172 after-market spring kits

[JJ172]

There seems to be a plethora of options - Eibach, AVO, Apex, plus BB Tuinings own kit, and K-Tecs spring/damper setup - most of which claim to improve the std setup.

I know some of you have tried the AVO setup, mainly via Hillpower, and found them rather hard and too much for the std dampers. So, gotta rule them out...

The Eibachs sound great but dont seem to lower the car much (10-15mm, instead of the quoted 30mm!) and are an expenisve option for relatively little gain in lowering/handling. Theyre a maybe...

I know some of you (Trev_m?) have Apex springs fitted. How do these fair?

And, has anyone tried BB Tunings own springs?



Having driven the std setup round Bedford Autodrome it really does handle rather well straight outa the box. But, its pretty fidgety on the road. Im after a setup which irons out the fidgets, retains a relatively smooth ride on the road and enhances the cars excellent on-track ability. Oh, and itd be nice if these mythiical springs lowered the car around 30mm or so without causing 17s to rub.

Does such a setup exist? I dont really want to flush £200+ for springs/fitting/alignment down the pan on a setup which is hard as nails and makes the car nervous on the limit.

 

[paul172cup]

I have Apex springs on my Cup. The ride is not much harder than standard.

They have improved the ride and my 17s dont catch.

Got my springs for £70 and cost me £40 to get them fitted.

 

[Jon172]

Paul,

were did u buyyour springs and get the fitted?



cheers

 

[Roamer]

Well, both myself and Telford_mike have the eibach prokit springs, and imho they are great, they road ride is slightly harder, but the handling is a great improvement over standard, alot less roll through the bends, but they still allow the setup to be forgiving on break away, allowing you to balance it through.

 

[geoff_clio182]

I can vouch for the Eibach Pro Kit...had them on my 172 and they were great...would go for them again if I ever decided to lower a car.

 

[telford_mike]

Yep, agree with both of the above, the Eibachs give a nice subtle drop and deliver in the handling department. If you go any lower youll have problems if you want to fit 17"s too.

Not lowering the Beemer then Geoff?

 

[JJ172]

How much -realistically- does the Eibach kit lower the 172? Ive got varying reports from 10mm to 30mm!

 

[JJ172]

paul172cup - how do you find the ride/handling of your Cup with the Apex springs? And how much did it -really- lower the car, bearing in mind the Cup is supposed to be 3mm lower than a std 172...

 

[Roamer]

The Eibach drop is subtle, but you should not being thinking of drop=handling as this is not always the case, and the eibachs are a case in point, the drop might not be much put the handling improvment is fantastic, the progressive setup and nature of the eibach pro kit is what gives it the handling, they also come pre-fatigued so that you dont have so much of an issue with the springs settling and changing the handling as they settle.

 

[JJ172]

Roamer - can you quantify subtle i.e. in mms?! Thanks for the comments and Im aware that lowering a car doesnt always improve the handling...I had this drummed into me by a couple of senior Ford suspension experts when I tasked them with making my Fiesta turbo -really- handle, to the point that it could keep up with my mates Elise round the twisty bits! Indeed, as they explained, if you lower the car too much it actually ruins the handling!

Im off to Bedford Autodrome on 8th March and would love to get something sorted for then.

 

[Jas]

I have the BB springs on my 172 and can recommend them. Youll have to wait till my next track day early summer before I can give you much more info, but body roll is definately reduced. Ride is v. firm as well. It lowered the car by about 30mm.

 

[telford_mike]

OK heres 2 cars - the silver one is a day old and has the original Renault springs (its Roamers). The red one is mine and has the Eibachs fitted.

http://homepages.tesco.net/~mmikee/clios.jpg

 

[Tom]

30-35mm drop

 

[telford_mike]

Yeah Id say thats about right.

 

[telford_mike]

BTW that may well be the only photo in existence of Roamers car with ABSOLUTELY NO MODS!

 

[Tom]

 

[Roamer]

Hehe,I think its the only photo in the public domain with no mods, but there are some unreleased ones in my historic archive

 

[Paul Freemantle]

how much for the eibachs then and where from?

 

[Fred@BTM]

Id say Roamers car is about 10-20mm higher than mine

std clio 20mm higher than a 172 and ive dropped it 60mm

Roamers car with with eibachs (20mm lower than mine to start with) then a 30mm drop = 50mm

 

[chris172]

Roamer...it looks normal.....LOL!!! how long was it til you changed that!!

 

[telford_mike]

Eibachs about £125 from http://www.motorsportworld.co.uk/http://www.motorsportworld.co.uk/ but you can get them from any Eibach dealer. Had mine fitted for £40 at a local garage.