After a few months of the FK's I've sourced some standard shocks and springs from Fear in the FS section and I'm going back to stock. The ride is to hard and it's making me dislike driving the octy, enemy considering selling and moving on.

Hoping the change back will help me enjoy the car again. Love the power and how it drives in general but as most of the roads are full of potholes and speed humps it's making driving a real chore. So I'll be busy next week swapping it back, gutted as the ride height looks cool but to much to live with daily, also gutted I've spent £225!!

Has anyone found a set of lowering springs that give a good ride without dropping the back more than the front? as I find most springs are designed for golfs so they drop the back to far.

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I have PI ones on mine and the ride is ok but not as comfy as the standard setup. Its also very bouncy if you go over a hump in the road above 50 mph which really unsettles the car. They all seem to make the back look a lot lower than the front even though its a 30mm drop all round. From my experience with them, standard shocks with lowering springs are not the best choice. Stick with the standard setup if you dont like the coilovers.

Edited 19 March, 201412 yr by tonyb8063

On 30mm PI springs.

Edited 19 March, 201412 yr by tonyb8063

Sorry. Pic is too big :-(

U selling them?

well you have learned your lesson...

Are they wound stupidly low?

ive got kw on mine and can honestly say its a nice ride

Are they wound stupidly low?

No the rears are virtually at the top and the fronts still have 5-6cm of thread left

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U selling them?

Maybe pm me if interested.

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I have PI ones on mine and the ride is ok but not as comfy as the standard setup. Its also very bouncy if you go over a hump in the road above 50 mph which really unsettles the car. They all seem to make the back look a lot lower than the front even though its a 30mm drop all round. From my experience with them, standard shocks with lowering springs are not the best choice. Stick with the standard setup if you dont like the coilovers.

Think I'll stick with standard for now. Most springs seem set for golfs so back end always goes to low.

Problem is it's got me thinking about changing the octy now which is always dangerous.

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I've just done the same as you buddy. Bought some standard springs from VRade. I was running mine on -30mm cobra springs and had the usual hassle of the back end lower than the front. So after sorting that and running the car through the winter i was getting a bit fed up with the car. The car looked great but the standard shocks just can't cope with the stiffer springs. The car was bouncing about like a pogo stick! The standard rideheight is funny as f**k but its a lot nicer over speed humps etc. I don't go round roundabouts at the national limit now so its no biggie.

I stuck HR springs with new standard shocks on my VRS, & didn't like the ride at all, bumpy & boat like over bumps. Took them off after a couple of weeks.

Maybe pm me if interested.

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Pm sent

I stuck HR springs with new standard shocks on my VRS, & didn't like the ride at all, bumpy & boat like over bumps. Took them off after a couple of weeks.

Its the standard shocks that's the problem. I fitted new shocks all round and they still couldn't deal with the rebound, so shocks with a few miles on them must be awful!

Chris if your selling any if your mods hit me up?! Also you didn't you fancy the ap shock and spring kit?!

Chris if your selling any if your mods hit me up?! Also you didn't you fancy the ap shock and spring kit?!

 

Will do Jimmy you, got that carpet sorted yet ? The AP kit was a bit out of budget at the time mate 

It is not surprising that you folks are not liking the coilovers when you spend £225 on either Pro sport and FK coz they are rubbish..

 

You do get what you pay for. There is little to no rebound on those coilovers that is what is causing the crashy type rides you get and if lowered significantly then really bad.

 

Also the PI, Cobra,  springs are rubbish and not really designed to compliment std strut's and shocks. That is why you are getting a bouncing ride coz the extra load the spring stress the shocks is too much for the old tired shock to handle. Let's face it these MK1 cars are getting on a bit and even the std suspension when new was not that great.

 

H&R lowering spring are the best for these cars if not going coilover route , but as mentioned they must be fitted to either new std strut's or uprated ones as the H&R springs are strong.

 

I would never go back to std struts and springs which can only be purchased from main dealers at extortionate  prices and when you consider the cost of those a reasonable quality set of coilovers could be purchased that do give a good ride

I don't think new standard struts & shocks solve it either Bowders. Didn't for me anyway when I had H&R springs on. Quality coilovers are the only way IMO.

I don't think new standard struts & shocks solve it either Bowders. Didn't for me anyway when I had H&R springs on. Quality coilovers are the only way IMO.

 

Agree.....

 

I had H&R's fitted to Koni FSD strut's and they were a perfect balance and I would still have them over std, but they only lowered car 10 to 15mm and i wanted more so it was KW coilovers for me, and not looked back since.

The ride isn't particularly crashy or noisy it's just very firm and I know it's because it's low and a cheap kit but can't justify £600+ on a kit when that's nearly half what the cars worth. Before the front spring broke I wasn't even thinking of coilovers. It was the most cost effective way of replacing a broken spring and 3 weak shocks. So I live and learn and won't do it again. Think it's also I'm getting to old for lowered cars lol.

Here's mine on PI springs. like the height at the rear but the front is still way too high.

 

http://s91.photobucket.com/user/tony_bennett4/media/20140227_114519_zps7386bed9.jpg.html

FK's silly low on my mk2 and it's not bad tbh.

Wind the coils up a bit maybe? Should soften them up a touch

Or just buy a mk2

FK's silly low on my mk2 and it's not bad tbh.

Wind the coils up a bit maybe? Should soften them up a touch

Or just buy a mk2

 

 

Just waiting for fears shocks and springs to arrive then it'll be back to standard, might go down the sleeper route and remove all the external mods and tune the $h!t out of the motor 

 

When I sell the coilys it will help pay for the RARB so every cloud an all that.

The weird thing is my MK1 with the same FK coilovers isnt crashy or bouncy, Meaty101 will vouch for the comfort - I genuinely think you got a bad batch or installation is a little off. (Sorry)

 

Spending upwards of £600 on some coilovers on a car that probably wont ever see a track is pretty pointless, if your tracking it then go ahead i will certainly be upgrading to some KW's when i can afford.

 

Id possibly look at bushes Chris, Bottom ball joints etc etc