Mk3 Circuit Suspension

[Shifty]

Hi kids

Building an Mk3, wanting to do some circuit work. Don't want to tip heaps of money into suspension but if there are any good areas of improvement, please let me know where to start as I don't have a lot of experience with suspension.

Have shocks, springs, front strut brace, basic bolt-in rear cage and all the general suspension components are OE spec.

This site for example http://www.horsepowerfreaks.com/performanceparts/Toyota/Supra_MK3/Suspension/Shocks has a lot of parts available, but I'd rather hear from some people on what's worth doing rather than buying random stuff and banging it on.

Toe kits, traction arms, strut tops, upgraded swaybars, adjustable bar end links, etc, etc. Let me know what I want/need and what is just a joke/sales pitch.

Thanks!

 

[IBoughtASupra]

When you say circuit, what exactly do you mean? I highly doubt that OEM suspension will do good on the circuit. A set of coilovers and energy bushings will do you good. Then tires that will hook is a next upgrade.

Do not get Megans for your coilovers, they will eventually leak. The one person I know who has Megans on their Supra, it's blown.

 

[Shifty]

When you say circuit, what exactly do you mean? I highly doubt that OEM suspension will do good on the circuit. A set of coilovers and energy bushings will do you good. Then tires that will hook is a next upgrade.

Do not get Megans for your coilovers, they will eventually leak. The one person I know who has Megans on their Supra, it's blown.

Thanks for your response. It is a weekend car, used occasionally on the street but mostly doing 5-10 lap sessions at local racetracks on public days. Intending to set it up with that purpose in mind.

For the moment I already have the gear I listed so I won't be going coilovers for a while. I'm more interested in components to achieve greater stiffness, improve roll, geometry, etc and allow a more aggressive wheel alignment.

Once I've done all that I can do coilovers later if required.

 

[spiller]

If you want aggressive alignment, but dont have any height adjustment, id look into some adjustable front upper control arms. Otherwise the most worthwhile other upgrade is a pair of aftermarket sway bars front and rear with stronger end links.

and brakes!!!!!

 

[Shifty]

Yes currently just has replacement OE-type struts from Bilstein, and has lowered springs from either Lovells or Eibach. Can't remember as they were in there when I got it. Can you get adjustable upper arms off-the-shelf? Also the way you've written that sounds like they will be redundant, if I get height adjustable coilovers at a later stage, is that right? Not interested in buying shit I don't need

I'm thinking Whiteline bars F&R, new links/bushes/balljoints/etc.

I'll do a fair bit of weight-saving and see what the brakes are like but I already know the answer The AZ Wilwood setup looks great but not fitting under sawblades or even Mk4 17s it sorta messes with my intent.

 

[Raven97990]

Do not get Megans for your coilovers, they will eventually leak. The one person I know who has Megans on their Supra, it's blown.

Which generation supra? I can't even fathom the number of Megan's we have sold and I haven't seen a single failure- I have heard of them but never seen one.

Megan on the track is an ok coilover but any 'budget' coil over comes from the same base.

Bilsteins with quality springs is the best budget option without putting huge money into it. If you wanted to look at the Megan's we have them on special.


Sent from my X10i using Tapatalk

 

[spiller]

Yes currently just has replacement OE-type struts from Bilstein, and has lowered springs from either Lovells or Eibach. Can't remember as they were in there when I got it. Can you get adjustable upper arms off-the-shelf? Also the way you've written that sounds like they will be redundant, if I get height adjustable coilovers at a later stage, is that right? Not interested in buying shit I don't need

I'm thinking Whiteline bars F&R, new links/bushes/balljoints/etc.

I'll do a fair bit of weight-saving and see what the brakes are like but I already know the answer The AZ Wilwood setup looks great but not fitting under sawblades or even Mk4 17s it sorta messes with my intent.

people say they have been able to achieve around 3 deg of negative camber with the stock control arms but it involves slamming the absolute fuck out of your coilovers which is not conducive to a good roll centre so any benefit to handling is lost anyway. So yeah, I would say the upper camber arms are justified. These cars are very front heavy so they are prone to understeer and have slow steering racks. An alignment that promotes turn in and steering response is the way to go. I have a set of adjustable rose jointed upper camber arms being made at the moment by wesbeech on these forums, I'll let you know how I go with them when I get them fitted and aligned but I didn't want to resort to slamming the front end to achieve camber as I already have enough bump steer as it is.


With the wilwoods, which kit were you looking at? I have the 13 inch kit and they fit 17s.

 

[Shifty]

Yeah just the small set - apparently they clear most aftermarket 17s, but some 17s don't fit and the stock 17s don't fit according to reports (if you trust teh internetz).

