Suspension - What are you running?
"7-3.2 Springs may be replaced with commercially available aftermarket or OEM units provided they are used without modification to any other components. Coil-over shocks may be used provided OEM pick up points are utilized. KONI 2800 series shocks are mandatory on all KONI Challenge Series cars beginning 01/01/09. The external and internal KONI components must be maintained."
I have no idea what rules were in place in the past and how having Koni sponsoring the series weighed in on the decision of racers to use their products if at all.
I totally agree with the statement above. Slapping on a bunch of adjustable parts will not do much unless experimented with. What works for one person may not work for another depending on driving style and preference. There is nothing wrong with getting baselines from others who have gone through the trial and error but ultimately every driver needs to find the combination of parts that works best for him/her.
If the chance of revalving was in your decision process, vs Penske only Ohlins catalogs as great of a variety of piston and internal option's avaliable to whoever is doing the work. Meaning less chance for compromises vs not having those option's avaliable to you. Moton's have not worked for everyone, when they were a active team, the Unitech 350z Grand Am team abandoned their clubsports in favor of the Koni 2822 crafted by Truechoice. Penske's can be serviced or revalved easily, and even have seminar's for those that wish to do their own revalving, though I take it your comment about ease of service and revalvig was vs the Aragosta's.
Regarding Moton vs Penske/Ohlin I talked to a lot of racers and looked at their setups. Motons seem to be very popular down here in Texas. The NASA run group I'm in places me on track with many BMWs and Porsches and many are running Motons and swear by them. A friend of mine who is an MX-5 Cup pro driver just pulled his Ohlins that were on the car when he purchased it to replace with Motons. It's a street legal WRX STi Time Trial car and he highly recommended Moton. All of these things factored into my decision although I'm sure I would have been quite happy with any of the above mentioned manufacturers.
The valving of the KTS I was running would simply not be suited to the higher spring rates I will be running with the new aero setup and you certainly can't compare KTS to Moton/Penske/Ohlin. They served me well for a number of years but as the car evolved into a pure racecar I needed to upgrade.
Thread Starter
Registered User
iTrader: (12)
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,972
Likes: 0
From: Ann Arbor, MI
There seems to be a misunderstanding in this thread. A coil over spring/shock combination doesn't (by itself) make your car handle better. Often, a cheap or poorly matched setup will make your car handle worse and slow your lap times over a stock setup.
What coil overs do is give you a much easier way to swap springs and come up with the best spring setup for how you drive, how your car is modified, and the tracks you race on. Just buying coil overs, slapping them on the car, and shouting "Done!" is a waste of your time and money.
IMHO, there is no "best" suspension for our (or any) car. Coil overs and adjustable shocks give you a starting point to adjust things to make them the best for you. If you're not willing to adjust, then don't buy adjustable suspension components. You're just wasting money.
What coil overs do is give you a much easier way to swap springs and come up with the best spring setup for how you drive, how your car is modified, and the tracks you race on. Just buying coil overs, slapping them on the car, and shouting "Done!" is a waste of your time and money.
IMHO, there is no "best" suspension for our (or any) car. Coil overs and adjustable shocks give you a starting point to adjust things to make them the best for you. If you're not willing to adjust, then don't buy adjustable suspension components. You're just wasting money.
But from a novice point of view, I don't think it'd be beneficial for me to just jump to a coilover (for ex. KW V2/V3) where I can adjust impact/rebound without fully understanding what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, and what I should be feeling. So I guess the point of this thread is for research on what the actual "racers" are doing, coilover AND shock/spring combo. I think if I can find a budget shock/spring combo for me to learn from and understand how each adjustment should affect the vehicle, then i can move up to big and better (ie. $$) suspension parts.
But still, I'm definitely benefiting from all the discussion, so please continue
Looks like the rules changed for 09 - http://admin.grand-am.com/assets/KONI09rulesforweb2.pdf
So I guess the point of this thread is for research on what the actual "racers" are doing, coilover AND shock/spring combo.
Great information.
On our e36 M3 Race Car we run TC Kline. I'm new to the 350Z which is my DD but I would like to track it 6-10 days a year when we actually get good weather.
On our e36 M3 Race Car we run TC Kline. I'm new to the 350Z which is my DD but I would like to track it 6-10 days a year when we actually get good weather.
I'll guess I'll throw mine in here.
T2 springs with TC Kline koni's
Hotchkiss sways with collars
SPL front A arms
SPC rear camber arm/toe bolt
SPL endlinks
front camber at -1.5, 0 toe street/ -3 at the track
rear camber at -2, and a tad bit of toe in
I run 274 NT01's on 17x10 FN01Rc's.
My car is daily driven, on Nismo rims with boring street tires. I'm very happy with it and everything is wearing well.
I am guilty of not experimenting with my settings though. I instruct, so I am usually running around and I hardly touch my car, except for the basics.
I plan on doing some TT events with NASA, so I will probably run a test and tune to play with some things.
T2 springs with TC Kline koni's
Hotchkiss sways with collars
SPL front A arms
SPC rear camber arm/toe bolt
SPL endlinks
front camber at -1.5, 0 toe street/ -3 at the track
rear camber at -2, and a tad bit of toe in
I run 274 NT01's on 17x10 FN01Rc's.
My car is daily driven, on Nismo rims with boring street tires. I'm very happy with it and everything is wearing well.
I am guilty of not experimenting with my settings though. I instruct, so I am usually running around and I hardly touch my car, except for the basics.
I plan on doing some TT events with NASA, so I will probably run a test and tune to play with some things.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Lt_Ballzacki
Brakes & Suspension
39
Aug 6, 2021 06:19 AM
350Z_Al
Exterior & Interior
133
Oct 29, 2020 07:44 PM
