noob saying hello/suspension question

hey everyone. my name is adrien, i live in manchester, NH. im currently on the market to buy a GVR4 and hoping it will happen soon. had thought about going over the the honda darkside, but after my wrx, i prefer awd and turbo. i also like the looks of 4 door over coupe, which is why im not looking for just any dsm.

well, im in love with auto-x, which is where my suspension question comes into play. is anyone running a suspension setup for auto-x/track use that they absolutely love? id like the car to be lowered a bit, but care more about the handling ability. also, what kind of sway bars, strut bars, etc. are you using? any help would be very much appreciated!

 

I autocross my VR4. Car is locally competitive but not national caliber.

When I ran E Street Prep I used KYB AGX shocks with H&R springs, slightly lowered, stock swaybars, open diffs, and Kumho Victoracer 245/45 on 16x8 wheels. Car was competitive in ESP but I was still learning to drive. The setup was OK at best.

Past 4 years I've run in Street Mod, with different setup. Car is again locally competitive against a faster group of cars. Running Koni Sports and Eibach springs (425/375 f/r) with Ground Controls, stock front swaybar, 24 mm rear bar, LSDs front and rear, Hoosier 275/45's on 16x10 wheels. Car is not lowered to keep the fenders off the tires. Not lowering gives a better roll center by the way. Also, using Whiteline bushings and Tein camber plates. Brakes are slotted KVR discs and pads, nothing exotic.

The SM setup has been OK+ but I think I've outgrown the Konis (which are now worn out anyway) and am giving serious consideration to a HotBits setup this winter.



Mike R.

 

yea im not looking to be competitive on a national scale. i just want to have fun and give my buddies' miata a run. i probably wont beat it, but w/e!

ive never heard of hotbits (when i get a gvr4 it will be my first dsm, maybe thats why?). what kind of reviews do they get? what kind of rsb do you use and is it gvr4 specific or is it something thats interchangeable with a 1g gsx?

 

HotBits makes rally suspension components, and they have a setup that is VR4 specific. A boardmember in the Detroit area, Larry Parker, can supply them. They are reputed to be high quality, and are priced accordingly.

Mine is a Whiteline. You can use a rear swaybar for a DSM but you'll need to delete the rear steering, which I forgot to mention I did as well.

If you work on the setup and you can drive, you can beat the Miata.

Mike R.

 

ha yea well, i may be doing suspension mods right away, but the rest of the car is staying pretty much stock so that i can work more on the "driver mod". i have to get used to the feel of the gvr4 as i imagine its diff than my wrx was. thanks for your help!

 

I also forgot to mention that wheel alignment is important. Positive caster and negative camber in front, the more the better, zero toe.
Mike R.

 

[Armitage]

As far as outright times go in AutoX, besides driver improvement the biggest single thing you can do is make sure you have the right tires. Even if you have the best suspension and alignment in the world, if you have crappy all season tires with jelly sidewalls and a 400 treadwear rating you're only going to be understeering everywhere.

I recently ditched my AGX + Ground Control setup for a stock Evo8 suspension re-using my hotbits camber plates. I haven't autoxed the car on this setup so I can't say how they stack up from a competitive standpoint, but they FEEL sooo much better than the AGXes ever did on the street. That and the price can't be beat (I paid $75 for all 4 dampers+springs+hardware).

Looks at these links for Evo->GVR4 suspension info:

click
click

One other thing to think about, at least for me, is the power steering cutout at high rpms in 1st gear. It's immensely frustrating so I always stay in 2nd when autoxing the car. There is a way to modify the PS pump to eliminate the cutout though.

 

^^ I fully agree with the driver and tire comments.

Also good point about the PS. It was a couple years before I encountered that problem, but it eventually came up on several occasions and believe me the steering will feel like it is set in concrete when it does happen and chances are good you will blow the turn. The fix is easy. You pull the spool valve and return spring out of the PS pump, cut off a ring about 1/8 inch wide from a piece of tubing that will fit in the hole the spool goes into, and then put the spring and spool back in. No more high-speed PS cutout.

This is not necessarily the first mod to do but it should go on the list if you are going to autocross very often.

Mike R.

 

[alik]

Quote:
yea im not looking to be competitive on a national scale. i just want to have fun and give my buddies' miata a run. i probably wont beat it, but w/e!


Yeah, not happening. There are about a billion choices for Miata in terms of suspension, never mind some 1000lbs weight deficit. Ask Cy (CP) about the difference in cornering.
Or, gimme a call, I'll give you a ride in either.

Evo suspension is a good choice for a low-expense swap for GVR-4. My buddy in CA is rebuilding my Evo Bilsteins for my GVR-4. (Same guy who rebuilds Bilsteins for Miata. Doubt he'd think that you could get close to Miata in terms of handling.)

Don't mean to rain on your parade, but I've spanked two Porsches in my Miata (a 993 and 997 Carrera 4S). Last one was on winter tires. Doubt I could do that with GVR-4.

 

as i said, im just looking to give him a run. but i probably wont beat him. stock motor and light suspension work has given him top points in our local auto-x 2 years in a row. i really just want to be competitive, have fun, and drive home safely at the end of the day!

 

Quote:
Yeah, not happening. There are about a billion choices for Miata in terms of suspension, never mind some 1000lbs weight deficit. Ask Cy (CP) about the difference in cornering.
Or, gimme a call, I'll give you a ride in either.

Evo suspension is a good choice for a low-expense swap for GVR-4. My buddy in CA is rebuilding my Evo Bilsteins for my GVR-4. (Same guy who rebuilds Bilsteins for Miata. Doubt he'd think that you could get close to Miata in terms of handling.)

Don't mean to rain on your parade, but I've spanked two Porsches in my Miata (a 993 and 997 Carrera 4S). Last one was on winter tires. Doubt I could do that with GVR-4.



^^ This will be true 95% of the time. But I can and do regularly beat non-stock Miatas in my VR4 at autocrosses, so it can be done. But not the first season out, not with a typical setup, and not on street tires. The VR4 is just not an optimal platform.
Mike R.

 

[alik]

There's a local guy, running modded Impala in auto-x. click
I tell you, he's got the biggest grin of anyone out there. /ubbthreads/images//graemlins/laugh.gif

So, while GVR-4 is not the best platform to spank a Miata, even if you come close, your cheeks are gonna hurt so much from grinning from ear to ear, it will be funny. /ubbthreads/images//graemlins/wink.gif

 

and that, my friend, is enough for me!

 

anyone know how the ksport coilovers are for gvr4's?

 

[belize1334]

I think moonvan has a set. They're REALLY REALLY REALLY stiff. Specifically, when i saw them on a car at the meet, the tires were pretty much the only suspension component with any travel.

 

do you know if when i order them, are they VR4 specific or will anything from 89-93 work?

 

[alik]

Look at these
Evo Suspension, Part I
Evo Suspension, part II
Evo suspension installed

Also, regular Evo has unknown shocks. Evo MR has Bilsteins. Look at this site. This guy re-valves Bilsteins to the performance to close that of Penske. (Google "Penske shocks", and you'll know what I'm talking about).

Larry Parker rallies Hotbits (and sells them), and swears by them, and they're good to go right out of the box.

Most of the time, regular Evo setup is a great swap, and can be had from evolutionm.net for around $200. Don't waste your money on KSport or something like that.

P.S. Armitage! Sorry for re-hashing your info! /ubbthreads/images//graemlins/blush.gif