So yeah since my car now squats more than Jen Selter i'm starting to think i should start looking at suspension work for now instead of more power. So i can enjoy what the car is becoming, not lift the inside wheel accelerating round a corner.

 

Never been a big fan of suspension work but i really see the need right now.

Tyres are sorted, going to be running federal RSR595s, planning some uprated pads and fluid on stock brakes for now too.

 

So what is everybody running/dailying/tracking?

 

Obviously me being cheap and loving bang for buck keep this in mind.

 

I've been looking at things like uprated dampers to fully adjustable coilovers with camber top mounts, all the way down to £180 set of FK coilovers. I will not be slamming the car. just lowering it around 40mmish.

 

I plan to track this car in the near future. But this will be on occasion, its mainly a fun back road drive to work car right now... 

Edited 1 July, 201412 yr by matthewl

I'll go first. I've got a Whiteline rear sway bar and Eibach pro kit springs on a daily. Observations are that the car definitely takes corners better - you feel like you're gliding around roundabouts, at least until you get used to it. Every now and then I take one quicker than usual and get that "surprise" all over again. That would be mostly down to the sway bar. As for the springs, they seem to take smaller bumps better than the stock springs, but you can bounce quite hard and get a roller coaster effect at times. I'm thinking upgraded shocks/dampers may be my next move. The springs do improve the stance as well, if you're worried about aesthetics.

I'll go first. I've got a Whiteline rear sway bar and Eibach pro kit springs on a daily. Observations are that the car definitely takes corners better - you feel like you're gliding around roundabouts, at least until you get used to it. Every now and then I take one quicker than usual and get that "surprise" all over again. That would be mostly down to the sway bar. As for the springs, they seem to take smaller bumps better than the stock springs, but you can bounce quite hard and get a roller coaster effect at times. I'm thinking upgraded shocks/dampers may be my next move. The springs do improve the stance as well, if you're worried about aesthetics.

 

 

This is exactly what im after!

thank you for your input i really appreciate it! nice and detailed too.

i have just updated my first post to say i wont be slamming the car, this is purely to make it drive better!

 

I have been tempted by an ARB, would this make a difference with the standard setup?

I think most people would say if you do one thing to the suspension on these cars, then do the rear ARB.

If your after better ride and only want to drop it 40mm then the springs are quite a good way to go, I've personally got the cheap £180 FK coilovers but I went for them because they gave me a huge drop (something like 100mm) which is what I wanted, and although the handling has improved tenth fold it is a very stiff ride!

 

I've heard nothing but positive things about the rear ARB but yet to have it installed on mine. 

Bilsteins and Eibachs seem a good compromise on most small hatches without costing the earth although I have no experience with them in a Fabia.

If you go down the coilover route the more adjustability the better but also the more £££'s. Buy cheap and you may regret it in a daily driver.

You need to spend big to get any adjustment on coilovers besides ride height.

 

I run H&R Springs with KW ST Dampers - the car now rides as well as it ever has, yet still leaves a lot to be desired.  To understand why the Mk2 Fabia will always have abysmal rear end suspension crash you need to understand that it is a simple torsion beam suspension set up and also take off the rear wheels and arch liner to take a look what a basic connection the dampers have to the chassis, two bolts metal on to metal with no bush or padding to cushion the transmission of force.  Torsion beam will serve a purpose on track especially when stiffened with a RARB but I believe will always remain unsettled on road.

 

I also believe that the Mk2 Fabia bodyshell is inherently flexible (door/dash/boot creaks and rattles demonstrate this a little) the stiffer you go with suspension and mods the better the car will handle, I think crash and poor ride will be near impossible to dial out completely or even to an acceptable level compared to a Golf or Focus.

Someone on here said the rear ARB does improve the handling/body roll but did start to pee him off because it added more harshness and bumpyness to the  ride.  

