[gippy]

sooo about 5 months ago i fitted the bilstein B14 kit to my car. Big difference.
Now i'm turning my attention to everything else (suspension related)

context: 3 track days planned for this year, around 6000 miles road driving, not too bothered about NVH (unless it impacts on other components, see Q7!)

there are 2 areas i really want to address:
1. camber, so i don't shred the outside of my front tyres on track days
2. steering feel/precision. The steering is so numb and lifeless and i don't feel like i have a crispness on turn-in.

The first thing i need is camber
My understanding so far is - the best way to get this is with camberplates?
I like the idea of being able to adjust camber for the track, and then return it back to normal for the road.

Q1 - Can I adjust camber with camberplates, without having to go to the alignment shop each time? So it's something i can adjust, on the fly, whether i'm driving to the shops or at the track?

Q1b) - Any recommendations on camberplates? There's quite a few on the market.

Feel and precision
I've had my eibach ARB kit sat in the garage for months...waiting to fit it along witih bushing upgrades. Due to multiple lockdowns here, unable to do anything. So would like to just get everything done in one go when things open back up in April.

Q2 - With regards to the front suspension, Monoballs are far superior to just replacing the bushings with stiffer material, is that correct?

(assuming the answer to above is yes)
Q3 - Which Tension strut/Upper control arm monoball would you recommend? There appears to be a few to choose from, but i've no idea how to determine which is best for the money?

Q4 - Do i need to replace both the front tension strut/UCA (whatever you want to call them!) AND the Wishbone (LCA) with fancy motorsport monoball equivalents? Or just the UCA's only?

Q5 - for the rear, i'm planning to just replace the subframe bushes with solid ones. That's all i have planned for the rear, anything else I should consider?

Q6 - any recommendations on rear subframe bushes?

Q7 - by stiffening up front and rear in this way, will any of this have significance on the loadings on other parts of the car? I'm a bit worried that by stiffening everything up it might cause another part to fail that i hadn't considered. I don't want to be cornering at 100mph and something breaking!


EDIT:
VALUE FOR MONEY

the complete VAC monoball kit (Upper and lower arms) is $1100~£800.........a lot of money.

https://store.vacmotorsports.com/vac...rwd-p4953.aspx

A combination of Millway https://www.millway.se/front-control...w-f2x-f3x.html (Or Turner - https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-3...oball-upgrade/) for the UCA,

and Powerflex Black series bushings for the LCA
https://www.powerflex.co.uk/product-...sh+/12069.html
= £265.

That's quite a difference vs £800.

So come on guys what do you think? Will i really see a massive difference spending £800 on both VAC arms, or just change the bushings to Millway/Powerflex for £265?

[brigade24]

i can speak to a couple of these so here we go...

For Q1. so yes you can adjust your camber plates at the track and set them back to a street setting after you're done. however, when you change camber, you change toe so you will need toe plates or you'll need to mark the inner tie rods for track and street to set your toe accordingly. Thats what i do. I have masking tape on my inner tie rods with street and track settings indicated so I don't have to keep measuring toe. for your street setting, you need to set camber first then toe. For track, I am assuming you'll be going with max negative camber so you just need to figure out toe. It really isn't that big a deal.

i run the plates that came with my BC racing coilovers and they are functional and rusty.

Q5 and Q6: If you're not bound by classing rules and want max feel, solid aluminium is the way to go if you are willing to deal with extra NVH.

I went with delrin bushings in my rear subframe. There are pros and cons. the pro is that solid delrin does not allow the subframe to move under load So the rear feel and response make the car come alive (i.e. earlier accel on corner exit). However, not all delrin are created equal...if for whatever reason the delrin deforms or cracks, the subframe will be out of place causing strain in other components. this is very uncommon but its possible.

If you go with a poly subframe bushing, its not as stiff as delrin but its elastic so it will return to its original shape when it flexes. there are different grades of poly as well. powerflex's race bushings (black) for example are a 95A type of poly. AKG motorsports makes a 75D poly which is supposed to be significantly stiffer.

No matter what you choose, it will be better than the stock rubber bushings you have in there now.

Q2: I am using powerflex race bushings in both the thrust arm and lower control arm. its substantially better than the rubber that were in there. they also do a decent job of preserving your alignment when transitioning so you can use more tire. Ive never used the monoballs but it sounds like they are better.

I have been running the powerflex bushings up front for a couple of years...i beat the crap out of this car at autox and so far, the bushings are in really good shape.

Q7: Do the differential bushings while you are in there. I have been running delrin in the rear for a couple of years now and I can say that for the subframe it is totally worth it. the delrin bushings i got for the differential are not as good and do not fit as well as the subframe bushings. if everything is properly installed, you should not have any issues with the other components in the rear.

[blumagic]

If you do subframe bushings, just do the rear sway bar at the same time to save from having to drop it twice.

Personally, I did camber plates when I changed springs & struts. Next is the VAC UCA because mine is leaking I’ll probably buy and hold on install until I get the LCA and tie rods (both ball joint boots are dried out and torn)

Then buy a spare rear subframe (pretty cheap on eBay) and work on piecing that together so I can just swap it straight in.

Spreading it out keeps the significant other from freaking out and honestly I like the planning and collecting part of modifying.

[gippy]

Originally Posted by brigade24

Q2: I am using powerflex race bushings in both the thrust arm and lower control arm. its substantially better than the rubber that were in there. .

could you describe the feelings compared to stock in more detail? I appreciate its difficult to describe in words!
in stock, if i'm travelling at say 60mph on a straight road and wiggle the wheel, it feels very numb and 'soft' around the centre and sort of stodgy. Difficult to describe - but basically it lacks any kind of precision or sharpness.

how does yours feel in comparison when you put in those bushings?

[brigade24]

Originally Posted by gippy

could you describe the feelings compared to stock in more detail? I appreciate its difficult to describe in words!
in stock, if i'm travelling at say 60mph on a straight road and wiggle the wheel, it feels very numb and 'soft' around the centre and sort of stodgy. Difficult to describe - but basically it lacks any kind of precision or sharpness.

how does yours feel in comparison when you put in those bushings?

sure, there will still be some numbness to the steering feel but with the races bushes, there is a significant reduction in response time from when the steering input is made to the car's reaction. with the rubber bushings there was a lag, from when I provide the steering input to when the car reacts. It was challenging to get the front end to stick because anytime i performed a hard transition, it would get a little sloppy...it wouldn't plant. even with 255 RE71s on it, the grip was much better but the response was oompa loompa...like a floatation device. it was unpredictable in a race situation.

its tough to separate feel and response...the bushings def improved response. Feel was also improved but not as much as i would like. its tough to get around feel of the electric steering. the race bushes make the car more predictable at speed so it is much better to drive.