Recently fitted some Koni sport adjustable dampers, and Eibach springs, the improvement in ride quality is remarkable. The main reason for fitting this set up was to, rid the car of the po-going effect you get a per standard 100HP, and i can truly say this has gone now, completely !!
Despite what some say as over-damped, no, i don't buy that, the fact remains that Fiat fitted perfectly good springs for this particular model but, did not do a good job to match with dampers that were up to the job of the springs, hence the springs working harder giving the 100HP's po-going character
Some pics to show what i did with the rear bump stops :


Seeing as one had already perished / cracked, i removed this portion due to the drop in ride height that the Eibachs would give, bare in mind though, they were almost touching with the standard ride height

With the top part of the polyurethane too loose for a good fit, i opened up a stainless steel washer into a horseshoe shape to slip over the top mounting, to give a tighter fit against the underside of the body.

Difference between old springs to the new progressive wound Eibach :

Rear Koni with proper 360 degree bush, not a designed to fail bush :


Then by applying this spray wax to keep corrosion at bay, i gave every new component a coating of of the stuff, goes a long way and protects your investment well.

Picture of complete rear end fitted before the fronts were done

Annoyingly, i forgot to measure the ride height on the rear before i fitted the new springs but, before i did the fronts, the height has come down by a genuine 20mm from standard, i was surprised it was as much as this, looks so much better for it, wouldn't want it any lower though.

So as it stands, the car sits nice and level, after the geometry was set to 1 degree negative camber (with camber bolts), and the toe set to parallel, it has totally transformed the car and steering is sharper as a result, better weighted on "Sport" mode, excellent feedback whereas before, was a little vague, every corner now is something to look forward to as it handles so well and corners pretty flat, i am falling out the seat on right turns not the best hugging seats but i have always said that so, Recaros will be fitted next

Currently, the dampers are on the minimum setting and is perfectly except-able although, i will have a tweek on the shocks to see how much it will improve the ride as, in the past with other vehicles, i have ended up turning them up to maximum for the best ride, this is speed dependant and will be firmer at slower speeds (around town etc).#
In my absolute honest opinion, the way this car irons out bumps and shallow pot holes now is how it should have been (at least) from factory.

Looking good
How much were the Koni's? i was going to opt for bilstein B4's but they might be too OEM

I wondered why your car was so high in the air the other day.. looks a good job.

Do you know if there are any options that don't lower the car??

Dan Friel said:

I wondered why your car was so high in the air the other day.. looks a good job.

Do you know if there are any options that don't lower the car??

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Standard springs and koni dampers?

robjnr said:

Standard springs and koni dampers?

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Would be happy to try with a better set of dampers, but having read previous threads there seems to be confusion on whether they are 100HP specific. Is that right? Will do some research.

No one says the panda is overdamped, rather the opposite

The people who do say the car is over-damped obviously, don't understand the physics behind how the suspension works, hence why i would like to clear this up, if in doubt, just google to confirm it
As for using different springs with less ride height drop, look no further than SXI's Panda : https://www.fiatforum.com/members-motors/253864-panda-100hp-oem.html
I can hardly see a so called -25mm drop, it may be 5-10mm max, just look at the shots, can be deceiving i know but, when you look at the n/s front shot, the heigh does not seem to have change at all
Ambiguous claims from Spax, although this may appeal to many owners not wanting much drop in ride height.
I toyed with the idea of just retaining the standard springs, and i'm sure it would have be quite sufficient but, as ride comfort was the biggest issue, i opted for a progressive spring, and Eibach produce excellent road springs that can give stable characteristics yet keep / improve ride comfort. There are other springs out there that are similar to Eibach, but i tend to stick to what i know is tried and tested over and over, and with the history behind the two new brands added, speaks for themselves.
Both brands are for the entire range (exc 4x4) believe it or not, the logic behind this is that there is hardly much weight difference between models to have any negative effect / safety issue, i raised this when i called Eibach UK, and they basically said that height difference would be the only difference between models which, makes perfect sense, they are hardly going to make a spring for each model if they don't have to are they ??
Parts were ordered from Larkspeed as they seemed to be the cheapest supplier, Koni's were £460, Eibach's were £131 + £20 carriage.
Contemplated Bilstein but, did not want to chance being disappointed with them whereas with Koni, they are pretty much a dead cert, had them on many vehicles in the past and present, i am sure the Bilstein's are probably an improvement but, like Midget says, they are probably more OEM than an improvement, unless anyone can shed any light on this ??

randysbits said:

I can hardly see a so called -25mm drop, it may be 5-10mm max, just look at the shots, can be deceiving i know but, when you look at the n/s front shot, the heigh does not seem to have change at all
Ambiguous claims from Spax, although this may appeal to many owners not wanting much drop in ride height.?