 

For me, would a RARB will come second to a good set of dampers that match the springs. A car doesn't need to be stiff as hell for it to handle well - i want refinement and for it to absorb the bumps not just bounce over them. At the end of the day, cornering speed is down to grip on the tarmac so you can have a stiff as hell car but its just jumping over the bumps and not rolling progressively over.    

 

For me, matching my eibachs with a set of Blistein B6 sport shocks (if you are dropping it 40mm with HR springs, than B8s maybe be a better choice for you) will give the best compromise between handling and ride comfort

 

I hunted round for part numbers and heres what iv found which may be of use.

 

B6

 

35-052173

24-067898

11-106470

 

Kit P/N - BIL009724

 

B8

 

35-052180

24-067904

11-106470

 

Kit P/N - BIL009725

 

Im currently saving up for the B6 dampers, bushes (still rubber not solid), lower engine mount (someone on here gave a good write up on one) and new top mounts (maybe LCR mounts) 

 

As i use the car every day, for trips to work (6miles away), weekly long runs (160mile round trip), blasts at the weekend i want a good all rounder. If it was just about how fast i can go round a corner, i wouldn't have got a skoda estate with thin tyres and a high COG. 

Someone on here said the rear ARB does improve the handling/body roll but did start to pee him off because it added more harshness and bumpyness to the  ride.  

 

For me, would a RARB will come second to a good set of dampers that match the springs. A car doesn't need to be stiff as hell for it to handle well - i want refinement and for it to absorb the bumps not just bounce over them. At the end of the day, cornering speed is down to grip on the tarmac so you can have a stiff as hell car but its just jumping over the bumps and not rolling progressively over.    

 

For me, matching my eibachs with a set of Blistein B6 sport shocks (if you are dropping it 40mm with HR springs, than B8s maybe be a better choice for you) will give the best compromise between handling and ride comfort

 

 

Maybe what you say is true for other cars but having gone down the route of: 1) Whiteline rarb 2) H&R Springs -40mm 3) Bilstein B8 dampers in that order, I will disagree in what concerns the Fabia. The single most impressing and value for money mod was the rear arb. It offered the greatest handling transformation I ever experienced with any of the other mods and the ride compromise was minimal. I remember taking the 1st roundabout after its fitting not believing I was sliding like that. Ok it didn't suddenly become a BMW but at least it is now much more neutral and pleasant during fast cornering. Springs were not a bad idea either (also due to offering a 100 times better look - and I say this detesting slammed cars) but it was more of a global tone-down of the car's negative behaviour, not one focusing on the bodyroll or understeer which as stock are horrible even within NSL. The dampers, although the most expensive upgrade were not as surprising compared with the other two and it's Bilsteins we are talking about. As I had written in my review, they gave some benefits but those will not be appreciated under normal everyday driving except from the slightly improved ride comfort compared to stock. If you want to save money and looking for bang for buck I would certainly skip dampers.

 

But although the car doesn't even remotely compare to stock nowdays, as Sparkly said it still leaves something to be desired. I also hate the messages I receive from the rear-end at times, it is so detached I almost feel it is only the front that struggles to keep traction and that the rear end is just sleeping. That been said I hope my latest upgrade will improve further the handling. That is a full front and rear bush kit from Superpro with the anti-lift design for caster adjustment. I know (or better, read) that bushes are essential after springs, dampers arbs in order to get the maximum out of them and have read a few posts of these getting praised for significantly improving the handling in similar VW FWD cars. Unfortunately, in the MKII Fabia section we haven't had many reviews about uprated bushes so maybe mine will be interesting when I get them done (around 1 month to go).

Edited 1 July, 201412 yr by newbie69

So. In order of how i'd do them:

 

RARB - by far the biggest modification anyone who goes around corners can make. The only issue is if you're pushing hard the back end can become more twitchy, easier to lose it when you're lifting-off. My recommendation to anyone who makes this modification is to go find some abandoned runway somewhere to test so you understand what i'm getting at. If you don't understand the terms 'lift-off oversteer' or 'snap oversteer', keep clear of doing this mod as you'll likely end up in a bush, or worse.

