I've decided ive had enough of my felicia tooling about like a jelly. The problem is the suspension.

Ways to fix this:

Lowering springs ~ £70-100

OR

Coilovers ~ £300

seeing as I only use the car to get to work and back it doesnt have to handle like a scooby on a grp A qualifying stage!! I just want it to corner flat'er more like cars ive had in the past.

I have learnt to push it hard but it feels soooo damn LAIRY !!! :Yikes: although to be fair its very easy to predict when the grip will go.

What do you guys think ? Will just fitting springs shorten the life of the shocks ?

Also am on a budget so the cheeper the better (cutting an inch off the exsisting springs ??? )

Also is there any advantadge in fitting lowering springs to either Just the back or just hte front ?:confused:

Alright mate, i've been considering lowering springs for a while now, just need the bodywork fixed and insurance sorted first! I'm thinking of hitting FK springs which lower 35 at the front and 40 at the back, would be just nice i reckon! Have also fitted 14s and 185 tyres so should corner nicely in a while! To be honest i wouldn't spent £400 on coilies when the car's only worth slightly more than that!

But if your dampers are old (and probably corroding) then fitting just a set of springs probably isnt a good idea.

To be honest i wouldn't spent £400 on coilies when the car's only worth slightly more than that!

Depends on how long the coilies last. My point of view is spend what you like on your car, it's yours at the end of the day and what someone else might pay for the car is irrelevant if you're not selling it. If £400 on coilovers would make the car more enjoyable to drive and they would last a good 60k miles plus, only you can judge if it's £400 well spent. They can always be saved once the car is being disposed of or sold on etc. Spending more than the car is worth to keep it going is part of ownership unfortunately when it comes to insurance, servicing, repairs, and tax etc.

At the end of the day it's cheaper than getting a car for £3,000 and spending £600 for a set of coilovers for it. The £3,000 car will end up being worth less than £1000 in a few years anyway with depreciation being as fast as it is these days. Most people don't seem to want to know about a car that's over 3 years old these days unless it's an Audi, VW, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche etc.

You should also think about fitting front anti-roll bar (if not already mounted). It greatly improves cornering performance on felicia.

I have found my felly a bit lairy in the past but to be fair this was down to the following:

Worn shocks

Worn wishbone bushes

tracking out

Once i sorted all of these it sits nice and central when cornering.

I would suggest checking bushes etc before going for more expensive kit as it doesn't cost too much to put things right. If you spend money on coils etc and have worn components it is a false economy

lairy!!! you should try mine.

with coilovers, stiffer anti roll bars and some bigger wider wheels, you'll find out just how lairy a felicia can be!

Hey pinkskud!

Sounds like with all thoes improvements, you would enter the lairy zone:Yikes:only at much higher speed, with much less room for correction!!!

All I'm after is sitffer suspension without compromising too much on comfort, allthough I don't mind compromising quite alot.

I just dont want to end up with a car thats no good for long motorway journeys.

Was following a 2003 Mini one round a roundabout at 40 in the wet. Whilts the mini remained totally compossed my felly was squirming and wriggiling all over !!!

WHAT CAN BE DONE !? handling at present is not cool

At this mileage, I'd think about Koni FSDs, and then maybe springs if the car rolls too much, rather than having a lot of pitch and roll changes.

HPsporting coilovers are not to bad when it comes to ride comfort, as long as your not gunna use bucket seats.

i do 13miles each way to work, and 5miles each way to the pub every day.

mind you, if you have them on the lowest setting, and put 5 people in, the backend has a habit of hitting the deck

Never mind suspension upgrades, what tyres have you got? If you're running around on budget radials with a good bit of wear on them, all the coil/shock upgrades in the world won't make much difference. I've put 185/55/14 Avon ZV3 treads on the front of my Favorit (on BK Racing rims, though you could save money by getting some rims off a Golf or something) and it's really quite reassuring, especially in the wet. Oh, and I've got Monroe Sensatrack (gas monotube) shocks at the front too.

I know Pinkskud and one or two others have gone all the way to 195/45/15 treads but I like a little margin for pot-holes!

lol, i'm back on my 13" for now, cuz i spanked the 15's into a granite curb. i fecked the wheel, the drive shaft and the wishbone!!!! o well, one day i'll learn (but most lightly not)