Suspension options for a Chimaera.??
Discussion
Right, so ive got the Chimaera.
Im now looking at upgrading the shocks, as its sat on the "old" bilstiens.
Now I know they are a good shock, but im after doing some track days and or sprints with the car.
I am looking at the double adj protechs. But just wondered what the general consensus is from those that have gone before. On which make to go with, ie Gaz,, Protech, Nitron, etc etc..
Also what spring rates are the best for my intended use..
And yes I can feel what the car is doing beneath me, as I have owned a car before that had double adj shocks, all be it a german variant...
Thanks Dave W.
Im now looking at upgrading the shocks, as its sat on the "old" bilstiens.
Now I know they are a good shock, but im after doing some track days and or sprints with the car.
I am looking at the double adj protechs. But just wondered what the general consensus is from those that have gone before. On which make to go with, ie Gaz,, Protech, Nitron, etc etc..
Also what spring rates are the best for my intended use..
And yes I can feel what the car is doing beneath me, as I have owned a car before that had double adj shocks, all be it a german variant...
Thanks Dave W.
Very pleased with Gaz Gold Pros on the last car and equally pleased with the monos on this car. The adjusters seem to do more on the monos but the pros have been up-graded since my versions.
Set up important as are Spring rates. If anything my instal of monos are a bit soft at the rear. I think I settled on 400 front and 325 rear. Would probably go 450 f and 400 r if doing again.
Set up important as are Spring rates. If anything my instal of monos are a bit soft at the rear. I think I settled on 400 front and 325 rear. Would probably go 450 f and 400 r if doing again.
Which is what I run on my Monos.
Not bad on the road and really quite good on track.
If the car was used more on track then I would go stiffer but it gets used on the road as well.
You can't have one suspension unit that will be great at both road and track, 450/400, (or 500/400) is a good compromise!
BTW, Classichim has the Pro-Techs.
Not bad on the road and really quite good on track.
If the car was used more on track then I would go stiffer but it gets used on the road as well.
You can't have one suspension unit that will be great at both road and track, 450/400, (or 500/400) is a good compromise!
BTW, Classichim has the Pro-Techs.
Hi, yes I have the Protech twin adjust shocks,,
I'm on 350F/300R Spring rate.
This is a bit to soft really, I specked them based on getting good road compliance and for that on local slowish driving there great but if I want to push on and go faster I have to click the damping up or the rears will bottom out,,
I'm constantly playing with the bump and rebound buttons which I find interesting but to be honest the best settings are with the bump and re bound set at about the same clicks !
What's interesting is having low bump settings and slightly higher rebound,, you get softer shocks but the rebound keeps the ride height up,
After 7-8 months of driving on them I've decided 400/350 would be about right for a compliant road car but if I wanted to use them on track regularly then I'd be getting 450/400 as Phazed uses.
I have two styles of driving,
Roads,, very ginger!
Track ,,, I'm very aggressive with the car.
That's not easy to find a set of shocks that can do all that without some compromise so I'll use the Protechs as road shocks which gives me a nice compliant ride and I also have a set of Gaz which I'll Spring rate for track use.
I have no idea of how the Portechs with firmer springs feel so I'm not sure if any of this helps.
I'm in two minds over them to be honest,, what I will say is the damping is progressive on the clicks and subtle, so the valving works quite nicely.
I'm sure if I'd got harder springs fitted I'd be pretty happy with them, I will be increasing the Spring rate as it is to soft with 350/300.
If you want to track the car hard them 450/400 must be the way to go.
Hope some of that waffle helps.
I'm on 350F/300R Spring rate.
This is a bit to soft really, I specked them based on getting good road compliance and for that on local slowish driving there great but if I want to push on and go faster I have to click the damping up or the rears will bottom out,,
I'm constantly playing with the bump and rebound buttons which I find interesting but to be honest the best settings are with the bump and re bound set at about the same clicks !
What's interesting is having low bump settings and slightly higher rebound,, you get softer shocks but the rebound keeps the ride height up,
After 7-8 months of driving on them I've decided 400/350 would be about right for a compliant road car but if I wanted to use them on track regularly then I'd be getting 450/400 as Phazed uses.
I have two styles of driving,
Roads,, very ginger!
Track ,,, I'm very aggressive with the car.
That's not easy to find a set of shocks that can do all that without some compromise so I'll use the Protechs as road shocks which gives me a nice compliant ride and I also have a set of Gaz which I'll Spring rate for track use.
I have no idea of how the Portechs with firmer springs feel so I'm not sure if any of this helps.
I'm in two minds over them to be honest,, what I will say is the damping is progressive on the clicks and subtle, so the valving works quite nicely.
I'm sure if I'd got harder springs fitted I'd be pretty happy with them, I will be increasing the Spring rate as it is to soft with 350/300.
If you want to track the car hard them 450/400 must be the way to go.
Hope some of that waffle helps.
I have come to the conclusion Pro Tech DA and Gaz dampers (especially the Mono's) are roughly on par and both good quality suspenders 
450Fr/400Rr gets my vote I'm very pleased with my Gaz Gold Pros too, and as TV8 says the spring rates are equally important. I started with the standard Gaz supplied 400lb front and 325lb rear arrangement, this worked well for the road before my LPG conversion added a chunk of weight to the back of the car.
