I thought my car was all about the understeer...

[burgo]

I'm not sure what coilovers you were thinking, but most/many people seem to run Gaz, who will spring and valve a set to your specifications, even set body lengths as per Benns. I don't think a trackday or 2 worth of cash (4-500 for GHA's) is a huge investment for a track car myself? Depends really what kind of budgets you're working to I guess, but then suspension and tyres will net you the most gains (in terms of performance and/or enjoyability of the car).

Thing is a set of coilovers optimised for b roads wont b ideal for trackdays and vice versa.

[MK999]

But then neither would separate spring damper. I've just never understood the complete aversion to coilovers because they're 'too hard' when you can spring them at whatever rates you like, ok the damping is gonna be slightly harder to fix if you're looking at specific kits, but then if you're not looking to set it up in a specific way it's all swings and roundabouts anyway, and there's nothing to suggest they may actually be damped any harder depending on the manufacturer, or that the adjustment range doesn't move far enough to be ideal for what you want.

The main gain is gonna be the fact that on the rear you haven't got the springs sat quite so far inboard on a rear beam, so it goes a little way to being a more idealised setup where the roll rate is higher than the bump rate, rather than the opposite.

Although I understand it really comes down to budgets and specific setups, and in certain cases, i.e not having the cash to outlay on a customised set like Gaz and working only with whats available 2nd hand maybe, the options available might not be suitable... The blanket opinion that coilovers are 'too hard' always struck me as a bit misguided and the lack of tunability in a separate spring damper being 'too...' anything at all would outweigh that anyway imo.

[Hobbit]

but then suspension and tyres will net you the most gains (in terms of performance and/or enjoyability of the car).

I dunno, the dirty great v6 gives me plenty of enjoyment and performance.

And as for Gaz, I wouldn't touch them with Edd's ten foot barge pole. I had a set replaced under warranty after a year, and the guy from Gaz tried to get out of replacing them by saying they weren't really for road use. Strictly track. Which I found a bit strange when I specifically asked for a fast road set up when ordering them.

[MK999]

fair enough, different strokes and all that Always found Gaz pretty helpful when I've spoken to them about anything, but I've never lived with them for over a year. Main bonus is the customisation they offer at that price range though, most other companies just wanna sell you what they think is best for a standard car.

[Mieran]

And bare in mind the road was untreated, barely one 0 degrees C and the tires still are uber new.

This explains a lot. I wouldn't think about going for a b road blast is such conditions unless I had uniroyals or similar winter tyre.

[BRoadGhost]

Coilovers don't have to be "too hard" at all.

All that's wrong is having too short / stiff springs / hard damping / low ride height for your preference. Ever notice the rally boys on loose surfaces with jumps run a 12" spring & 4x4 ride height; think that'll be uncomfortable?

[Hobbit]

This explains a lot. I wouldn't think about going for a b road blast is such conditions unless I had uniroyals or similar winter tyre.

I clearly have a larger set of testicles... or a smaller brain.

Coilovers don't have to be "too hard" at all.

All that's wrong is having too short / stiff springs / hard damping / low ride height for your preference. Ever notice the rally boys on loose surfaces with jumps run a 12" spring & 4x4 ride height; think that'll be uncomfortable?

As per Burgo's post, I don't have a WRC budget to spend on suspension.

Also, if I was trying to build the best handling car in the world I'm not sure I'd start with a nova. My car is all about cheap thrills, and I doubt you could go much quicker for less money.