New suspension

[Kevin Bacon 5]

These babies are on order :) But they will be VW ones, not Lancia. They don't have any pics of VW ones yet, LOL!

 

 

I'm through with dutch and german dampers failing on me, so it's time for some British know how 8)

[double-6s 0]

how much were those tasty burgers mate? :)

[mtc R32 0]

the nuts...... How much they set you back!!!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

£799 of your finest english pounds sir.

 

I had a lengthy chat with my suspension expert today and he recommended them, especially after he told me Peter Lions (LEDA's top technical expert) left LEDA and now works for GAZ ;-)

 

They come with hefty old spring rates, 275lb/in fronts and 190lb/in rears....but I'm assured ride quality will be good because the stiffer springs allow less damper bump force, so they do all the work instead of the damper, then you consequently up the rebound force accordingly. Some research on TVR forums (they're known for blowing dampers) seems to corroborate this.

 

got to wait 4 weeks for them..... don't think they've done this setup for a VW yet, so once again, haywire has to do a report and take pics :-)

[2cc 0]

That's a bob or three of anyone's money

Very interested to see the report on them though m8

By the by, is the steering fix still behaving?

[double-6s 0]

Thats not bad at all!

 

'only a pound ya say? i'll take it off you for a pound' :)

[Kevin Bacon 5]

2cc, Yes mate, perfect, well, apart from an utterly shagged nearside H&R damper :-(

 

Yeah I thought they were good value for bump *and* rebound adjustables... the equivalent from LEDA would cost £2000, and as Mr Leda now works for Mr GAZ, seems silly to pay Leda money for a Leda product with a different sticker ;-) The motor trade is VERY incestous mate :-)

 

I've totally lost faith in dampers from over the pond....they just don't last 5 minutes with me. Maybe I just have dilusions of my car being an Elise, but feck it, it's a driver's car and drive it - hard!

 

Oh and GAZ are going to significantly reduce damper droop for me. With the H&Rs, the rear wheel is about 4 inches off the ground before the front tyre leaves the floor :shock: No wonder I stress about jacking induced floor bending!!

[Mike Edwards 0]

Which H&Rs do you have at the moment Kev?

 

The ones I had came with spring rates that were higher than the figure you quote for the Gaz items, and there was very little difference in droop between front and rear.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I've got the 'regular' non adjustable H&R coilovers Mike. Same ones you used to have, red springs, brass coloured damper bodies.

 

Do you know what the spring rates are for the H&Rs as I wanted something close to those as they're pretty good. I can change the spring rate with GAZ.

 

One reason I have so much droop is because of the pillow ball top mounts, they sit about 2" lower down than the OE rubber ones.

[Trig 0]

They certainly look the business mate. 'bout the same price as the H&R's as well?

[KADVR6 0]

great suspension those GAZ units kev, one question though, are you going to be selling the H&R's?? if you are, let me know as i know someone who is looking for some good vr suspension,

[Mike Edwards 0]

Kev, you'll need to refresh my memory as to what it says on the springs - so I can do the conversion again.

 

From memory though the rears works out about the same as the figure you quote, but the fronts were higher still.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

KADVR6, yeah I'll be selling them, although I will get the front struts replaced under warranty.

 

Mike Edwards, OK cheers, I will get the details off the spring later and let you know.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Mike, the H&Rs are 390lb/in at the front and 280lb/in at the rear.....

[Mike Edwards 0]

The springs say this on them?

 

Mine only gave the figures in Kg/mm - and worked out at 400lb/in on the front and 295lb/in rear.

 

Maybe I should have expressed an interest in the old units earlier?

 

Koni may be getting my money after all...

[StuartFZR400 0]

They come with hefty old spring rates, 275lb/in fronts and 190lb/in rears....but I'm assured ride quality will be good because the stiffer springs allow less damper bump force, so they do all the work instead of the damper, then you consequently up the rebound force accordingly. Some research on TVR forums (they're known for blowing dampers) seems to corroborate this.

 

Sounds sensible to me Kev; my thinking all along. And if they can take a fat weight of a TVR engine then it should take your VR brute, lol.

 

Let us all know the outcome. Will also keep an eye out in 6 months time for "anyone know of a decent damper brand?" LOL.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Will do mate..... it was all worked out scientifically using the car's actual weight (1320kg - public weighbridge) and the front/rear weight concentration, which I have down as 64%/34%..... can anyone confirm this? Something about frequency cycles at 70mph was mentioned, but it went over my head, LOL! Basically it's a setup for faster B road progress, 1 cycle IIRC. The H&Rs are 2.2 cycles at 70mph and 2 is considered Race spec :lol: Bl00dy good ride quality tho, considering.....

 

Mike, yeah the rates you quote sound about right. It varies from 390-400 F and 280-290 depending which American forum you read ;-)

The H&Rs, despite the race spec spring rates are the best I've used with 17" wheels I have to say.

 

My existing H&R kit will be sold with 2 brand new front legs, original rears (which are fine) and 2 old front legs which can be rebuilt as spares. I'll post them up when they're available.

[Guest]

price looks pretty good there Kev.

 

n1 mate, hopefully you'll be happy with this setup :)

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Cheers chap. I hope so too......hope I haven't gone too soft (in the suspension department that is) as I didn't realise the H&Rs were that hard, LOL!

 

Oh well, springs cost booger all so can lash on some stiffer ones if need be :-)

 

Oh and they've changed the spec to include progressive rate springees, which is quite rare on coilovers.....no helpers 8)

[Mike Edwards 0]

Are they actually progressive, or do they just offer a very low secondary rate to make sure the spring stays put when the unit extends?

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Yep, progressive rate at the front, fixed at the rear and yep, the idea of the prog rate at the front is to help with droop and also bump ride quality. I personally prefer this method to tuning seperate helper springs. It's a bit of a mongrel kit and the first they've done for a road car of this spec, so it's a bit of a leap of faith.

 

Need to lose the 17" lumps of pig iron at each corner first though to make the most of it. Still gobsmacked by how well the H&Rs handle 18Kg of wheel/tyre at each corner tho.....I hope I don't regret this.

[Mike Edwards 0]

Try driving a car with runflats - the total weight of wheel and tyre is just over 20Kg for the lightest combination of standard 17" wheel and make of tyre.

 

Ask Gaz to make sure the high-frequency damping is kept fairly low.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Yeah my mate just binned the factory fit run-flats from his 530d and can't believe the difference now he's using proper tyres.

The tuning industry is obsessed with low wheel weight, but no one apart from Avon produce a lightweight tyre. In many cases, the tyres are heavier than the wheels!

 

Cheers for the high freq damping tip, I'll run that by them....