My buddy is building a dedicated ITR track car. The first thing he will be doing is a full cage, nascar bars, and safety bits. He plans on keeping the engine bone stock for the 2011 season, and really just wants a badass suspension for now. He has asked me for advice cause I race formula cars in the SCCA, but to be honest having never owned or even driven in an ITR I am lost.

My advice was a set of ohlins DFV's, but really not sure maybe there is something better out there.

His budget for suspension (arms, bushing coilover, etc) is $6k max.

We definitely need to do some reading, and searching on this but figured I would ask in the mean time.

Thanks.

 

Koni 2812/Moton/Penske/JRZ/Ohlins, fresh OEM bushings with Mugen hard rubber for the front lca compensator bushing. Shim out rear camber. /thread

You don't need arms, fancy bushings, or even upgraded swaybars. Pick the proper spring rates and spend the money on good shocks. I like the Koni 28s, don't need to cut up the body for an unnecessary external reservoir.

 

Good to know he can basically keep the suspension components stock. That will save him some money. So $4k for a set of series 28's, eibach coils, and mugen compensators, and he should be good to go. We will need to figure out spring rates.

I am thinking something like 800F 1000R, but we will have to research that. Probably pickup a few different spring combinations to see what works best for him.

Any other suspension advice or spring rate suggestions?

Also is it at all possible to get the weight down to 2000lbs on these cars, or is there no way in hell.

 

you should probably buy a range of springs, depending on the track having the flexibility to change is great. at your price point you can get into moton, the high end konis, like the 2812 mentioned. take your pick, all good products. i agree on not needing all new arms and what not, just refresh your bushings and enjoy. personally, i like ES poly bushings but will be the first to admit this is another personal call.

no advice on rate, normally you base these off the car weight, track to be raced and HP of the car and driver preference. if you bought 600LB - 1100lb in 50lb increments it would cover everything.

weight wise, the cars from jdm land weigh less, find out why, i think some of it is in the crash test which means frame. replace the glass with lexan, strip the interior. a carbon hatch, gut the doors, recaro pole position seat. even small changes like going to a fidanza flywheel will make a difference. before you do anything make sure your mods are legal in the class you want to race. if you go nuts you may wind up in the open class which pits you against modded zo6's

 

Spring rates will depend largely on the drivers preference, but 800/1000 is fairly "middle of the road". Personally, I like more spring up front, but if you can get the car to 2000lbs then the 800's would be pretty close to what I'd like to see.

Getting the car to 2000lbs with street legal running gear will be impossible. If that doesn't matter, don't start with an R. A Civic will easily get that light or lighter and have the same handling dynamics as the R. The whole dang car could be built for less than the R's price tag alone too. That said, I could get my R down to 2200lbs with full street legal running gear and no cage. It would suck to drive such a car on the street though.

 

Cool guys thanks for the info.

Yeah this is going to be straight track car trailered to the track.

So an eg civic hatch basically has the same suspension as an ITR???? That would save him a ton of cash, and save an ITR from getting hacked up. Anything different suspensions wise you guys would suggest if building a dedicated eg hatch track car? Kinda in the wrong forum now. I knew I should have posted this in the road race sub forum...

 

What class (or organization) is your buddy going to run in and what kind of car does he actually own right now?

Your posts are rather confusing, truth be told. Your friend needs to determine exactly what he wants to do, then build the car to suit that.

 

NASA H1, so he will have a lot he can do to the car if he wants. He does not have a car yet to start his build. I talked to him last night and he really isn't going to do anything until the 2011 rules are posted.

 

Buy a built car. Seriously. And I'd pick a slow one to start out, like an ITB Civic.