Improve the suspension setup in 2K Cup superstrut Levin

[softlad]

As title, I want to improve the handling of my 2K Cup Levin.
It has Superstrut suspension so I think that makes it a bit more complicated.
Major criteria is it can't be coilovers and it can't break the bank.
I'm currently running King spring super low all round, monroe GT shocks at the rear and original struts at the front.
The bushes are all a bit tired or f**ked so they're on the list.
Any suggestions?

[Mr Revhead]

Throw the kings as far away as you can.
Try Chamberlain springs in chch or check your local spring makers.
Are those the variable valve Monroe's? If so they can follow the kings.
See if your local stocks can get uprated KYBs. Not standard ones

[Leon]

King low are a vast amount better than superlow. Superlow = supersoft.

Monroe are also pretty rubbish.

KYB and King low would be an improvement. Add a big rear sway bar to the rear too if you can.

[Bling]

Kings super lows, lol. They are for looks, not handling. Even stock springs would probably be better. Solution will depend on budget I guess. Nothing is going to be all that cheap to get a good gain.

[Mr Revhead]

The problem with king springs for a Superstrut is they won't be made for a corolla.
They will be for something else and just happen to fit.
Hence why you get the same king spring listed for a caldina as a cynos....

The plus of going to a local maker is you can prob get them tweaked to be a bit stiffer

[touge_ae101]

ae101 or ae111? ae111 have stiffer springs from factory so go for them. cut a couple of coils to make them stiffer (keeping captive for road legalness-ish) focus on making rear stiffer to counter understeer. find a 18mm swaybar rear off a BZR (same stiffness as TRD option)

good strut brace up front (between strut towers) makes a good difference and apart from that focus on getting rid of stone gaurds on brakes etc and a good free exhaust and CAI.

[Leon]

The problem with king springs for a Superstrut is they won't be made for a corolla.

D'oh ok, yeah I failed to take into account superstrut.

[touge_ae101]

ae101 or ae111? ae111 have stiffer springs from factory so go for them. cut a couple of coils to make them stiffer (keeping captive for road legalness-ish) focus on making rear stiffer to counter understeer. find a 18mm swaybar rear off a BZR (same stiffness as TRD option)

good strut brace up front (between strut towers) makes a good difference and apart from that focus on getting rid of stone gaurds on brakes etc and a good free exhaust and CAI.

few more things i thought about..

add another adjustable toe arm in the rear and pump the camber out in the rear as much as you can within the gaurds. Superstrut really is gay i would change to mac strut if you can within the rules etc. much easier to set it up for track by adding caster and camber. Can make an offset rear bush to push caster forward and also move top hat back by about 20mm to give enough caster.
Aw11 rear springs cut down will fit into the standard struts and provide a nice stiff spring. Cut them so they are harder in the rear than the front.. remember the more you cut the spring the stiffer it will get. may be a bit of a.compromise though as you want to make sure you have a bit of rake in the ride height as it will help with weight transfer and making the front tyres work hard.

Plenty of things you can do just get the basic settings right and it will handle fine.

[Grrrrrrr!]

None of that would be allowed under 2K rules IMO. Cut springs = not WOFable, so no go there. The idea is that you are limited to changing springs (Coils only,not swaybars) and adjusting within the adjustment range of the factory parts. The rules are poorly written and very fluid, so its hard to figure out what is within the rules and what isn't, and no gauranttee it wont be different next meeting.

Even urethane bushes are a grey area, series organiser has said he doesnt want to see cars fitted with full urethane bushes everywhere, but is happy with "some" to replace shagged OEM bushes.

[molex]

The intent of the rules is to make it fun and affordable. In many cases finding (and paying for) OEM rubber bushes would be very challenging, where a urethane replacement might be comparatively cheap.

Personally I've replaced one of my engine mounts with Urethane because it was completely $&#$%, not for any performance reasons. The Urethane cost me $10 and isn't likely to be broken again whereas a Toyota replacement would be shagged in no time.

I'm definitely not going to extend that to replacing every bush in the car however as I think that's getting away from the intent of the series.

