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Dan_mk1
08-11-2006, 13:07
Right chaps, after brands yesterday iv realised my hybrid is in need of more than just the spax adjustables that are on at the mo. I want coilovers but not sure who to go for, cost isnt that much of an issue and ive heard from a number of people LEDA's are the ultimate.

Also heard that Gaz are now run by the technician from LEDA or summin!? This true?

Dunno what to go for! :?

Martin
08-11-2006, 13:12
how did it go?

tbh I don't think ledas or worth it try avo....I prefer stnd though lol

Martin
08-11-2006, 13:13
damn no edit gayness that should read

tbh I don't think ledas are worth it try avo....I prefer stnd though lol

J o n
08-11-2006, 13:19
standard all the way for me too, although as Martin says, Avo if anything, they are overall the best, I cant see the Leda's being 3x as good as they cost about 3 times the price lol

stew
08-11-2006, 13:22
avo for me thanks. none off this ghey std stuff for me. although it is great fun! :wink:

Martin
08-11-2006, 13:27
U can still have fun on stnd suspension with road tyres none of this coilover rubbish! :P :wink:

Martin
08-11-2006, 13:31
rofl Gaz are gonna sold if I don't like them!

jay s
08-11-2006, 13:36
coilovers are good, but after going in martins car round cadwell im not to sure if they are worth the £400+ payout over std, anyway got fk konigsport on mine,good quality bit of kit imo and i always felt confident in the car round cadwell. ( come with adjustable camber aswell which is a bonus)

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a117/jay16v-/DSCF2157Medium.jpg

Martin
08-11-2006, 14:19
rofl Gaz are gonna sold if I don't like them!

For standard???

hell yeah!

Martin
08-11-2006, 14:20
coilovers are good, but after going in martins car round cadwell im not to sure if they are worth the £400+ payout over std, anyway got fk konigsport on mine,good quality bit of kit imo and i always felt confident in the car round cadwell. ( come with adjustable camber aswell which is a bonus)

Standard sucks Jay, when I drive the Williams now I feel like I'm gonna fall out of the seat onto the road, knee pads are a must in standard cars.... :lol:

meh whatever trev...those gay stnd seats are the reason your willy feels poop

Martin
08-11-2006, 14:22
You give us 420 squid and I'll test some avo's.....gonna be coppering up time once I've laid out on this car lol

Martin
08-11-2006, 14:28
lol I've been doing 10 hrs overtime every week for about 10 weeks!! tbh any changes are gonna have to wait unless I can sell some of the stuff I've got hanging about.....no way is stnd setup gonna cost 420 squid! =;

stew
08-11-2006, 14:37
no way u want std suspension mart. go wash your mouth out with hot soapy water! :roll:

yeah std looks fun, but not the way it really should be in a stripped out track sl@g.

gaz - yeah i know you can have fun with coilovers and std road tyres, or coilovers and semi slicks, but for ultimate speed im wanting some proper slicks. :twisted:

anyway need some way of keeping up with you and your "cheating" cams and headwork and remap and 193bhp! :roll: :wink: not to mention your "cheating" lightweight fuel setup! :P

gaz u should buy martins cage off him, then the nana gets better, and martin gets some money to spend on some proper coilovers! :twisted: everyones a winner!

Martin
08-11-2006, 14:43
meh stnd is just right for the roads round my way and it's entertaining & quick round the track....neither me or zollo seems to stuggle to keep up with the coilover boyos....

If anyone fancies giving me a go in theirs at the next trackday/meet though I might be converted..the nana was good from what I remember but I could'nt drive for toffee when I took it to Anglesey so hard to judge.

Martin
08-11-2006, 14:43
Oh and richy already has my cage....

stew
08-11-2006, 14:49
:wink:

Dan_mk1
08-11-2006, 15:43
Lol, few mixed opinions...Mart there's no way im going to standard :wink: :lol: Trackday went wicked, destroyed my splitter after lifting off at paddock and spinning into the gravel trap, lol. Had trouble keeping up with a few of the leda'd 182's, might have just been my driving tho :lol:

How much adjustment is there on the fk's jay? And how much? where from etc....

Anyone shed any light on this guy from leda at gaz? My mate says a lot of the e30 m3 boys are now running gaz suspension as its nigh on the same stuff as leda!?

jay s
08-11-2006, 16:10
Lol, few mixed opinions...Mart there's no way im going to standard :wink: :lol: Trackday went wicked, destroyed my splitter after lifting off at paddock and spinning into the gravel trap, lol. Had trouble keeping up with a few of the leda'd 182's, might have just been my driving tho :lol:

How much adjustment is there on the fk's jay? And how much? where from etc....

