $400, so thats a large chunk of the budget.

The disconnected rear bar is from experence. Out of the corner i was able to remove enough weight from the inside rear wheel that it impacted my acceleration, even when on 205 Victoracers. The disconnected rear bar solved that problem, however at the last event of the season i went back to those tires with the rear bar attached and did not have the same issue.

My only concern with coil overs is the need to have a shorter shock absorber and modification of the strut. Shocks are not in my budget at the moment, and with a traditional spring i can always go back to the sport springs.

The courses out here are fine, but the roads that i drive the car every day can be bumpy. For the most part they are pretty well maintained with the random pothole here and there.

[matt]

H&R races are not too stiff to daily drive on almost any roads.

[Teaguer]

Seems like you have a handle on what is going on and what is needed .

Your tires seem fine ..but what pads are you running ?
Tires and brakes are always gonna have the most effective mods for an auto-x course .

Also I wouldn't worry about the H&R Race or IE3's being too low/firm for a daily , lots of guys run them .
Madjurgen runs the IE3's coupled with drop hats and he daily's his for the most part .

[Hick]

Last season i ran with Axxis pads and stock rotors. For next season i have Hawk HT-10 front and Mintex M1144 for the rear plus some new OE rotors.

Which would you guys suggest? H&R race or IE Stage 3's?

[rThor432]

Which would you guys suggest? H&R race or IE Stage 3's?

Both are almost identical as far as rates are concerned, if I remember correctly.

I'd say go with the H&R race springs just because you will have a better market when you go to sell them in the future (Spec E30 crowd).

[Hick]

They appear to have the same spring rates but i think i read somewhere that IE uses a progressive spring rate where as H&R does not. I could just be crazy.

However, with the $50-100 between the two and using the same rates i may just go with the IE unless someone has a good reason not to.

Best ive found so far:
H&R Race springs - 349.99 Ebay
IE Stage 3 - 295.00 IE
Vorshlag plates w/ adapter - 400.00 Vorshlag.com
Sparco front strut bar - 129.99 Bimmerworld.com

Anywhere else i should look?

[Hick]

EDIT: Contacted Ireland Engineering about spring/spring rates

There is little difference between our stage 3 and the H&R race springs. Ours are a bit stiffer as they approach full compression to reduce body lean and prevent bottoming out. Ours are less expensive and actually available. Yes they are progressive. So are the H&R's.

Jeff Ireland

Good to know. May go with these since they cost less.

[Teaguer]

EDIT: Contacted Ireland Engineering about spring/spring rates
Good to know. May go with these since they cost less.

Good luck actually getting them delivered . :D

[speedblind]

My only argument for HR Race would be that spec E30 uses them, so you'll always be able to unload them quickly, and you can sell your car as a spec donor down the road.

You can also find them for close to 300 every now and then.

[nefarious7907]

Chris on E30 is having a GB on the IE3's, price is discounted

[Hick]

I hopped on the GB, thanks for the heads up.

I dont have much of an intention to sell them but it would be nice to always have that option.

[rwh11385]

Last season i ran with Axxis pads and stock rotors. For next season i have Hawk HT-10 front and Mintex M1144 for the rear plus some new OE rotors.

Which would you guys suggest? H&R race or IE Stage 3's?

You probably won't get enough heat to use them or even stop effectively at the end. Those HT-10's are track pads and based on Skafrog's drive up to Putnam, he couldn't stop if they were not hot and 60 seconds won't do it, let alone to start out the run.

Get HP+'s and whatever in back (HPS's). Worked well for Alex and bite hard even when cold at the first cone.