What do you consider to be the best looks/handling suspension?

[Gouldy]

Hi, I bought my 182 back in April as a project to work on and make into a mint example. The car came with v maxx coilovers on, seized up and corroded. They are also seized very low, I have found the v maxx to be very soft and I get slot of rubbing from them and noises especially when cornering hard. The car is sat that low that it wouldn't even fit on freds ramps!

So I am looking at changing the suspension for some decent coilovers or a good spring and shock combination. I have looked into KW'S or Koni adjustable dampers with eibach springs.

What suspension in your opinion would give very good handling but also not make the 182 look like a tractor?

 

[sidey]

First off is is a Cup/ did it have the cup suspension pack ie cup hubs, anth wheels from the factory? If so and not a plain ol' 182 your options are much more limited because of the hubs' bolt spacing.
For actual lows like it seems you're after you'll need coilovers. If no cup/pack you've got heaps of options, KW seem pretty well regarded for mid-range coilies; or koni dampers and sportline springs for great handling but not so low.

If you've cup hubs (like me) you could replace the v maxx like for like or with k-tec/ Gaz for around £400. Mixed opinions but either seem ok for general day-to-day driving. Or go OE dampers and Eibach sportines but it'll cost as much as the cheaper coilies.

OR for close to a grand you can go H&R for a serious bit of kit up to all the track use you can throw at it.

You'll notice i've avoided mentioning Apex springs as you said

would give very good handling

Mine's on OE shocks and Sportlines, looked good on 16"s but now i've got a set of 15" pro race it looks like i'm going rallying again!

EDIT chump i am, seems all the options are open to you if you're looking at KW. Coilovers will get you lower than good shocks and springs.

 

[Gouldy]

Thanks for your input buddy. I had thought about gaz before, but unfortunately I heard nothing but bad things abiut them. I wouldn't buy v maxx again, for a track day / fast road set up try are shocking. Far too soft and crashy.

Are KWs better than the Koni kit?

Which springs are better for the koni kit, the konis or the eibachs?

 

[Jonny1*2]

KW's have a good rep. Do you have cup packs, or just a standard 182? This will limit your choices.

 

[clio_luke]

for a road car (that see's a little bit of track), std shocks, eibach sportlines and a rear arb is more than enough. really good setup from my experience.
i can't really comment on coilovers as i have never owned any, but all the cars i have been in with coilovers seem pretty firm for the road.

 

[Michael Woodford MST]

Ive got gaz's and can't really see where all this bad feedback is. They are slightly more raw on the road than others but tey really do well on track. For the money they cost im over the moon with them.

 

[imprezaworks]

Mine started off completly standard. Shortly after i fitted sportlines on std shocks which were great but i wanted it to sit lower, so i fitted Konigsport coilovers with a whiteline arb. Handling wise its great especially now the geometry set up has been done. 99% of the time i love it, but that 1% when you dont want to feel every bump or you take passangers, i hate it lol.

Dan.

 

[Tigger]

^ I'm in the same boat as Dan, but with KTR coilovers

 

[Kam.]

have a gander on our site at our Renault Clio RS coilover range.
Your options are somewhat controlled by budget and how much adjustment you want. None adjustable damping are much cheaper than the adjustable. These make a good option for road use where you are much less likely to play with settings. On a budget I'd go for the AP APF coilover Suspension or the Weitec Hicon GT. Next level up in quality is the Bilstein B14's which use monotube dampers but most of our customers save up and get the KW Variant 2.

Coilovers like V maxx coilovers use cheap and heavy coilover units and they cut more corners in quality such as rust protection. High end Coilovers use superior techniques or like the KW variant 2 use stainless steel bodies or alloy bodies. Whatever coilover units should be cleaned and looked after far more regularly than a standard type fit and forget macpherson strut. Brushing the dirt and grime out of the threads as well as reapplying grease to lube the adjuster rings, otherwise the rings can seize or you can strip the threads by turning the rings and trapping dirt inbetween.

Kev

 

[Kam.]

Mine started off completly standard. Shortly after i fitted sportlines on std shocks which were great but i wanted it to sit lower, so i fitted Konigsport coilovers with a whiteline arb. Handling wise its great especially now the geometry set up has been done. 99% of the time i love it, but that 1% when you dont want to feel every bump or you take passangers, i hate it lol.

Dan.

^ I'm in the same boat as Dan, but with KTR coilovers

Save for KW variant 2 coilovers. Our unit is down some crappy country lanes and Jon runs his VW Lupo low on these. Its great, soaking up the bumps without lots of crashing. Even on the worst his biggest enemy is simply his low rideheight grounding out on the ruts. The actual dampers and springs doing their job 100%.

 

[Tigger]

^ Sound advice - I had an issue with grit getting into threads on my old coilovers - will be cleaning mine when I'm getting my brakes bled next week

 

[imprezaworks]

How much are kw's though?

Dan

 

[olliewebbuk]

http://www.kamracing.co.uk/renault/...-172-cup-182-kw-inox-variant-2-coilovers.html

 

[imprezaworks]

Lol not far off the value of my car then. Will stick with the fk's

Dan.

 

[Gouldy]

hi

the car i have is a normal 182, it doesnt have the cup suspension bolt spacing. basically the v maxx came on my car, i had no choice about them. they are s**t. i used to work with air suspension and we were the pioneers of the bag over strut air installs so i have experience with the different struts etc. the v maxx have corroded like no other strut i have come across, they have a formed a huge layer of corrosion on both sides of the adjuster rings and they have started knocking.

i started this thread because i would like a suitable alternative to the joke that are v maxx, they roll more than the OE suspension! far too soft.

thanks for all the replies, i want some b14s but they are like rocking horse s**t. so i am looking instead at the koni adjustable kit or the KW's.

thoughts on these?

also how low to the KW's go? im after a 40mm is drop, 50mm maximum (i am old and fed up of slammed cars now)

 

[-J-]

I run KW V2's and have to agree with Kam Racing - Very Very good, mine have been on my car and one before so probably covered in excess of 100k miles and are only now showing signs of being a little tired.

