suspension setup

[john_M42_GR]

Hi guys,i want to ask you sth.I have a 318is and i wanted to improve my suspension for track days and drifting.So at the front i have put 140mm and 400 lbs apex springs with koni shocks and oem sway-bar.At the rear axle i have 60mm GM springs with koni shocks and oem sway -bar.The problem is that the car is understeering and when it losing the tail, it losing very suddenly.What i must do to improve my suspension setup?

[maxfield]

Get some ARB's and play with the settings.

[Bob_S]

I suggest you spend some money

getting some decent springs not shite which has been plucked from the loal breakers yard, a good set of dampers no g-max or the like then grab a pair of worthwhile arb's from H&R or eibach and an lsd or weld the diff.. you are looking at the best part of £700 if not more.. or just go back to std stuff and put some higher pressure in your tyres at the back..

also 140mm springs means that your driving on your sump.. I have found in the past that aluminium and tarmac arent the best adhesives.

[john_M42_GR]

What is the ARB's? I think at the front the setup is good, at the rear maybe i need a stiffer sway-bar?would the car be more neutral with stiffer rear sway-bar? i have LSD differential 4,10

[maxfield]

ARB's are sway bars...

Soft setting on the front, hard setting on the rear.

More PSI in the rear too.

That will help with understeer.

[M3GTR]

Most of the racers actually remove the rear ARB on the E30 for wet weather so if you do a track day in the wet... worth a play!

[UweM3]

140mm front. Do you mean 140mm LOWER than stock?

[agreen]

140mm LOWER than stock?

thats really reaaly low

[hammoj28]

Its too low!! especially on an iS with the low sump!!

You sure the handling problems ain't down to oil coming out the sump while its smashed on the ground and going all over your tyres?lol

I would get a decent set of springs on it, Eibach, KW, H&R etc. Koni shocks are fine i think? oh and id drop it 60mm at a maximum. Stupidly low cars handle worse than stock ones.

maybe stick some decent tyres on the front and shit ones on the back.....oh and get an lsd.

[agreen]

oh and get an lsd

yeh i need to take that advise

[hammoj28]

Hehe, me too!lol Going sideways with an open diff is...............interesting to say the least.lol

[agreen]

interesting id call it jerky,snappy and not very nice lmao

4.10 i will have one soon

[Bob_S]

real hero's donty need lsd

[agreen]

real hero's donty need lsd

no so called real heros cant afford a LSD

LOL

[john_M42_GR]

Sorry guys i dont mean lowering 140mm.It is the hieght of the sring(coil over). the car has been lowered about 70mm at front and and 60mm.

[fuzzy]

are your current koni shocks adjustable? if so try them on a softer setting. i used to use spax shocks but changed them as even on the softest settings they were to harsh causing a harsh and jumpy ride.im not sure if your springs might also be to hard at 400lbs. also look at some good quality tyres all around if your using cheap brands.less air pressure in all 4 tyres will aid grip.

[oldroydsr4]

Before you start spending a fortune on aftermarket parts what are all the bushes like on the suspension ffront and rear.

fu*ked bushes is one way to have an e30 that is very sketchy when on the limit.

Also raising the rear pressures isn't the answer. Normall y if the car is set up correctly you will have less pressure in the driven wheels (as pressure is dependant on temperature)

[agreen]

(as pressure is dependant on temperature)

ie the hotter the tyres get the more the air pressure inside the tyres increases !

[john_M42_GR]

what sway-bar and springs at the rear most of you have at your cars?

[agreen]

kw suspension kit on mine basically the same as a h and r cup kit except the kw is cheaper

as for a sway bar wtf is that

[fuzzy]

kw suspension kit on mine basically the same as a h and r cup kit except the kw is cheaper

as for a sway bar wtf is that

in what way is kw the same as h+r?
sway bar is the anti roll bar. mine is standard with new bushes and my shocks are bilstein with spax springs.

[maxfield]

Sway bar = ARB = Anti Roll Bar = Stabilizer bar.

[agreen]

there is like a £30 price diffrence in the kits that they both sell

you justify the extra £30 for the h and r's to me dude ???

[maxfield]

H&R test at the 'Ring.

Also use Bilstein dampers.

[fuzzy]

there is like a £30 price diffrence in the kits that they both sell

you justify the extra £30 for the h and r's to me dude ???

because the price is similar doesnt make them the same at all unless your comparing the physical appearance of them rather than how they perform/handle.

[agreen]

Sway bar = ARB = Anti Roll Bar = Stabilizer bar.

in that case i have a h and r anti roll bar kit

[hammoj28]

KW kit is apparantley stiffer than the H&R kit. I wouldn't say the kits are the same but they both handle well.

[agreen]

KW kit is apparantley stiffer than the H&R kit. I wouldn't say the kits are the same but they both handle well.

if only i had said that perhaps would not have looked so silly i think it depends what you want as this is in the motorsport section i gues stiffer is good ???

well i have a kw suspension kit and hand r anti roll bars in answer to the orginall question

[fuzzy]

KW kit is apparantley stiffer than the H&R kit. I wouldn't say the kits are the same but they both handle well.

if only i had said that perhaps would not have looked so silly i think it depends what you want as this is in the motorsport section i gues stiffer is good ???

well i have a kw suspension kit and hand r anti roll bars in answer to the orginall question

no one looks silly here , i think it wasnt completely clear to me what you meant originally but anyway i used to think stiffer was best until i used spax adjustable suspension. even the softest setting was a rattly bone shaking ride and totally unacceptable on a road car imo as the rears would skip over bumps rather than absorb them.quickly binnned in favour of bilsteins which offer a firm but smooth ride.

[maxfield]

Stiffer is not always better.

Look at the E30 M3 for instance.

[hammoj28]

yeah, as max said stiffer ain't always better but just enough is a good thing. on a smooth race track really stiff suspension is great as there are no bumps but on main roads (UKs especially) you will get jiggled about like hell. i find the KW kit stiff but its not too stiff for main roads. Just depends what you want really.

I personally like stiffer suspension but too much of anything is bad. Some people think lower is better too but its really not.

Of course the older zoners will want a smoother ride fpr certain reasons....... lol

[fuzzy]

Of course the older zoners will want a smoother ride fpr certain reasons....... lol

i agree. for me its smoother means faster. it doesnt matter if i had 500 bhp if the driving wheels are skipping of the road surface on every little bump i wouldnt be able to get the power down onto the road.

[hammoj28]

Lol, thats very true. Lot of my mates have gone off the road with silly suspension setups. I think people don't realise the fact that race cars can be stiffer because the surfaces they use are so smooth.

[john_M42_GR]

i am thinking to put ARB from z3 3,0 it is 16mm.Would it fix a few modifications?