Xsara VTS suspension overhaul plus upgrade (hopefully)

[budd]

There as been some interest in my proposed suspension overhaul on my '02 VTS, so I’ll post some pics and write a little about the progress (or not as the case may), but first some background.
I bought the car a year ago with the intention of using it primarily for road rallies (night rallies) plus the odd trackday , the trackday part was really a afterthought, my thinking been if I prepare for rallies then it should be OK on the track to, while this is broadly true it’s not quite that simple, sure uprating the brakes, loosing some weight in the form of ditching sound deadening, A/C, airbags etc helps both disciplines it’s the suspension that as caused problems, my previous experience with circuit racers tells me to stiffen and lower and having been told road rallies are mainly on public roads this is basically what I did, however some of these ‘public roads’ are anything but the smooth tarmac I was expecting, the reality been that much of the competitive mileage is rough, poorly surfaced B roads with a varying amount of roads called ‘whites’ which are essentially little more than farm tracks more suited to tractor than a car, so my ‘lowered & stiffen’ approach perhaps wasn’t my best idea, in the 4 events we’ve done this year the cars as taken a right old battering, fortunately I had the good sense to follow advice and fit a sump guard or I don’t think the car would have survived, some of these roads really are very testing.
So bearing in mind this year was my first involved in road rallying, what have I learned? well mainly my half arsed approach to the suspension really isn’t cutting it so a rethink is required, to that end I’ve made a start today by getting the car up in the air, removing the sumpguard and dropping the gearbox oil, I’d hoped to accomplish more but I’m in the hands of the weather and got rained off, hopefully I’ll get the whole lot off tomorrow if the weather is better.
Once it’s all off I can have look at what needs replacing as basic repairs, P bushes, ball joints etc and what needs upgrading, I’ll then have to workout my options in achieving the best solution to my specific needs.
pic of it this morning just before the rain


suspension as it is now Koni dampers cut down OE springs not ideal


pic of sump guard as you can see it's taken a battering


another pic of it in action on the Garstang - Preston rally