Hi all

My son has a 1.3 s reg Felicia hatchback that seems to ride very low when loaded seems fine with only one or two people in it. All my sons friends are 6ft+ so they are not light and when there is 4 in the car I worry about the hight.

At the cars age would standard new springs and shocks sort this out or should I look at uprating them and if so what rating and where to purchase would be good ??

Hope someone has the "low" down on this.

Cheers

Geoff

You want to see a pic of my Favorit when it was fully loaded for the Brisky Super Rally!!

Think theres a pic on here.

I wouldn't worry unless the suspension really isnt coping and the wheels rub againt the body/inner wheel arches.

They do this I have noticed. Even with a bit of stuff in the boot the back drops down a bit and becomes a bit bouncy.

Think the rear shocks are pretty soft so alloy a fair bit of compression with weight. The only way you will get round this is to replace the springs/shocks for some stiffer ones.

p.s. not seen that picture captain sisko. Guess you had a few in the car too didn't ya?!

Heres the pic from the Briskoda Super Rally.

I read on another forum of someone putting a concrete fireplace in the boot of a Favorit and they said it was resting on the bump stops

Shocks have NOTHING to do with the weight-bearing capacity, it's all about the springs. Fel Estate rear springs are not stiff enough when new, and they seem to sag with age as well. Replacement will help, but uprated springs would be better, but you'd obviously suffer the consequences when unloaded.

Mine used to sag a lot - especially after pulling the caravan a few times! It might help to replace the springs if you want to go to the expense! Properly be ok until it fails at MOT.

Thanks for the comments folks. If I wanted some uprated springs where's best to get them and what rating ??