i do track days and not autoX so i can't speak for old man's (staggered setup) and sonoma's big dog look and how it handles, but for track work and everyday surface roads a staggered tire combo will kill the handling. the problem is that the E21 plows like a pig and adding more rubber to the back will make it plow worse.
personally i like to be able to rotate the rear and apparently so does sonoma, which is why he added a bigger rear bar, but in reality he is simply trying to correct the fault of having wider rear tires.
Tom D
77 e21 - m42
88 e30m3
04 330 dinan3
84 r1000rt
02 r1150rs
all of them gray
14 f800gsa - red headed stepchild!
It will be mainly a street duty car with occasional autocross and a track day. On top of that i will replace the tire/wheel combo for 2019 season when i finish my e36 front suspension swap and e28 rear with the medium case diff.
I might look into running square wheel/tire setup then.
I believe thats what the BMW did to e36m3 for the 1996 model year. Car was to tail-happy so they fitted it with staggered setup and i think reduce the front camber.
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I should clarify that I'm running about -2 Degrees camber on the front and not adjusting for camber in the rear by lowering ~1-2". The camber plates in front made a huge difference with how much front grip I could maintain between 0 ~ 40 mph in autox and keeping it neutral, and at 50+ MPH on a higher speed banked turn we generally have at the track we autox on, the rear end starts stepping controllably out as the speed increases which is exactly what I was going for.
Our course configurations vary from weekend to weekend, but they usually have one sweeping higher speed banked turn so I tried to get balance between tight and setting up for high speed exit into tighter turns. YMMV as I've set up my car to suit courses like in the video below. On tight interstate interchange clovers with smooth surfaces I can get to about 70mph on a good weather day before I run out of courage ...rearend stays pretty planted on the lower clover banks. If I ever get a cage in this car I want to see how it handles at an actual road course...probably would need to make some suspension tuning changes as a result.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02HrEcjYJSs
.: M42 Swap Thread M42 Turbo Build Thread E85 Conversion :.
My YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/c/AdamPE21
For the top mounts I made them too long first time - at ride height I only had an 1.5" of compression left in the shock so I shortened them after the first outing.
AS2- 4.jpg AS2- 7.jpg AS2- 9.jpg
Always FUN TO DRIVE - Build Thread & Tech info - 79 320/6 track car build thread -- Videos of track car -Adam in car Auto-x video - Start-up video - 4/2011 Adam's TOP BMW time San Diego BMWCCA - 4-5-15 Dyno break-in run new M20B25 - Exhaust Thread - Link
Retoropak those look great I might change to them now I know I they do not need to be so long.
I did a lot of measuring and figuring before getting the length I did, 16" just made the most since for the ride height I wanted and 5" of travel is more then enough for auto-x and track days with the stiffer suspension set up.
Always FUN TO DRIVE - Build Thread & Tech info - 79 320/6 track car build thread -- Videos of track car -Adam in car Auto-x video - Start-up video - 4/2011 Adam's TOP BMW time San Diego BMWCCA - 4-5-15 Dyno break-in run new M20B25 - Exhaust Thread - Link
My suspension project is doomed.
At first i was shooting for billies sports all around with coilover sleeves.
Fronts are backordered everywhere.
So i started thinking about koni setup but the front strut tubes are 45mm
So i decided to chop the tubes and weld 51mm ones.
And now the rear konis are backordered.
How about QA1s proma star?
I was thinking single adjustables.
Anybody running these shocks?
Thanks
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I know you're not a big fan of konis.
I drove 242 with 8610s up front and 30s in the back and they are absolutely beautiful. I believe 300/225 spring wise. It was planted and firm yet not extremely harsh.
So here are the options.
Option 1
Mk1 gti bilstein sports up front
E21 bilstein sports rears
350/400lbs eibach springs
A1 sleeves
Ebay universal camber plates
Total: around $1000-1100
Option 2:
Koni race single adjustables 8610 with shortened struts
Koni 30 single adjustable rears
Eibach 350/400lbs springs
A1 sleeves
Ebay universal camber plates
Custom welded rear mounts
Total: $1200-1250
Primary use is weekend driver with occasional autocross.
Note that i don't mind slight overkill and excessive spring rates and extremely uncomfortable rides.
I have tilton twin clutch ( read on/off switch) on 170hp car.
Thanks
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i'm a fan of koni's and no the VW spec'ed koni's will not fit in a 45mm strut. however do not fret, i'm running koni yellows in my 45mm's.
Tom D
77 e21 - m42
88 e30m3
04 330 dinan3
84 r1000rt
02 r1150rs
all of them gray
14 f800gsa - red headed stepchild!
koni explained to me that the VW guys were complaining that the dampers were rattling around inside the struts so koni enlarged the damper by a few millimeters to appease them. however there's really no need to upsize your struts, you can buy koni's that slip right in. i know this to be true because i did it.
Tom D
77 e21 - m42
88 e30m3
04 330 dinan3
84 r1000rt
02 r1150rs
all of them gray
14 f800gsa - red headed stepchild!
this goes back a few years, but i believe koni told me they can convert single adjustable yellows to dual adjustables. not trying to argue with you, but there might be an easier way then welding new tubes.
is your plan to use e21 323 struts? if not then what do you plan for the cap?
Tom D
77 e21 - m42
88 e30m3
04 330 dinan3
84 r1000rt
02 r1150rs
all of them gray
14 f800gsa - red headed stepchild!
Last edited by Retoropak; 04-18-2018 at 08:50 PM.
They work well running 320lb eibach springs. Also a little hint I happened to have race land coilovers from a mk4 vw. Turns out the front strut tubes the Koni 8610 fit perfectly in. I ended up chopping these and my e21 tubes and welding them. They are already threaded for coil overs.
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