Tuning a rear engined, rear wheel drive car is a very different process to front wheel drive - the emphasis has to be on smoothness and driveability even at the expense of peak power. However, we owned one of the first VX220 Turbos produced so, through constant development, we can give you both.
Handling
The standard suspension is very good, it can be a little firm on the road but is still very good for a stock car. We can use the string and weight method but prefer to use our complete laser wheel alignment ramp and state of the art laser alignment equipment to give a 100% accurate set up.
Thorney Motorsport Full Geometry Enhancement
£120-£450
We can make tremendous changes to the way the car handles both on road and track just by adjusting the geometry settings. By changing the camber and toe front and rear, we can make the car understeer less and be more sure footed when driving hard which really does transform the car. A range of settings is possible from benign and safe to complete race set ups so the choice is yours. We sit down with you to discuss your handling needs and the use for the car and adjust the set up accordingly.
For those with adjustable suspension (this can either be done at the time of fitting or any time afterwards) we can fully set up your car for the track, this includes full corner weighting and enhanced geometry set up. Obviously we need you in the car for corner weighting and the process takes up to 4 hours. We can make tremendous improvements to the handling with just this geometry alignment but, for the track, standard road suspension is simply too soft. We developed the Nitron suspension kits on all the cars with a view to offering as wide a range of options as possible for road and track.
To aid the process of setting up adjustable suspension, we have written a comprehensive guide on how to set it up. It covers all the necessary ideas behind the process and gives helpful tips on how to adjust the suspension to your own requirements and an easy to follow process to rectify handling problems. To download the guide in PDF format click HERE.
Also available is a simple flow diagram on how to fix handling issues. We can't claim any credit for its creation and its been written specifically for the E36 M3 as it's one of those documents that have been created from the minds of a few senior people within the world of suspension manufacturing, but it's a useful guide so worth looking at. To download these guides (one is for sorting oversteer the other for sorting understeer) click the thumbnails below.
Obviously on all the suspension we fit we provide you with recommended settings and advise on set up specifically for your needs.
Nitron NTR Single Adjustable Suspension
£1,199 supplied, £1,599 fitted (includes complete geometry alignment to your requirements)
Using uprated springs and dampers, these allow fine tuning of the cars' handling for road or track. Adjustment is made via a single gnurled knob at the bottom of the shock - easily accessible with the wheels on the car so can be adjusted in a matter of seconds: + to make the shock harder, - to make it softer. The car is lowered by up to 40mm which improves both handling and the aesthetics. Different spring rates are used on the NA and the VXT/VXR.
Nitron NTR Race 2 Way Adjustable Suspension
£1,775 supplied, £2,100 fitted (includes complete geometry alignment to your requirements)
Utilising a remote reservoir these are a significant step up in terms of adjustability and performance. By separating compression and rebound adjustment a far greater level of adjustability in handling is created both for road and track.
Nitron NTR Race 3 Way Adjustable Suspension
£2,250, £2,599 fitted (includes complete geometry alignment to your requirements)
The daddy. Separate fast bump, slow bump and rebound adjustment mean the level of adjustment is unsurpassed. These are really only recommended for track or competition use and to get the best out them you really need to have a good idea on how to set these up......we can of course help in this regard.
