SPRINGS.....did someone mention SPRINGS
Fast Road or Track is the big question.......
I have found that trying to get the ultimate handling is a big compromise.
I have tried many springs over the last few months, some are fantatstic for fast road and for soaking up all the bumps, yumps and dips and really allow you to push on.
BUT
If you stiffen or lower it just a touch too much is becomes more track focused, giving you a much better tight smooth corner grin factor but the ability to push on down your average UK A/B road is severlly compromised.
So you have to decide....how many times and where are you going to experience the uber smooth corner, be it long and fast or short and tight, compared to how many time you want to blast cross country down your favorite dipping and bucking A/B road ???
My current setup is great when it's just me in the car. But the weight of a few bodies (even just kids) or even a full tank of fuel and it starts to be compromised. I took the car out with the family last week and TBH I really didn't like it. Alot of the fun of being able to push on was gone, so you just plodded along bucking and bouncing all the way.........
The classic also doesn't have the clearances of the Newage, so dropping too low and you soon start to hit arch lips, rear inner arches or front arch liners....as I have done, even when running the supposed ultimate McPherson Bilstein strut...I think the slightly taller 18 inch wheel, even on 35 profile is making the difference between hitting the bump stops or hit the arch with the tyre (I would assume that Prodrive/Bilstein set the bumpstops in the right place, but at worst only for a 7.5x18 ET53, not 8x18 ET51 where the inner arch moves closer to tyre contact due to the profile or the arch liner plastic or rear metall inner arch).