Selecting a damper manufacturer

[Alex Hodgkinson]

Hello all,

I'd quite like to get the suspension units sorted for our build. It's a Mazda RX-7 aimed at Britcar and GT Cup racing.

Because it's such an important peice of kit I'm happy to spend whatever it takes to get the best units available.

Adjustability is obviously highly important, would quite like to be able to make slow and fast bump and rebound adjustments. Seperate oil reservoirs are a must.

So, what does everybody feel is the best outright suspension unit to run?

[phoenix]

Why not try contacting Ohlins, Nitron, Penske and Proflex to start with. They all make top quality kit and the final result will probably depend more on adjusting the dampers correctly than on the actual make.

[Nero]

Phoenix is correct, setup is vital, so factor into the equation rebuild/revalve costs. E.g. locally Penske (8300) are now slightly cheaper than the equiv Koni (2812), however the rebuild/revalve costs are much lower making the purchase to setup much cheaper. Service life seems about the same.

[R59]

I run Penske on my Pontiac (because the regs say so), but I've previously been a fan of Koni's - mainly because of the service/setup value.

Though saying that, Penske's ain't that expensive to rebuild/service.

It's a case of sifting through the specifications, looking at the charts, and seeing that they will work with the car that you're building. Then plenty of testing to hone the setup.