Hi,

I got a new estate last week

1) The Fuel gauge likes to move when going round bends, an old fiesta my mate had had did this and it was basically just because it was crap but is there any fix for it on the Felicia?

2) The handling is erm... unique. I would like to get some diffrent alloys for it that have a wider track. (not some silly RS6 replica alloys!) Can any people post what wheels they have fitted to theirs and if there are any perticular wheels that would improve this.

Cheers!

Craig

1. I swapped my instrument panel and the petrol gauge going up and down thing stopped happening - I suspect the same may work for you.

Welcome to club Felicia!!!! That looks like a good Felicia!!! 1.3 Magic? *edit* My mistake didnt read the 1.6 SLXI bit first.

I was looking at getting the old 14" VW wheels for my Felicia before the head gasket popped. That might be an avenue to consider, although I find my Skodas to handle pretty well on the standard wheels.

I found my gauge moved round bend, not majorly though!! Found that on hills too.

I knew when to fill up so it wasn't a problem for me.

Not the best picture, but these are what i have fitted on my fun

the fuel gauge goes down on corners for me too, but i recond since is a very simple gauge and sender it doent have the "buffer" but, the good thing is, if things go wrong, is a easy fix... i did mine

my feli doesn't have power steering, and i like cars withour power steering, only draw back is the width of the tyres you can fit, dont go over 185 or steering will be harder, and RR will hinder the FE

im thinking of fitting 15" steel rims with the new Skoda Romster hubcabs or something like that with 185/55R15" rims,

Not the best picture, but these are what i have fitted on my fun

whats wheels are those on the fun?

As others, the Felly doesn't have the greatest fuel level damper in the World.

As for the handling, what is the problem? Do you feel it's rolling a lot, or actually running out of grip? If the problem is roll, you'd be looking at changing the springs, dampers, anti-roll bars to reduce roll, and no amount of bigger tyres will correct that. OTOH if you're happy with it being a bit rolly, but running out of grip, then yes bigger and/or better tyres (maybe inch up and 60 profiles) are the way to go.

As others, the Felly doesn't have the greatest fuel level damper in the World.

As for the handling, what is the problem? Do you feel it's rolling a lot, or actually running out of grip? If the problem is roll, you'd be looking at changing the springs, dampers, anti-roll bars to reduce roll, and no amount of bigger tyres will correct that. OTOH if you're happy with it being a bit rolly, but running out of grip, then yes bigger and/or better tyres (maybe inch up and 60 profiles) are the way to go.

roll is not a problem for me since my feli was lowered (the just removed the suspencion a cut the srings) and that gives it more stiffness, that and the roll bar it alredy has is good enough ot prevent it from rolling, so all that is left is choosing the right tyres (i felt it slip a little in wet road)

I dont know what make they are, the only wording on them is "cora beta" they are 6J x 15s

Poor handling can be caused by poor wheel alignment or worn bushes. Get these checked first before splashing loads of cash at something that may not fix anything. The wheels on the SLXi are quiet unique because the car is quiet rare.

As others, the Felly doesn't have the greatest fuel level damper in the World.

As for the handling, what is the problem? Do you feel it's rolling a lot, or actually running out of grip? If the problem is roll, you'd be looking at changing the springs, dampers, anti-roll bars to reduce roll, and no amount of bigger tyres will correct that. OTOH if you're happy with it being a bit rolly, but running out of grip, then yes bigger and/or better tyres (maybe inch up and 60 profiles) are the way to go.

It needs new suspension really as it's a bit boat like! I dont want to throw too much money at it though and can cutting the springs damage the dampers?

roll is not a problem for me since my feli was lowered (the just removed the suspension a cut the springs) and that gives it more stiffness, that and the roll bar it already has is good enough to prevent it from rolling, so all that is left is choosing the right tires (i felt it slip a little in wet road)

cutting the springs wont make them stiffer, it just reduces the stroke length, but it does lower the center of gravity thus reducing the roll a little.

as for handling in general. the standard tires do have a lot of squirm under load.

i stepped up to 15"s. i'm using G60 steel wheels with a 195/45/15.

to cut down on roll some more you can swap the anti roll bar for a bigger one of a MK2 vw caddy. as for a rear ARB i'm working on that.

and you could always fit some HPsporting coilovers

If you think the springs and dampers are all a bit tired, I'd go for replacing the lot, and stick some stiffer lowering spring in there when I was at it (maybe lowering springs and dampers, maybe coilovers).

cutting the springs wont make them stiffer, it just reduces the stroke length, but it does lower the center of gravity thus reducing the roll a little.

i don't want to argue with you... but they feel stiffer, they feel way stiffer, in fact enough to feel the road a little too much for my comfort

another practice that the have here to lower the car is to blow torch the springs in place that is supposed to lower the car without making the spring harder.

what's your opinion on this ?

i don't want to argue with you... but they feel stiffer, they feel way stiffer, in fact enough to feel the road a little too much for my comfort

another practice that the have here to lower the car is to blow torch the springs in place that is supposed to lower the car without making the spring harder.

what's your opinion on this ?

Go ahead, argue with him. I'm pretty sure that cut springs actually have a higher wheel rate, and that I was told that by Dave Vizard or Dr (Ing) Gerard Sauer.

I've never been convinced by blowtorching for a number of reasons:-

1) You lose any specialised heat treatment of the spring steel.

2) You don't have that much control over the drop you get.

3) I've seen people try that with the full weight of the car on the springs, and finish up on the bump rubbers. I'm sure you can figure out what that does to the wheel rates for yourself!

i never did like the blow torche aproach, never did it myself (but that just show the kinda weird things that happen arround here) to be quite honest, i prefer having your springs cut down only if its by 1, 1½, turns, and only in say the front wheel or the back wheels (depending on the application) and pair with coil overs, or just get softer springs and tougher damper...

i wound mind my feli being a bit lower, just so the wheel and the wheel arch have even spacing, they just look better that way

o and by the way, what is " wheel rate" ?

Well, I stongly suspect there will be a non-posed video on YouTube of blowtorching springs being done in Los Angeles (probably on something like a 1966 Chevvy sedan).

Coilovers probably aren't compatible with standard (or even modified standard) springs. One of the ways they differ from stock springs is that coilover springs are wound round a narrower former, typically 2.5" rather than 3.5" or 4" diameter. There will probably be photos of coilovers uninstalled in adverts in any decent European or Japanese car tuning mag that gets on your newsstands.

The wheel rate of a suspension system is the effective load you have to apply at the wheel to get it to move unit distance into bump travel.

mines running on the steelies of a mkII golf.... i think, 14'' and a bit wider than standards.