hey there just wondrining what susupension setup is going to make My DR30 handle really well, its ok for a cruiser at the moment but i want really sharp turn in, and solid feel throughout the corners, I'm planning on using the car for drift in the future any ideas feedback pro's and cons would be greatly appriciated.
Cheers
Clint

hmm, the DR30's are a little agricultural in the handling!
You'll need to do some work on the rear end, build some adjustment into the holes for the swing arms so that you can tweak camber and toe. It's all a bit of a compromise, as the camber and toe change soo much with suspension travel.
The only way to make them really do what you want is to stiffen up the springs, thus eliminating as much travel as possible. This has it's downside though.
Have a chat to any guys who have done Datto 510's, see what they reckon...

Speaking of rear end mods, I spoke to Barry at Datsport and if we can get 20 who are interested then Barry is willing to manufacture a adjustable rear cross member to fit DR30.

Like the following.
http://www.datsport.com/Adjustable_rear_cross_member.html

First thing he needs is to know what sort of ride height range he needs to take into account and someone in SA so he can knock up a proto type.

Also, I bloke on Skylines australia has suggested a rack and pinion steering conversion for the DR30, I think using the following.

Bluebird crossmember
S13 front control arms
S13 front coilovers
S13 front hubs
R32 GTS-T discs and (or R33) calipers
Bluebird non power rack or Z31 power rack
S13 tie rods
S13 adjustable carstor rods

Not sure about steering linkage.

Also new suspension bushed and maybe abjustable strut tops would help

try here.
http://www.noltecsuspension.com/

Cheers

also try here (assuming bushes for MR30 IRS are the same as DR30

http://www.k-mac.com/

Cheers

as far as the rear end goes you can slot the rear crossmember to allow you to set the camber at whatever ride height you want. or look into the datsport option

front end if you need better turn in you need to get some castor happening, either with adjustable castor rods or with any of the myriad of adjustable strut tops offered by most suspension component makers. preferably a combination of the two.

Front needs neutral camber , zero toe and as much positive caster as you can get . With +5 deg caster (mine runs 6) the front wheels will lean the right way on both sides but only when cornering . Lots of static negative camber does jack for directional stability , promotes tram lining and wears out the insides of your tyres .

Rear put cable ties around the damper shafts and do a couple of hard launches , the cable ties tell tale the squat height of the car . If you set zero toe and camber at this height you will get the best traction as the rear tyres will be at 90 deg to the road surface so full tread width on the deck .

You should look into slightly larger diametre front anti roll bars and set damper and spring rates to keep the wheels on the deck .

R30's will always suffer from rear camber/caster change but that is the nature of semi trailing rear suspension and why Nissan went to multi link on the R32 .
All front strut cars suffer from limited roll camber change , Nissan went to the upright type suspension with the R32 for grip/handling and comfort .

Hey don’t know if this is of any help, but I imagine DR30 and S12 have farley similar if not the same suspension set up’s.
A friend of mine recently did this conversion on a S12.
(Quote Glyn)
“Bluebird crossmember
S13 front control arms
S13 front coilovers
S13 front hubs
R32 GTS-T discs and (or R33) calipers
Bluebird non power rack or Z31 power rack
S13 tie rods
S13 adjustable carstor rods”

My mate did not use the Bluebird X/member but did use the Bluebird rack. It went in pretty easily using custom rack mounts made to suit the standard S12 X/member.

He is also in the process of fitting a complete R32 rear cradle, For the same reasons Disco has already mentioned.
Fitting the cradle is not that hard. It is about as complicated as custom making engine and gearbox mounts in an engine conversion. The tricky part is you will need to make or modify strut towers to suit the R32 coilovers. We are custom making sheet metal strut tows but I am sure people will have other suggestions that will work.

S12's are difficult because as you know the rear coils bear on the semi trailing arms not the damper body . Works BDA Escorts used to have rear strut towers grafted into them but they were 4 equal length trailing arm + panhard rod live ends .

If I wanted a project car I would buy a cheap N/A S13 or R32 . Too many advantages with R32's and the FJ should fit . Weight is the killer in a hatchback S12 as Nissan found out .

Hi Disco,

The S12 I am referring to is a Australian delivered Gazelle. It was live axel but we examined my S12 Silvia and his Gazelle and both are very similar with only miner differences. Both cars are coupes. The S12 with the R32 rear end has a VG30DETT sitting in it. It's a pretty cheap project car when you consider the car only cost him $700 to buy.
I'm pretty sure the whole thing the way it sits still only owes him less than $3500. But it’s a long way from finished
I am with you though Disco. You can’t beet a N/A S13 or R32 for a cheap and easy project.

Yeah well if your going to rip most of the bits out of a turbo model and change them why pay the turbo version premium ?