Been reading a few threads and apart from engine mods, gearbox, diffs and brake mods, what is the best set up for an esc cos, using a standard one as a base.
Mr Rainbird reckons at least 3k+ needs to be spent to make an esc cos handle well

Beams
suspension
strut braces
etc and what are the prices etc

What setups have you lot got

I have added Mikes response off of another thread

 

this may depend on what its being used for too mate.
track day or fast road.
or both

 

I would say fast road and occassional track day

 

wpuld love to help but i aint got a clue as im a saff owner.but would be interesting as the saff aint too different.

 

would say mike's pretty spot on there , fast road handling IMO consists of adj rear beam, adj arms, in my case black art coilovers, polybush's, strut braces and adj top mounts....

alot of people go too far like GRP A suspension and solid mounts and compression struts but 90% of the time they drive on the road so i personally feel what mike has said is spot on ...

 

What he said ^^^^^

 

I know absolutely nothing about how cars work. Could you explain the benefits and how they help. Sorry if sound dumb

adj rear beam, adj arms, adj top mounts

 

PT
im with you mate.whats worse is im work in an accessory shop.know what it is dont know how it works

 

Really pisses me off matey, their are some wicked technical discussions on this board and I would love to understand them more and contribute. Im so nuts about cars, and its pretty gutting not to be able to fettle and maintain them myself

 

Adjustable TCA's and rear beam allow you to Alter things like your Castor, camber & toe ect

Obviously with Adjustable suspention you can make it stiffer or softer depending on what the track road conditions are

Strut brace stiffen the front end up as a rear one would the rear

Polly bushes will replace the shit ones that ford did that dont last 5 minutes with heavy abuse

I would Try and Explain more but i would make a fool of myself

Im sure Mike will Clarify anything you need to know

 

i know exactly how you feel mate.im the same.i do try to do bits myself but i normally lose my patience or break stuff.and on a cossie it cost too much if you fuck it up.and i cant afford that.

 

mate i run a chippy so ...

roughly my knowledge is :- changing the rear beam eliminates the toe problem cossie have as std and enables you to run the desired toe and camber ideal for your setup be it track or road!!?? the std beam ie being not adj means you cant make up for toe in (hence mike R's shims for std beam)... I also got told by my tuner the beam 'WILL' transform the car...

adj arms works on the same theory basically allows the camber to be adjusted as if you run larger rims/different tyres/suspension etc etc this will throw the std track and camber out. Therefore adj items give the the adjustment to correct this and give the cossie the required adjustment level...

adj top mounts allow camber and caster i think?? this again will give you the perfect adjustment to get the cars setup spot on as the std fitment is good will always be out slightly???

suspension speaks for itself various levels for what people want but IMO like i said most people go for ie'' bilstein grp A ***lb springs blah blah'' and then wonder why the ride like a dog on the road... those sorts of thing are made for grp A cars etc not for road going IMO theres alot more out there suitable people just buy them for the name... IMO koni's / ahmed springs are ideal for road, black art ones are better if you have 1.2k, or if your rich Ohlins 4k but unsure what ohlins would be like on the road 24/7???

as for solid mounts, poly bush's etc:- solid ones IMO are too solid for the road you will suffer huge vibration and noise now in a road car thats annnoying... hence most people stick to polybush's as there stiffer than std yet not really noisey...

think i covered quite a bit i'll prob get a load of people disagree but who cares going on what i know, i only run a chippy

Ad

 

Good info matey

 

adamski frst

Thanks for that

 

thanks all donations accepted, cheque, credit card, postal orders

 

strut braces will also stop the car flexing.
You when you go up a slope or curb at an angle an the car creeks, well thats the car flexing, braces will stop this loads and be more stiffer and less roll i think on track.
There are a few varients of strut braces for the front, but wouldnt know which is better or not as good.
Rear strut braces is basically a single rose jointed bar that connects to the rear struts...

 

Im running Gaz coilovers(cossymad spring rates) ,adjustable tca's, front and rear strut braces, fully polybushed and rear beam shims. Next plans are ava spec front tca's and compression struts, adjustable back beam and mibi frame conectors.

 

What are these?
And what did all that cost if you dont mind me asking?

 

Coilovers £500
Shims £10 from mike
Front brace £?? was fitted to the car when i got it
Tca's £200, new set up will be more expensive but will have rebuildable ball joints and rose joints.
Rear brace £80

Looking at around £800 for a back beam for a road spec beam.

The frame connectors are from Danny B on here and think they basicaly connect suspension mounting point front to back on the car to stop flex.

 

Something people also forget is the wheel size & tyre choice. 19" prob look great but don't do much for the handling. Also fitting too stiff springs as the wheels & suspension will just bounce off the bumps in the road not absorb the shocks. When ever I change anything to do with the suspension I get the setup checked on a laser 4 wheel alignment. Worth the £30.

 

What Adam said is pretty much spot on . The only thing that he missed was the fact that the real problem with the standard rear beam on a Cossie is that there is a huge disparity in roll centres from front to rear that this creates. The 6° rear beam addresses this.

If you want to know more about suspension, I actually wrote a very detailed (but understandable) feature for Fast Ford on this, and it explained all the terminology as well. If you are really serious about understanding the way the suspension works on a Cosworth, then speak to Simon or Dan from Fast Ford and you will be able to buy the relevant back issue .

 

yep i think as long as you know the basics if you wanna get complex you can always enquire more .... For me i know the basics, but ask me about mapping jargen or gearbox ratios etc WAY over my head

 

Do you know which issue Mike

 

any pics of these bits danny b does and a price ??

 

300 ish IIRC And yes i am good

 

Do they make that much difference on an Escort ?? has anyone had it done other than on saffs ?

 

the above pics are an esc cos mate. Belongs to Franco aka Yeti Racing

 

so it is, didn't pay attention to the last pic.