Penguinracer

I'm about to fit Elephant Racing Monoballs & Poly-bronze bearings to my car, which will be used mainly on track.

Those of you running sphericals & poly-bronze - how have you found it on the street?

My spring rates will be 450 lb front & 350lb rear with 27mm T-bars & Tarrett bars F&R.
Tim

jerome951

I've found they add quite a bit of harshness (I have sphericals or alum blocks everywhere), especially on sharp road irregularities such as expansion joints or chuckholes. Granted, my spring rates are also stiffer than yours.
If you're primarily on smooth roads I don't think they'll be bad at all.

s14kev

It's OK for street. I don't mind the harshness. I'm more worried about chassis fatigue with shock loading for the moments where you have to hit alip in a driveway, slightly clip a road irregularity etc. I run slightly heavier spring rates as well on bilstein cup coilovers.

In terms of harshness for the driver, it really depends on what your used to. It's not ever uncomfortable even on long drives. I tend to find questions like these really depend on your age. Solid suspension and high spring rates is usually fine on a daily driver if you ask anyone below the age of 35 and almost always too uncomfortable for those above the age of 35. The older we are the softer we get.

Oddjob

The solid bushings and bearings, control arms, castor blocks, trailing arms, carrier flange, spring plate, etc - make a big difference in ride quality/comfort. More so than high spring rates and race dampers do. Really not for daily street driving. What you can bear for occasional street use will be up to you, but it makes the car pretty rough.

gmsracing

I had solid bushings, 450 lb springs, and 30 mm torsion bars on my last car. Even with the Koni's on soft, the car was almost undriveable on crappy California back roads. On one section of road it was so bad that things started coming off the car. If you live where the roads are billiard tables--then that would be another story. Car was great on track though!

333pg333

I didn't find nearly the harshness others here experienced. I had pretty much the RE catalogue and Elephant Poly Bronzes and spring rates of 650/700 plus ran on R spec rubber all the time. KW's really do ride more comfortably than some other suspension though.

adrial

I didn't notice a significant increase in Harshness going to spherical bearings in the front (rear is still stock M030).

The stock M030 setup rides pretty harsh as it is, harsher than 300# + springs with good dampers.

George D

I didn't notice enough additional harshness to bother me. Better handling and steering response outweighed any disadvantages. I'm running KW V3 with the progressive springs that came with the setup. I don't recall the spring rates, but these are designed for maximum street performance with occasional track days. I'm also running 17" tires.

951Saga

^^^ This...

The difference in ride comfort between my 16 and 18 inch wheels is very apparent.

gruhsy

Is that still with the torsion bars? Ive decided on kw V3's. street 99%
Will remove torsion bars.

George D

Yes. We indexed the torsion bars to 0 as instructed from KW.

jasonlp

My car ate KW v3 in 12 track days You could push the front shocks down with your finger rears were fine.

Bilstein's haven't died yet 450/650 + ER and RE


Harsh yes but that's driver preference, it's tough on the car though IF your roads are bad..


For anyone curious what bad roads are https://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&s...mg.6ZtQa2xQtTE

tjbreen

I also have the Racer's Edge and Elephant catalog in my car but run the Koni DA struts and shocks. With racing seats and stiff sidewalls, it is a bit harsh on the street. I always found it amusing when people in sport utility vehicles steer around imperfections in the street but that is now me. The KW's progressive and softer springs may help too but with my 550lb and 650lb springs, you feel it. I only street drive it now to get gas at the track and to my DE inspections.

LUCKY DAVE

I think this is the real answer to the question.

Mine is almost totally un-streetable, but it's the 725/864 spring rate, no compromise track alignment and slicks more than all the mono ball/polybronze/solid trans mounts/halo seats/cage that make it that way.
But I'm 56. At 26 I drove cars like this on the street all the time and thought anyone who said it was too hard core was just too old.

George D

You need to work out more. LOL