# Where to buy rally suspension/coilover question



## Petrovich (May 13, 2005)

If I get my sentra's engine to work, the next step will be getting a new suspension. Now, the car is intended to be a winter monster and (hopefully) an open-class rally beater. So, questions I have:
a) Where do you get your stuff? I'd like to buy online if possible. I'm looking for a decent quality brand, nothing super-expensive but no no-name ebay springs, either, so a store that sells that kind of stuff is the one I need.
b) I believe I need coilovers for adjustable height; how do those work, exactly (I'd like as much detail as possible...)? Can I RAISE the car higher than stock if needed? Should I get them as a kit with shocks? I'd like to keep my stock struts, maybe change front ones if not too expensive - good or bad?


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## Petrovich (May 13, 2005)

***bump***


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## ReVerm (Jan 13, 2003)

Petrovich said:


> If I get my sentra's engine to work, the next step will be getting a new suspension. Now, the car is intended to be a winter monster and (hopefully) an open-class rally beater. So, questions I have:
> a) Where do you get your stuff? I'd like to buy online if possible. I'm looking for a decent quality brand, nothing super-expensive but no no-name ebay springs, either, so a store that sells that kind of stuff is the one I need.
> b) I believe I need coilovers for adjustable height; how do those work, exactly (I'd like as much detail as possible...)? Can I RAISE the car higher than stock if needed? Should I get them as a kit with shocks? I'd like to keep my stock struts, maybe change front ones if not too expensive - good or bad?


I'm not sure that you want to immediately dive into open class, but hey, that's up to you.

The thing with the B13 is that the companies that make the popular options don't really offer a prepackaged "rally" suspension kit for it. You will probably end up having to piece it together yourself (by buying springs, dampers, camber plates, etc separately). You'll want to budget about 2000 USD for the whole thing if you want something you can compete on.


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## Petrovich (May 13, 2005)

ReVerm said:


> I'm not sure that you want to immediately dive into open class, but hey, that's up to you.
> 
> The thing with the B13 is that the companies that make the popular options don't really offer a prepackaged "rally" suspension kit for it. You will probably end up having to piece it together yourself (by buying springs, dampers, camber plates, etc separately). You'll want to budget about 2000 USD for the whole thing if you want something you can compete on.


The car will be a testbed for some funny and interesting modifications including unorthodox boost generation and totally reworked intake tract, so I doubt they'll let me run in any other class 
I'm not looking to be competitive, I just want something that won't be laughed at  Are there any places where I can drive on rally tracks that are not SCCA-sanctioned? In particular, low-speed courses where no roll cage/fire suit is required would be the best.
Is it really much more expensive to get stuff separately than in a kit?...


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## ReVerm (Jan 13, 2003)

Petrovich said:


> The car will be a testbed for some funny and interesting modifications including unorthodox boost generation and totally reworked intake tract, so I doubt they'll let me run in any other class
> I'm not looking to be competitive, I just want something that won't be laughed at  Are there any places where I can drive on rally tracks that are not SCCA-sanctioned? In particular, low-speed courses where no roll cage/fire suit is required would be the best.
> Is it really much more expensive to get stuff separately than in a kit?...


I seriously reccomend against doing any sort of rally driving without rollover protection and a driving suit. It's not hard to roll a production car on tarmac, and it gets even easier on a loose surface. This is especially true if you're planning to do testing, where you're far more likely to make mistakes or put a wheel off.

If you're planning to build the car solely for testing, I would also reccomend against entering it into any sort of competitive rally. If one of your experimental parts causes the car to stop in the middle of a live stage, you've now become an obstacle to the other drivers behind you. What will happen if the section of road you stop on is a blind corner? What will happen if the spectators can't flag down the next car quickly enough? Never mind the humiliation you'll have to endure when your car has to be towed back to service. You're putting your life on the line there.

As for the suspension stuff, rally suspension systems are expensive regardless of whether you buy a packaged kit or put it together yourself. Suspension companies have to spend a lot of time manufacturing components that are tough enough for rally conditions, then have to determine a good baseline setup through hundreds of hours of testing. Serious rally competitors are usually prepared to spend well over 4k on suspension components (and of course, spares for each of those components). And those are the people in the production classes. There is no way you'll be able to keep up with a car in the open class with a $2000 suspension system.

I think it might be a good idea for you to base your project budget on what other people have done and get a better idea of what this is really going to cost you. Take a look at the B13 Rally Sentra on Mather Motorsport's site. If you've never budgeted out a rally project before, you may be in for a bit of a shock.


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## Petrovich (May 13, 2005)

http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/projectcars/0106scc_rally/

Is the inspiration 

I have about $500/month budget, and already have the drivetrain/brake parts covered. Once again, I'm not building a WRX killer (or I'd get an impreza to begin with  ), just a fun car I can take to local competitions and occasional ice racing.


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## Petrovich (May 13, 2005)

So, does anyone else have any advice on where to buy things, what rate springs to get, what kind of shocks to get with them, and what other bits and pieces I'd need?


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## 200silvia (Jun 12, 2002)

I cant remember if it was this forum or sr20forums but a guy from canada used to rave about his hotbits coilovers http://www.hotbits.org/. I didnt look at prices but from what i remember they were just under $2000.


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## 200silvia (Jun 12, 2002)

....and he used them on his rally car. http://www.sr20forum.com/showthread.php?t=39014&highlight=hotbits


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## ReVerm (Jan 13, 2003)

200silvia said:


> I cant remember if it was this forum or sr20forums but a guy from canada used to rave about his hotbits coilovers http://www.hotbits.org/. I didnt look at prices but from what i remember they were just under $2000.


Isn't that $2000 CDN though? That's only like $1300 USD. Pretty good deal for a rally setup developed in Malaysia.


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## Petrovich (May 13, 2005)

Much better! Just what I was looking for. Piggybank time


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## wildmanee (Nov 21, 2004)

I think ReVerm was being sarcastic?


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## Petrovich (May 13, 2005)

wildmane said:


> I think ReVerm was being sarcastic?


Actually rally is far more popular in Malaysia than here, and they have some pretty good teams and pretty good tracks. So I'd trust them more at building quality suspension than some shop in California that tests their suspension in their backyard woods. Especially since people have very positive comments about those kits. BTW, if you look at some of the rally distributors overseas, they're selling HotBits alongside Qualife differentials and other uber-cool car components that cost a load of money and are worth every bit of it


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## ReVerm (Jan 13, 2003)

wildmane said:


> I think ReVerm was being sarcastic?


Nope. I too would feel much better buying a set of dampers that were designed and manufactured in Malaysia than something put together in the US. They have the edge in terms of testing, quality, and cost of materials when it comes to chassis components for rally and road racing cars.


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