Coilover info

[.J.a.m.e.s.]

Will shortly own a 182 RB and the first thing has to be coilovers!

I won't really have the money for brand new so will probably have to be 2nd hand.

Is there any makes or modles i should look for / stay away from and what am i looking to pay?

 

[Craig]

stay away from gaz

theres only a few out there for a ff182
H&R rarely come up 2nd hand
ast same
kw
bilstein

 

[.J.a.m.e.s.]

ff meaning full fat?

What does ff include? i have never really understood whats included?
Is it standard on RBs

GAZ seem to be the pricey ones??

 

[Craig]

gaz are crap. its the others that are pricey but worth it imo.

ff means it has xenons, leather seats, anthracite wheels, lower 3mm, splitter. bigger spoiler climate control and was availible in all colours.

cup is only availible in rb and inferno. minus all the gadgets and leather

 

[.J.a.m.e.s.]

so you can only get a cup in RB or inferno... why would anyone want one if you didnt have the gadgets n leather??

so can you get an RB thats not a cup then??

 

[Craig]

yep to both of your questions

 

[.J.a.m.e.s.]

well im after a 182 rb non cup

 

[Icarus]

gaz are crap. its the others that are pricey but worth it imo.

ff means it has xenons, leather seats, anthracite wheels, lower 3mm, splitter. bigger spoiler climate control and was availible in all colours.

cup is only availible in rb and inferno. minus all the gadgets and leather

Gaz aren't crap - they produce various types of damper and make their bread and butter from selling cheaply produced dampers to owners of already fine handling cars who want to 'slam em init'.

They also produce a couple of really good damper designs which you will have to pay really good money for. Unfotunately the boyos don't tend to recognise what the difference is between a 300 quid set of coilover dampers and 1300 quid set of coil over dampers. Hence all those looking to buy cheap for the above 'slamed init' look then wonder why their car doesn't handle very well.

Are the very cheap coilovers Gaz produce good? Nope not at all but Gaz know it and if you approach them for a proper project they won't even attempt to offer you anything along those lines. IIRC they even state that they aren't suitable for track use and are for reducing ride height only. However if you're a boyo and want to pay less than a ton a corner then what do you expect?

80% of the coilover dampers out there for the Clio are cheap. 10% are reasonable and work fairly well and the other 10% are way north of a thousand quid a set. Unless you are planning to spend the latter leave the car standard. If you just want to run it lower regardless of what impact it may have on the handling then just stick some 'lowering' springs on it and save yourself a few hundred quid.

Cheers
M

 

[Tucker]

well said.

i'd imagine gaz golds are getting there to be honest, up with the likes of h&r's and bilsteins.

anyone shed any light on the gaz gold kit?

 

[Icarus]

The Gaz Golds are pretty good to be honest, they aren't as expensive as some places would have you believe as a couple of the larger companies retailing them stick a massive markup on them. They are full rebuildable and Gaz are happy to produce them with any damping rate you like - they'll also dyno them for you at every adjustment point which helps greatly with setting up.

Gaz DA coilover dampers are really very good bits of kit, double adjustable, ally bodies, spherical bearings etc. etc. but the cost of those is enough to put off most CS owners who have road/occasional track cars. Gaz also do a rebuild/revalve service for the DA's with really quick turnaround which helps a lot when running race cars.

Worth noting Gazzard Engineering have been at it since the late 60's and theres some time served guys there that know their onions!

Cheers
M

 

[.J.a.m.e.s.]

will sticking some cheap coilovers on make the handling any worse than standard 182 springs?

 

[Fred@BTM]

^ can of worms TBH

in your opinion, you've spent your hard earned, you've driven the car, and noticed less roll etc etc etc and in your opinion its better than it was and you're happy, but if a decent driver in a standard car comes past you on track don't cry!

i've ran cheap coilovers on my car, but i also like to think i can pedal a car reasonable well, ride quality was average, but it went round the bends really well, better than stock

 

[Icarus]

If your after track work then with regards to the rear of the car Clios seem to work best with as little travel and compliance as possible on the back! Quite a few of the cheap kits offer this in spades! LOL

I seem to remember Fred favours this setup too i.e hard rear, compliant front (reminds me of a girl I once knew ;-)) for track work.

I think it also comes down to new but cheap coilovers vs old standard kit. In some cases the standard stuff will be so knackered that anything will be better!

Cheers
M

 

[.J.a.m.e.s.]

tbh i want to have something thats low (at least 60mm) but without f**king up my car.

im not to fussed about makes, names or modles and its not going on a track so handling isnt THAT important

J

 

[Naith]

arent you slightly contradicting yourself? your not bothered by makes, names or modles but you also dont want to f**k up your car...

 

[.J.a.m.e.s.]

not really no....

so you MUST pay LOOOOADS of money or you WILL DEFO f**k up ur car?

 

[Fred@BTM]

no, but don't expect OE ride quality for £400

 

[Naith]

i never added in definates just all the info above and it seems like your not really 'ar$ed'

if handling isnt that important why not drop it on some cut springs or buy some cheap coilys in from hongkong...