Proflex

[Adamski]

Has anyone here got the Proflex competition suspension and can they give any comments good/bad/unbearable for road use/track use

Thanks

[Claudius]

I tried out the REAL Proflex suspensions, very good, progressive etc.

[Michael K]

Have it and am very happy with it. As they are more efficient dampers you can get better performance with more comfort. The adjustment range is mind-boggling (i.e. haven't even tried one third of the possibilities).

[The Anarchist]

Would you say Proflex are better than Drummond?[img]http://194.93.140.171/graphics/happy1.gif border|EQU| 0 align|EQU| absmiddle ><!--e1-->

[The Anarchist]

Would you say Proflex are better than Drummond?[img]http://194.93.140.171/graphics/happy1.gif border|EQU| 0 align|EQU| absmiddle ><!--e1-->

[blade]

Depends on your application, and which model of Drummond/Proflex you are talking about. I think that Drummond/Proflex/Ohlins are all pretty reputable competition suspension manufacturers. I have Drummond, but only because Proflex couldn't supply what I wanted. Ohlins are too expensive for me!

[CliveW]

Michaelk, What spring rates are you using on your Proflex, and what sort of ride height do you have, bottom of arch to ground?

[Michael K]

Springrate 52kilos front and back will have to check ride height as I've got it written down on some piece of paper somewhere...

For serious competition use there's only Proflex, Öhlins and the company that makes WRC shocks (can't remember their name). I don't think Drummond have the adjustability like Proflex and Öhlins (about 25-28 clicks on high speed bump, low speed bump and rebound). Don't know how the camber gets adjusted on them either, on Proflex you have different spacers with eccentric holes with which you have a large adjustment range (front).

[Claudius]

I checked the DMS site, the material looks good but adjustment possibilities and cooling seems less good. Someone said they are thicker so wil heat less. Probably true to some degree, now if this compensates for the lack of separate gas canisters is another question.
In competition in Europe, they use Proflex, Öhlins and Dynamic suspensions. The Öhlins are supposed to be even smoother at high speeds and to have better absorption characteristics.
Ride height is usually measured from the wheelarch to the center of the wheel (not to the ground) and should be between 37 and 36 cm, depending on what look you want and what you use the car for. Below these values, the suspensions will lose some efficiency due to the fact that they cannot use the full length of the damper to do their job.
For tarmac, you should get spring rates between 5(0) and 7(0) in the front and 4(0) and 6(0) in the back. This is with road tires, not slicks and will keep some comfort. Above that you will need (semi)slicks.

[blairevo3]

Try DMS,proflex,bilstein,ohlins, showa are making alot of good wrc shocks now, kyb also make some good stuff, but showa and kyb are hard to get.

[oli goon]

Wow Claudius if you keep on like that we will have to call you HH and people will have to stop taking the #### about you knowing nothing...[img]http://194.93.140.171/graphics/happy1.gif border|EQU| 0 align|EQU| absmiddle ><!--e1-->

[Claudius]

Oli

I dont know about the standard intake manifold pressure because I havent decompressed the WSM yet [img]http://194.93.140.171/graphics/biggrin1.gif border|EQU| 0 align|EQU| absmiddle ><!--e13-->, but I know about suspensions which I hope you will agree is the most important thing to correctly set up on cars in general and Evos in particular. You seem to know a lot about turbos and tech details, maybe we should team up to become an (or THE) HH6 [img]http://194.93.140.171/graphics/happy1.gif border|EQU| 0 align|EQU| absmiddle ><!--e1-->

[oli goon]

Yeah agreed. Suspension is key to driving fast and amp; safe. At the end of the day the factory set up is a compromise that is unlikely to suit the driving style and roads that each particular driver uses. Although I'm guessing that the setup on the evo is not too bad for such a compromise as I'm still trying to sort me an evo.

[Claudius]

Well, the standard setup has reasonable (not TOO soft) damping but the suspensions wont last. Simply too small and dual tubes... When you jump over small hills on back roads, they will not damp enough, springs will compress so that all the springs touch (if you know what I mean) and the sar will absorp the rest, which is obviously bad for it. Plus they are annoying to use, very spongy and losing a lot of stiffness over a very short period of time. Too much roll as well. This is, once again, due to the fact that they are dual tube technology dampers (MAXI and blade, this is the correct English term, I looked it up!) in small diameter.

[daved6]

What cost are we talking about here gents ?

[Claudius]

French prices, appearently lower than UK are:
Proflex with correct spring rate, 3 way adjustable (low and high speed bump and rebound) FRF 28000
Öhlins with right springs 2 way adjustable (bump and rebound) but appearently better at hi speeds FRF 37000
Dynamic with the right springs 2 way adjustable FRF 35000

You can of course choose spring rate to suit your needs.

[Adamski]

In the UK you are looking at about £3700 plus setting up for the Proflex Grp N fully adjustable!

[Claudius]

Adam

Who quoted you this price? Go ahead, name them!

[Adamski]

I believe it was Roger Clark Motorsport.

[Claudius]

Ask other people or get the dealer list from Proflex or Öhlins

[daved6]

Thanks for the info ,

Claudius - I take it your prices are parts only , ie not fitted

Adamski - Did your price include fitting ?

