Suspension, Brakes And Tyres Recommendations

[unariciflocos 49 1 Cars]

I was looking into a new suspension setup for my 205 Rallye Mi16. I use the care on the road and hillclimb it now and then, but just for the thrill of it, don't have the budget to compete for the podium.

 

My budget for the suspension is 400 to 500 pounds, not a penny more and would prefer if it was closer to 400. Gaz gha are in that region, after searching I see that quite a lot of people are using them, but there are moxed opinions about their performance. Are there better alternatives in the price range? What rate spring would be best for hillclimbing?

 

I also need road tyres and I'm trying to decide between Yokohama Parada Spec 2 and Toyo T1Rs, but if you know of better alternatives in the price range I'm open to suggestions.

 

And last, and I'll admit to not searching for this topic, but what upgrade from other model pugs can I get for 1.6 hubs?

 

Thanks,

Andrei

[j_turnell 136 3 Cars]

TBH the majority of your questions can be answered if you spend some time searching, there are also some useful topics that are pinned in the suspension forum.

 

Upgrade for 1.6 hubs - do you mean brakes? If so its easier to retain the 1.6 driveshafts and use basemodel hubs, these have the same offset as 1.9 items, giving you a lot more options.

[JRL 14 1 Cars]

I went from standard set up on my mi16 to what you are describing, i got the gaz coilovers secondhand so saved a lot i put 185 pound springs on as i used it everyday, and dont find it too harsh ride. As for tyres the toyos are cheap and grip well. For road use and occasional track use its works well.

[unariciflocos 49 1 Cars]

I went through pages and pages of search results but couldn't find how the Gaz coilovers compare to KW, SPAX or AVO which are in a similar price range. Bilstein Challenge are out of my price range so I'm asking if the Gaz are up for the job and if they perform well and if they are good value for money. If any of the others offer considerably more performance please point me to them and I'll save a bit more.

 

For the tires I'm interested which of the two (Yoko Parada or Toyo T1R) have better grip.

 

Yes, sorry, I was referring to brake options. Will start searching for base model hubs then.

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

Suspension is and always will be a personal thing, For £500.00 ish I'd stick to a std set up even with std replacement Billies up front with some ZX/Xsara ones at the back to start,

 

Coilovers at that price range are poor and with yet another car in with Gaz's on they in my opinion are just rubbish, they don't work well without going into too much detail,

Avoid Yokohama Parada at all costs, worst tyre from Yoko almost, but there recent range has all gone down the pan really, you want something to work well from cold so some soft/sticky tyres will pay here

 

With brakes, how much braking are you doing as I would think some good pads and discs will be fine here as it's not a 2 ton barge you need to stop

Edited January 28, 2011 by Miles

[unariciflocos 49 1 Cars]

Ok, so far I'd be looking at Bilstein Group N, Toyos and maybe some Mintex 1144 pads?

 

Thanks for the opinions so far.

[Daxed 7]

The standard 1.6 brakes really are excellent as long as the callpers are in A1 condition. All the ones I have had have been very tired and its been easier to change to 1.9 calipers which seem far sturdier although heavier items. These can be used directly with the 1.6 hubs and disks, new retaining bolts are required.

 

I have found 1144's with the 1.9 calipers fine for road and light trackday use.

 

I agree with the previous comments re Paradas, I have them on my car at present and they don't inspire confidence.

[andy0075 9 1 Cars]

If you are searching for cheap roadlegal tyres with good grip i can recommend :

 

-Hankook Ventus RS-2 (195/50/15...70 Euro )

 

I have driven the tyre for the last 3 Years and it has a very good performance in dry and wet conditions.

 

-Federal RS 595 Racing

 

I only read about the Federal, but a lot of guys who use them for sprint races

say that this tyre is better than the Toyo R888 and much cheaper ( 195/50/15...75 Euro ) !

 

Andy

[unariciflocos 49 1 Cars]

Thanks Andy. How's the wear on your Hankooks? I Drive less than 5000 km a year in the Peugeot but the roads where I live are extremely bad.

[andy0075 9 1 Cars]

Thanks Andy. How's the wear on your Hankooks? I Drive less than 5000 km a year in the Peugeot but the roads where I live are extremely bad.

 

I think they will last 15.000km normal driving.

[unariciflocos 49 1 Cars]

I bought a set of Hankooks at 70 Euros a piece, searched the web for opinions and people seem to be quite fond of them. Now I'm looking for some C5 steelies to put them on. Thanks again Andy.

 

Regarding suspension I'm wondering how stupid it would be to have something like this on a set of billies with springs to match, so that I can run adjustable top mounts.... opinions?

 

EDIT: Apparently it's been done and with good results:

 

http://forum.205gtidrivers.com/index.php?s...115554&st=0

http://forum.205gtidrivers.com/index.php?s...=77291&st=0

Edited February 15, 2011 by unariciflocos

[Cameron 16]

Personally, I wouldn't weld collars on to my struts!

 

I'd echo Miles' comments about going for a great fixed spring pan strut rather than a cheap and cheerful (read: crap) set of coilovers, you're going to get a lot more in terms of damping quality for your money. I'd recommend 250-350lb springs, depending on how much road use it'll be getting.

