Want to upgrade my suspension but don't....

[Terry172]

...want coilovers.

I already have eibach sportlines on the car and have had them for a while now.....what else can I do without spending too much and going down the coilover route?

Maybe I could uprate the dampers but which ones to go for and what sort of prices?

Did search this but I got too many results and not anything specific so bear with me

Cheers

Tel

 

[Jonny1*2]

Do a weeee search my boy, lots and lots of info on this.

As it's a thursday though , koni adjustables and eibach prolines would be a good choice. But you'd still be looking at around 500-600quid i'd imagine.

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

Why do you not want coilovers?

 

[Budgie]

Get some second hand coilovers, mate. £250 should see you a reasonable set of KTec or Vmaxx, and you'll be able to sell your sportlines for £100!

 

[Jonny1*2]

Why do you not want coilovers?

Best option really. Someone gave me a quick blast on their AST's and they were very good and not very crashy at all. Thanks Dan

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

lol no worries

You get what you pay for with suspension

 

[fUbAr]

Koni adjustables are very good, and will work perfectly with your Eibachs.

 

[ForceIndia]

I'd rather have the Koni's than cheap coilovers.

 

[Sir_Dave]

Why do you want to uprate the suspension in the 1st place?

Ie, what is wrong with it at the mo.

 

[Terry172]

So for Koni Adjustables I am looking at £500-£600 is that right?

When I said I didn't want coilovers I should have added the following...........as in I didn't want to be spending £500+ on suspension parts but as the Koni option looks to be the same price I will hunt around for second hand coilovers etc.

Want to uprate the suspension because I want it to be a little more solid when turning especially on track days and just wondered whether there was some thing different out there compared with coilovers and their price.....

Cheers for the replies

 

[Sir_Dave]

Want to uprate the suspension because I want it to be a little more solid when turning especially on track days and just wondered whether there was some thing different out there compared with coilovers and their price.....

How many days have you actually done? Just out of interest of course.

If you're looking to spend £500-£600 & want brand new, id look into the FK Konigsport coilovers, they use Koni inserts (adjustable) which are pretty good & previously mentioned.

Alternatively, if you go 2nd hand, & are patient, you could pick up some Bilstein/H&R's which arent adjustable, but offer a very good setup straight out of the box.

Another option is to simply leave your suspension as it is, & fit a whiteline anti-roll bar, which will improve your turn-in.

Or, strip some weight out, less weight over the rear = more twitch = more adjustability.

 

[ForceIndia]

Everyone forgets KW V2's, if you can get a set 2nd hand you won't be dissapointed. Having been round the block with suspension, I'd echoe the above and get a whiteline before spending anymore cash.

 

[Ali]

Keep you're money. Koni's won't improve it much, infact neither will coils. The RS in std guise or with Eibachs is an excellent handling wee car!

 

[Jonny1*2]

Just a few options for you. K-tec tend to be slightly more expensive, but it gives you an idea;

KW:
http://www.k-tecracing.com/show_product.asp?id=1075&appid=2

Koni:
http://www.k-tecracing.com/show_product.asp?id=610&appid=2

There are more choices obviously. As said though, the more you spend, the better the result. Depends on how deep the pockets are, or if you value onne of your kidneys

 

[Peperami]

As Ali has said, it'll never be superfast on track, its a clio! Keep it standard and have fun

 

[Jonny1*2]

Keep you're money. Koni's won't improve it much, infact neither will coils. The RS in std guise or with Eibachs is an excellent handling wee car!

Have to kind of agree, although there is a bit much roll for me. Although I still want some KW or ASTs at some point. Prolines made quite a bit of difference on track for me. Get some r888s and you'll notice such a difference on track.

 

[ForceIndia]

As Ali has said, it'll never be superfast on track, its a clio! Keep it standard and have fun

True up to a point, but my ph1 was much more fun on track once sorted. Nothing wrong with sensible tailoring of suspension, I enjoyed mine vastly more, the balance etc was fa more to my taste. As I'd imagine Ali's Vee is more to his taste on the KW's.
Doubt mine was much (if any) quicker, but that wasn't the point.

