[B3NN3TT]

I mean the springs on my D2s are not the ones normally sold in the Mondeo/Contour kit; they are much higher-rate springs than the usual set. If I had to guess, the off-the-shelf spring rates are probably 7k front / 5k rear.

 

[MarcusV6]

The original 278mm front calipers were moved to the rear with adapters there for the stock rear calipers as well.

Does the Handbrake still work? I was thinking about getting the bigger ones and moving the front ones to the back but for inspection I need my handbrake to work.

 

[B3NN3TT]

Yes. I misspoke; the front ROTORS are moved to the rear. You simply move the stock rear caliper away from the hub a little to fit the larger rotors; the handbrake is not affected at all and still works as designed.

 

[MarcusV6]

Oh so the just the rotors get bigger while keeping the stock calipers right? But are you using the same brake pads as stock or also bigger ones?

 

[B3NN3TT]

Stock brake pads are all that will fit in those calipers. The swept area is the same, but you have better leverage from placing them further away from the hub. Plus the larger rotors provide much better heat dissipation.

 

[mmc757]

The original 278mm front calipers were moved to the rear with adapters there for the stock rear calipers as well.

Looks like a misprint...Are you saying you have 278 front rotors installed on the rear using rear calipers with an adapter plate?

 

[mmc757]

Do you have a photo? are they 300mm?

I have one of the sets like shown in the photo
They allow you to use the 300mm Focus front rotor with your stock front calipers.

 

[B3NN3TT]

Looks like a misprint...Are you saying you have 278 front rotors installed on the rear using rear calipers with an adapter plate?

This is correct.

TCE's rear kit works the same, only with a 300mm rotor and a stock caliper. Their only benefit over mine is their aluminum rotor hat.

 

[mmc757]

Do you have to shave the pads before installation?

 

[Ricardo70]

Hello about the discs and pads what I see is that the front has 24mm and the rear 20mm so you have to see what maximum width the rear brake caliper has between the pads, if it does not give it, wear the brake pad or use some used, you can use a used stocking and a new one too.

Marcus from what I understand when putting the same brake caliper and its pads on a larger and slightly wider disc the problems are:
Make the adapter that moves the original brake caliper further away.
The inner size of the rim, the 300mm I guess you need a 17 "and the 278mm rear would be worth a 16"
The brake cable has to be accommodated in those 2.2cm more towards the outside, as it is towards the front I suppose it is a little looser
The space between the brake pads.
The advantage is that although the brake pad and the brake piston are the same, it is tightening the disc 2.2cm further from the center, increasing the lever, the travel and therefore the braking force and as B3NN3TT says, the heat is distributed in a larger disc with less heating of the brake piston.

I do not understand the photo, the adapter is a handmade iron plate or are we talking about a manufactured commercial product? (I don't know if I'm asking right)

B3NN3TT?
I mean the springs on my D2s are not the ones normally sold in the Mondeo / Contour kit; they are much higher-rate springs than the usual set. If I had to guess, the off-the-shelf spring rates are probably 7k front / 5k rear.

higher-rate = height? height adjustment? hardness?
7K 5K = K ??? what measure is it?

I do not understand the translation and forgive so many questions but my head does nothing but think about how to lower that rear wheel in the curves and when that happens to me I like to learn a lot about the subject ...

And I think there are things that are difficult to change like the weight distribution and the total weight of the car
But the hardness of the torsion bar and the hardness of the front suspension as well as the travel of the rear suspension have to be very important, if we have an adjustable suspension.

In the photo we can see that if the car in a left curve lowers the right front wheel this helps to lift the left rear wheel and if the right rear wheel lowers the torsion bar shortens the route of the left rear so I think there is no Than to make the torsion bar harder, that is very useful in fast curves, or to reduce the suspension travel but rather to stiffen the front suspension and prevent the chassis from twisting?

 

[mmc757]

I do not understand the photo, the adapter is a handmade iron plate or are we talking about a manufactured commercial product? (I don't know if I'm asking right)

The plate allows you to relocate the caliper outward so it will fit over the larger rotor. These particular plates were manufactured by a former member who is no longer active in this group, but he was a very experienced and trustworthy member.

The best first mod to suspension is always to make sure everything is in good shape. Check all your software and make sure its all doing its job, get some tires and an alignment.

Polyurethane bushings are a great second modification to tighten everything up without being too intrusive. BurtonPower seems to provide a great selection of these parts in Europe. Search the MK2 Mondeo section as they don't seem to list as much for the Cougar but they are all the same parts. I don't know if Brexit has complicated purchases between Spain and the UK or not...you might have a local source for Powerflex bushings.

Our factory rear sway bar endlinks are garbage. In fact, there's a strong possibility that yours are torn up and useless already if you haven't checked them. Installing better endlinks is easy, fast, inexpensive, and makes a huge difference. And it can be done in a parking lot.

Larger rear swaybars are another easy and quick improvement, but they aren't always easy to find because nobody ever really wants to sell the ones they have. In the US, some Cougars received the SVT spec 19mm rear sway bar. I don't know if the European cars had that option or not but that might be the best you can do for a reasonable price. Check yours, it might already be 19mm.

If you do those things, you will feel a tremendous improvement and you will be able to handle those curves with confidence and probably start pushing them even harder.

Coilovers and lowering springs can come later, just having a tight and confident car will change everything for you.

 

[mmc757]

This car looks like his springs are too stiff and he needs a lot more sway bar.

Its a misconception that stiffer springs will handle better. Cars that handle very well are often rough-riding beasts, but that's not necessarily because of the springs, its because everything else is super tight. Also, cars that develop a lot of down-force in high speeds need stiffer springs to maintain full range of motion at speed, but that doesn't necessarily apply to a street car. For a street car, you generally want the softest springs you can get that will maintain the correct ride height.

