All the Recent Coil over talk has me confused. Watch the video

Dang it I want it all. I want to put in my own expert input as well as have the experts tell me what input to input...:eek:

I would have settled for someone just telling me what to do...:mallet:
 
ok I'l tell you what

to do.think about what the car is going to be used for .is it a total competition car trailered to the event never street driven or a street driven car that hits an event hear and there or something in between? are you competitive in your class in other wards are you always first or second place and willing to spend top dollars to stay there.I will use my self as an example I have an 82 X with stock engine and trans mostly street driven and i go to about 6 autox events a year I'm pretty competitive for what i have in suspension.I have good old Koni's I turned them in to coilovers my self I run 600# front and 450# rear no sway bars the setup works awesome the problem isn't that I've got a relatively cheep set up compared to say 5 grand just on shocks it's i need to learn to be a better driver .Steve .H drove my car with this exact setup he didn't tell me you need to spend 5 grand on shocks to make it better he told me two adjustments to make and the rest is good ( keep in mind he knows what i use the car for and what level of a autox driver I am).
but for you it mitt be different ageing depending what your going to use the car for and your level of competitiveness .well and budget too.
so tell me exactly what are you going to use the car for? what is your budget if you don't mind me asking?
 
That is a very good response I think.

Something to think about though. Are you a driver that can grow into a setup that might be a little far out there?

I myself have always been in the arena of having a ill car... Always driving the car to the absolute limit and beyond. And five years ago I decided it was time to change that problem drastically.... And I did. I do not regret it at all. All things considered.... I am rather young and will make good use of the setup for some time.
I do agree that if all you plan on doing is six auto-x events a year.... yes you can put together a effective yet inexpensive setup that will take care of you're needs.... but for how long? If longevity is not the issue then it's not a problem. I probably have another 20years of racing to go before I'm possibly too old to race.... of coarse... A buddy of mine is 53 and he still races. So it all depends on the big picture. I plan on doing this for some time.... and built my suspension with this in mind. Not saying a cheap effective setup won't last ten years.

Just keep the big picture in mind. Set a budget along with your personal goals you want to accomplish with the project.
 
53 isn't old...

Hell, Bill Rose in California raced his formula ford until he was 83...

Remember, there are two types of racing: 1) Race to win and 2) race for enjoyment. My father still races with me and he is 77. I remember not to long ago doing an autocross, and he drove my car with my mom in it and turned in a faster time than me by myself. Yeah, it brought me back to earth in a quick hurry. Helped me get better though.

I also agree with the setup proposed. Bit harsh on the street but very good for autocross and the track.

Eric.
 
Dr.auto

I like what fastx19 siad Remember, there are two types of racing: 1) Race to win and 2) race for enjoyment.

for me its more the enjoyment than it is Race to win. sure it's grate when I win but when you get so serious that you race to win it takes all the fun out of it.so for me I'LL stick with my cheep Koni's.
 
All my cars are street/canyon cars only. I do not autocross. I want a car that is set up for proper cornering in the canyons. I don't want to wreck the car but I want to keep up with the big boys..( the lotuses :))

I don't want to spend to much money. I just want a good handing car and to lower the stance so the car does not look goofy... Thats it. Then I can spend some decent money on tires and get to practicing more...

OK I will throw one tricky equation in. I may want to play with them 15 inch HRE 3 piece wheels so I don't want the suspension to go so far as to limit any potential with those wheels.. .See I want is all...:mallet:
 
in my opinion

If you want to keep up with big boys you'll need to get R compound tires the Lotus Elise comes stock with Yokohama A048r which is an R compound tire .its going to be hard to find R compound in a 15 inch wheel stick with 13's.If it wear me I'd go with Spin Werkes 13x8 4 inch back space and Hoosier A6 225/45-13.

for suspension go with KYB put coil overs on them so you have a nice smooth ride on the road but can handle the curves go 350# on all four corners and put a front sway bar on .

the KYB's are grate hears proof my Buddy's 2.2 Turbo X1/9 had KYB's on it 450# front 350 # rear springs no sway bars on Goodyear slicks and at an autox event with a 120 cars he was 10th fastest car of the day. He still needed to get the car fully dialed in and learn how to dive it . so I think the car had the potential to be way faster had it ben fully dialed in.
 
I've set-up a few mid engined cars, and once you get into a setup that's close, it's just nit-picking the fine adjustments from that point on.
Definitely will want some good tires, but you might want to do some trial set-ups for springs, sway bars before you spend a bunch on tires, it'd be safer with the better tires however.
I always try and stay as soft as possible for adhesion, mid engined cars can get away with softer spring rates than front engined cars, as they naturally have less un-controlled movement, are better balanced.
Predictability is what is going to give you the most confidence and allow you to advance your driving skills.
The last mid engined car I worked out was a 2800 pound car with 330lb/inch rear springs in a strut arrangement, similar geometry. With a smaller rear sway bar, r-rated tires, I could flick the rear out, comfortably, at 90-100, and drift if I wanted to, was easy once the car was set-up properly. The front had 10% less spring, with a progressive rate to help understeer at slower speeds, also had adapted Bilsteins F/R. The car rode better than my stock Lexus did.
Oh, and I did get into a chase with a Lotus once in some twisties, hung with him...
Just don't be afraid to try a bunch of set-ups, changing only one variable at a time, then you will be educated in the very best way.
 
spring set up

Low CG
Is there a table or a calculation that can be used to give a good start point to spring rates
Cheers
Dave
 
That's the kind of information you need to be able and compare different car's spring rates, good info. There's a book called "How To Make Your Car Handle", may be out of print now, but it had tons of useful info, formulas for figuring things out, etc.

There's a brand of springs, called Swift, are a bit different in regards to design, materials (I know that all of the spring companies say that).
Porterfield Racing sells them in all different rates, lengths.

My Uncle had adapted a BMW 2002 front sway bar onto the rear of his X-19, worked well, I'm sure there are plenty of other donor cars that would be candidates for such items.

Have fun.
 
Try the KSports....

Now that Brian has come up with a viable solution for the caster and spacer problems, they may be a bargain at about $850 plus shipping on Ebay. Don't forget to add Brian's new spacer setup. I am not sure what he is charging for the spacers, but they are definitely necessary.
 
The ksports may very well do exactly what you need and inexpensively.

A few of the scooie guys run them around here and seam to like them. I have no experience with them otherwise.

It is the closest to a performance bolt on shock for a good price available for the x that I have seen
 
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