 

[Ali]

Have to kind of agree, although there is a bit much roll for me. Although I still want some KW or ASTs at some point. Prolines made quite a bit of difference on track for me. Get some r888s and you'll notice such a difference on track.

lol. Been there done that got the tshirt. AST's are horrible things! KW's, i'm biased, i have them. And i rate them highly, both from a build, fit, set-up and overall handling point of view.

At the end of the day, if you want a car set up for track it'll be awful on the road and it's spoil the car. A slightly heavier sping poundage, like the eibach will firm up the ride, reduce the roll and not shake you to death.

If i did the whole mod'in thing again i'd go springs and stop there. IMO, the eibachs were better 'overall' than the Coilovers i had.

 

[ForceIndia]

I think that's why the KW's excel. They were brilliant for road, then 2mins later firmer for track. Could of gone more track biased, but as you say would be a horrible road car.

 

[Ali]

I got mine all wrong...I went for a track set up and then went straight out and loved it...I then went home on a mix of A roads and Duelers. I nearly put myself in Physio that night. Horrible! Had it way too stiff and way too low for road use. Was mariginally better after that but they were cheap coils. FK Konigsports. For reference i set up a mates H&R's and i didn't think they were any better.

 

[Sir_Dave]

Get some r888s and you'll notice such a difference on track.

I could fit R888's to a Hyundai Accent & be faster than a 172 on normal tyres around a track.

Grip does not equal fun imho.

 

[p@blo]

lol. Been there done that got the tshirt. AST's are horrible things!.

Ali, what was it you found you didn't like with the ASTs?

 

[Tony Hunter]

Here we go.

 

[Ali]

Ali, what was it you found you didn't like with the ASTs?

I'll let Warren answer that one! Seriously hard!!! Although i think he opted for hard springs!...

 

[Terry172]

Cheers for all the different oppinions, at least I know there is more than a couple of options out there.

To answer a few things:

I have done 5 trackdays.....brands, donnington, SPA and would like to do more next year
Already have spare wheels wrapped with 888s

I just want to be able to reduce the roll that happens on track, hence why I don't want to spend too much putting coilovers on the car when I also use it on the road but not really as a daily driver but enough not to want back ache lol.

By the options on here I think I am going to fit a whiteline ARB as they are cheap and would people recommend fitting uprated top mounts?

Once the pennies allow (new home owner) the car will be solely for track so yes I will do the stripping, coilovers and all out track sl@g later on but for now I just want to improve the handling, reduce roll etc

Cheers for the help

 

[ForceIndia]

I'll let Warren answer that one! Seriously hard!!! Although i think he opted for hard springs!...

Um, that was on the soft springs.

 

[ForceIndia]

I wouldn't bother with top mounts. I've never run them, dynacup doesn't run them, not required.

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

Here we go.

LOL! Im not even going to get involved in the AST argument. But this site does have completely the wrong assumption about them. FACT

 

[ForceIndia]

My comments aren't assumption. Like everything a large part is down to preference. Having said that, mine were w**k. What's not up for debate, is that they are a small organisation, and the development reflects this. KW, H&R, Bilstein, are in a different league, and regardless of the setup of the units (as said, personal preference), are in a different league for build quality.

The AST's I owned were flat out poor. The rear adjusters became stiff to the point of needing a wrench to adjust, and the collar for adjusting the height snapped on both sides (what's worse, is that AST uk were aware of the issue, they had extra metal collars in stock. But didn't think to contact customers, they just waited for the issue to occur). Shocking.

Lesson learned, I'll only ever use quality stuff from the proven suppliers in future.

 

[rory182]

Koni adjustables are very good, and will work perfectly with your Eibachs.

This is what I run and it's awesome as a fast road setup.

Turn in is sharper, more feedback through the wheels and handles very well.

Can get the koni's for about £400 - £450 think. I bought mine 2nd hand on ebay and they're in perfect working order.

 

[marc1330]

I found that ast top mounts made a good difference to my standard set-up and sportlines