If your suspension is rooted I don't see an issue with getting some appropriate springs and replacement shocks, even uprated off the shelf options. Going custom valved bilstein inserts at $400-500 a corner is probably a step too far.

[touge_ae101]

Its all how you interpret the rules. if springs are cut but tidied up nicely and fit the struts fine you'd never get failed on a 'wof'..
And the gtz and bzr came out with a 18mm swaybar from factory.

i think you need to make the most of the range of standard parts Toyota has available that are direct replacement. make everything look tidy etc and anyone looking at it wouldnt be able to tell that it may not of come out on that exact car.. you'd be surprised how much faster it will make it by getting closer to a racecar suspension setup.

[Grrrrrrr!]

Translation" "its about how much cheating you (think you) can get away with..."

[Shrike]

Translation" "its about how much cheating you (think you) can get away with..."

If you can get a set of TRD superstrut shocks and springs (none adjustable) they are a factory option

And handle pretty well

[touge_ae101]

Translation" "its about how much cheating you (think you) can get away with..."

exactly! racing is a competition not a gentlemanly weekend activity!

In the words of the great Ricky Bobby;
"If you ain't first you last!"

[88.4ageGT]

Lol from what i got from there rules your car had to be completely stock?

[softlad]

you can fit uprated shocks & springs just not fully adjustable coilovers.
I'm trying to drive a road car on the track, the standard factory stuff is f**ked so it needs replacing. Its madness to pay good money to replace stock for stock when for similar money you can get uprated that will last longer, preform better and help with use in other motorsport as well as 2K.
I'm on a strict budget so every dollar is counted and spoken for so spending precisely and wisely is important.

[RobertC]

how strict is the budget? put some konis inserts in it?

[KinLoud]

my thoughts

Your car is AE101?

Tyres - this is what will make the biggest difference!
What are the rules?
Road tyres only?
Get Goodyear Eagle F1 Directional 5 - available in 195/50/15 (the size i have) - great grip. They are a successor to the GSD3. One of the top runners in the NZ Production Car championship described them as being almost as good as many semi slick racing tyres.
Important! - Make sure all 4 tyres are the same! this eliminates random handling problems and means you can rotate them without any worries.

Wheels - wider gives more support to the tyre
Offset - Smaller offset gives wider track (reduces weight transfer). Earlier corollas (prior to AE111) use a smaller offset 35mm vs 42mm? for later corollas.

Suspension -
Rear - find 2 sets of AE111 rear track arms (the 2 parallel arms). I think they are longer than the AE101 so will give you wider track and more negative camber . They have ball joints so less play (make sure theyre not worn/sloppy).
Usually they have one arm adjustable and one fixed - use 2 adjustable ones each side and you can wind them out to increase rear track (make sure you still have enough thread inside the adjuster).

Front - buy Toyota new superstrut arms as they wear quickly and do bad things to your steering.
If you go macpherson think about carefully filing the strut lower bolt holes to give more negative camber.

Springs
Front - look at all corolla type cars - diesel springs are higher rate to cope with extra weight of engine)
Rear - I've used rear springs from ST18x - ST20x (celica, corona, caldina) in my past corollas. Carefully cut an appropriate amount off the bottom of the spring and it will fit perfectly - higher rate spring and a bit lower height.

Brakes
Rekit all your brake callipers.
Get fresh brake fluid (repco 5.1 is fine)
Practise bleeding brakes (at least before each race day)
Get good brake pads - don't need to go crazy. repco sells pads that work well at higher temperatures for about $60 - i will try to find the brand name.
Practise pushing really hard on the pedal!

Driving - spend time learning how to drive faster - this will give much faster lap times than almost any amount of money you spend on your car!

Car - AE111 corolla/levin etc are lighter than the previous corollas - maybe make your next racecar a AE111

Get out there and enjoy yourself

[1I1]

Do you mean the TRW/Lucas pads Ken? I ran them at Manfeild and they weren't bad.

[KinLoud]

Do you mean the TRW/Lucas pads Ken? I ran them at Manfeild and they weren't bad.

Yeah - pretty sure those are the ones
I did a lot of research about operating temperature range - pretty happy with them as I love pushing that brake pedal hard!