Best high end coilovers for track that are still streetable

[twistedneck]

I found two shops out there who specialize in coilover shocks for our cars, Vorshlag and Cortex Racing. Which one would you go with and why?

Vorshlag has a very nice MCS monotube coilover kit with adjustable rebound damping only including Hyperco coils, MCS one way dampers, and the super nice Vorshlag adjustable top mounts.. that's about $3400.

http://www.vorshlag.com/product_info.php?cPath=141_142_179&products_id=582

Here are pics of the double adjustable version of this damper in use at the 2014 World Challenge race on Belle Isle.

Cortex racing has a custom setup i'd go with JRI dampers because they simply look so damn good. However Cortex makes their own bodies and inserts valving from Koni, JRI, etc.. so I don't think you can see the nice JRi shock boides.

http://www.cortexracing.com/shop/xtreme-grip-coil-over-front-struts-jri-da/
http://www.cortexracing.com/shop/s197_penske7500da_rear/

Pics of double adjustable versions of this setup at the same World Challenge race

Which kit and why?

 

[twistedneck]

Update: after speaking with Fillip the owner of Cortex the service was stellar and he explained that the Vorshlag MCS is an excellent setup also but there are a few differences..

1. Cortex focuses on Mustangs only and they have a lot of history on the valving (not saying Vorshlag does not!)
2. Cortex allows me to use JRi double adjustables in front. Single JRi in the rear. And i wanted JRi...
3. The camber plates on the JRi use the std. flat Torrington type bearing that allows for more shock travel than the roller sealed type bearing on the Vorshlag. this may or may not matter but on the street i want as much travel as possible. For most applications this difference is subtle but it might matter to you.
4. The cost is more expensive at Cortex - by about $600 over Vorshlag single adjustables..
5. You might need to include an extra $100 if you include their variable height stabar links needed for corner balancing.

 

[modernbeat]

Torrington bearings are fine for race use where you have the opportunity to replace them after every event, or at least inspect and lube them after every few hours of use. But they really don't work on the street. We tried so many ways to make them work and live without frequent maintenance or replacement. Here's a photo of an early version of the Vorshlag perch. This design, and a few others that didn't even make it this far were discarded.

Here it shows how we tried to enclose it to give the Torrington more longevity.

Eventually we designed the current perch which takes the bearing out of the spring height and sinks the bearing below the spring perch and parallel to the spring so it does not affect available stroke.

Another shot from the archives, the first of the sealed bearing perches.

The issues seen by a dual-purpose street and track car are much more difficult to solve than strictly race parts, or strictly street parts.

 

[twistedneck]

Thanks for clearing that up Modernbeat! So.. the travel question is now answered and now the only difference is durability of the std. bearings with the cortex system vs. the proven durability of the many Vorshlag upper mounts out there.

Quick question, do you know how the damping compares on the MCS vs the JRi?

 

[modernbeat]

I don't. But the valving (the damping) is the easiest thing to change. For dual purpose cars with large monotube dampers I try to get a fairly digressive curve. It works well on both street (comfort) and track (performance) without giving too much away.

The hardware, how it fits the car, how long it lasts between service, and how easy it is to work with is really what you should be looking at. For struts the top guide is really important. It prevents deflection within the strut. Too much deflection doesn't just add more friction, it starts wearing out top seals, piston seals and guide seals. The stiffer the shaft and better the guide, the longer the hydraulic parts of the strut will last before the performance drops off and eventually requires a rebuild. Next is correct lengths. Do the parts require adapters, length spacers or special extended mounts so they fit the car? That's not good, as the builder has specified a slightly too long (may bottom out), or too short (not enough stroke) damper and has built some band-aids to get it to fit. We see this a lot with Fox, Afco and Bilstein parts. It's an easy stepping stone for guys just getting into suspension but not able to make custom parts with the right coatings and hardnesses.

 

[twistedneck]

Update: I decided to purchase the Cortex JRi setup with the 2way front and 1 way rear. This was a very tight decision since these are essentially the top setups for our cars. Fillip and Jason know their stuff so in the end it came down to me wanting the JRi internals - no real functional reason. Pricing when you consider the 2 way fronts in the cortex system is a wash (if you go with the 2 way fronts in the Vorshlag MCS setup pricing is similar).

I'll post install and review this spring.

Wonder how many times a season i'll have to swap out the torrington bearings? that's one of the advantages with Vorshlag.. you get those sweet camber plates.