There've been a few lowering discussions recently and I tripped over these things on EBAY.

FK Automotive AK coilovers. Or FK AK Street coilovers.

Prices seem ludicrously cheap compared to anything other than string and rubber bands. ~ £200-£225.

Anyone got experience of these things?

Personally, I feel you get what you pay for when it comes to DAMPERS, specifically. I'd rather trust the likes of Sachs, Eibach, Koni, Bilstein... Or more exotically, Ohlins, AST, EXE-TCs... Not that I'd ever spend that amount nor spend the time to set it all up properly unless I was racing.

J.

I had them on my old MK3 Golf TDI. Got the VR6 ones to handle the extra weight of the lump. They weren't terribly smooth, ride wise, but didn't corrode over a couple of years. They remained adjustable and the handling was very good. No complaints from me. That was, however, 5yrs ago and the Fabia items could be different.

i have no experience of these at all, but as you say ''you get what you pay for'' and £200 [if thats what they were] seems very cheap, especially if you think thats only £50 per corner for the shocker & spring

Edited 24 September, 201015 yr by MarkMac

I've done a thread like this recently because I don't see the point in coilovers for everyday use unless you have the cash/willing to spend it.

Dpm performance do good shocks &springs sets from reputable brands. I have had fk coilovers on different cars and they were stiff and would knock etc. But as said suspension is a 'get what you pay for' thing.

I had them on my Vectra and they are awesome for the money when you compare them to the likes of Racelands etc. ride is good and very well made, I'll be getting these for mine when I get some cash together as I'm skint at the moment.

I've done a thread like this recently because I don't see the point in coilovers for everyday use unless you have the cash/willing to spend it.

Because people dont like the 4x4 look of the fabia. It needs dropping too much to be able to just use shocks and springs. Also, if you spend £4k on a "warm hatch" most people arnt then going to go and spend 1/4 of its value again on a set of coilovers. :no:

Matt

I had a set a long time ago. They were rubbish! Sure they did the job initially, but despite lubing etc, they seized up solid within about 18 months and I was forced to throw them away as scrap! Very disappointed with the overall build quality.

i see what you mean matt1chelski, how much did you pay for your coilovers?

Belive me i dont think a 25mm drop is near enough but you can get up to 55mm drop on the shocks and springs.

Me on the otherhand, i would rather pay 300£ on a good set of shocks and springs than an set of coilovers, becuase the shocks and springs will be probably of a slight better quality at the price than the coilovers, and once they are on, no camber adjusting, 4 wheel alignment etc

i see what you mean matt1chelski, how much did you pay for your coilovers?

Belive me i dont think a 25mm drop is near enough but you can get up to 55mm drop on the shocks and springs.

Me on the otherhand, i would rather pay 300£ on a good set of shocks and springs than an set of coilovers, becuase the shocks and springs will be probably of a slight better quality at the price than the coilovers, and once they are on, no camber adjusting, 4 wheel alignment etc

I paid £250 for them, were used, about a year old. I was under the impression the lower you go on just shocks and springs, the more bouncy and uncomfortable it is. At least thats how it was in mates cars etc. I`v not seen any fabias on just springs that look low, they just reduce the massive arch gap a little to how it should have been from factory.

Each to there own and that, but i`d rather pay a extra £90 and get say, some AP coilovers, lots of people have them on here, seem to be a half decent set.

matt

weitecs for me decent/quality value for money without being too harsh on the road or pocket

I had a set a long time ago. They were rubbish! Sure they did the job initially, but despite lubing etc, they seized up solid within about 18 months and I was forced to throw them away as scrap! Very disappointed with the overall build quality.

I take it that was the height adjustment rings and exterior threads then?

These might be better.

http://www.fk-automotive.org.uk/websale7/FK-Coilover-Silverline-X---fit-for.htm?Ctx={ver%2f7%2fver}{st%2f3eb%2fst}{cmd%2f0%2fcmd}{m%2fwebsale%2fm}{s%2ffk-automotive%2fs}{l%2fEnglish%2fl}{mi%2f10-10320%2fmi}{pi%2f1030215%2fpi}{po%2f1%2fpo}{fc%2fx%2ffc}{p1%2f6372dc081e99cc4987e26d795ab1076d%2fp1}{md5%2f18107c0e6b2d7ebab8312e70d0e0003b%2fmd5}

http://www.venommotorsport.com/manufacturer_product.php?manufacturer=FK&category=suspension&product=SilverlineXCoilovers&make=Skoda&model=Fabia

Though for product only they're not cheap. Add fitting at somewhere around £100 or £100+!

J.

I dont understand any of the negative comments on these tbh. Ive got these on and have had for a while. Sure theyll seize up if you dont look after them, just like any coilovers you buy.

Ive taken my car on the track with these on, and use the car everyday with them on, wound all the way down too. Handling is very good and I never hear any noises or have any problems with them.

The ride isn't great, but thats with lower profile tyres too so its to be expected. To be honest, it doesn't bother me.

For £200 they are very good and comparable to APs/Weitecs considering before the newer ranges, these were >£350 from memory.

