After a drive yesterday on our lovely smooth roads I want to source a softer suspension setup for my R26.R. Specifically, the OEM rear spring rates are too stiff for my taste. As I understand it the rates for the R26.R are 7 kgs front and 6 kgs rear. I see BC offer a 6/4 option. Anyone with experience of these who can attest to their compliance versus OEM?
dont think you will get any subtler than the R26R set up,which as i am sure you know was less stiff than a R26 due to the reduction in weight.Ianplymouth had BC`s on his race 225,so might be worth dropping him a PM. But it has been said in the past mk2 BC`S are to stiff for road driving.. Any other lowering springs are horrible on the road at speed. I had Cooksports for a while,and hated them,as the ride gets so ragged when pushing on. Gone back to new oem eibachs at a eye watering £400 for the springs alone.
i do find that even with the comedy wheel arch gap on the standard eibachs,you can feel, its a touch to stiff.But you always get the feeling, that the engineers struck a compromise with the weight of the car,hence the softer suspension on the R.
Interesting... Research suggests the Eibach Pro-kit, Grams and H+R springs are all softer than OEM. And I thought OEM springs were NLA?
Yes r26 oem eibachs are not available anymore...I bought mine just before they were discontinued.RPD have gone over to the proline springs which only drop the ride height on slightly compared to oem.If they can match the compliance of the r26r springs with its thousands of hours of testing by Renault engineers ,I doubt it very much.the other brands drop the car considerably which means less suspension travel.Renault set up there cars to sit higher than anyone else for a reason,hence class leading handling.on the road,I can't see Anything beating the oem balanced package.my r26 had cooksports on new oem dampers.the ride was far to crashy,as the pace increased on typical uk crappy roads,as the suspension unsettled the car,which the oem just soaks up with its extra 30mm travel
Thanks for the ongoing feedback. I heartily agree in principle that lowering is not a good idea for the road. However the R26.R setup is really not good on some of our poorly-maintained roads and I think it's because the rear spring rate is too high. That's great for the track as a stiff rear promotes turn-in, but makes for an uncomfortable and confidence-sapping experience on bumpy tarmac. My Clio 182 has a 4 kg/mm rear rate compared with 6 kg/mm on the rear of the R26.R and drives far better on poor roads. It's proving to be tricky to get definitive information and owner feedback, perhaps because there are so few R26 owners and most of the ones out there aren't actually that interested in fine-tuning handling. But it does appear that Grams, H+R and Eibach make springs which are softer than OEM. I do have one testimonial from an R26.R owners who swears that Grams offers a less crashy ride than OEM. However I am inclined to go with Eibach Pro-line, because as you say it drops the car less compared with other options.
I agree most R26's now are well past there best handling wise,as these cars tend to need pretty much everything replaced on the suspension,steering and bushing side at the same time,hence big expense on a old car that most are not prepared to do.So many owners won't know what a devastating road car a well maintained R26 can be.I have owned mine from new and like to drive it the way it was designed for. I live in rural Devon close to exmoor,which means I can stretch the cars legs further than most on the deserted moors. I do agree, the R 26 has slightly to stiff a ride...but it's a hell of a lot more composed than with Lowering springs which made the car borderline dangerous when bottoming out when pushing on.maybe the prolines will help,but wether they can work in unison with the dampers when pushing on,remains to be Confirmed. Someone like Steve,with his well known and long term owned R26R might be able to shed some light on suspension,as he used to run AST on his.Will see if I can find his profile on here.
Thanks again, Andrew. Steve is in fact the one who recommended Grams springs and OEM dampers to me...said he prefers them to ASTs. My car has 15k miles so hopefully the suspension is still reasonably fresh although I'm aware plastic bushes do degrade with time. Not sure what the roads are like in Devon but this past Sunday in Kent they were absolutely abysmal. On less pockmarked tarmac the suspension is OK, if still a little crashy. I believe the solution will be quite simple as I went through exactly the same process with my Clio. Compliance on the road with a rear torsion beam setup and little weight on the back is mostly a function of rear spring rate. Something as simple as changing the rear springs for softer ones made a massive difference on my Clio, and I'm assuming the same will also be true of the R26.R which has an identical layout.
As Andrew says, i had BC's on my 225 (8/8kg) on the road they were a bit harsh, but on track they were great, my 265 with BC's (10/10kg ) is different again, i think they are great on the road, (even Andrew thought they were good), the trouble is that by lowering the suspension you reduce the travel of the suspension, so the same amount of work that they do is over a shorter distance, so the only really way is to increase the travel of the springs and shocks or add some weight
Interesting feedback Ian about how stiffer springs seem to suit the mk3. Not sure what that is except for perhaps the extra weight. I drove a mk3 with Ohlins which was superbly composed on B roads.
I was surprised how compliant Ian's suspension is on his mk3 considering his spring rates with his BC"S.Seems strange that BC's don't seem to work on the road on a mk2.Maybe the considerable weight difference between the cars is a factor.Best road car oem suspension I have driven was on my mk1 Suzuki swift sport which was developed by Suzuki in the Yorkshire dales!Increadible little car that could hold its own against most cars on a B road
My Clio is pretty good on the lanes. If I can get my R26.R to be as compliant, I'll be happy. Other cars I've owned that were really good on bumpy B-roads include a mk2 Mazda MX-5, Lotus Evora, E39 M5, and various classic Imprezas.
I don't think the R26r was setup for B roads really, i don't think you can get a perfect all round suspension setup, it's getting easier with electric dampers etc If your having trouble with you Mk2 i can help you out, i'll do a swap with my Mk3
no it wasnt,but i remeber at the time when it won EVO magazines prestigious car of the year award.With most of the road driving being done in wales,with people like andy wallace at the wheel.They raved about its on road manners.
