Track suspension around £1000?

[Greg.w]

Morning all,

I've bought a 182ff with both cup packs that's needing a bit of work. Got it cheap and it's got some really nice bits in it too (pms shifter, whiteline rarb, omp wheel etc). Plan is to make it a track car with minimal road use, maybe the odd blast and possibly driving to the track (in the beginning anyway).

It's got cup suspension with cook springs but they're really tired. Fair bit of knocking and clunking so looking to do bushes and top mounts etc.

What would the best money be spent on for suspension around the £1000 mark? I've seen
- BC BR
- BC DS
- Gaz GHA
- Gaz Gold

And a load of others.

Any advice would be appreciated

 

[Mr Underhill]

All of the above really.

I wouldn't overlook B14s either for general track days.

I had a race-prepared 182 with 750mc SPAX controlled suspension. Set me back around £1,500 with solid top mounts. It was very unforgiving on the roads, but perfect for circuit racing or dedicated track days, as you'd expect. I used to go to circuits with my mates, who ran B14s on their 182.

Their car was very capable.

You can go crazy but it all depends on what you're planning on doing in the long term. Might be better to go for something better now, so you can develop other parts of the car without having to upgrade later on.

 

[Greg.w]

I didn't even look at the b14s or the spax tbh, a bit more than I wanted to spend.

I'm thinking of going with the BC DS's. A little over £1000 but ocme with the adjustable solid top mounts by the looks of it.

Any one got track experience with them? What sort of spring rates should I be looking at?

Thanks

 

[Greg.w]

Any body else? Ready to pull the trigger as soon as I find the right set.

Car was only £1500 so would preferably like to spend less than the cost of the car 🤣🤣

 

[Cjm2993]

Gaz has a sale on just now…good luck!

 

[Nathan105e]

After looking for close to a year, in roughly the same boat as yourself, I Looked at the DS'S, Spax 750's, Avo's and the Gaz golds. Went with the BC DS in the end, Absolutely transformed the car and very happy with them.

I believe they're "better" than the BR version, and same applies to Gaz golds over the GHA'S, My friends clio Has the golds and it feels very well on the road with a spirited drive but I've not driven it on track as of yet.

A friend Has the 750'S and commented on how stiff they are but again do perform well once on track, he also uses it at the ring and after killing a new set of Bilstiens there opted for the spax and I belive Has been happy since.

For that price range I think it's all preference as they all seem to be close. Benefit of the Bc's are they have solid camber/castor adjustable top mounts included so that keeps the cost down if you haven't top mounts already. (I swapped out the Pms Solid top mounts and brace for the BC variant when removing my Spax RSX, Non 750 version)

AST'S are the way, but they're almost double the budget.

 

[markfishy]

Not been on the forums for a long time . Just put some spax coil over 750 MC spec on here for sale, so you might say i could be bias with any advice
I will try not to be.
I would say that for doing a lot of road mileage any good competition derived set up will be too stiff for most owners.
BUT, with the coil over sets you can always go softer with the springs. especially the rears and you can change these rears over very easily for the on track bit.
The springs are quite cheap.
By the time you get down to a 250 lb rear spring, its quite comfortable. see what others reckon.
Hope that helps a bit.
regards Mark

 

[Martin_172]

Worth noting, I see a lot of people choosing bilstein b14 due to the name these days, I went thru 2 pairs of rear dampers in 12 months/1500 miles with only light road use, bilstein did swap them under warranty, but the fronts also looked like they had come from the titanic after this same period!

 

[ripp]

Worth noting, I see a lot of people choosing bilstein b14 due to the name these days, I went thru 2 pairs of rear dampers in 12 months/1500 miles with only light road use, bilstein did swap them under warranty, but the fronts also looked like they had come from the titanic after this same period!

Use coilover socks for the fronts and the rears might benefit a coat of ACF50 even if they're painted

 

[ripp]

A friend has them on for 6 years and they look spot on. True that the car stays in an undergroung garage but anyway it's daily driven, well looked after though