Spax adjustable dampers - anyone have experience with them?

[fizzy_drink]

I've got a set lying here... just wondering what peoples' experiences have been with them (before I go for it on Sat).

PS Rears appear weird - compression damping is very soft compared to rebound - is this normal?

PPS Fronts are bloody hard on compression, at the 'hardest' setting, lol.

 

[James.f]

I have them on mine, and they have been faultless for nearly 3years, the damping is very easy to set up on both front and rear. The rear adjustable knob can sometimes be tight due to salt/dirt etc from the road.

Mine are set to hard all round, and its perfect for fast road driving, tight corners etc just handles superb

 

[fizzy_drink]

Ta for the reply.

What springs are you running out of interest?

PS Did you give the rears a squeeze before you fitten them, lol?

 

[James.f]

Im using Spax springs in the front, mine are coilovers but have the adjustable dampers on them.

A squeeze? what for? the mechanic i kno just fitted them in and no problem, They say the Max the rear can handle is 90mm, mine have been down to 140-150mm (chopped springs) and they are still in perfect working order. They did cost £670 but was money worth spending.

 

[fizzy_drink]

Cheers dude.

The 'squeeze' question was regarding my rear dampers appearing soft, I thought you might have given yours a squeeze.

Just interested in why they are so much softer than the front.

 

[Gaz_]

I'm running spax insets on my (gf's) 106 gti. Seem OK tbh! (non adjustable)

I have read issues with the adjusters snapping/seizing though?

 

[James.f]

^ every coilover has problems, just look at V-maxx, the actual bush on the rear dampers just fall out lol,

 

[fizzy_drink]

^^

Std suspension doesn't last long either!!!

 

[Nick r26r]

i had spax on my old seat ibiza , the car drove horrible with them on , after having a set on the seat i will never buy another set of spax as they drove me crazy , they were very old so cant comment on there newer coilover's ,

 

[Missing Link]

I,ve a set of Spax RSX coillies on mine, Still needs the tracking done so have'nt driven it huge distances, So far it's night and day to the older set up of standard shock's and eibach springs.

So far so good....

 

[fizzy_drink]

I've got eibach sportlines fitted.

I got hold of a spax PSX kit... I'm only interested in the dampers really - spax springs have a reputation for being hard for the road.

I'll fit them tomorrow, and let you know how I get on.

 

[fizzy_drink]

It seems a bizarre combination, but I fitted Spax PSX adjustable dampers to my C2 VTS (which already has Eibach Sportlines fitted).

What can I say? Night and day compared to standard dampers... I've currently got them set on 20 out of 28, and the car feels butt-clenchingly stiff! My splitter used to scrape on a particularly large speed bump in town (due to the spring compressing), and now it doesn't.

Braking is one hell of a lot better too - much less dive, and the car just gets on with stopping (a welcome change).

The rear feels like it's following the front a lot better... as opposed to it's previous sluggish response on standard dampers.

I played with the standard dampers and they don't appear to have 'pyramid' damping. They appear to have a very linear setting... so damping doesn't feel any stiffer the further they are compressed.

One rear damper felt stiffer than the other (LHS felt a bit soft)... but there was absolutely no sign of leakage/damage. I guess my conclusion is that they're utterly cr@p.

I also played with the Spax dampers (to check) and they do get stiffer as you compress them more. Obviously I did all of this by squeezing them, therefore it's not a scientific test, but that's how it 'felt'.

I fitted new top mounts whilst I was at it - I'm glad I did, because one of them had come apart. The other felt very rough. This is on a 26 month old car, with 35k on the clock.

The rear is a bit noisy/rattly now... I believe it's the scissor-jack located in the spare wheel, but I'll check the dampers tomorrow just in case.

Here's to happy trackdays in 2010.

PS IT TOOK 8 BLOODY HOURS TO DO IT, due to the rears being seized on the lower bolts, and the front passenger side being seized on the hub.