looking for uprated suspension components info

[Ed Doe]

as title says, basicly im looking to build the ultimate suspension setup

first up, i already have coilovers and adjustable shocks on a gti rear beam and on the lookout for thicker torsion bars, mostly looking into upgrading all the bushes, droplinks, perhaps wishbones and whatever else there is out there.

i am aware of uprated bushes but dont really know much more other than they exist, so what sort should i be looking for, where can i get them and how well do they work?

the standard droplinks don't really look very high quality, would some adjustable rose jointed droplinks be an improvement? if so, what would i need to make some/buy them

now for the really serious stuff, what race spec wishbones are out there? ive seen on rally cars they use titanium to make ultra strength/ultra light partsm, are there any products like this off the shelf for the 306?

also, opinions on adjustable camber topmounts please


thanks in advance

Can I ask why you want race-spec suspension? I'm not trying to be shitty, I just want to make sure you know what you want from the car.

Also, race-spec suspension removes things like the passive rear-steer, and increases camber for outright grip round corners. This is great for out and out speed round racetracks, but isn't neccessarily as involving or as much fun as as well set up road car. Ruan will hark on about this, but that imo is the difference between a well sorted 306 and for instance a older Civic Type R. The Civic will most likely have more grip round the corner, but I bet you anything in a well sorted 306 you'd have a bigger grin than the Type R driver. The 306 is so enjoyable to drive because you know what it's doing and you can get absurdly close to the limit and sometimes a bit beyond and still know you can keep it all together. This makes it feel brilliant down a back-road as you can give it absolute death and it just wants more. Whereas with the Civic (only an example, as they have independent rear suspension and god knows how many decent upgrades overnight from Japan), you can go absurdly fast, and then you get to the limit, and it WILL kill you. Straight away. There's less progression to how it drives and less warning, because it's all focused on Maximum grip and cornering speed. That's just my opinion anyway, I'm sure you've given it a lot of thought in regard to what you're trying to achieve with your car, but just be a bit careful what you think you want, as throwing race parts onto it may not give you the desired outcome...


Anyway, IMO, a GOOD set-up for a car spending most of its time on the road would be;

1. Bilstein B8s all round, or if you want to go for a more track-orientated car then coilovers.
2. STOCK top-mounts, or again if it's more of a track-car then some adjustable camber/caster mounts with spherical bearings.
3. Hybrid ARB & uprated TBs
4. Replace rear-beam mounts for new OEM
5. Rose-jointed Droplinks.
6. Meyle HD wishbones or possibly vibratechnics P & D Bushes.
7. Possibly a ZX 16v rear beam, though the improvement in turn-in with 0 Toe does have a trade-off in how snappy it is on the limit, and how nervous it is at speed with other uprated parts.....

Personally if you're using the car on the road, I wouldn't go much more hard-core than that, as getting more uprated parts will make the ride a lot harsher. On track the tarmac is nice and smooth most of the time, meaning taking all the rubber out of the bushes (like rollerbearing wisbones etc) doesn't sacrifice the contact time of the tyres on the tarmac. If you go too hard on the parts for a road car, you'll find it's an animal on really smooth roads, but will tend to skip over the surface on harsh roads, meaning you can't drive it as hard.

It's ultimately what you want to get out of the car, and I would say the set-up I've listed above will give you near enough the best compromise; a lot more enjoyment on the road, and plenty of fun on track...

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has anyone considered having custom independent rear suspension?

People have done it. There's a bloke who races a White '6 on the Gti6 forum who has converted the rear to coilovers, but it looks like it's really taken some time to set up right...