Track day suspension

Doris · Oct 12, 2017

I'm looking to replace my bilstein b14s as finding the suspension too soft for track use. Clio 172 cup used for track days and driving to/from circuit.
I already have ktec solid top mounts and white line rear ARB fitted.
Suggestions for kits and suppliers please.
Cheers

Jekyll · Oct 12, 2017

What's your budget?

JamesBryan · Oct 12, 2017

Anything this side of AST's go for BC's DR range with 8kg springs.

JB21 · Oct 12, 2017

If on a budget then have a look at BC DR coilovers with custom springs (10kg/8kg) or if you're up for spending £1500-2000 then AST's are pretty much the dogs for the 1*2.

Doris · Oct 12, 2017

Dr Jekyll said:
What's your budget?

Approx £1000

JB21 · Oct 12, 2017

Go with the BC DR's with their solid camber/caster adjustment top mounts for £866 then sell your KTEC solid top mounts...to me :smile:

https://www.kamracing.co.uk/car-tun...ilovers-172-182-renaultsport-inc-172-cup.html

Jekyll · Oct 12, 2017

Your bilsteins will make £350 - £500ish depending on mileage, condition, etc.

Coops Mk1 · Oct 12, 2017

as above, BC with the stiffer springs

Fletcher · Oct 12, 2017

As above. I have just ordered some BC DR 8kg/ 8kg springs, and solid top mounts for my 172 to replace my H&R coilovers.

Doris · Oct 12, 2017

Thanks everyone, looks like BC Racing DR kit is the best option for my budget

M.C.. · Oct 12, 2017

I have brought some Gaz gold off @Mash. i am yet to fit and try them but they are going to be much better than the standard shocks and cooksports I have now.
It was hard choice between the Gaz and BC’s but the rear coilover with the Gaz swayed me as it is easier to change rear spring rate if needed.

Doris · Oct 12, 2017

M.C.. said:
I have brought some Gaz gold off @Mash. i am yet to fit and try them but they are going to be much better than the standard shocks and cooksports I have now.
It was hard choice between the Gaz and BC’s but the rear coilover with the Gaz swayed me as it is easier to change rear spring rate if needed.

Yeah I did look at Gaz Gold, slightly more expensive than the BC's but do look good quality. I don't know anyone with any experience of them so would be interested to hear how you find them

M.C.. · Oct 12, 2017

Doris said:
Yeah I did look at Gaz Gold, slightly more expensive than the BC's but do look good quality. I don't know anyone with any experience of them so would be interested to hear how you find them

They are cheaper than the BC if you get them from Mash, @Adamxx has a set

Hyperhatch · Oct 12, 2017

I run them and have no issue at all with them. I do run stupidly hard springs (650 front / 450 rear from memory) which makes road driving a bit hard! I've never driven a car with ASTs (or BCs) so can't compare. I did have Gaz topmounts but they were rubbish. I have PMS topmounts now. I paid £800 with topmounts. They are now 2 years old and and have covered 5 track days and two ring trip (30ish laps and 1000 miles each trip) with no problems at all.

Adamxx · Oct 13, 2017

As @M.C.. says I've got Gaz Golds, very happy with them.

Doris · Oct 13, 2017

Ok, so BC DRs and Gaz Gold are good options.
I see ktec do a coilover kit for just over £1100. Does anyone have any experience of this setup?

Doris · Oct 13, 2017

Doris said:
Ok, so BC DRs and Gaz Gold are good options.
I see ktec do a coilover kit for just over £1100. Does anyone have any experience of this setup?

Just noticed this is manufactured by Gaz!!

JB21 · Oct 13, 2017

AST 5100 FS here, sell the Bilsteins and put the grand to and you'll have pretty much the best suspension for the Clio, cant compare to Gaz or BC but I run AST's and they are brilliant :smile:

https://www.cliosport.net/threads/breaking-high-spec-ph1-172-racecar.812515/#post-11491271

JamesBryan · Oct 13, 2017

Doris said:
Just noticed this is manufactured by Gaz!!

Ktec do a 750 Motor Club 182 Championship spec which are made by Spax.

Doris · Oct 14, 2017

Bearing in mind the car is predominantly for track day use, how about replacing all the bushes with Powerflex black series? Has anyone replaced all the bushes? If so, is it worth doing before I invest in replacement coilovers?

