Which first...cage or suspension?

Shift_Munky · 11-07-2003, 11:31 AM

Like almost everyone else, I am on a budget and need to decide about what to do next for my (track only) car. Here are my two choices:

1) Full 6 or 8-point roll cage with NASCAR-style door bars, all the cool hoops and stiffening I would want; ~$1500

2) Full race setup coilovers, either Tein RE, GC Advance Design, or JIC FLT-A2's; anywhere from $1800 - $2200

At this point I want to buy whichever will help the handling more, which I'm thinking will be the suspension since the car likely has poopy, old stock stuff. On the other hand, the cage will not only stiffen the car, but provide the needed safety stuff.

If you're wondering, I am not dead-set on those suspension choices...I am still considering lowering springs and aftermarket struts. The reason I think I want one of the above choices is because I ran GC AD's on a previous car, and loved the ability to not only height adjust, but make both dampening and rebound adjustment as well.

Any and all feedback is welcome, assuming it's not flammage!

tpeele · 11-07-2003, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shift_Munky

Like almost everyone else, I am on a budget and need to decide about what to do next for my (track only) car. Here are my two choices:

1) Full 6 or 8-point roll cage with NASCAR-style door bars, all the cool hoops and stiffening I would want; ~$1500

2) Full race setup coilovers, either Tein RE, GC Advance Design, or JIC FLT-A2's; anywhere from $1800 - $2200

At this point I want to buy whichever will help the handling more, which I'm thinking will be the suspension since the car likely has poopy, old stock stuff. On the other hand, the cage will not only stiffen the car, but provide the needed safety stuff.

If you're wondering, I am not dead-set on those suspension choices...I am still considering lowering springs and aftermarket struts. The reason I think I want one of the above choices is because I ran GC AD's on a previous car, and loved the ability to not only height adjust, but make both dampening and rebound adjustment as well.

Any and all feedback is welcome, assuming it's not flammage!

You can start with just the roll bar and harnesses. You'll have money left over for a suspension upgrade. You can then get the rest of the cage finished when you're ready to race. If your doing HPDE for a while then a roll bar will suffice. You can still do Time Trials with a roll bar and fire extinguisher. How much track experience do you have now?

Shift_Munky · 11-07-2003, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tpeele

You can start with just the roll bar and harnesses. You'll have money left over for a suspension upgrade. You can then get the rest of the cage finished when you're ready to race. If your doing HPDE for a while then a roll bar will suffice. You can still do Time Trials with a roll bar and fire extinguisher.

In terms of a cage build, would this not complicate things? I suppose even if it would, it may be the best route to take on a budget. The other thing is that safety requirements state that I must have certain equipment, but in the event of a bad wreck, I would want as much as I could possibly have. At any rate, I can always call Chris and ask him...

Quote:

Originally Posted by tpeele

How much track experience do you have now?

Next to none actually, if you haven't guessed as much yet. I have really only autocrossed and worked one HPDE so far, at which I was able to get 3-4 touring laps in at VIR. Are you asking with respect to which suspension I should try first?

slowSER · 11-07-2003, 06:33 PM

If you're on a budget, why not try Ground Control coilovers with some "good" off-the-shelf shocks (are Koni yellows or KYB AGX's available for the 240s??). If you're on an OE suspension, you will swear any upgrade makes your car handle like it's on rails.

And I'm sure you can get somebody to build a cage in the $1,000 range. The one in my SE-R was done by a circle-track/drag shop, and it was just shy of $1,000.

So $1K-ish for suspension and $1K for cage ... have cake and eat it too!

Pat

Shift_Munky · 07-13-2004, 04:50 PM

Update: I decided to go with a KYB AGX's and Tein S-Tech springs to save some money. I figured that I should start out with this, and by the time those wore out, I would have some track experience under my belt and have a better idea as to what suspension features I would really be able to use.