CSG and RCE tag-team suspension Q&A thread! Ask us anything!

[Brzzee]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

You would definitely benefit from more camber but it's a compromise (with convenience or tire wear).

We ran larger sways with T2s on 245 MPSS and it was such a good set-up.

- Andy

Currently running MPSS 245/35ZR18 on 18x8 weds. suggestions for f/r bar diameters with T2s for occasional track days?

Thanks

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by Brzzee

Currently running MPSS 245/35ZR18 on 18x8 weds. suggestions for f/r bar diameters with T2s for occasional track days?

Thanks

We ran the Whiteline 20mm front 16mm rear and our RCE bars which are hollow 25mm and 18mm, equating to 22 front 16 rear solid.

Both work well. If you're able to run a little more camber up front then the Whiteline bars may suit you better. If you're limited in camber, the stiffer front of our RCE bars I think is a better choice (and IIRC a tiny bit lighter).

- Andy

[Turkish]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

The bars will tame some of the body roll...car will react a little quicker and stay flat. It will be an improvement if you're only running -2 camber up front (ideally you'd want more neg camber, but less is needed with less roll). See what you think when you get the tires first though. What were your previous tires?

- Andy

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

You would definitely benefit from more camber but it's a compromise (with convenience or tire wear).

We ran larger sways with T2s on 245 MPSS and it was such a good set-up.

- Andy

The camber that I am currently running is -2* rear and -1.2* front (OEM crash bolt in the upper slot, OEM bolt in the lower slot) with the B8/Tarmac combo with OEM sway bars and OEM wheels/rubber. I still experience some understeer until the rear tires lose traction, at that point I seem to have a desirable to my driving style amount of oversteer.

When I wear through my stock rubber, I plan on switching to MPSS 225/45r17 on the stock wheels (I want wider tires, but I cannot afford new wheels currently). I also am considering installing my SPC camber bolts to the lower slot and adjusting the front camber to between -2* and -2.5*. Unfortunately, top hats are still not financially feasible at this moment. My goal is to have easily accessible oversteer, but I do not want crazy oversteer, maybe half to two thirds of the oversteer as oem suspension is my ultimate goal once I have all the goodies I would like to have: sway bars, rear lca's, front top hats, etc.

My question for you guys is: A) Does what I plan to do make sense? B) ignoring things like settings creep, will the SPC bolt have issues with catastrophic failure such as sheering or would I be better off with another option such as Eibach? (I would like to use what I already have and not spend any more than I currently have to until finances improve - I am still paying off the B8's and Tarmac springs ) C) Is there something else that is inexpensive that I am not thinking about that might help me out? Thanks in advance!

[gramicci101]

To piggyback off of @Turkish's question, is there any reason one couldn't use camber bolts in both upper and lower positions to get super extra camber?

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by Turkish

The camber that I am currently running is -2* rear and -1.2* front (OEM crash bolt in the upper slot, OEM bolt in the lower slot) with the B8/Tarmac combo with OEM sway bars and OEM wheels/rubber. I still experience some understeer until the rear tires lose traction, at that point I seem to have a desirable to my driving style amount of oversteer.

When I wear through my stock rubber, I plan on switching to MPSS 225/45r17 on the stock wheels (I want wider tires, but I cannot afford new wheels currently). I also am considering installing my SPC camber bolts to the lower slot and adjusting the front camber to between -2* and -2.5*. Unfortunately, top hats are still not financially feasible at this moment. My goal is to have easily accessible oversteer, but I do not want crazy oversteer, maybe half to two thirds of the oversteer as oem suspension is my ultimate goal once I have all the goodies I would like to have: sway bars, rear lca's, front top hats, etc.

My question for you guys is: A) Does what I plan to do make sense? B) ignoring things like settings creep, will the SPC bolt have issues with catastrophic failure such as sheering or would I be better off with another option such as Eibach? (I would like to use what I already have and not spend any more than I currently have to until finances improve - I am still paying off the B8's and Tarmac springs ) C) Is there something else that is inexpensive that I am not thinking about that might help me out? Thanks in advance!

I would recommend the SPC bolt on the top and OEM on the bottom. I'm not sure if that will get you to -2 but it should be close. I wouldn't expect slippage and even a little bit more camber would help you quite a bit.

Running two camber bolts makes me nervous. That said, many have done it and it's fine.

- Andy

[jvincent]

Another option would be to slot the upper hole to add some more camber potential.

[troek]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

To piggyback off of @Turkish's question, is there any reason one couldn't use camber bolts in both upper and lower positions to get super extra camber?

I'm running a Whiteline bolt in the top, and a spc bolt in the bottom. 2 track days, and 1500 highway kms. Made ma little bit nervous, but ive seen some others do it and havnt had any problems. if i drove on bumpier roads i dont think i would be doing it. idealy id like to dremel out a slot but i havnt had the time to be careful and do it properly, so im holding off.

[NissanGuy]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

Your options for off the shelf replacement fixed perch dampers are:

Koni Yellow
Bilstein HD (B6)
Bilstein Sport (B8)

Don't bother with the Bilstein Sports on stock springs.

Bilstein and Koni will be better in transitions than stock for sure. Bilstein has a bit of gas pressure for "platform" which I generally like and the Konis are adjustable which is fun to play with. Both pretty good shocks. Konis are an insert up front which is a pain to install.

I wouldn't recommend reducing low speed compression damping. Another option (if you really want to stick with stock springs) would be to trim your front bumptops just a little. I haven't tried this with OEM springs and frankly wouldn't recommend it, but if you want more brake dive this would be the easy/better way.

Your alignment is very conservative. If you want to get the car to dance on stock springs, you'll want quite a bit more negative camber up front especially if you've moved on from the OEM tires.

