Rally Type suspension, Ideas, recommendations please :-)

[B1NZ]

Hi, I am currently looking for a suspension setup for my Ae92 Toyota Corolla to suit gravel rallying.

Preferably I would like an allround type suspension, as it is a club car which will have track,road,tarmac and gravel work.

So any ideas what brands to look at and who to contact for more information.

Thanks in advance -

Brendon

[Brick]

my mate and another guy i no use bilstein in his ae92 rally car, i also used bilstein in my ae82,

Was definatly worth it, never had any problems

we all went through autolign (sp)

[Mr Revhead]

Drummond
Proflex
bilstein

start budgeting for around $800-1000 a corner starting rate

Cheapest would prob be scouting around and buying the parts separately and making your own using Bilstein inserts.
inserts $225-300each
springs $200-275 pr
threaded platforms $80-150 each
top spring seats $70-90each

prices are off the top of my head from memory....

[B1NZ]

Doh! So my $2k worth of corolla will have about $15k invested in it then by the end of all this

[Mr Revhead]

only if you do it cheap

[Brick]

it all really depends on how serious you wanna take it

for my evo drummonds are around 6-7k new, proflex start from about double that i think?

[B1NZ]

only if you do it cheap

Might just go and buy a 2009 WRC spec focus then, might be cheaper


On a more serious note, There is a guy selling k-sport coilovers on TM which apparently come in a rally spec for $1200ish a set.

Anyone had any experience with these? Also would the Bazda coilovers be alright with different springs or do they not have enough travel or stenght for gravel?

[Mr Revhead]

im sorry? did you say something? all i heard was

blah blah blah ginger blah blah

[jayray]

I'm pretty sure that K-sport and D2 are the same product.
Best avoided if they're the same quality as their mr2 stuff

[B1NZ]

yeah i have just been informed of that little detail, Brick I dont think I have that sort of budget atm but thanks for the advice

I am going to keep an eye out for Ae82/92/101 rally cars and talk to the drivers and see what they recommend

[Brick]

id say bilstein or koni would be the go then,

bilstein does seem to be very popular with the smaller cars

[pc]

Anyone had any experience with these? Also would the Bazda coilovers be alright with different springs or do they not have enough travel or stenght for gravel?

Not sure that the shocks would be soft enough even on the softest setting with really soft springs. Neil may have a spare set that he could lend you for a try.
Maybe you could go for a passenger ride in Victor's car and see what it feels like?

[JustinSpiderholden]

Whats wrong with TRD rally stuff for ae92?

[KinLoud]

If I was doing this on the cheap (and everyone knows how cheap and dirty my Carina suspension was up till 2 months ago!)

You don't "really" need adjustable platform suspension or adjustable rate shock absorbers

You could try...
Front springs - Diesel corolla front springs (higher spring rate than petrol versions)
Rear springs - ST182 rear springs (might need to shorten spring slightly)
New shocks of reasonable quality

Just get out there and enjoy!

For the record...
My Carina suspension:
Front - random cut King springs with new KYB gas shocks
Rear - random cressida springs with high km mark2 supra factory Bilstein shocks (found in wreck at Taupo rubbish dump!)

Ken
Auck
021 408 863

[Loudtoy]

Have a look at mine this weekend, see what you think about the ride and stuff and i'l let you know what has been done to it as far as i know. There isn't a huge amount of difference over standard and as much as everyone says you need xx costing $$$$$$$$$ you can get away with stuff thats not extremely expensive.
The suspension in my car has been running the same as it is now for 4 seasons, and the only change 4 seasons ago was some new inserts in the shocks.
Seems to be ok, did well at hugh baird ast year, 3rd overall (not me driving though previous owner) and has done heaps of rallys, sprints - log book shows about 18 sprints/rallys last year never retired due to suspension problems - once due to head gasket and one due to being stuck on it's side afaik

[Mr Revhead]

Whats wrong with TRD rally stuff for ae92?

unfortunately for the price.... better off to get bilstein. more support in nz and rebuildable etc

[TRD Man]

Let's back the truck up a bit.

Let's look at the likely usage of your car. Your post says that you want a gravel rally setup but that you will be doing some track work & some tarmac road events.

In the first instance, you don't need height adjustable suspension so don't spend money on it.
The std ride height is a good compromise for all of your uses.

Generally speaking, in a FWD car, the rear simply follows the front and stops the car from spinning around.
Soft is good and in reality a standard strut/spring from an AE101/111 Levin will actually work very well when first installed.
The problem is that they flog out after a short amount of rally use so look for a slightly beefier insert and spring.
I always used TRD but look around at alternatives and don't turn your nose up at something like Monroe or KYB.
The other thing we did was to take the rear sway bar off and throw it away.
You may want to test the car first before doing this though.

On the front spend some money. Go for a 40mm Bilstein insert and a standard height spring of about 160 ~ 180lb.
My personal preference is to make the front really hard (200lb +) however this isn't the best for traction or tyre longevity so I suggest you resist the temptation to do so.

All up I'd be surprised if that would set you back anymore than $1500 and it'll get you going very well.
Over time you could fit nolathane bushes in the front and have a look around for a GTZ quicker rack.

[Bazda]

A few people bought my suspension for rally.

Not hardcore rally though.

I think the shocks are a bit too stiff for rally. I did get some softer ones for Neil, best to talk to him and see what he thinks of them.. I supplied him 3kg front springs and 4kg rear I think it was for a rally set.

[DRFTIN]

get 2 sets if you want to do it properly, a budget set like kinloud mentioned can do the job pretty well on shingle and some coilovers for track. i've given a few properly set up rally cars a run for their money in a factory pos FXGT with worn out shocks

[jakesae101]

a guy i know has a ae82 fxgt rally car with ajustable shocks (not sure on brand) and just had higher rate springs in it and it seemed to do well on gravel and at manfeild i have trd coilovers in the back there pretty good why not ask loudtoy whats in his car