Torsionbeam replacement

[tiff_lee]

Hi as some of you may or may not be aware i'm new to the R5gtt scene so I am still finding my way around the car and getting to grips with it all.

After having my R5 up on the ramp and having a look at the torsionbeam setup with the gas dampers it reminded me of my old mini turbo with the subframe and gas dampers.

Now while the two setups are not identical I recall on the mini it was possible to replace the rear subframe for some kind of box section across the width of the car (can't remember the exact details) and mount independant radius arms with coilovers instead of just gas dampers.

I was wondering is it possible to carry out any mod like this on the R5 removing the need for a torsionbeam and given independent rear suspension?

[Guybrush]

its been done, but mainly on the cars with 2 engines, or a rear engine conversion.
it doesn't look especially easy to me, and probably not worth the hastle.... but i'll let them enlighten you.

[Nick k]

its been done, but mainly on the cars with 2 engines, or a rear engine conversion.
it doesn't look especially easy to me, and probably not worth the hastle.... but i'll let them enlighten you.

That black 5 looks like my first one i brought :) Is it a G plate ending DOV

[rs250nut]

Anyone thought about using the rear end set up from a 19 touring car, although maybe hard to locate one

[Woznaldo]

Should be easy enough to do. Obviously you'd have to fabricate some towers to mount some coilovers. I'd look into cutting the beam away from the trailing arms, removing the torsion bars but, leaving the roll bar in place?

All depends on what fabrication your prepared to do/pay for.:)

[tiff_lee]

I work on a military trainbase with workshops and all the facilities I would need just not too sure how to go about it or whether it has already been done before.

Suppose it would be easier if got hold of a spare beam to butcher so I dont have to leave my 5 up on stands.

[Bruce - BHPerformance]

I did see a five with turreted rear end which used coilovers instead of the torsion bars but it still used the rear beam and anti roll bar. I cant remember who it belonged to but it is simple fabrication work to do it once you have calculated the position of the struts and the poundage of springs you require etc.
Might even try it myself on new track project.
Full rear beam replacement is the way to go for weight saving but would be a very big job.

[Cabbage]

New poster! (less than 10 posts)

I'm guessing it would also require some thinking into the exact location and direction of the coilovers. Renault will have spent a lot of money and time building the rear suspension for the 5, you don't want to put all that work in and find you've buggared the handling because of bad location.

[tiff_lee]

Does the rear need to be turreted then? I always thought on a mini it was a straight forward swap from the original gas dampers to the gaz/spax coilover kits, could the same not be done on 5's? or then perhaps I have no idea what i'm on about and have it all wrong :confused:

[Bruce - BHPerformance]

You can replace the std shocks with coilovers but don't know if they will work properly due to the angle of the dangle and the limited travel. They can be used to assist the std rear set up to give it better control.

[Woznaldo]

Does the rear need to be turreted then? I always thought on a mini it was a straight forward swap from the original gas dampers to the gaz/spax coilover kits, could the same not be done on 5's? or then perhaps I have no idea what i'm on about and have it all wrong :confused:

Minis used to have to get turreted as there was no space for coilovers but, Spax brought out an offset top mount slim coilover that you could use in place of the original damper.

On a Mini the damper is mounted vertically but, on the 5 the damper is mounted more horizontally and because of it's geometry, has very little travel compared to vertical mount dampers. This would mean that if you could fit a coilover in the original location it would need to have quite a high spring rate to have an useful effect.