We've posted the shock dyno charts for the OEM dampers somewhere on here, I can dig for them later if you like. They're also somewhere on our FB page.

- Andy

Sounds like it's B6s for me, then. I read that they're a high quality part with good ride quality, and nonadjustable is a plus to me.

I've heard the stock suspension described as 'bumpstop active' but is it actually that severe? I tend to think of bumpstops as only getting used when landing from a jump.

Haha, everyone tells me that my alignment is conservative. But it's just how I like it.

I can probably dig up a stock shock dyno too without much trouble. But if you've got a B6 or B8 dyno I'd be very grateful!

[Turkish]

Originally Posted by NissanGuy

Sounds like it's B6s for me, then. I read that they're a high quality part with good ride quality, and nonadjustable is a plus to me.

I've heard the stock suspension described as 'bumpstop active' but is it actually that severe? I tend to think of bumpstops as only getting used when landing from a jump.

Haha, everyone tells me that my alignment is conservative. But it's just how I like it.

I can probably dig up a stock shock dyno too without much trouble. But if you've got a B6 or B8 dyno I'd be very grateful!

If the B6 is anything like the B8, be prepared for some break in time. They'll be really stiff for a few weeks then loosen up.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[PoWn3d_0704]

Holy crap. The information. It would take me weeks to read it all.

I'm trying to compete in STX class, and so far I've got a 19mm front Perrin Bar and a 16mm rear one. That combined with their poly endlinks. Rear sway bar is set to middle and the front set to the stiff hole. Something like 70% stiffer than stock.

With that said, I'm on stock tires and coils. Upgrading to 17x9 rims with 245/255 RS3 v2's soon. I know Coils are the right way to go, but would RCE Yellows be the worst idea in the world?

[was385]

Originally Posted by PoWn3d_0704

Holy crap. The information. It would take me weeks to read it all.

I'm trying to compete in STX class, and so far I've got a 19mm front Perrin Bar and a 16mm rear one. That combined with their poly endlinks. Rear sway bar is set to middle and the front set to the stiff hole. Something like 70% stiffer than stock.

With that said, I'm on stock tires and coils. Upgrading to 17x9 rims with 245/255 RS3 v2's soon. I know Coils are the right way to go, but would RCE Yellows be the worst idea in the world?

Depends what your goals are with the car. Are you just looking to have fun or be competitive? What kind of competition are you going to see in your events? I run a small local club so the RCE Yellows were not only very fun to drive with but pretty competitive (all three of the competitive STX twins have them). If I went to a more competitive event, the car would be totally outclassed (as would the driver ). Personally, I'm moving from yellows to Bilstein B8s/Tarmacs but the yellows were a huge improvement over stock and I would absolutely recommend them to anyone.


And just as a side note, if you're already going 9 inch wide wheels, just go with 255.

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by NissanGuy

Sounds like it's B6s for me, then. I read that they're a high quality part with good ride quality, and nonadjustable is a plus to me.

I've heard the stock suspension described as 'bumpstop active' but is it actually that severe? I tend to think of bumpstops as only getting used when landing from a jump.

Haha, everyone tells me that my alignment is conservative. But it's just how I like it.

I can probably dig up a stock shock dyno too without much trouble. But if you've got a B6 or B8 dyno I'd be very grateful!

It is very bumpstop active...from memory I think the fronts are 0.5 inches from touching the bumpstops. So you're well into them on every corner.

OEM dyno below. I don't have the B6 dyno.



- Andy

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by PoWn3d_0704

Holy crap. The information. It would take me weeks to read it all.

I'm trying to compete in STX class, and so far I've got a 19mm front Perrin Bar and a 16mm rear one. That combined with their poly endlinks. Rear sway bar is set to middle and the front set to the stiff hole. Something like 70% stiffer than stock.

With that said, I'm on stock tires and coils. Upgrading to 17x9 rims with 245/255 RS3 v2's soon. I know Coils are the right way to go, but would RCE Yellows be the worst idea in the world?

Agree with was385.

If you're looking to compete locally, RCE Yellows are a good way to go and will improve handling. If you're looking to win nationals, you will need coilovers.

- Andy

[SomeoneWhoIsntMe]

I'm building a drift car right now, and I'm looking at going with Bilstein HD's with coil sleeves on them, because I'd like something that handles well but is flexible in terms of valving and spring rates. I'll have extra weight up front because of an engine swap, and standard coilovers won't fit anyway because I'll be running nissan spindles to get the steering geometry I'd like.

I read in a motoiq article that on Ryan Tuerck's 2JZ-powered FRS, they're running KW's with 10k rates front and 7k rear. Doesn't the motion ratio of the rear coilover location mean that the 7k spring rate out back is effectively even softer, compared to a car with the rear shock mounted to the upright? It also mentions that they're using some sort of a custom rear bar, with the stock bar up front.

Does it sound reasonable to assume that they're using relatively soft springs out back to allow the car to squat more and transfer weight to the back for more forward bite, while using a lot of rear bar to give it the transitional oversteer characteristics they want?

With that in mind, would the rear bilstein B8's for this car be in the ballpark of being able to damp 400lb/in springs if I tried to duplicate such a setup? I was going to go with 550 lb/in springs up front, and the 3000GT bilstein strut inserts I'll be running are supposed to be able to handle rates like that.

edit: also, what are my options for spherical bearing rear shock mounts? since the GR / ZC6 has multilink rear and the shock mounts don't adjust camber, it seems like there's not a ton of options for this. it'd be nice if there's such a product available at a reasonable price, I'd like to avoid having to design and fabricate something I can just buy.