Anyone shed any light on this guy from leda at gaz? My mate says a lot of the e30 m3 boys are now running gaz suspension as its nigh on the same stuff as leda!?

im not to sure on the exact amount of camber adj avaible but before cadwell i had new tyres fiteed and got the tracking and camber done and told him to set it at -1 degree camber, when he undone the nut to adjust the camber he could make it have loads of negative camber ie -4. loads of adjustment on height aswell. i paid £425 delivered for mine from www.2modified.com for williams fk konigsport which are also adj damping/ get koni adj rear shocks. worth checking on cliosport tho as they sometimes have a group buy going on, i did'nt get my set in one tho because they wanted to wait.

jay s
08-11-2006, 16:11
can also buy fk's from gsf

northy
08-11-2006, 16:12
my cup runs 4 degrees camber.

Martin
08-11-2006, 16:15
Spinning at paddock...Bad Idea!!!! :lol:

Dan_mk1
08-11-2006, 16:46
You know it, lol. I got way too confident, went in too fast and lifted off mid corner, the back end stepped out, managed to catch it once but ended up about 2 foot deep in gravel, took about an hour and a half after to clean the stones out the car! Subframe, gearbox, calipers...bloody stuff gets everywhere! :lol:

Cheers Jay, ill try em both now! :)

Zollo
08-11-2006, 18:17
no way is stnd setup gonna cost 420 squid! =;

U'd be surprised, ask Zullu.

Presuming everything else is fine, you'd only need four new shocks, which would be about £140, I think. Then some custom springs for about £100. To renew absolutely everything would cost about the same as buying coilovers, though. Koni shocks are another cheaper option?

Coilovers can be played around with so they'd be ok on the roads remember. Although you're still stuck with the same spring rates. But then you are with standard stuff as well! Phew :?

debottomley
08-11-2006, 18:41
Just thought id put my two pence worth in and say that I use avo roadsport kit, find it spot on personally as it is adjustable for damping front and rear which makes hell of a difference once you start playing with different settings, agree with you boys coilover ideal but for me they just too hard for everyday use and in my opinion unsettle the car and it feels to become less pliant, there done? regards james!

stew
08-11-2006, 21:01
as zullu says its a comprimise. u want as stiff as possible springs for track (i like the avo 250lbs ones that come with the coilovers) but around 185 or 200lbs would be better for road use. the damping adjust on the avo gives a good range though. (unless u break it! :oops: get it back next week apparently. foned avo 2day!)

Dan_mk1
08-11-2006, 21:47
Im not planning on using it that much next year on the road, will be mainly track :wink:

So a harsh ride doesnt bother me *too* much

Will look into the avo's....
Cheers lads

thelynx
09-11-2006, 01:36
I have avos on mine and it rides pretty good seeing it fairly low.. Handles sweeet too :D

2 live
09-11-2006, 09:17
have AVO s on mine too. they not harsh at all i dont find tbh.


could do with being a stiffer if owt for trackdays.


even set on the hardest shock settin, they handle the back roads ok round here.

stevie_b
09-11-2006, 12:21
Anyone shed any light on this guy from leda at gaz? My mate says a lot of the e30 m3 boys are now running gaz suspension as its nigh on the same stuff as leda!?

You mean Dave Lyon? The Dave from LEn & DAve I believe, who is now at Gaz. With the same guru I would expect that the Gazs would share some similarities with the Ledas! I've got Gaz adjustables on one of my Imprezas and I'm pretty happy with them - much better than the SPAX on my Clio, but then the Gaz ones did cost a fair bit more.

arj256
09-11-2006, 20:05
I would avoid Gaz as my experience with them i have found them poorly designed, i had to put alot of spacers on the shock to make the top mount function how it should from standard.
I cant comment on the performance as when i got mine they had none left, so they dont last very long but cheap to get rebuilt (cheaper than Avos).

I have just gotten some Avo coilovers, and i am impressed with the quality of them.
They have moved the dampning adjustment knob, so now its pointing upwards to make it easier to adjust.
I have gone for 180lbs springs rather than the 250lbs springs which Avos normally come with.
The standard spring poundage is 125lbs so the 180lbs should be a nice fast road setup.

The beauty of coilovers is you can change spring rates as you wish as the springs are cheap, and they are easy to change.
I am going to get some high pound springs later on for track work so that way will have the best of both worlds.

Daz.
09-11-2006, 20:22
The beauty of coilovers is you can change spring rates as you wish as the springs are cheap, and they are easy to change.
I am going to get some high pound springs later on for track work so that way will have the best of both worlds.


Oooo forgot about that...

