Ultimate handling for a VY S

[MY03VYS]

Hey guys,

I currently have a 1 owner (I'm the 2nd owner) VY S. The thing has had everything it has ever needed done by an older owner who treated the thing better than his kids.

I'm now looking to upgrade a few things that need doing, and throwing any coin I need to at getting the best handling I can out of it.

When I say that, i'm talking about the possibility of doing some track days, and some spirited (but at legal speeds) driving on the street.

Asside from a service and sorting out some saggy engine mounts and stuff, the list currently looks like this-

Brakes
DBA4040S T3 Club Spec T3 rotors Front
DBA041S T2 Street Spec rear rotors
QFM DB1331A1RM - A1RM Race/Track spec pads front
QFM DB1332HPX - HPX pads rear
Penrite racing super dot4 fluid
(supplied by Brakes Direct/GSL Rallysport)

Suspension
Whiteline 4 position 30mm Adjustable front swaybar
SuperPro SPF2339K Strut bar to chassis caster correction bushes
SuperPro SPF0756K Strut bar to Lower control arm bushes
SuperPro SPF2545K Rear trailing arm camber correction bushes
Replacement of the FE2 shocks/springs with new items....
POSSIBLY coil overs

So with better brakes, and the sloppy suspension sorted out, I come to the hardest part of it all.... all the brakes and suspension in the world is useless without the black round things that make it stick, and the shiny bits inside them that make them mount to the car. (Tyres & Wheels)

My current thoughts are to keep the wheels light as possible without spending a mint on them. I have decided on the Speedy Wheels Carbine. They're a flow formed forged wheel so light, strong, and look great. I priced up some Team Dynamics wheels (V8 Supercar control wheel) but they're just too bloody expensive at $366 a wheel to be used on the street.

BUT! Do I go 17's or 18's??

I don't care about having bling looking big rims... never have, never will care... I'm 30, and over the bling look. I just want it to go round corners as hard and fast as I can. So are 17's going to keep unsprung weight down but give me too much sidewall? Are 18's going to be heavier but have the optimal sidewall?

Tyre wise, I am looking at (in an 18") Michelin Pilot Sport 3's. Alternatively in a 17, I am looking at either Yokohama S.Drives, or the Pilot Sport 3's. As much as I'd love to go for a set of AD08 Semi's, I just can't justify it when I still have to drive it to work on Monday.

So as you can see from the parts list, I'm prepared to throw money at it, but ONLY the money that's needed... not going to do every bush when the OEM ones work well in some areas. Nor am I throwing $5k at a Harrop or AP brake upgrade... it's just not in that territory where I can justify replacement price of the car on upgrades. I am happy to throw at it what IS going to be effective though.

Any assistance anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Rocking_along]

A really good thing to do would be to replace all your factory suspension bushes with Nolathane, Rear sub frame mount, control arms, sway bars, shock mounts, diff insert, front control arms, swaybars ect, if you check out my build you will see. I just finished doing all that to my VZ SS and it sticks to corners so good. Way less body roll and everything feels really tight I can throw the ute around corners at higher speeds and still feel in control.

 

[MY03VYS]

With all due respect, I'd stick to SuperPro... the Nolathane stuff really isn't all it's cracked up to be, and isn't that much cheaper than the SuperPro stuff.

Generally speaking the mounts that aren't being replaced with bushes on my list, are not being replaced because the factory mounts are actually fairly effective at doing what they do. OK admittedly I will be doing strut top's too probably. You can go too far with bushes though too. The swaybar link bushes have already been done in the front too, and I'm pretty sure they're nolathane (they're red).

 

[MY03VYS]

Oh and I got the weights for the Speedy Wheels in the Carbine... keep in mind it's a flow formed forged wheel, so it is lighter and stronger in construction.

17x7.5 - 7.306kg
18x8 - 8.536kg
(weight for bare rim without tyre, valve or balancing weights)

In comparison, the Team Dynamics wheels (control wheel for the V8 Supercars) weights are 17x7.5 - 8kg, and 18x8 - 9kg... so the speedy's are actually lighter which is a surprise, though I should imagine the Team Dynamics wheels are a little better constructed.

Seriously considering going for the 17's now... the difference in sidewall is only about 12mm. I'm a little worried though that that weight saving in the rim, will be lost in the added weight of more sidewall.