 

As for brakes, keep the standard setup for now. Pads-wise sod Mintex and splash out a little extra for some Ferodo DS2500! They're miles better than the Mintex are IMO, really really predictable as they maintain a constant friction coefficient throughout the temperature range. They're £70 a set, but it's totally worth the extra £25 or so over Mintex!

[unariciflocos 49 1 Cars]

I'd like the Grp N Bilsteins, but I'd also like some adjustable top mounts. If you go to Andy's website http://www.peugeot-racing.at.tf/, under Bestelecke you can see that he's done quite a good job of converting them to coilovers, benefiting from a better choice of spring rates and the adjustable top mounts.

 

As for brakes, I'm on Ferodo Premiers at the moment, and they do a good enough job, so I'm going to keep them till I wear them out.

[Cameron 16]

If they're rubbish why are you keeping them?

 

I take it by adjustable top mounts you mean spring pans? I know it's pedantic, but adjustable top mounts is something completely different!

 

Yeah adjustable spring pans are a benefit as you can A - fine tune ride height and B - fine tune corner weights. BUT I wouldn't fit weld-on spring collars and I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anybody. It's just a little too cheap! I would go for slightly poorer performing(damping-wise) coilovers over potentially wrecking a set of nice fixed pans any day!

Edited February 15, 2011 by Cameron

[Baz 421]

Andrei said 'top mounts' so i read that he means 'top mounts'.

[unariciflocos 49 1 Cars]

Assuming you're referring to my brakes, I did not say they are rubbish. I said they do a good enough job. Of course that's a subjective way of quantifying their performance, but no, they're not rubbish, they're quite good actually.

 

By adjustable top mounts I mean the adjustable or eccentric top mounts that allow for camber and caster adjustment -Linky. I don't think these can be used with standard struts as the top spring pan would rub into the body and would increase ride height considerably, may be wrong though.

 

It wouldn't be ruining them. The Grp. Ns have inserts that can be removed when machining and welding and can easily be converted back if the result in unsatisfactory.

 

Far too many options at the moment and changing my mind from one day to another, but I really need to settle on an option and go with it.

Edited February 15, 2011 by unariciflocos

[Cameron 16]

Andrei said 'top mounts' so i read that he means 'top mounts'.

 

Yeah cheers Baz.

 

Anyway, sorry I don't know where I read that you said the pads were rubbish, must have been a long day!

 

I got a bit mixed up when you started talking about having to use the weld-on collars to be able to have adjustable top mounts, didn't make sense to me and the only logical explaination was that you meant spring pans. Now I read it again I see you mean you had to run the uprated struts to be able to use the top mounts. Was just worded a bit funny.

[Baz 421]

Yeah cheers Baz.

 

No worries, you seemed to be confusing yourself.

[unariciflocos 49 1 Cars]

I said something like the conversion kit, I was actually thinking of making a thread on the actual strut, zinc treat it and make the top and bottom spring pads on a lathe. I have access to lots of machine tools and my spare time is free. I'm on a budget here .

 

Sorry about the confusion, I do tend to make very long and intricate phrases which only I can understand.

[Cameron 16]

I don't think you'll be able to machine into the actual strut bodies as there isn't much meat there. Struts are subject to some pretty severe bending forces under braking and cornering so I'd be concerned about removing material from the bodies. I guess if you have the time and patience to do it properly (i.e. completely strip the struts down and clean them inside and out) prior to welding on the collars then there's no reason why it wouldn't work, it just seems like an awful lot of effort for pretty minnimal gain.

Edited February 15, 2011 by Cameron

[unariciflocos 49 1 Cars]

A few afternoons of work for the possibility of ride height adjustment, wide selection of spring rates, camber and caster adjustment is an awful lot of effort for minimal gain?

 

I guess it's far easier to throw money at your car rather that try and do something yourself.

[Cameron 16]

Ok.. it would be funny if that comment was directed at me, considering the amount of work I do myself.

 

Anyway If you think it's worth the effort, go for it. If you make a proper job of it I'm sure it'll be fine, would be interesting to see how the overall cost compares to buying one of the more decent sets of coilovers (e.g. Gaz Gold etc).

[Henry 1.9GTi 36]

I used to have the fixed pan Billies on my car, not the group N or challenge spec but the sprintline ones I think. ride quality for such a stiff (ish) car was truely amazing even on the rickety old 205. Coupled with a fat rear ARB is handled very well. Just wasnt quite stiff enough for track use hence my change. But for hill climbs and the like may be suitable. Be careful with cheap welded ARBs as mine snapped down a nice country lane when negotiating some bumps at the national speed limit!

[andy0075 9 1 Cars]

Hi !

 

unariciflocos postet a link to my webpage where you can see my Bilstein coilover conversion.

 

The complete conversionset was about 120.- Euro and it takes 2,5 hours to do the job and

another hour for painting

 

So i think it is worth it !

 

Regards,

Andy

[Cameron 16]

2.5 hours including dismantling, draining, cleaning, welding and re-assembly? If so, that's pretty impressive!