MOTON Suspension At GSM Performance: The 1-Way, 2-Way And 3-Way Explained
New at GSM Performance
Put a MOTON reservoir next to an AST one and the first thing anyone notices is the colour. Orange and brushed silver against black. Then someone asks why the two brands come from the same factory, and that is a better question.
MOTON is the older name. It was already on Le Mans cars in 2000, and AST bought it in 2011, designs and all. Garreth calls it the endurance racing half of the family, and the 213 MOTON kits now on the site lean that way: 1-way Clubracer at the road and club end, then 2-way and 3-way with remote reservoirs. Cameron's first observation was the adjuster count. MOTON gives you 15 clicks of rebound where AST gives you 12.
This guide covers where MOTON came from, what each of the three families does, how it sits against AST, and what to check before you order.
- MOTON started in 1999 and has been part of AST since 2011
- Every MOTON is built by AST in the Netherlands
- All three families are non-inverted monotube dampers
- 1-Way Clubracer: 15 rebound clicks and no reservoir
- 2-Way: 15 rebound and 15 compression, compression on a remote reservoir
- 3-Way: compression split into 15 high speed and 6 low speed positions
- Coilover kits carry a 24 month warranty
Where MOTON came from
MOTON Suspension Technology started in 1999 and went racing straight away. By June 2000, MOTON says, 30% of the starting field at the Le Mans 24 Hours ran its dampers. It built its name on GT and touring cars, the kind of racing where a damper has to stay consistent for hours.
The headline results are MOTON's own. Its triple adjustable damper won the FIA European Touring Car Championship in 2004. It then developed a 4-way damper with Andy Priaulx's team for the World Touring Car Championship, and Priaulx took the title in 2005, 2006 and 2007 on it.
In 2011 AST bought MOTON, including all its technology and damper designs. MOTON kits have been built in AST’s own factory in the Netherlands since, and the two are sold together as AST x MOTON. The brands kept their own engineering: MOTON is the non-inverted endurance racing line, AST covers road car to 3-way. Our AST guide covers the other half of the family.
Garreth’s way of putting it to customers is that you are buying the same factory either way, and the difference is the design each label was built around.
The three MOTON families
| Family | Rebound | Compression | Reservoir | Listings | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-Way Clubracer | 15 positions | Fixed | None | 38 | £3,336 |
| 2-Way Motorsport | 15 positions | 15 positions | Remote, on a hose | 86 | £4,488 |
| 3-Way Motorsport | 15 positions | 15 high speed plus 6 low speed | Remote, on a hose | 89 | £5,268 |
Click counts from MOTON's own product literature. Prices are the lowest listing in each family today, inc VAT.
1-Way Clubracer
A coilover at every corner with one adjuster, rebound, over 15 clicks. MOTON quotes a 22mm shaft and a 44mm piston, and low friction seals for response under side load. There is no reservoir, which MOTON pitches at two kinds of driver: racers in classes that ban canisters, and people who would simply like a clean install. It is the MOTON meant for club racing and the road.
2-Way Motorsport
The 2-way puts compression on a remote reservoir, 15 positions, with 15 of rebound on top of the piston rod. MOTON’s notes on it are worth reading: a blow off valve system in the reservoir, a large piston rod for more fluid displacement, a large main piston, and low speed damping that does not rely on preloaded valve stacks. The reservoirs connect on high pressure hose with swivel banjos, so they can be placed wherever the car has room.
3-Way Motorsport
The 3-way separates compression into high speed, 15 positions, and low speed, 6 positions. The low speed knob sits on top of the high speed one and adjusts on its own. MOTON says low speed compression is what controls body roll, pitch and squat and helps turn in; high speed is there for kerbs and bumpy surfaces. On a car being driven for an hour at a time, that split is what keeps the tyres working over a full stint.
The price step from 2-way to 3-way is steady: of the 81 cars that have both, 79 come in within £15 of £780 apart.