Alex__ · Oct 14, 2017

JB21 said:
If on a budget then have a look at BC DR coilovers with custom springs (10kg/8kg) or if you're up for spending £1500-2000 then AST's are pretty much the dogs for the 1*2.

I pressume the first figure is the front spring rate?
Just because with the reading up ive been doing Ive noticed a lot of people tend to run a stiffer rear spring. But on Kam racing they only offer up to an 8kg rear spring on the BCs..

JB21 · Oct 14, 2017

Alex__ said:
I pressume the first figure is the front spring rate?
Just because with the reading up ive been doing Ive noticed a lot of people tend to run a stiffer rear spring. But on Kam racing they only offer up to an 8kg rear spring on the BCs..

Sorry meant 10 rear, 8 front. BC should be able to do 10 rears even though they don't advertise on Kam but the rear dampers may need to be revalved to suit.

JB21 · Oct 14, 2017

Doris said:
Bearing in mind the car is predominantly for track day use, how about replacing all the bushes with Powerflex black series? Has anyone replaced all the bushes? If so, is it worth doing before I invest in replacement coilovers?

Got mine to do, more so just to freshen them up and the powerflex bushes are cheap enough and will last longer than OE.

Alex__ · Oct 14, 2017

JB21 said:
Sorry meant 10 rear, 8 front. BC should be able to do 10 rears even though they don't advertise on Kam but the rear dampers may need to be revalved to suit.

Nothing is ever straight forward is it 🙈

Usr117063 · Oct 14, 2017

Doris said:
Bearing in mind the car is predominantly for track day use, how about replacing all the bushes with Powerflex black series? Has anyone replaced all the bushes? If so, is it worth doing before I invest in replacement coilovers?

I have only replaced the engine top mount and the dog bone bushing with the black powerflex, but its a big difference for the better, gears are lot smoother and engine responds quicker. If its a race car then im sure you are not bothered about noise and vibration, because its pretty bad. The interior was so loud on first start up, I did a video and was talking it was so distorted the audio was one big distorted noise! Its calmed down since then but there are a lot of loose rattles still
I have also the upper gearbox mount from vibra techs which was a good purchase to, definitely worth doing the lot

MCSmee · Mar 8, 2020

JB21 said:
Go with the BC DR's with their solid camber/caster adjustment top mounts for £866 then sell your KTEC solid top mounts...to me 😄

https://www.kamracing.co.uk/car-tun...ilovers-172-182-renaultsport-inc-172-cup.html

reviving an old thread here. i am looking for a track spec coilover and was about to pull the plug on some Gaz gha but then saw this post. i was all excited but i am confused. this link to kamracing suggests that the clio has a DS range of coilovers for track cars..... but BC Racing dont list anything of the sort on their website???

has anyone bought the kit as linked? with 10kg/8kg springs?

MLB · Mar 8, 2020

This seems to link to the DS series on the bc racing website, is that what you're looking for?

ds-series-coilovers

www.bc-racing.co.uk

Edit:
Think I see what you mean, if you select Renault Clios it doesn't show the DS series. That's strange.

Interesting though, these are on my wish list for the clio as well.

MCSmee · Mar 8, 2020

Yea exactly.. very odd. I'll message kev and kam tomorrow see what he says.

MCSmee · Mar 9, 2020

i called BC they said they do sell the DS range but not many so they didnt bother listing it on the website. so KAM racing website is correct!!

problem i now face is the BC DS coilovers are more than i paid for my car!!! lol

MLB · Mar 9, 2020

Do two track days and those two days will be more expensive than your car

Eddie555 · Mar 9, 2020

MCSmee said:
i called BC they said they do sell the DS range but not many so they didnt bother listing it on the website. so KAM racing website is correct!!

problem i now face is the BC DS coilovers are more than i paid for my car!!! lol

I paid £1900 for the car.. I paid £1980 for my AST's... My car now owes me triple maybe even quadruple what I initially intended to spend on a cheap track car.. [emoji2958]

Sent from my SM-G977B using Tapatalk

MCSmee · Mar 9, 2020

Eddie555 said:
I paid £1900 for the car.. I paid £1980 for my AST's... My car now owes me triple maybe even quadruple what I initially intended to spend on a cheap track car.. [emoji2958]

Sent from my SM-G977B using Tapatalk

haha nice. i spent nowhere near that thus far. i, £1300 in and just need coilovers, cage and harnesses. id love to look in the forsale section but need to be a member

MLB · Mar 9, 2020

Worth becoming a member, lots of stuff coming up for sale there!

frayz · Mar 9, 2020

High end dampers will literally transform a car, so well worth what they cost IME.
ASTs at £500 a corner for 5100s are the very entry level of decent quality items too when you're talking good quality dampers.
Very much a "you get what you pay for" item.

