As ever, bang for your buck is key here, wild fully adjustable coilovers are out the window, I'm talking springs/strut braces/poly bushes etc etc. What did you find made the biggest difference to the handling of your 850 T5?
Powerflex the wishbones and fit a strut brace. HUGE difference for under 100 quid :)
+1 for the strut brace, even on my 850R it made a noticable difference.
I put a UR strutbrace on the sweed a while back and even though I have the engine tie bar tensioner kit, the difference in turn-in is quite surprising.
for me, it was strut brace, fk coilovers, standard drop links and new standard bushes on the front, ohh, and subframe bush inserts, on the back uprated dampers with nivomat springs. most people who have been a passenger in the car were reasonably impressed by the ride and handling.
[QUOTE=M-R-P;740473]Powerflex the wishbones and fit a strut brace. HUGE difference for under 100 quid :)[/QUOTE] Cheers chaps. It feels quite sloppy at the minute so I'm fully expecting more than just wishbone bushes to need doing, is it worth slinging on a set of lowering springs too?
[QUOTE=Sweep;740472] What did you find made the biggest difference to the handling of your 850 T5?[/QUOTE] KW's.
[QUOTE=Sweep;740518]Cheers chaps. It feels quite sloppy at the minute so I'm fully expecting more than just wishbone bushes to need doing, is it worth slinging on a set of lowering springs too?[/QUOTE] You can get Apex yellow springs for peanuts now and although they're a bit hard (a bit too hard tbh) they're very good.
Don't overlook quality tyres.......a lot of 300bhp+ cars on here running on shoddy rubber :saythat:
[QUOTE=stephenevans99;740535]Don't overlook quality tyres.......a lot of 300bhp+ cars on here running on shoddy rubber :saythat:[/QUOTE] Makes it more fun Steve :) Looks great when you light the wheels up through the first 3 gears :D
Aluminium sub frame bushes :)
[QUOTE=stephenevans99;740535]Don't overlook quality tyres.......a lot of 300bhp+ cars on here running on shoddy rubber :saythat:[/QUOTE] Damn and is just found some 235/40/18 remoulds (seriously)
Mine has got a strutbrace, poly bushed top mount & bottom engine mounts, poly bush anti roll bar bushes & feels a lot tighter than my old R which had new oe all round but no strut brace. I've also got pro sport coilovers which aren't as bad as people make out & are pretty cheap. Next payday we're having meyle hd drop links which are supposed to the boys...
[QUOTE=stephenevans99;740535]Don't overlook quality tyres.......a lot of 300bhp+ cars on here running on shoddy rubber :saythat:[/QUOTE] I'm doing my best to kill the nangkang ditch finders.
[QUOTE=stephenevans99;740535]Don't overlook quality tyres.......a lot of 300bhp+ cars on here running on shoddy rubber :saythat:[/QUOTE] have you felt the grip those syrons give
[QUOTE=ExternalError;740562]have you felt the grip those syrons give[/QUOTE] Even in the wet?
[QUOTE=Ettienne;740563]Even in the wet?[/QUOTE] Well...ermm..... have you seen my car made 342.5bhp in the wet lol 0-30 are crap in the wet once you get them spinning they are pretty good
[QUOTE=ExternalError;740564]Well...ermm..... have you seen my car made 342.5bhp in the wet lol 0-30 are crap in the wet once you get them spinning they are pretty good[/QUOTE] Sounds like P-Zero Rossos. Crap when cold, dangerous in the wet - pretty good when heavily abused :) Avon ZV5 for me all day long.
[QUOTE=stephenevans99;740535]Don't overlook quality tyres.......a lot of 300bhp+ cars on here running on shoddy rubber :saythat:[/QUOTE] Thats a given with me - the first thing I do is get a set of decent boots on. In the case of the Bonewagon, I haven't even driven it yet, but I have a set of new RainSport 2s in the garage ready to go on :) I had the HotRod for a full week before I put new rubber on that (RainSport 3s in that case). I can't remember buying a car and not putting new rubber (and brakes) on it within a month...
[QUOTE=M-R-P;740565]Sounds like P-Zero Rossos. Crap when cold, dangerous in the wet - pretty good when heavily abused :) Avon ZV5 for me all day long.[/QUOTE] I've run both P-Zero Rossos and ZV5s.....Pirelli's get my vote every time tbh...can't fault them. I chose ZV5s for my second set as they were cheap.
[QUOTE=stephenevans99;740613]I've run both P-Zero Rossos and ZV5s.....Pirelli's get my vote every time tbh...can't fault them. I chose ZV5s for my second set as they were cheap.[/QUOTE] Out some proper power through the pirellis in the wet, you'll see what I mean ;)
[QUOTE=M-R-P;740614]Out some proper power through the pirellis in the wet, you'll see what I mean ;)[/QUOTE] 147whp seems to keep up with most T5s lol....
Seriously tho, I had a set of P-Zero Rossos on the sweed for a while and they really were bordering on dangerous. Just couldn't get any kind of power down.
[QUOTE=stephenevans99;740615]147whp seems to keep up with most T5s lol....[/QUOTE] My wife's 1.6 tdi can be mapped to 152 bhp flywheel (most I've seen) which I thought was quite a lot for a 1.6, torque was 205 or 250 I can't remember. I've been looking into secretly mapping it.
You can't expect to solve handling problems with tyres alone.
[QUOTE=Saaamon;740627]You can't expect to solve handling problems with tyres alone.[/QUOTE] Very true. I've now done everything but subframe inserts (in the shed somewhere) and coilovers (not gonna happen) handling wise for the sweed and it really does show. Combining the right parts and setup is crucial when you're looking for performance.