To be honest, the standard brakes are large enough that with a good bit of weight saving and good pads/fluid and a master cylinder brace they shouldn't be far off the mark - interested to know if anyone has any experience persisting with the stockers.

What coilovers are people recommending? I see a lot advertised and I'm worried they're "cheap" (ignoring cost, I mean quality wise). I prefer something that's not shiny, anodised, etc as that to me just screams that they're selling to the wanker market not the real performance market.

 

[IBoughtASupra]

Which generation supra? I can't even fathom the number of Megan's we have sold and I haven't seen a single failure- I have heard of them but never seen one.

Megan on the track is an ok coilover but any 'budget' coil over comes from the same base.

Bilsteins with quality springs is the best budget option without putting huge money into it. If you wanted to look at the Megan's we have them on special.


Sent from my X10i using Tapatalk

Our generation Supra, the MKIII.

 

[spiller]

Yeah just the small set - apparently they clear most aftermarket 17s, but some 17s don't fit and the stock 17s don't fit according to reports (if you trust teh internetz).

To be honest, the standard brakes are large enough that with a good bit of weight saving and good pads/fluid and a master cylinder brace they shouldn't be far off the mark - interested to know if anyone has any experience persisting with the stockers.

What coilovers are people recommending? I see a lot advertised and I'm worried they're "cheap" (ignoring cost, I mean quality wise). I prefer something that's not shiny, anodised, etc as that to me just screams that they're selling to the wanker market not the real performance market.

There was a guy in SA who did quite a bit of track work with his JZA70 at full weight at mallala with stock sized braking equipment and seemed to go alright although I never asked him specifically about the brakes. If you went with some DBA4000 rotors and braided lines and some good pads and ducting you should be ok. Pads are the most important thing obviously. project mu make pads for our cars for the stock brakes, expensive but you'd be fine with them. I have a good aftermarket set up for the rear (stock sized) that I would be happy to let go for much less than it cost me if you are interested as I'm going to a brembo set up at the back.

With coilovers I'm using HSD and have no complaints. No users after 2 yrs use. I think they retail for about 1200 and you can select whatever spring rates you want for no extra cost.

 

[Shifty]

Any chance oyu might be able to track old mate down? Be very interested to hear. What kinda circuit is Mal? QR is a cnt of a thing on brakes.

What's the rear setup, out of interest?

Ps if you ever go to a 6sp, I have a tailshaft to suit.

 

[spiller]

Old mate is long gone, haven't spoken to him in many years, he sold the car and it was later stolen by some Abos and never seen again afaik. mallala is an absolute c**t on brakes, supposedly the harshest in australia, successive long stops and a short lap so no time for cool down. I was using the next pad up from what comes with the arz kit and still fried them. I've since switched to performance friction PFC01 which is one of the v8 Supercar control pads so I don't think I'll have any issues with them.

With the rear I have RDA slotted rotors which have seen 10 laps at the track and that's it and a brand new set of porterfield R4 racing pads still in box which I bought last time I was in america. Do a search on the compound, it's better than anything you can get in aus without braking the bank. The pads were $170 usd at parity and the rotors cost me $200 for the pair. I'd be happy to let the lot go for $250.

 

[supraguru05]

If you are using "Street" tires I would stay on the bilstein eibach combination until you are comfortable with the car. Once you begin cornering fast enough those springs will not be stiff enough for your needs even with aftermarket sway bars. You will need to get some coilovers where you can run higher spring rates something around 1000 lb/in front and 500-600 rear.

here are the modifications I would recommend

-stay on stock brakes and use race pads (I run RP2 fronts and XP10 rears from carbotech) if you have clearance issues
-run the above mentioned spring rates on a linear spring (eibachs are progressive)
-run aftermarket sway bars with metal end links adjusted to not preload the bar
-reinforce rear sway bar mount on the toe link
-if rules are not an issue make shorter front control arms to get 2-3 degrees of camber
-as you progress move to 255 or larger rubber all the way around preferably in a race compound

 

[spiller]

-run aftermarket sway bars with metal end links adjusted to not preload the bar

by no preload, do you mean long enough to allow the LCAs to hang as they wish with the car jacked up (or parallel with the swaybar when the suspension is loaded)?

 

[Shifty]

Ok well it's going to be slow going as I'm away until 3rd February, but I got a start the other day. Got the LHF strut & spring out. I'll do the other side soon and get the shocks checked and the spring rates measured and see what to do from there. The springs are extremely stiff, and by eye are not progressive unless they have somehow managed to make it appear uniform by eye!

I'll get everything out of the front and not put anything back in that hasn't been checked, refurbed, or replaced. Swaybars, bushes and new end links seem like the go, as long as the springs are suitable.