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Also, drops are almost always done in terms of the car which is highest in the range. So the drop will most likely be that you'd get if putting those springs on a 1.1 or a 1.2 as the 100hp is already lowered in comparison to those cars.

306maxi said:

no one said the panda was overdamped, rather the opposite

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Alright mate !!! don't have a paddy
What's this then ? scotch mist ? not what Golgarth reckons :

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda/266485-prospective-panda-100hp-owner-buying-questions-2.html

As for ride heights, that's just been the industry standard for most / all manufactures over many years, the 100HP is supposed to be something like 20-25mm lower than a base model, so for Eibach to claim -30mm, how is it that ours has gone down -20mm ? that's 35-40mm from a base model.

randysbits said:

Alright mate !!! don't have a paddy
What's this then ? scotch mist ? not what Golgarth reckons :

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda/266485-prospective-panda-100hp-owner-buying-questions-2.html

As for ride heights, that's just been the industry standard for most / all manufactures over many years, the 100HP is supposed to be something like 20-25mm lower than a base model, so for Eibach to claim -30mm, how is it that ours has gone down -20mm ? that's 35-40mm from a base model.

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Not to be funny but Golgarth seems to be more interested in making his car uglier than knowing what problems the 100hp has.

randysbits said:

Alright mate !!! don't have a paddy
.

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LOL!!

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread but I've just had Konis and Cobra springs fitted to my 100HP. Two queries : first due to the Konis having a narrower shaft diameter than the OE front dampers the inbuilt bump stops are not firm and are free to slide about ? Is this something I should be concerned about ?

Second could anyone advise where I can get the camber checked and changed if necessary ? The garage who fitted them for me corrected the alignment (toe to parallel as you suggested) but didn't have the facilities to do the camber. Also the 10mm camber bolts seem fairly feeble compared to the OE bolts - are they up to the job ?

Forgot to mention I'm in Dorset so happy to trek to Wiltshire if need be..

Thanks for your feedback

Go to Bath Performance cars and get it set up there, ask to speak to Gary, they can also supply the necessary bolts if you can't be bothered to source your own.

Many thanks for the advice - I'll give Bath Performance a ring on Monday.

Hi

Many thanks Randysbits, I have now the Koni's allround. It already had the Eibach's on, but is absolutely transformed now. I took the opportunity to fit new anti roll bar drop links and top strut bearing mounts. Just needs the tracking and camber setting after I adjust the dampers (turns from softest, rears=1.5 and fronts on 0.75 - still experimenting).
Many thanks again

My pleasure !! now you can really start to explore the limits in your car, i have been out in it when Andy owned it, and i gotta say, WHAT A CAR !!
It's an absolute little animal :devil: you have done the right thing by fitting the Koni's, the 100 cries out for these, period !
Entirely up to you what angle you put on the camber but, personally for your car, i would maybe stick to half a degree perhaps as, your car is a whole different ball game when it comes to laying that power down, that turbo has a tendency to be a bit violent no ?? :devil::worship:
Please give us an update when you have the geometry set, then say how you think it rides / handles ...:woot:

Got any recent pics of it ?

randy.

I suspect that you'll only get the additional lowering on the 100HP not the full drop that the other models would see. By the way, I don't think anyone considers that the 100HP is OVER-damped - Fiat has a long history of under-damping on rebound - I can think of previous Uno Turbo ie, Mirafiori Sport and Strada Abarth 130TC as examples - and the 100HP is another very good example.

Our ride height measures 575mm front & 585mm rear.

These measurements are taken from the bottom of the arch trims.

I would fit the complete kit before making your making your mind up at this stage, try it, then decide from there. :idea:

What shocks do you intend running with the springs btw ??