If you want the best, expect to pay >£800, if you want poor, get Raceland, JOM or Hot Tuning. If you want good quality and good value for money, get these, simples

Edited 24 September, 201015 yr by InFus1on

I dont understand any of the negative comments on these tbh. Ive got these on and have had for a while. Sure theyll seize up if you dont look after them, just like any coilovers you buy.

Ive taken my car on the track with these on, and use the car everyday with them on, wound all the way down too. Handling is very good and I never hear any noises or have any problems with them.

The ride isn't great, but thats with lower profile tyres too so its to be expected. To be honest, it doesn't bother me.

For £200 they are very good and comparable to APs/Weitecs considering before the newer ranges, these were >£350 from memory.

If you want the best, expect to pay >£800, if you want poor, get Raceland, JOM or Hot Tuning. If you want good quality and good value for money, get these, simples

any pics with them on n wound down?

Sure

All the way down on front, an inch left on back for stance

Fk are renowned for being boooouuuunnnnccccy

Yup £50 a corner for a shocker and spring

Can't be much cope really!

Im running £50 a corner hubcentric wheel adaptors lol

I have the top of the range fk konigsports on mine, 600 quids worth and they are the worst coilovers i have ever had, even on the softest setting they make the car nearly undrivable at speed, if you hit a bump you catch air they are that hard, a friend has the next ones down in the range and they are even worse!!!! God help anyone who runs the real budget fk stuff!!!!

I have the top of the range fk konigsports on mine, 600 quids worth and they are the worst coilovers i have ever had, even on the softest setting they make the car nearly undrivable at speed, if you hit a bump you catch air they are that hard, a friend has the next ones down in the range and they are even worse!!!! God help anyone who runs the real budget fk stuff!!!!

Lol with all respect bud, u might wanna try them before u slate em. Anyone is welcome to try mine anytime to prove my point

Lol with all respect bud, u might wanna try them before u slate em. Anyone is welcome to try mine anytime to prove my point

I run them every day mate!!!!! Great for lows, crap to drive, or are the ultra budget fk's loads better than the premium ones? I will be back to running kw shortly and wouldn't recomend fk to my worst enemy!!!!!!

I run them every day mate!!!!! Great for lows, crap to drive, or are the ultra budget fk's loads better than the premium ones? I will be back to running kw shortly and wouldn't recomend fk to my worst enemy!!!!!!

Sorry mate I obviously know nothing then. If theyre that bad to drive then you clearly havent set them up properly. They are made in the same factory, by the same people, and to the same standards as the expensive fk coilys. The only difference is the materials are different. I dont mean to sound like a knob mate but ive experienced many different setups and these and no worse (and only slightly different) to any other setup ive tried/experienced.

I would normally recomend expensive units to people using their car for track, but as ive said ive used these on the track and they do very well, and have been praised by everyone who has driven my car on track, or on the road, because they were set up properly.

Infus1on where did you get them set up and costs etc? If you set them up yourself have you had any garage costs at all?

Had them set up by my friend who i race with. He works at my local Mitsibishi garage and runs a few cars in amateur/semi pro racing events with Torque Motorsport, so I trusted him to do it properly lol. I gave him £20 as a thank you but he did it for free for me

Sorry mate I obviously know nothing then. If theyre that bad to drive then you clearly havent set them up properly. They are made in the same factory, by the same people, and to the same standards as the expensive fk coilys. The only difference is the materials are different. I dont mean to sound like a knob mate but ive experienced many different setups and these and no worse (and only slightly different) to any other setup ive tried/experienced.

I would normally recomend expensive units to people using their car for track, but as ive said ive used these on the track and they do very well, and have been praised by everyone who has driven my car on track, or on the road, because they were set up properly.

Not saying you know nothing mate, these are the only coilovers i have ever had problems with, doesn't matter what i do with the damping adjustment like i said soft is mega hard, hard is no suspension at all, every car i've been in equipped with fk coilovers is the same!!!!! ( been around the vw's for many years, probably been in 50+ fk equipped cars) i have run over 20 cars on coilovers and managed to set them up just fine some of those cars have had mega money suspension setups with masses of bound/re bound plus hieght and camber, i think if i can set up cars like that i can manage a set of fk's don't you think, end of the day you get what you pay for, and your opinion of hard and undrivable may differ to mine( i am getting on a bit now) but in my opinion i personally wouldn't run fk's again, and am just posting my personal expierience of this brand of suspension

Edited 27 September, 201015 yr by oilburninnut

Now you put it like that I suppose I respect where your coming from. Ive run a few cars both on track and road, with varying suspension setups (everything from HotTuning to custom sets of Ohlins/Stance/Bilsteins) and putting aside the seriously expensive set ups and the frankly awful (in my opinion) HotTuning/Raceland/JOM, id say these are comparable in quality, ride and handling to systems twice the price at their current price. AP coilovers are very similar imo on this car, slightly softer which is good for road, but not so good for handling. But as you say ur opinion of them goes more towards the ride comfort side, whereas this doesnt bother me as id prefer handling and looks to ride comfort hence mine being wound to the bottom lol