My Escos is nearly done now, and with it being fully adjustable front and rear and on coilovers, I need a bit of advice on my set-up please

1) What ride hight should it be, front and back, and I take it you measure from the arch lip to the hub centre?

2) all the toe/ camber/castor settings front and rear please, for fast road use mainly. I like a nice sharp turn in and a slightly over-steery feel, can't stand understeer ...

And advice on base settings would be most appreciated

 

Ride height is depenable on alot of things like

type/make of shocks
spring rating
personal pref on handlings
bump steer

etc

suspension set up takes a while to get a good base setting.

Are you corner weighting the car ?

 

Would be nice to get it corner weighted but cheapest I found is £250 ..

Suspension is bilstien coil-overs, Fronts are 450lbs springs with 160 bump/340 rebound inserts, rears are 300Lbs springs 280 rebound 80 bump.

Prefer a slightly tail happy car, can't stand understeer. Wheels are 225/40/18's

 

worst thing i did was coilovers.........dont like em,got the ride height from my pals saff on koni's n AB springs sits well but dont like the ride

 

PM Mike

 

450 front 300 back......... ..........hope ecos's are a different set up cos thats SO STIFF compared to my gaz jobbies

 

depends how ways adjustable the coil overs are

 

....i did get the £500 entry level one's but still,.........anyway think my springs dont suit my preference

 

it could be a number of things beside your spring rating

 

.......well fuckn tell me then..............

 

depends what oil grade is used in your shocks or are they filled with gas or nitrogen ??

what gauge anti-roll bar are you using and is it adjustable??

also what set up has been carried out on steering and how balanced the car is

 

Gaz coilovers,standard anti r bar polybushed and as for the rest FUCK KNOWS................it felt better before on AVO's and C/D springs anyway i'm stuck with em for now

 

up - Just be nice to get the car into a safe and neutral set-up initially

 

The spring rates you have are wrong to start with for a road car, so with 300lb rears, you can rest assured you will have oversteer (along with loose fillings etc) .

Ride height is dependent on type of rear beam and wheel size / tyres, so there is no hard and fast rule.

Also the geometry is decided by how you use the car and how you like to drive. Running big negative cambers will wear the tyres if used predominantly on the road.

Best thing to do is drive the car on standard settings and then report back as to what it does and what aspects you like and what you dislike. A plan of action can then be decided on how to fine tune the car to your driving style. However, you need to be honest about the way the car drives, as any advice I would give will be dependant on what you tell me....

 

Will be a Adrenaline Stg 2 rear beam, frame connectors, wheels are 18x8, 225/40/18 tyres, Goodyear Eagle F1's all the way round. No front ARB as of the moment ( will see how it fares with just comp struts, and either go for a Hadland style front mounted bladed type or refit the std one), std escort cossie rear ARB.

Just after some base settings really, not sure what to go for ride height wise?? Was going to go Std ride heigt -25mm front and rear?

Base settings I was going to use were:

Front: -1.5° Camber, 0.5 mm toe out, not sure on castor?
Rear. -1.0° Camber. 0.5mm toe in

 

hi will

i still think the fronts are too soft your front bilsteins are gravel spec you need tarmac spec anything from 420/150 to a max 500/200 for the front


this will give you a good balance for the road and track use it sounds hard but isn't that hard

put it this way my rs2oo omk5 with 500/200rebound/ bump with 650lbs springs was still too soft for track use and the rs2000 is alot lighter than a cossie


marco

 

Will have to suck it and see Marco for a bit, Can the inserts be re-valved or is it just cheaper to buy new ones? Car will be 95% Road use, very occasional track, and a few goes at the pod'

 

LOL

 

No point beating about the bush, I will prob do 1 or 2 max, and a few goes at the pod... Better to spec it to what I mainly do which is road use

 

You should track it mate.. So much more fun than road use

 

Yeah but it's £££ all the time

 

You techies are on a good wage

 

Not that fooking good

 

Alot better than me mate, Thats why Im getting out

 

hi will

a gravel can be converted to tarmac yes , but tarmac can't be converted to back togravel

you can get them re-valved to a different rating , i just send mine to D.O.M.E dennis osbournes

marco

 

.................why like..????.......plenty fun to be had day to day

 

RWD_cossie_wil

all that spec on your car and you are only doing one or two track days.

your asking Mike for specs and settings etc...just for the road,certainly up to you what you want bt imo its all overkill for the road.

must be some nice roads around your area.

you will not be off the track once you are on it,you will find the money.

i really want to see your car on track,so please try to get it on.

 

As Dave says Will, get it on track

 

When I read your reply, I was about to say the exact same thing. If it is going to be mainly a road car, then my recommendation would have been keeping the standard front end, Koni's, Ahmed springs and a 6 deg rear beam - job done.

You have moved so far away from road car settings, that you will find it very difficult to set up for comfort.

As to a fast road setting:
Front:
Camber 1.5 deg neg
Castor 3 deg 30 mins
Toe-IN 2mm
Rear
Camber as per front
Toe-IN 3mm

 

I will be taking it on track, but the car will be mainly road use, so I want to find a good balance in the settings so I don't have to adjust it every time I go on track etc. Don't mind a loss of comfort for much better handling . Does the poly rear diff support make the car much much nosier than the rubber one?

 

The set-up you have bought will not give you this in my opinion.

Good handling is NOT down to the hardest suspension you can get . For suspension to work properly, the tyres actually have to remain in contact with the road . If you drove my car on it's softest damping settings, I think you would be amazed at how it rides bumpy roads, yet still manages to be so good on track. Obviously there is more than one way to skin a cat, but I personally think you have spent you money in the wrong places and that it will take lots of experimenting with different springs and damping rates to achieve what you want.

The rear diff mount does transmit some additional noises into the car, but not excessively so . As proof of this, I have one on my own car and if it was too bad, it would be removed, as I can't tolerate harshness.

 

Plenty of fun to be had on roads and I do with my Sunny, But is it worth your license, points or a fine?



Might just be me as I live a built up area?!

 

.......it takes minutes for me to be in back road heaven............

 

Luckily I have great open roads round where I live and where I work, lots of nice smooth twisty A-roads and fast duel track