Ill be replacing them when funds allow with another set if i can afford failing that ill be looking at the B14's

 

[Kam.]

you can get spare parts to save you forking out for a complete new set.

 

[Gouldy]

Thanks bud. I'll look into some kw's

 

[-J-]

you can get spare parts to save you forking out for a complete new set.

Really, I did not know that I tried to get rear adjuster platforms from kw and they just treated me like I was speaking gibberish lol

So I could have them rebuilt by someone? Any idea who?p

 

[Gouldy]

just looked at the KW's. they only lower the rear 20mm?

whats the point in that?

 

[Fletcher]

just looked at the KW's. they only lower the rear 20mm?

whats the point in that?

What KW's coilovers are these?

 

[Gouldy]

The v1's on Kam's web site.

I thought that they would go down about 40mm / 35mm at least ?

 

[JackJack]

I thought most coilover kits actually go down lower than what they say they do?

 

[Gouldy]

My concern is spending alot of money on good coilovers and having a car that's doing a tractor impression.

 

[Kam.]

just looked at the KW's. they only lower the rear 20mm?

whats the point in that?

You can remove the rear adjuster platform to get lower. The Clio looks best with a slight rake anyway

 

[Kam.]

Really, I did not know that I tried to get rear adjuster platforms from kw and they just treated me like I was speaking gibberish lol

So I could have them rebuilt by someone? Any idea who?p

We've got things like platforms for other cars without trouble. Rebuilding is not something we can do though I can ask them about that too

 

[Gouldy]

You can remove the rear adjuster platform to get lower. The Clio looks best with a slight rake anyway

I don't want to remove the rear adjusters, that messes up the damping because the dampers are not designed to run that low.

The mk2 clios come with silly amounts of front rake standard. To get rear rake you really have to get the back end down and the front end up!

(I have wrote this assuming that you have used arch gap as a measurement of rake which is wrong)

 

[Gouldy]

This is my 182 when I bought it;

That has 15mm front rake believe it or not.

 

[sideways danny]

Well this is how Dave's sits on 15s with Spax coilovers

and this is hom much more adjustment there is on the rear

and front

the car is setup for handling and ride more than cosmetics

 

[turbo tom]

i have koni adjustables with spax springs, i think it drives/handles spot on and is quite a low stance, in the region of 40mm drop i think

 

[Tigger]

At the risk of looking like a complete wally... what the hell do you mean by "rake"? :star:

 

[Kam.]

I don't want to remove the rear adjusters, that messes up the damping because the dampers are not designed to run that low.

The mk2 clios come with silly amounts of front rake standard. To get rear rake you really have to get the back end down and the front end up!

(I have wrote this assuming that you have used arch gap as a measurement of rake which is wrong)

I dont think an extra 10mm is going to be a problem for the dampers but another thing you have to remember is all german suspension kits are TUV approved. This means the maximum lowering they will claim is one where the wheels do not scrub the arches. With its low rear arch this could be an issue which is why they only say 20mm.
You can only measure rake using the chassis. I'd find it a bit hilarious if anyone did it otherwise.

 

[Kam.]

At the risk of looking like a complete wally... what the hell do you mean by "rake"? :star:

where the front is lower than the rear.

 

[Tigger]

Ahhh I see. When we were fitting my coilovers we were aiming for "nose down" stance

 

[-J-]

We've got things like platforms for other cars without trouble. Rebuilding is not something we can do though I can ask them about that too

That would be really good if you could!

 

[-J-]

I don't want to remove the rear adjusters, that messes up the damping because the dampers are not designed to run that low.

The mk2 clios come with silly amounts of front rake standard. To get rear rake you really have to get the back end down and the front end up!

(I have wrote this assuming that you have used arch gap as a measurement of rake which is wrong)

I run my V2's with no rear adjusters without any issues, sits plenty low enough, do a search for my pictures

 

[Gouldy]

Thanks for all the info and replies.

 

[Gouldy]

I dont think an extra 10mm is going to be a problem for the dampers but another thing you have to remember is all german suspension kits are TUV approved. This means the maximum lowering they will claim is one where the wheels do not scrub the arches. With its low rear arch this could be an issue which is why they only say 20mm.
You can only measure rake using the chassis. I'd find it a bit hilarious if anyone did it otherwise.

Believe it or not that's how alot of people measure rake! Shocking isn't it. People seem to measure rake by arch gap which is very inaccurate.

 

[Gouldy]

Well this is how Dave's sits on 15s with Spax coilovers

and this is hom much more adjustment there is on the rear

and front

the car is setup for handling and ride more than cosmetics

They are very smart coilovers, I have seen these for sale in your traders section. There is plenty more adjustment on those, although that is about the ride the ride height I am looking for for my 182.

When setting suspension up on the mk2 clios, does anyone take bernoulis and fluid dynamics into account? Or is the common thing to do / trend not to bother ? Or are the mk2 clios just not fast enough to take airflow at speed into account ?

 

[Gouldy]

i have koni adjustables with spax springs, i think it drives/handles spot on and is quite a low stance, in the region of 40mm drop i think

This.

This sort of set up is something I am interested in. Have you any pictures of how your car sits? And what is your opinion on the handling?

This sort of set up must be one of the best for a car that's still used on brittish roads ?