MOTON or AST on the same car
Plenty of cars can take either brand, and the E46 M3 makes a good worked example, so here is every rung for it, cheapest first, both brands together.
| BMW M3 E46 | Part number | Price |
|---|---|---|
| AST 5100 Street | ACU-B1103SD | £2,604 |
| AST 5100 Clubracing | ACC-B1107SD | £3,480 |
| MOTON 1-Way Clubracer | M 505 174SD | £3,804 |
| AST 5200 2-Way Motorsport | RIV-B1103SD | £5,064 |
| MOTON 2-Way Motorsport | M 505 031SD | £5,220 |
| AST 5300 3-Way Motorsport | RAC-B1103SD | £5,376 |
| MOTON 3-Way Motorsport | M 505 154SD | £6,000 |
Live prices, inc VAT. MOTON sits a step above the matching AST in each case.
Cameron reads the table by the adjusters. A MOTON 1-way is 15 clicks of rebound against the AST 5100’s 12, and on the 3-way MOTON gives you 6 low speed positions to AST’s 14 or 15, depending on which AST document you read, but more high speed positions, 15 against 12. Garreth reads it by the use. If the car is going endurance racing, the MOTON was designed for exactly that. For a road car that does trackdays, the AST covers it and leaves money for tyres.
Before you order
- Top mounts. Most MOTON kits include camber-adjustable fronts and solid rears, where the car allows it. Not every one: some use solid mounts at both ends
- Rear layout. The 1-way is a coilover at every corner. A handful of 2-way and 3-way kits keep the car's own separate rear spring, the BMW F20 and F30, E36 and E46, the FN2 and FD2 Civic Type R, and the S197 Mustang among them
- Nose lift. The Audi R8 and Huracan kits come in versions with and without the factory nose lift
- EDC. BMWs with electronic damping need a delete kit, ordered separately
- Droplinks. A part number ending SD includes droplinks
Set the preload first
Kits arrive with no spring preload. Set it before the car goes back on its wheels, and keep at least 5mm between spring and tyre.
Connect every coupling
On kits with quick disconnects, connect them all before lowering the car, or the damper has nowhere to put its oil.
Service it like a race part
MOTON kits are rebuildable. The UK service centre, Racesport near Brackley, suggests a yearly service for race kits.
Common questions
Is MOTON still made by the original company?
MOTON has been owned by AST since 2011, which bought all its technology and damper designs, and every MOTON kit is built by AST in the Netherlands.
Can I use a MOTON 1-way on the road?
Yes, and MOTON describes the Clubracer as a mix of club racing and road use, with the rebound adjuster there to change the balance between the two.
Why would I choose a damper without a reservoir?
Some race classes do not allow remote reservoirs, and some owners prefer a simpler fit. That is who MOTON built the 1-way for.
Are MOTON dampers inverted?
AST lists all three MOTON families as non-inverted monotube dampers.
What warranty comes with MOTON?
AST gives 24 months on coilover kits. Talk to us before sending anything back, as AST asks for the order ID from the kit’s certificate sticker.
Can the valving be changed later?
MOTON kits are rebuildable and revalveable, so the damping can be changed if the car’s job changes.
Where we would start
For a road car with the odd trackday, Garreth would still point you at AST first. For a car built to race, and especially to race for more than twenty minutes, MOTON is the one he would want on his own car. Cameron is less romantic about it. His question is how many clicks you will actually use. The 2-way is where he would stop for most club racers; the 3-way is for the teams that log every change.
Each MOTON family gets its own guide next, starting with the Clubracer, which goes up next week. If your car is already on the list, send us the registration and we will find the part number with you.
Manufacturer reference: AST x MOTON motorsport range. Shop the range: MOTON 1-Way, MOTON 2-Way and MOTON 3-Way.
The rest of the AST and MOTON series: AST Suspension explained.
Give us the part number and the registration. We will confirm the application, top mounts, rear layout and any nose lift or EDC question before you commit.
Send the registration or VIN and what the car does: road and track days, a championship, endurance races. We will show you the MOTON and AST part numbers for it side by side and talk spring rates before anything is ordered.
