Best coilovers for road & track

[celox performance]

I've decided to replace my D2 coilovers with another brand.

The car needs to be used on the road so I don't want anything that's going to be undriveable on the roads even though it's mainly used on track. I also don't want Ohlins and personally don't think they're worth the money after seeing how some cars fitted with them perform on track :? . They would need to have camber adjusters on the front to get my 3.5 degrees of neg camber.

Here are some of the coilovers i've been looking at so far:

Buddyclub P1
AST
Skunk 2

My budget is around £1500, but it doesn't always mean that more is best, like in the case of the D2's

 

[raz786]

Tein do a track focused one for les than your budget I think, not sure what they're like on road, is Tein not a possibility for you? Just the 3 listed you want?

 

[celox performance]

I'm open to any make, it's just that i've been looking at the AST, Buddyclub P1 and Skunk 2 coilovers but wanted to hear what coilovers other forum members are using and if they find them too hard on the road.

On paper they all sound as good as each other but a couple of people have recommended the Tein's to me now, which must be a good thing

 

[alucardo]

I have tein flex. There good on the road, near the softest settings is acceptable. Not been on track but the dampening is excellent on the road so on track it should be pretty good.

 

[C&S Evo7]

Flex is ok on road but a little soft for dedicated track use.
If you wanted mostly road and a bit track i would say either the teins or AST's (I have heard of some reliability issues with the ast's tho)

personally i had HKS Hypermax Pro, and used it on the road, it was very stiff but not undrivable, they were fab on track :wink:

I would have them again no prob, BUT wouldn't even consider if it was a daily driver

 

[DolphiN Tech]

The FD2 is running AST's...15k up so far and all is well.

I'm only running 1.5deg F, 2deg R, but Curtis did say that there are top mounts available for more extreme adjustment.

 

I'm open to any make, it's just that i've been looking at the AST, Buddyclub P1 and Skunk 2 coilovers but wanted to hear what coilovers other forum members are using and if they find them too hard on the road.

On paper they all sound as good as each other but a couple of people have recommended the Tein's to me now, which must be a good thing

Hi Celox,

The Buddyclub P1 suspension is not for road use. The Racing Spec Damper is for trackday and road use. The N+Spec Damper is for road and trackday use.Everyones tollerance levels are different,Buddyclub has a suspension solution for all situations.(tried and tested).
The adjustment bands overlap, so you can have what suits your style.

We have nearly finished our "try before you buy" demo car, It might pay
to wait a while and book a test drive in the Demo car.

There are three basic requirements for making a car pleasurable to drive on road or track.
Acceleration..Braking..and cornering.. Horsepower only improved one item, But good suspension improves ALL of them.

I will Pm you with Offers.
Regards,
Paul,

 

[kingston]

Si, not recommending the Eibachs anymore?

 

[C&S Evo7]

yep absolutely james but not for a track based car, for road and the odd trackday they are the best imo.

 

[Initial D]

That the Eibach lowering spring or coilovers?

 

[Evs]

I think Si is referring to the coilovers Danny. PSS- something, try a search it has been mentioned before

 

[TimB]

I'm running the AST's. There was some problems with the earlier design, but that's been changed. These have to be made to order as they are adapted from the EP3 ones. Road use is superb, better than standard and less harsh. Mine are set on the softest setting at the moment, but I have had them on 4 clicks before, max is 12. I have had one Track Day with them and left them on the 4 clicks. That was at Rockingham, they performed superb. Here are some pics of the install, I also had the Top mounts fitted.

 

[Paul G]

IMHO you wt to try Tien Mono Flex......I would say there as good as Tien HA's were on track, but there much better than the HA's were on the road - not crashy like the HA's used to be....Plus if there is any prob's with them they can be serviced & even revalved by Tien UK for only aprox £90 each..

I have run them with full slicks, for the money there a very good damper!

Paul.
BTW - i may have a S/H set up for sale soon :wink: :lol:

 

[DolphiN Tech]

Tim, nice to see you're treating it to all the stuff I never got round to doing! :lol:

 

[celox performance]

TimB - did you go with HOT to Rockingham in November/December? If so I was driving the modded white DC5.

 

[TimB]

TimB - did you go with HOT to Rockingham in November/December? If so I was driving the modded white DC5.

It sure was, why not meet up and you can have a try? all in your looking at £1600 with the fitting and set up. Also I'm going to the ring at Easter.

DolphiN Tech - no worries :lol:

 

[celox performance]

I'm open to any make, it's just that i've been looking at the AST, Buddyclub P1 and Skunk 2 coilovers but wanted to hear what coilovers other forum members are using and if they find them too hard on the road.

On paper they all sound as good as each other but a couple of people have recommended the Tein's to me now, which must be a good thing

Hi Celox,

The Buddyclub P1 suspension is not for road use. The Racing Spec Damper is for trackday and road use. The N+Spec Damper is for road and trackday use.Everyones tollerance levels are different,Buddyclub has a suspension solution for all situations.(tried and tested).
The adjustment bands overlap, so you can have what suits your style.

After speaking to Guy and Paul at Buddyclub (thanks for your help and advice ), i've decided to go for the Buddyclub N+ Spec Dampers and they sound exactly what i'm looking, road use with a bit of track use, to replace my D2 coilovers. I'm hopefully getting them fitted at the beginning of next week in time for Oulton Park.

 

[celox performance]

I'm just getting these fitted by RSE Motorsport in Llandudno as I write this and will be able to give a report of how they feel on the road soon....

 

keep in touch with your opinion, then if you like, come up to see us and test drive the try before you buy car, if it suites you better then we can set it up for you as such. (it has N+ on it also).
regards,
Paul,

 

[celox performance]

keep in touch with your opinion, then if you like, come up to see us and test drive the try before you buy car, if it suites you better then we can set it up for you as such. (it has N+ on it also).
regards,
Paul,

Initial impressions are very good

The 60 mile drive home from Llandudno yesterday was a lot softer than it would have been previously with the D2's. I've set the BC's to 10(f) and 5(r) and this is still a much softer ride than having the D2's on their softest setting! On some badly potted roads where previously anything more than 45mph would have become dangerous :lol: , I managed a lot more speed than that . Also on a couple of roads here, under braking on a slippery surface, eg. grids, leaves etc, the ABS would kick in slightly which is not happening now and it only kicks in after very heaving braking, which is exactly what I needed. I would have to say that they're very well suited for road use .

I've got a track day at Oulton on the 7th Feb so i'll let you know how it goes.