New Suspension Setup for Montgommery the 7th

[Smikey]

Hey guys and girls,
Over the last few months i've been doing my homework and reading up a lot on what I should be buying to replace my dodgy (chopped) springs, and the time has finally come!
Big thanks to Cosmodude who hooked me up with some eibach springs that he swiftly sent to me, Greg (astroboy) from GSL Rallysport who hooked me up with a whole lot of good stuff and Rupewrecht for giving info and ordering my strut braces. Unknowingly also Outbakoz who has the same setup and had hosted pics of his car so i had an idea of ride height. And of course the forum and the amount of information available.
So here it is, 4 koni yellow shocks, 4 eibach progressive springs, 4 camber bolts, lucas brake pads and fluid and 12 hours of labour later.
http://www.animatsu.com/mike/movies/newsuspension.jpg

Ride Height:
Previously with the chopped and welded spring setup the car was (from ground to wheel arch), 635mm at the front and 625mm at the back. After the struts and springs the car is now 660mm at the front and 655mm at the back. So an inch up at the front and 30mm at the back... a little disappointing looks wise when i saw it (but i already knew it would be), but oh my lord... i'm not changing a thing because it's been raining and i've yet to understeer.

Handling: (camber -1 at the front -0.5 at the rear)
The car feels really solid and steady, the turn in is great and all of a sudden you just look where you've turned with no body roll. Never felt so dizzy in the car doing tire warm up manouvres. Firm and smooth at the same time, the way a sporty car should handle. The extra ride height allows more travel as well and the extra distance makes a massive difference in braking dips.

Overall everything is improved, it honestly feels like a new car and it the best money i could have spent, considering the old setup was just dangerous it would be a much bigger difference than most people would have felt. Contact with the road is much better so obviously acceleration and braking also benefit. Even parking? since my car is higher now? *curses concrete blocks gutters*

The Lucas pads and fluid i got from Greg feel good (haven't really brought them to their limits yet -track day-), but as i expected from previous reading they are a bit black powdery and the fronts have already been blackened faster than normal, but that's part of the price you pay for good brakes.

Future Plans:
Tried to pull the front bumper off this morning for CAI piping and resonator removal but realised that the inside front wheel arch expanding screws are nasty little things when they're made out of soft plastic so i'll wait for a sunny day to take the wheels off and get to them straight.

Probably going to order a whiteline rear sway bar and possibly caster bushes. Also have front and rear strut braces on their way.

After all that i'll leave the car alone until the engine starts playing up then consider my options. Until then, have to try to not look at every corner as an excuse to test out the setup.

It was installed at Hornsby Wheel Alignments. If you need more details then pm me. Supposedly the koni's are voided warranty if they have springs on them more than 30mm lower, but that's fine by me.

[Plutonus]

Looks great, what alloys are they? How much were the Koni's? I'm in the market for new shocks.

[Cosmo Dude]

Good to see a happy new home for the Eibach.

[RedLineResident]

Sweet man. Im glad you are happy with the setup. The ride hight is still good, doesn't look very high at all. Nice.
Sorry to hijack but oes anyone know how badly tires will wear with -1.5 cambers? Do the benefits exceed the drawbacks?

[Cosmo Dude]

Originally Posted by RedLineResident

Sorry to hijack but oes anyone know how badly tires will wear with -1.5 cambers? Do the benefits exceed the drawbacks?

Your camber should be -1.0 degree +- 0.5 so very little change in tyre wear or performance. Caster is more important.
If you do frequent track work then camber is an important tool, else it isn't worth the extra tyre wear.

[RedLineResident]

What the heck is caster? How's that work, does my BHA have that?

[Cosmo Dude]

Originally Posted by RedLineResident

What the heck is caster? How's that work, does my BHA have that?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caster_angle

Extra parts required. Whiteline (sik) has a caster kit available.

[RedLineResident]

cheers cosmo. that helps heaps

[Smikey]

Thanks for the comments guys.

