Brake Upgrade Recommendations

[Linus Toy]

Martin--

With the original 215/60-15 tires, the sidewalls (at least on the Dunlop
D60A2s I was running) were too tall & soft--they became the initial springs
in the system.  The result was the car would load up on the soft tires at
turn-in, then start loading the stiff suspension.  In a sense, your spring
rate changes in a non-linear fashion after you start your turn.  The car
seemed to hunt for the right mix between tire and spring loading
mid-turn.  You can counteract this somewhat with more aggressive driving
(trying to load up everything all at once), but the real solution is to
better match springs and wheel/tires.  With 16 or 17 wheels & tires, this
isn't an issue, IME.  I now have a set of 16s (225/50-16 on urS4 16x8
forged rims) and 17s (235/45-17 on BBS RX 17x8).  15s are long gone and
won't fit over my brakes.

I'm running H&R V8 springs (#29921, also spec'd for the urS4/S6 and
Bilstein HD.  My objective was to significantly increase stiffness with
minimal (or no) lowering of the car.  Prior to installing this, I test
drove another '91 200q that had Eibachs & Bilsteins--too soft for me, BUT
that particular setup was also using a set of custom-valved Bilsteins, a
bit softer than normal.

Having run this now for a couple years, while I love the increased
stability (subjective) my wife hates the car--too harsh for her.  I also
think rebound damping in the rear is a bit soft and could be increased,
though with Bilsteins, this isn't adjustable.

HTH
--Linus

At 09:30 AM 1/16/2003 , martinkuetzing at att.net wrote:
>Linus -
>
>Could you elaborate a bit on your comment here?
>
> > Trying to run stiffer springs & shocks (i.e. H&R over Bilstein) on
> > stock rubber is an exercise in frustration...the soft, tall sidewalls now
> > work against, instead of with your suspension.  BTDT.
>
>Briefly, what combinations have you tried?  And, what were the
>characteristics
>of each one?  Finally, what have you settled on?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Martin

*--------------------------------------------------------------------*
*  Linus Toy                      Insanity is doing the same thing   *
*  Mercer Island, WA              you've always done and expecting   *
*  linust at mindspring.com          different results                  *
*                                      - Roger Milliken              *
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