[Claudius]

No prices are fitted. They fit them for free or almost because they are so fückin expensive. Plus I always bought suspensions there.

Anyway, fitting 4 ready dampers takes 4 hrs max (1 guy). I've seen it.

[Michael K]

Adamski,

that's a very expensive price. I got my Gr.N fully adjustable for less than 2,5k, fitted. Well, it wasn't exactly standard pricing cause I got the shocks for 2k cause Dave Sellens managed to get them from somewhere where they weren't needed for some reason and the fitting was done for the rest. Dave did mention that I got mine just before Proflex raised their prices, but I believe he said list price at the time was 2,5k. How much is the list price right now??

[Michael K]

Forgot to mention that I needed new springs for the back to get the car lower, cost about 100 quid. I really need new springs for the front, too. Will probably go for Eibach's at some point.

[Michael K]

Forgot to mention that I needed new springs for the back to get the car lower, cost about 100 quid. I really need new springs for the front, too. Will probably go for Eibach's at some point.

[CliveW]

Michaelk,
Are the springs progressive on your Proflex, or are they 2.25 inch inside diameter non progressive?

[Michael K]

They're linear springs 60mm in the front and 62mm in the back. The reason for the 62mm in the back is that they were ordered in inches :( but should be 60mm. They fit alright but we had to fit a sleave on the damper to guarantee that the spring doesn't hit the gas canister in the unlikely event of the damper being fully extended. All springs are attached to the top with locking-wire cause there are no helper springs in the front anymore cause we couldn't lower the car enough with them and the gravel springs. It works fine, but I really need shorter front springs and springs of the right size in the back.

[CliveW]

I can get springs from LEDA in 2.25 (57.15mm) and 2.5 (63.5mm) I/D in a large range of lengths and spring rates for approx £25 each and a company called Rally Design sell 57.15mm I/D springs ranging from 178mm length to 355mm from 80lbs (1.4 kg) to 600lbs (10.7 kg) priced approx £15 each

[Claudius]

Michael

Why dont you use the damper's adjustability to set the right height? Are you all the way down?

[Adamski]

Nope, fiting and setting up extra!!!

[Michael K]

Claudius,

Yes, I'm all the way down in the front... not the most professional for adjustability purposes, but the car is balanced and handles well. Must get shorter front springs... They have to be 60mm though. Does anyone know a shop that sells 60mm springs for cheap??

[Claudius]

MichaelK

My local suspension specialist shop can get you springs made to order, any length diameter rate you want. Email me your requirements and I can ask them for a price.

[simps]

Anyone tried adjustable Leda shocks for the evo?

Also what spring rates are advised for sprint / hillclimb / trackday / shopping (last comment is a pi@# take but the reality of finding the natural frequency of my internal organs on the road in between events does not appeal!)

My RS Sprint is apparently using 5.0 kg/mm front and 5.5 kg/mm rear springs which I understand are about 25% uprated over standard. Can anyone confirm this?

Most people sprinting seem to run about 8 kg front and 6.6 kg rear - is it still possible to get a reasonable ride if adjustable shocks are used on their soft setting, i.e. ride similar to a standard GSR? I know it's always going to be a compromise but...

Simon.

[CliveW]

I have Leda adjustable oil set-up on my E6 at the moment and I am still trying to find a set up that suits me. The spring rates and damper settings that came as standard were far too soft for me, which were 6.25kg front and 4kg rear. I am now running 7kg fr and amp; 6.25kg rr, but after running this set up on the road and track for a few months I have decided to uprate to 8 kg fr and amp; 7kg rr and get the dampers revalved to suit as I had never used positions 1-12. There are 24 positions of damper adjustment so I should still be able to dial in a reasonable ride on the road. Adjustability, Camber and ride height is good and I would recommend 9 springs fr and amp; 10.5 rr. Hope this helps.
P.S. If you do buy leda, order direct and ask for discount, 20% being the norm.

[Claudius K]

Simps

why would you get harder springs in the back??

[simps]

Hi Claudius,

I've tended to use harder springs at the rear on my rally car in conjunction with stiffening the front to maintain the balence and feel of the car. If you only stiffen the front of the car then it will tend to understeer more. However you don't want to overdo it at the rear otherwise it could make the car twitchy and may feel allright normally but going over a humpback bridge or similar could unsettle the car. I intend to do the same with the evo but the advantage of adjustable shocks should allow some change of how the car handles even with the same springs.

Depends on your style of driving as well. Some people like them twitchy in order to chuck them into corners, others prefer a smoother more progressive style. There is no 'right' answer as such, it's what you as a driver feel most comfortable with.

[simps]

Clive,

Did you have any problem fitting your Leda rear shocks? :(

I have bought a 2nd hand set that was fitted to an Evo 5 and am having a few problems. First up was the platform height adjusters hitting the top arm when installed (I assume there is more clearance on an E5 as they do not have the forged aluminium rear suspension as on an E6). I moved the adjusters up about 10 mm to clear the top arm (and hence also raise the ride height) and that seemed fine, BUT, the shock absorber rod is now protruding through the turret too far (by 10 mm). The spring is slightly too short for the shock length but even tying that to both platform adjuster and top mount won't prevent the top of the shock from pushing the rubber bush in the top mount up will it?

Any comments?

[CliveW]

Simon,

I've sent you an e-mail.

Clive