Plutonus, no idea what rims they are, i wish i knew but the previous owner didn't specify what they were. He did mention when I bought the car that there was only one other astina with them on. I tried looking for any tell tale signs on them but couldn't find anything which gave them away.

Koni's were roughly 900 all around, but you'll have to ask astro boy specifically.

Cosmo, the eibach's are fantastic, really wish i had done this earlier, but wouldn't be as happy with how it is now if i didn't experience how it was before.

I used to think my tyres were the problem but the suspension brings out the best in them.

[Astro Boy]

The koni's had gone up in price since outbakoz grabbed them (?!?!?!), but definately lots more than KYB Plutonus!

[Smikey]

Originally Posted by Plutonus

Looks great, what alloys are they? How much were the Koni's? I'm in the market for new shocks.

After 4 years, and some recent buckled rim issues, during a jack up and rim removal exercise, I now know what rim i have on my car for the interested. They are KOSEI rims (made in japan), a model called 'sniper'. Apparently they weigh 10.6594207 kilograms

http://www.1010tires.com/wheel.asp?i...elmodel=Sniper

not the 5 stud version though.

[project.r.racing]

Very tarmac rally style looking, I approve. Would look hot in satin gold finish.

I run 1.5 degrees on the fronts and 0.5 on the rears.

Ryan

[DavoAust]

nice looking rims, although they seem to have plasticy look there

[Smikey]

Thanks guys

They actually do look like that in 'real life'. Almost like a sandblasted look but with a gloss on it. I think the lightness of the metal makes it look that way but i don't mind them looking plasticy

[bourbon]

haha there not that light haha

[DavoAust]

if you want light tyres buy gav's MS-03's. they are light little buggers.

[Smikey]

yeah they're not light at all! Somehow I expected them to be because less spokes, though i guess that has not so much to do with it.

Not really that interested in the least unsprung mass, I like my guards filled with more rim than tyre, otherwise I would go for some kind of 15" MS rims. Plus no need to buy a new set when it can be spent on other things... like repairing the buckles in them...

Should really stop driving on unpaved roads! Went for a 1.5hr dirt drive up hunter valley lookout... the only time i've ever wanted a 4x4 and was 'slightly' envious of the people ripping it up.

[Smikey]

Alrighty! a few things have happened to the suspension setup since the last post.

Firstly this happened, http://www.animatsu.com/mike/movies/RearSway.jpg , whiteline rear sway bar. The turn-in on the car was crazy with this on, turning one handed felt a little too easy, the car felt like the back was going to break out, and on one occasion goin over a crest it actually did and i had to counter. Great at low speeds, but felt a little uncertain, a little twitchy, too on edge.

Then, coutesy of Rupe, http://www.animatsu.com/mike/movies/FrontStrut.jpg and http://www.animatsu.com/mike/movies/RearStrut.jpg , these babies joined the team. The car felt even more solid. Turn-in was reduced because the front towers were locked together even more, but as a result the car felt tighter, more confident and more predictable. Also the oversteer/lift-off oversteer characteristics were lessened and the car now has mild understeer which i do prefer, and i'm sure turn-in will be more noticeable when i have a proper go (hopefully soon at advanced driver training). I've always thought the steering in the BA felt a little too light and non responsive (the feedback from the front wheels that is), with the front strut brace it feels a little more responsive and heavier (which i don't mind - try driving the new mx5).

Just so you know, i didn't DIY install these because i'd probably stuff it up, but it was worth the money for me, especially the hassle to cut up the boot trim and whatnot + i don't have the toolsl to do it right. BTW, if i have to replace the battery, i don't supposed the nrma would be keen on taking off the front strut brace?

Anyway, i'm givin the mod bug and credit card a break, just trialling roil at the moment, i'll post on this in the relevant thread. booyah.

[Cosmo Dude]

Sounds good. I'd like to try a Cusco lower brace on the front and maybe some rose joints in the rear.
Fully rose jointing the rear would cause massive NVH so I have to sit down and plan.

[project.r.racing]

Trying rose joints + 1 here also please