 

[B3NN3TT]

higher-rate = height? height adjustment? hardness?
7K 5K = K ??? what measure is it?

I do not understand the translation and forgive so many questions but my head does nothing but think about how to lower that rear wheel in the curves and when that happens to me I like to learn a lot about the subject ...

Sorry, those are spring rates, measured in kg/mm. Most aftermarket suspension companies describe their spring rates as such. In the US, they sometimes use lb/inch measurements, so we have to convert to compare.

 

[Ricardo70]

Sorry, those are spring rates, measured in kg/mm. Most aftermarket suspension companies describe their spring rates as such. In the US, they sometimes use lb/inch measurements, so we have to convert to compare.

I already understand, kg / mm on the spring, but is this hardness fixed or can it be adjusted?

 

[Ricardo70]

View attachment 81923

The plate allows you to relocate the caliper outward so it will fit over the larger rotor. These particular plates were manufactured by a former member who is no longer active in this group, but he was a very experienced and trustworthy member.

The best first mod to suspension is always to make sure everything is in good shape. Check all your software and make sure its all doing its job, get some tires and an alignment.

Polyurethane bushings are a great second modification to tighten everything up without being too intrusive. BurtonPower seems to provide a great selection of these parts in Europe. Search the MK2 Mondeo section as they don't seem to list as much for the Cougar but they are all the same parts. I don't know if Brexit has complicated purchases between Spain and the UK or not...you might have a local source for Powerflex bushings.

Our factory rear sway bar endlinks are garbage. In fact, there's a strong possibility that yours are torn up and useless already if you haven't checked them. Installing better endlinks is easy, fast, inexpensive, and makes a huge difference. And it can be done in a parking lot.

Larger rear swaybars are another easy and quick improvement, but they aren't always easy to find because nobody ever really wants to sell the ones they have. In the US, some Cougars received the SVT spec 19mm rear sway bar. I don't know if the European cars had that option or not but that might be the best you can do for a reasonable price. Check yours, it might already be 19mm.

If you do those things, you will feel a tremendous improvement and you will be able to handle those curves with confidence and probably start pushing them even harder.

Coilovers and lowering springs can come later, just having a tight and confident car will change everything for you.

I do not question the quality of this work, my father had me used to seeing him doing things like that for everything he needed and I know that things can be done very well done with good hands.

If everything you have told me is done, everything is new as I put in the photos, in the absence of the steering alignment and some good tires.

And the car goes very very well in curves of more than 50km / h

 

[Ricardo70]

View attachment 81924

This car looks like his springs are too stiff and he needs a lot more sway bar.

Its a misconception that stiffer springs will handle better. Cars that handle very well are often rough-riding beasts, but that's not necessarily because of the springs, its because everything else is super tight. Also, cars that develop a lot of down-force in high speeds need stiffer springs to maintain full range of motion at speed, but that doesn't necessarily apply to a street car. For a street car, you generally want the softest springs you can get that will maintain the correct ride height.

The car in the photo is a model that has a comfortable, wide and soft suspension with a minimal stabilizer bar and a rear torsion axle.

It is a Renault Megane MK1, that car in high speed or smooth curves was very comfortable, but if you tried to do a sporty driving of slow curves it had an excessive roll, it leaned a lot laterally and longitudinally and lifting the rear wheel is to sink the wheel a lot opposite of the front axle and the rear axle does not drop that rear wheel.

I'm not saying that's the case, I can get confused, I learn about this every day, but I think that cars behave differently in slow or fast corners.

In high speed curves, we like to have good-thick-strong torsion bars so that the car is flat and the 4 wheels have good contact with the ground and thus prevent the inner wheels from losing pressure against the ground.
In this case, the suspension travel and its hardness can be medium since it will give comfort without giving much lateral inclination.

But if we turn fast at low speed to avoid an obstacle on the road "moose test" or my curves below 40km/h or the cones of B3NN3TT in a tight turn, the car has a very different dynamics.
The car squirms.
The car does not face a homogeneous lateral displacement, the car sinks a front wheel and therefore raises the opposite rear and the more I see examples in the "moose test" the cars that pass it the best are:
1st lightweight
2 Modern aid to stability control
3rd 4x4 Traction
4th Steering rear wheels (rotating)
5th homogeneous weight distribution
6th low center of gravity
7th short and hard travel suspension

I put you to test a video of a car that is the opposite:
It's tall, it's heavy, its nose is heavy, it has a wide-soft suspension, it's an SUV
In the first image you can see the lighter gasoline model with harder suspension and the heavier and softer diesel

 

[Ricardo70]

Cars that are on another level, the porch I think can self-modify the torsion bar

Two Ford Focus with different behavior, lightweight??

I know we like it

 

[B3NN3TT]

I already understand, kg / mm on the spring, but is this hardness fixed or can it be adjusted?

The spring rate is fixed; the compression/rebound of the dampers is the only adjustable factor. (Unfortunately compression/rebound are not independently adjustable of one another though, but the price would be much higher if that were the case)

 

[Ricardo70]

The spring rate is fixed; the compression/rebound of the dampers is the only adjustable factor. (Unfortunately compression/rebound are not independently adjustable of one another though, but the price would be much higher if that were the case)

Thanks I already understand more how they work, I have found this page where it is very well explained.
I find it very interesting to be able to regulate the hardness of the front springs

SUPER RACING - D2Racing España

d2racingspain.es

 

[Ricardo70]

Kit de coilover para calle - # D-FO-23-STREET - COUGAR (EC) | D2racingsport.eu