Hello.

 

My trusty L&K Estate is now behaving more like a pogo stick than a car. It has many miles on it (175K) but I have looked after it well and am loathed to get rid of it.

 

So I have decided to give a it few upgrades, starting with replacing the suspension (and then moving on to the brakes  and maybe a tuning box)

 

I thought about going for a set of JOM Blueline coilovers, but am now leaning towards a set of Koni STR.T's and H&R lowering springs at 20mm lower.

 

The car spends most of its time with rear seats down, tools in the back, pretending to be a van. Whilst it doesn't carry a lot of weight (apart from the odd car load of rubbish for the tip) I worried a bit about the coil overs being up to the task.

 

Does this sound like the right course of action?

 

I don't want to spend oodles of money on it, but as I am hoping it will last a couple or 3 years more so I don't mind spending a bit more more on it or something that will be more entertaining to drive before it finally trundles off onto ebay.

 

Plus, whilst I have the suspension off are there any VFM suspension changes that I should make? (The top mounts are shot, so they are being changed) 

 

TIA for any advice!

Replace all the bushes with poly ones , handles do much better I had Komi fad on mine

get a set of uprated rear springs instead of coilies - and new dampers

 

kyb do an uprated spring RH5537

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

get a set of uprated rear springs instead of coilies - and new dampers

 

kyb do an uprated spring RH5537

 

Ok, so on further poking around I went for a Vogtland kit from  DPM Performance, it was the right amount of money for me. I will post back here after I get them fitted as to my experiences.

 

The estate version of the kit seems to be slightly different from the saloon version, I noted when looking through numerous catalogues that an awful lot of kits seemingly might not be suitable for estates.

 

 

Replace all the bushes with poly ones , handles do much better I had Komi fad on mine

 

Komi fad - whats that?

 

So a full set of bushes looks like it will run me £200+. not sure I want to spend that much. Are there any particular bushes that will make the biggest difference when swapped?

 

Thanks again...

Edited 16 October, 201510 yr by BogBeast

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

 

Ok, so on further poking around I went for a Vogtland kit from  DPM Performance, it was the right amount of money for me. I will post back here after I get them fitted as to my experiences.

 

The estate version of the kit seems to be slightly different from the saloon version, I noted when looking through numerous catalogues that an awful lot of kits seemingly might not be suitable for estates.

 

 

 

Komi fad - whats that?

 

So a full set of bushes looks like it will run me £200+. not sure I want to spend that much. Are there any particular bushes that will make the biggest difference when swapped?

 

Thanks again...

 

I think he meant koni FSD.

 

Top mounts and bump stops would be worth changing whilst everything is apart.  Rear top mounts should be fine as they are just a lump of metal.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

 

Ok, so on further poking around I went for a Vogtland kit from  DPM Performance, it was the right amount of money for me. I will post back here after I get them fitted as to my experiences.

 

The estate version of the kit seems to be slightly different from the saloon version, I noted when looking through numerous catalogues that an awful lot of kits seemingly might not be suitable for estates.

 

 

 

Komi fad - whats that?

 

So a full set of bushes looks like it will run me £200+. not sure I want to spend that much. Are there any particular bushes that will make the biggest difference when swapped?

 

Thanks again...

y. Yes I did mean Komi fsd , bloody iPhone corrected me

You typed Komi again

Reporting back...

 

Vogtland kit arrived from DPM Performance. Great service and great price. Black struts and purple springs.

 

 

In the end I went with standard top mounts and left the other bushes alone. 

 

Front fitting was a bit of a pain until googleing revealed that a 1/4" > 3/8" socket adapter functions as a strut tool.

 

Old suspension really was shagged....

 

Rear bump stops were a bit shagged, in retrospect I probably should have swapped those and next time the back is in the air I will do. Back is an easy job tho'

 

35mm drop is a teensy bit more than I wanted, but, oh my, the improvement....

 

Definitely a harder  ride but not crashy at all. Extremely happy for £250.

 

Also invested in DTUK box whilst I was at it and I am equally impressed with that.

 

Overall given the car a new lease of life.