How much harder is 180 over standard? I was trying to figure out a rough estimate the other day on what spring rate my car would equate too - can't do a comparision as obviously its just standard shocks on some uknown height springs

arj256
09-11-2006, 20:41
Im not sure how much harder it will be yet as i havn't fitted them.
But it should be enough to get rid of the body roll the standard springs have, and give reasonable bump absorbtion.
On the scale of spring poundages though, they are low.
What you can do is try a middle poundage and then get some other springs pending on what you want.

richy
09-11-2006, 21:01
i had AVO coilovers but sold them and went back to new std with 200lb springs, ran 165lb springs before that but the 200lb set are much better for both road and track use imo

Daz.
09-11-2006, 21:06
Hows the ride on 200's?

richy
09-11-2006, 21:11
good, on smooth roads of course fantastic, body roll is minimal, on uneven surfaces its still good, just odd pot hole u can feel them but your not gonna lose your teeth! :lol: i wont be buying coilovers again, will stick with these!

Daz.
10-11-2006, 01:47
Yours is standard height though, I'm worried that the fact mines lowered will just add to the overall teeth twatting

POWARTEK
10-11-2006, 03:12
AVOs are good but the grub screw is a bit $hite, its plastic and can break, for ultimate set up you need KW coilovers.

matty
10-11-2006, 08:43
I've had FK Highsports for nearly 4 years now. Unless they have changes, they force you to run too much IMO neg camber for road use.

I had to get Supertracker (cheapest) camber correcting bolts to sort this out as they were wearing tyres on inside far too much.

Think I paid about £490 for mine back when they were practically unheard of. That included free fitting front and rear and they fitte dmy rears disks free at same time. TUV approval and lifetime warranty is what swung it for me.

On fitting my new wheels and cleaing under all the arches noticed some of the blue coating from the spring has come away so I will be getting in touch and testing this lifetime warranty......

Great coilovers though and think ones for a Valver are even cheaper than for a Willy now, think £350.

2 live
10-11-2006, 09:28
AVOs are good but the grub screw is a bit $hite, its plastic and can break, for ultimate set up you need KW coilovers.


the grub screws on mine arent plastic...i take it u on about the 1 for the spring platform...


but then apparently....dont know how true thi is....the later manufactured ones werent as good as the earlier ones....quality has suffered over the years apparently.


mine are still doin their job well..even after 3-4 years abuse .hehe. think they mite be due a service tho

stew
10-11-2006, 11:58
when i got mine it came with one metal and one plastic. soon swapped the plastic one for a metal one, and they have been fine.

totally stupid having plastic grub screw tho! :roll:

BenR
10-11-2006, 14:05
not a chance i would touch gaz.

As far as i know it, one of the accountants or managers from leda left and started gaz........hence why the experience didnt move with him.

Having also had gaz shocks on a dynomometer, i can comprehensively say that they just do not do anything remotely like you want them to do............a set of large bump stops are just as effective........and better made.

Avo's...........not tested the new stuff, but from a few years ago as all the ownership swapping was going on etc, and wasnt overly impressed again.

To put things into perspective, i run Leda on every single one of my cars, bar my day to day 328............and i was tempted to put some on that aswell, but i couldnt loose the hammock style motorway cruising.

Once the clio's fuel tank and paint has been done, your all welcome to give the ledas a try (at a track day) as i've got a more track bias setup with extreemly stiff damping/springing.......but its still far more subtle than anything else i've used. I really do feel they are the best, and not THAT expensive if you pull discount haha.........and i dont even sell them so its not a sales pitch haha!

Dan_mk1
10-11-2006, 14:56
Ben how much discount can you get at leda??
Ive just phoned for a quote and its working out at £1045 inc VAT :shock:

Like Jesus says, the leda's surely cant be worth 3 times the amount!? :?

BenR
10-11-2006, 16:28
ever tried them?

the one thing you get with suspension is what you pay for, and when you look at £1k suspension, i dont think 'oh thats expensive' i think, jesus christ they must make the other stuff out of oil exhausts and shoe string.

competition suspension will see you spending that much minimum per corner for a competitive clubman car.......and surely thats not 12 times better?

Dan_mk1
10-11-2006, 16:57
I guess, just a grand seems a hell of a lot, its half the cars value, lol.

Come on lad, how much discout d'ya get? :wink:

BenR
10-11-2006, 17:09
like i said, i dont sell them.........so i dont arrange discounts.

I just buy them when the opportunity arrives that either someone i know is putting in a large order.

J_A_R_B
11-11-2006, 23:19
Hi All


I run standard front shocks and Avo shocks at the back with stiffer springs all round with the Avo being adjustable helps me to get the car to understeer or oversteer depending what I want. I also have powerflex bushes which apparently according to my mate who owned the car before i did make a difference to the handling. Would be interesting to go out in car with full coilovers to see how they perform.