Kev@KAM · Mar 9, 2020

MCSmee said:
i called BC they said they do sell the DS range but not many so they didnt bother listing it on the website. so KAM racing website is correct!!

problem i now face is the BC DS coilovers are more than i paid for my car!!! lol

The BC Ds series is our biggest seller. We have pushed the UK distributor a bit on this range as we were making them special order all the kits for us.
Good news is we sold so many with custom top mounts that the Ds series now comes with camber adjustable top mounts as standard.

For track get a 8kg if used on the road. 9 or 10kg fronts for a more track only car.

BC Racing DS Series Coilovers - Renault Clio Mk2 RS172, RS182

Please note we are unable to ship the BC Racing range to the following countries: France, The Netherlands, Finland, USA & Canada, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia, South Africa, Australia. If your country of residence is on this list then you ha

www.kamracing.co.uk

Kev@KAM · Mar 9, 2020

frayz said:
High end dampers will literally transform a car, so well worth what they cost IME.
ASTs at £500 a corner for 5100s are the very entry level of decent quality items too when you're talking good quality dampers.
Very much a "you get what you pay for" item.

Its something like £2400 with the top mounts which is a real shame.
With the BC at £894 for a kit its a huge gulf in price. Personally I'd leave AST for the race car where the kit may give a few tenths of extra performance. The damping is better for sure but the Clio is currently regarded as a budget trackcar.

MLB · Mar 9, 2020

@Kev@KAM My 182 is on cup shocks with grams springs which I find bottoms out quite often going over potholes and feels quite harsh on the road. Felt pretty good on track though.

How would my setup compare to the bc DS series in terms of performance/comfort? I drive the Clio on the road and on track.

Is the 8kg option a big compromise compared to 9kg or 10kg on track? Especially if coming from cup shocks and grams springs?

frayz · Mar 9, 2020

Kev@KAM said:
Its something like £2400 with the top mounts which is a real shame.
With the BC at £894 for a kit its a huge gulf in price. Personally I'd leave AST for the race car where the kit may give a few tenths of extra performance. The damping is better for sure but the Clio is currently regarded as a budget trackcar.

Entirely fair comments Kev, given the budget allowed.

Slightly off topic for the OPs usage.

I've purchased a set of ASTs purely for the road as i believe this is arguably where higher end dampers come into their own. Its all well and good running super hard spring rates when you're driving on a billiard table smooth circuit, You can get away with a more budget damper and achieve similar performance in terms of lap times. Actual chassis control over undulating roads i think is a greater test of any damper unit and why i opted for a set of ASTs.

Kev@KAM · Mar 9, 2020

frayz said:
Entirely fair comments Kev, given the budget allowed.

Slightly off topic for the OPs usage.

I've purchased a set of ASTs purely for the road as i believe this is arguably where higher end dampers come into their own. Its all well and good running super hard spring rates when you're driving on a billiard table smooth circuit, You can get away with a more budget damper and achieve similar performance in terms of lap times. Actual chassis control over undulating roads i think is a greater test of any damper unit and why i opted for a set of ASTs.

Personally my issue with the clio for road use is poor bump steer. Mine is on Sachs dampers with Cooksport springs at the moment and I dont like the way it rides.

frayz · Mar 9, 2020

Kev@KAM said:
Personally my issue with the clio for road use is poor bump steer. Mine is on Sachs dampers with Cooksport springs at the moment and I dont like the way it rides.

I've got a set of Northloop hubs to go on mine, (actually dropped them at the electroplaters today).
I'm hoping these with the track rod cones will all but eliminate that and make the road manners even better. Josh Cook spec'd the ASTs especially for road at 70kg/40kg so should be interesting to see how it all works when they go on together.

Track day suspension

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