Suspension & steering upgrade (coil-overs all corners)

mdmax72 · Post by **mdmax72** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 7:06 pm

Took a drive down to Centre Gravity as they are close by. Got it booked in for the 5th April

. They seem to be a very nice couple and very busy, booked up in advance so this is the only slot available for an all day session to set it up. So still grounded, will keep you posted on the outcome

Little b@st@rd · Post by **Little b@st@rd** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 9:23 pm

Nice drum skins rich, did you get hem from fibersteel?

mdmax72 · Post by **mdmax72** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 9:54 am

Yes they come from Fibersteel, if your fitting over CSP disks require alittle work.

mdmax72 · Post by **mdmax72** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 10:43 pm

Finally the day came the other day to have my Red9 suspension set up by Centre Gravity. Went for the full set up, which would take best part of a day.

Drove the car down with not alot of confidence. Bit of a arse eating pants experience, as the car was all over the place down the country lanes.

Got a great welcome and I will admit had second thoughts as to whether l had done the right thing changing the suspension. Thought l may have sacrificed handling over the ride comfort. After talking to Chris about my concerns he assured me l should be expecting both comfort and handling and he would deliver. You have your own room for you to work from with access to the Internet and tea and coffee facility if you remain there whilst the work is carried out. Here's a few shots whilst the set up was carried out.

It was a long day but Chris did welcome you into the workshop to see how things were done.

The night end with Chris driving and me passenger whilst he carried out all the necessary checks whilst he talks you through and then puts it through it's paces. All l was thinking is what a differant car l presented him with and what he had done was to give me a completely differant car in return.
The differance in a car being set up properly is formominal. Regardless whether you have the Vw suspension or the red9 it would be the best money you've have spent on the car by far. So l can only recommend you have the set up done and not by your local tyre and exhaust centre.

Drove the car home that night with so much confidence. Took me back to when l used to go karting the way it now handles.

So if your thinking of the the Red9 coil over set up, would recommend it. Youll get a transfermation in ride quality, the rack & pinion steering is a must over the vw set up and in my opinion a better handling car all round. The service you get from Red9 guys is also top notch and are willing to help were they can. They welcome any feedback to improve the product.

As l said before, regardless whether you've got Vw suspension or Red9 get it set up properly, you won't regret it...

bonerp · Post by **bonerp** » Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:25 pm

I agree. I had my Tiger Cat set up by a shop in Swindon and the handling was amazing afterwards. Gace a few westfields and Caterhams a shock too! And a few passengers lol

mdmax72 · Post by **mdmax72** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 10:16 am

Having driving it to put some miles on it to loosen up the balljoints ant steering, l feel that it would be great if it had a anti roll bar at least up front. Seems to be a little more body roll going hard into corners. May not bother alot of people but l do like to drive it hard and I,m no Sunday driver.

Red9 don't do a anti roll bar as no one has asked for one before, will give them a ring next week to see if they want to get involved. If not anyone got any ideas?? Something I never gave any thought about , so could be said, clueless

There is the option of stiffing the shocks, but happy with the ride side of things.

ims101 · Post by **ims101** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 10:27 pm

Looks good Rich, it's still high on my wish list to upgrade at least my front end with the red 9 set up. I've got some other must do jobs first my heat exchangers are knacked and I don't think I'll get the ones one the car through mot this year. I've changed my oil pipes and fixed the oil leak so the front end upgrade is getting nearer the top of the list. Fingers crossed that when I visit the accountant this years dividend is a good one

Looking forward to seeing you car and having a good look round it You have done a stunning job Rich

ims101 · Post by **ims101** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 10:29 pm

P.S. A roll bar would be a must for me on mine, I've got em front and back on mine already and wouldn't like to not have em!

Gary71 · Post by **Gary71** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 7:17 am

mdmax72 wrote:l feel that it would be great if it had a anti roll bar at least up front.

The suspension set up looks good

You may find it understeers more if you put a front bar on it.

bonerp · Post by **bonerp** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 11:46 am

when you getting it painted Rich??

mdmax72 · Post by **mdmax72** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 1:32 pm

Not going to bother painting it for a few years, going for the work in progress look, will do most the prep myself when l can be arsed. Cant justify 3-4k on a paint job. Just tight really when it comes to some things.

Bruce M · Post by **Bruce M** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 4:36 pm

I'd start with a fairly modest roll bar because the proper wishbone setup can handle more body roll without loosing grip.

The old bug beam needs a fat bar to reduce understeer (yes you read that correctly). That is the opposite of conventional thinking. The reason for this is as the suspension compresses the camber of the wheel is unchanged. On any wishbone set up, the camber increases. So when a car with a bug beam body rolls in a corner, the outer wheel follows the body and moves into positive camber. That kills the front contact patch and leads to understeer.

By switching to a full wishbone setup you can use conventional wisedom to choose a roll bar size.

Gary71 · Post by **Gary71** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 4:52 pm

Bruce M wrote:I'd start with a fairly modest roll bar because the proper wishbone setup can handle more body roll without loosing grip.

The old bug beam needs a fat bar to reduce understeer (yes you read that correctly). That is the opposite of conventional thinking. The reason for this is as the suspension compresses the camber of the wheel is unchanged. On any wishbone set up, the camber increases. So when a car with a bug beam body rolls in a corner, the outer wheel follows the body and moves into positive camber. That kills the front contact patch and leads to understeer.

By switching to a full wishbone setup you can use conventional wisedom to choose a roll bar size.

Agree about the roll stiffness only really coming into play once the contact patch is under control. With this set up that shouldn't be an issue (hopefully!)

mdmax72 · Post by **mdmax72** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 10:43 pm

Gary/Bruce been doing abit of research on the ARBars, alot of calculations need to be done in order to design it, bar thickness, twist etc etc. Maybe going out my comfort zone so you got any thoughts were to start?? Going to contact Simon at Red9 to see if he wants to get involved also.