 

Decent spring/damper combo - goes without saying. A small drop with decent dampers and uprated springs will result in much better handling. However make the decision - are you going low, or going for handling? At a certain point you will cross over from being slightly lower with better handling, to looking really low and ruining your handling. It's a close balance. You either want to drive it, or show it off. The only exception to this is air suspension, but i'd personally be wary of cornering hard in a car on air!

 

shorter bump stops and top mounts to go with springs/dampers. Again goes without saying. DON'T CUT BUMPSTOPS! They're designed to give a progressive loading effect if you end up on them. Cutting them down reduces this loading capacity meaning you'll bottom out. Always best to get shorter uprated bump stops with the same load bearing capacity albeit shorter and possibly more abrupt.

 

Bushes - Upgrading bushes will generally make everything feel a bit tighter - sometimes at the expense of comfort and road noise though. Don't be expecting silent driving with upgraded bushes, it doesn't happen.

 

Braces. Both front and rear lower to prevent wheel hop and torque steer. Most people buy strut mounts but by far the most flex actually comes from under the car. Besides, strut braces are rubbish - all you're creating is a box that will still flex - it'll just flex both wheels instead of just the loaded one under cornering. For proper bracing you're going to need to get a triangular brace design put in, and i've not seen any that you can buy off the shelf.

 

Then strut mounts but with the caveat listed above.

 

And then pretty much you're as far as you can go without fundamentally changing everything or swapping your car.

So. In order of how i'd do them:

 

RARB - by far the biggest modification anyone who goes around corners can make. The only issue is if you're pushing hard the back end can become more twitchy, easier to lose it when you're lifting-off. My recommendation to anyone who makes this modification is to go find some abandoned runway somewhere to test so you understand what i'm getting at. If you don't understand the terms 'lift-off oversteer' or 'snap oversteer', keep clear of doing this mod as you'll likely end up in a bush, or skid mark producingly close to the crash barriers at Castle Combe :(

 Corrected that for you

 

Good post, all that is left for me to do on your above list is the polybushes on wishbones and rear arms

This is turning into a great thread, thanks guys.

All input appreciated.

I have H&R RARB, eibach springs and standard dampers... in the future I want bilstien dampers, and polubushing to finish it off

I had H&R springs and RARB fitted a couple of weeks ago. Feels much better as it's stopped a lot of the body roll and under steer but I do think it's made the ride slightly worst but this is out weight by the handling improvements. The best mod so far has been fitting a OEM centre arm rest.

Someone on here said the rear ARB does improve the handling/body roll but did start to pee him off because it added more harshness and bumpyness to the  ride.  

 

For me, would a RARB will come second to a good set of dampers that match the springs. A car doesn't need to be stiff as hell for it to handle well - i want refinement and for it to absorb the bumps not just bounce over them. At the end of the day, cornering speed is down to grip on the tarmac so you can have a stiff as hell car but its just jumping over the bumps and not rolling progressively over.    

 

For me, matching my eibachs with a set of Blistein B6 sport shocks (if you are dropping it 40mm with HR springs, than B8s maybe be a better choice for you) will give the best compromise between handling and ride comfort

 

I hunted round for part numbers and heres what iv found which may be of use.

 

B6

 

35-052173

24-067898

11-106470

 

Kit P/N - BIL009724

 

B8

 

35-052180

24-067904

11-106470

 

Kit P/N - BIL009725

 

Im currently saving up for the B6 dampers, bushes (still rubber not solid), lower engine mount (someone on here gave a good write up on one) and new top mounts (maybe LCR mounts) 

 

As i use the car every day, for trips to work (6miles away), weekly long runs (160mile round trip), blasts at the weekend i want a good all rounder. If it was just about how fast i can go round a corner, i wouldn't have got a skoda estate with thin tyres and a high COG. 

 

If you're still active, did you ever fit B6? If so, how were they?

B8's I think...... he rated them they are what I will be fitting to mine with the eibachs, makes the B12 handling kit