One stop shop for sorting out the handling on my Sapphire
 

Not pleased with the way my Sapphire handles so wanted some advice on which tuner I could take it to get it sorted. What recommendations everyone got?

What are you after?. Rear beam, Coilovers, Koni, Bilstein etc etc, lots of options available.

Ive not long had Konis and Ahmed road springs fitted to my 2wd and i must say car handles really well now, but as said depends what use you want your car set up for,road,track etc.

A happy medium really. I want her handling nice and tight but without the bone shaking ride quality

Mike Rainbird would be a good man to ask....

Does he have his own garage or just a member on here?

His website..... http://www.randbmotorsport.co.uk/shop/Default.asp

His old Sapph..... https://passionford.com/forum/pictur...-sapphire.html

His Escort..... https://passionford.com/forum/restor...eos-added.html

Why everyone says Konis and Ahmed road springs is the best option is mad i don't think it did much for my Cos, a decent Coil over setup wins hands down imo

A six degree rear beam will be the best mod you'll ever do to your car ;-);-)

Luciano

Spot on Chris, add in an adjustable rear beam, uprated diff mount and solid beam mounts.

Are these 6 degree rear beams that good.

A Evo's better Glenn :cry::cry:

Oh yeah :top:

Luciano

What does a six degree rear beam actually do?

Makes a Cossie handle like a car not a boat half full of water.

Recommend. High quality Coilovers/springs.(duel rate on rear), Rear beam with a decent Diff & Chassis connectors to keep it flat. The rear beam, Powerloc Diff & Chassis connectors transformed mine.

What beam do you use Rodders??

What are the chassis connectors?

Rod has a Brom 6deg beam

Chassis connectors are tube rails that's are welded to the front of the chassis and run to the rear of the chassis (in line with the sill), and stop it from twisting/flexing. I've been in Rods car and the car feels so flex less it's awesome I think

Any pictures of these chassis connectors? Never something like that before.

What's actually wrong with the way it handles? And what are you wanting to do with it? And what is on the car to start with?

Is it not worth specifically addressing the issues rather than just chucking a load of spec at it which might not be needed?

Steering feels vague at times and just feels really wobbly at high speed. The handling just really doesn't fill me with confidence basically!

Bushes and a full alignment check might be the best place to start then.

All bushes are polyurethane and absolutely fine that I do know

Do you also have poly bushes in the rear arms? Normally those are spherical bearings which are superior to poly bushes. I've had problems with poly bushes in the rear arms in the past and would never fit them again.

Well worth it Glenn - they improve the feel and stop a tired rear end "steering" the front end, especially over bumps

When the cars were new and standard they were pretty good handling.
Read any mag of the late 80s and see how well they compared to the legendary handling E30 M3 which people still rave about......

As they've got tired and old and people have tried different, mismatched suspension components, excessive lowering, big wheels and low profiles. Occasionally people strike lucky and get a set-up acceptable for the surfaces and manner they drive.

Plus it's hard not to compare it to whatever modern car they also might drive, often with the benefit of 25 years of chassis/suspension design

If the steering wheel is wobbly front tca's could be fuckered

Luciano

Wouldn't say it was wobbly, just vague. The UJ was replaced a few months back

Tbh I've got 6 degree rear beam, grp A diff mount, polybushed beam/floor bushes,gripper diff, 3dr front hubs, ploy bushed tca's,new steering uj-all tracked up(checked twice)
Avo gtx front legs 350lbs Gaz rears with 250lbs
17in comps with 215/40x17s toyo t1r proxes
Oh its a 2wd saff

And to be frank it handles like shit!!!

At least someone's honest lol

Not expecting miracles but just a significant improvement

I much prefer mine on 15s with 205s to the Comp MO 17s I've got

What characteristics don't you like on it? Twitchiness? Crashing over bumps, rough roads? Tramlining?

I've heard similar. I'm on Comp MO 18 ' s and the bloke who owned the car before said it rode better on his RS 7 spoke 17's.

For me it's the twitchiness at high speed and bumps. Just want some handling that inspires a bit of confidence.

Mate of mine has a 500bhp elite gear box track saff. He had 18's on that and took them off and put the 17's back on as he said if handled shit with the 18's

Mine wasnt that good on 18"s with the tried and tested konis and std springs. Much better on 15"s if im honest and poly rear arm bushes are not that good.

It's ok in a straight line, but if your going around a sweeping bend at heigh speed it feels like the rear is trying to come past you and just generally unstable
It's almost like a hot rod-fine in a straight line lol
I've also got a escort cosworth 22mm rear roll bar fitted.

I've put it down to either the diff is like "locked" on power and when u let of the thing stays locked for few seconds and you get this "push on" feeling when you let off.
Or the fact it has near on 400/400 and on 215 tyres fitted


I'm sure if you could get 265s all round it'll be much better!

Think of any 160+mph car and its tyre sizes!