I'm now running 400lb springs front and rear.
With the 400lb front springs left alone I went up from the original 325lbs rears to 400lbs springs in a bid to compensate for the two steel LPG bottles in the boot. It goes without saying my damper settings needed altering to match the new heavier rear springs as the two elements are intrinsically linked.
The truth is my Gaz Gold Pros have had quite a workout over the years, when I first added the additional weight just behind the rear axle the lighter 325lb springs allowed the car to bottom out on dips in the road, and occasionally quite violently too. This abuse must have given the poor dampers a really hard time but I have to say they coped admirably.
All this might not sound too relevant to most, but I consider what I put my Gaz Gold Pros though during this period to be a proper punishing test and so proves to others the durability and longevity of these dampers. Suffice to say the 400lb rear springs totally solved the bottoming out issue, I'm now left with a very well balanced and excellent handling TVR with fantastic traction.
Four years after fitting and thousands of miles later my Gaz Gold Pros continue to work brilliantly so I'd have absolutely no issue whatsoever in recommending them to fellow TVR owners, especially given their price point.
I hope this helps the OP make his decision?
Dave.
I'm now running 400lb springs front and rear.
With the 400lb front springs left alone I went up from the original 325lbs rears to 400lbs springs in a bid to compensate for the two steel LPG bottles in the boot. It goes without saying my damper settings needed altering to match the new heavier rear springs as the two elements are intrinsically linked.
The truth is my Gaz Gold Pros have had quite a workout over the years, when I first added the additional weight just behind the rear axle the lighter 325lb springs allowed the car to bottom out on dips in the road, and occasionally quite violently too. This abuse must have given the poor dampers a really hard time but I have to say they coped admirably.
All this might not sound too relevant to most, but I consider what I put my Gaz Gold Pros though during this period to be a proper punishing test and so proves to others the durability and longevity of these dampers. Suffice to say the 400lb rear springs totally solved the bottoming out issue, I'm now left with a very well balanced and excellent handling TVR with fantastic traction.
Four years after fitting and thousands of miles later my Gaz Gold Pros continue to work brilliantly so I'd have absolutely no issue whatsoever in recommending them to fellow TVR owners, especially given their price point.
I hope this helps the OP make his decision?
Dave.
Another vote for Gaz Gold Pro's here. Had them for 5 years now and they suit me and my car perfectly. The suspension is set up in "fast road spec" according to the two guys who have done it for me over the years so it is firmer than normal for road use and a bit softer than it should be for serious track day abuse. If I did more track days I'd invest some time with the suspension guy so I understand how to change the stiffness for track days and then change it back for the drive home.
nicks chim has nitrons with 500 font and 450 rear great on the track and very easy to adjust with just the one doing both, took very little testing to get the right feel for both road and track, but 500 450 is to stiff for the road unless its occasional use, i had gaz gold pros with 400 375 on the maroon 4ltr chim i tracked and with the damping clicked up around three clicks seemed just right but quite a bit more dive on braking and squat in the lower gears in particular but you pays yer money, on the wedge i am building i have gone for gaz gold pros with roughly standard springs but i have built into the revised suspension the ability to stand the shock up more or lay it down so as to get the ultimate setting theoretically makes for something to play with anyway.
john
john
john
john
Hi,
On my Chimaera I have Gaz Gold Pro's 400f 375r, this works well for me, Tim supplied them from ACT and got the rear springs increased 50lb as I am a heavier than average man 😐.I have had them on for 5 years with no probs, all good.
I have also change the bushes and fitted a set of SP12's since fitting the shocks, each item improves the ride further.
So good In fact that I have fitted Gaz Monos to my Tuscan again with 50lb increase to the rear springs fand again so so pleased with the transformation.
There are a few of us from Essex with these from Tim of ACT and all really pleased with them, he is always very helpful and provides you with what you need .
Mr N
On my Chimaera I have Gaz Gold Pro's 400f 375r, this works well for me, Tim supplied them from ACT and got the rear springs increased 50lb as I am a heavier than average man 😐.I have had them on for 5 years with no probs, all good.
I have also change the bushes and fitted a set of SP12's since fitting the shocks, each item improves the ride further.
So good In fact that I have fitted Gaz Monos to my Tuscan again with 50lb increase to the rear springs fand again so so pleased with the transformation.
There are a few of us from Essex with these from Tim of ACT and all really pleased with them, he is always very helpful and provides you with what you need .
Mr N
The shock of choice for sprinters is the nitron unless you have pots of money and can afford ohlins. I have used nitrons for 12 years now and won 5 championships using them so although they are a bit more expensive than the others mentioned above they are in my opinion just a bit better.
For TD and sprints you will probably want stiffer springs maybe around 450/375 and it should still be ok on the road. Join the TVRCC speed championship. There are loads of chimeras that sprint with us. Oh get the springs and shocks as a package. The shock has to be tuned to the spring stiffness. Jes
For TD and sprints you will probably want stiffer springs maybe around 450/375 and it should still be ok on the road. Join the TVRCC speed championship. There are loads of chimeras that sprint with us. Oh get the springs and shocks as a package. The shock has to be tuned to the spring stiffness. Jes
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