Best rear suspension mainly for road use?

[madmaninshed]

At the moment I have an early IRS set up on my Stylus with a sierra LSD, and for road use it seems fine. However, it would benefit from a little negative camber at the front 15" wheels and CR500 (I think Tim mentioned) tyres. I am looking to build another car with Duratec or fairly tuned Zetec power. Should I go for live axle, de-dion or IRS? Live axle, if you watch Rob hard at play, does seem to work extremely well on the track......but how about on a poorly cambered bumpy road? One comment was that a live axle car saves about 45kg...is this a fact? Can a live axle set up be converted to IRS or de-dion without swapping out the chassis?

The next car I have needs to be more of an everyday car with performance and economy, rather than a fine weather toy. I looked at the Toyota powered 190 bhp Elise, which didn't look very well put together on close inspection....and the insurance was 3 times more than my V8 Stylus..oh and then it needed a tracker. The hood was very clever, but it didn't take long to bin that idea without even driving the car.

2.3 duratec sounds like a good option, but is it as sweet as the 2.0? Could a well sorted Zetec 1600 SE be a good choice....then there's a Honda S2000 (which I was told may be too tall?). Finally the Rover T16 turbo is as cheap as chips and can be tweaked to 225 bhp with a £45 boost controller.......so many choices

[stylussprinter]

At the moment I have an early IRS set up on my Stylus with a sierra LSD, and for road use it seems fine. However, it would benefit from a little negative camber at the front 15" wheels and CR500 (I think Tim mentioned) tyres.
Best way to decide what neg' camber you need for your particular car is to drive it aggressively on your favourite test route(better still - track) then measure the temperature across the tyre tread the moment you stop. Do it outside - centre - inside on all four wheels. You are looking for an even temp' pattern. ie. front left showing 100 outside , 70 centre and 50 inside would indicate too little neg' camber or even positive camber in the extreme. My point being , if you don't drive your car hard enough plus everybody's spring rates/chassis height is different then an ADVISED neg' camber might be wrong for you. (I have a temp' gauge for tyres if we ever run together Paul) I am looking to build another car with Duratec or fairly tuned Zetec power. Should I go for live axle, de-dion or IRS? Live axle, if you watch Rob hard at play, does seem to work extremely well on the track......but how about on a poorly cambered bumpy road? One comment was that a live axle car saves about 45kg...is this a fact? Can a live axle set up be converted to IRS or de-dion without swapping out the chassis?

If you love the V8 grunt then 2.3 Duratec is the only route to go from your choice list above -- the ft/lbs from from such a lightweight engine would blow your V8 away ! Tuned correctly they'll give 220 ft/lbs , 50 more than I've got plus it weighs around 25 kgs less !

If you're concerned about comfort/handling or missing your rear independent you have now , SSC's rear independent is a clever design if you intend building again. It does mean , of course , you'll have two axles to get the set up correct on.
Goodness Paul , sounds like you could have a 2.3 before me !


The next car I have needs to be more of an everyday car with performance and economy, rather than a fine weather toy. I looked at the Toyota powered 190 bhp Elise, which didn't look very well put together on close inspection....and the insurance was 3 times more than my V8 Stylus..oh and then it needed a tracker. The hood was very clever, but it didn't take long to bin that idea without even driving the car.

2.3 duratec sounds like a good option, but is it as sweet as the 2.0? Could a well sorted Zetec 1600 SE be a good choice....then there's a Honda S2000 (which I was told may be too tall?). Finally the Rover T16 turbo is as cheap as chips and can be tweaked to 225 bhp with a £45 boost controller.......so many choices

[madmaninshed]

Thanks Rob....2.3 duratec it is. That's the same block and height presumably as the 2.0 duratec? I've even got one engine mount for a 2.0 duratec in a Stylus.....but not the other one! So it will need to be Raceline (or similar) low profile sump, bell housing, water rail etc etc, throttle bodies and Weber Alpha type ECU? That lot will be expensive, but this time it has got to be done before I can't get in and out of a Stylus any more!!

[madmaninshed]

Did the sums and eventually decided on the part built RT mentioned on the forum. It has a 2.0 zetec engine and a capri diff, so doesn't need spacers at the rear. The plan is to register it as a new car by replacing some of the reconditioned mechanical parts with new + adding a fair bit more grunt. It has brand new wheels and tyres, but can feel a set of cr500's and 15" wheels coming on. So Rob, you'll be first with the 2.3!! I'm coming back as a rich man next time round.

Fitting the body and making it a flip front frightens the life out of me, as apart from not having a clue, I come up in serious rashes when near glassfibre. Can you get extended latex gloves like a space suit?

Off to pick it up in a week or two. Not sure whether to keep the V8 while building it, as really need the space.