great. im going to attempt to fit these myself, as I usually get a garage to do it for me, so I want to make sure I have everything so I dont waste a day for nothing.

oh well just bought them. £54.03 for a full set and delivery.

you all can thank me later

Had the last damper changed, and the top mounts yesterday. No more knocking from the back, and a huge difference in cornering speed and control. Haven't had the bill from the mechanic yet, but parts are around £100 so far.

Eventually I would like to go lower, and will probably change to Koni Str.t when that happens.

pistogrih said:

Had the last damper changed, and the top mounts yesterday. No more knocking from the back, and a huge difference in cornering speed and control. Haven't had the bill from the mechanic yet, but parts are around £100 so far.

Eventually I would like to go lower, and will probably change to Koni Str.t when that happens.

Click to expand...

did you change the top mounts for these shock, or did yours just need changing in general? I was hoping to get mine fitted this weekend but they are not here.

my dampers came at the beginning of the week, on checking them over for any damage, I noticed that the fronts have been supplied with a black plastic shim of sorts, can some1 tell me what this for?

Hi,

I am looking at buying a Panda 100 (not 100% sure yet after reading about the suspension problems, other options are Clio 182 Cup) and have test driven a couple so far.

The second car I drove has 52k miles and felt very crashy on uneven roads.

Suspension is one of my main interest/hobbies and I want a car that has good ride quality, doesn't crash/bottom out on potholes and handles well.

Reading this post it seems the good quality options are:

- Koni STR T
- Koni yellows (do they come with lowering springs and if so by how much do they lower the car? I don't really want to lower the car, if the suspension travel is already so short, the suspension needs travel to work properly and it seems there is not enough of it already from factory)
- Bilsteins (which model?)
- H&R although I don't can't justify paying £1k if the car costs a little less than £3k, I may as well look at other cars then.

Also, do all of the above require custom made bolts as mentioned here?

https://www.fiatforum.com/500/338796-koni-fsd-rear-shock-rattle-shock-4.html
http://www.abarthforum.co.uk/500-abarth/fsd-koni-knocking-the-solution/

Thanks for your help.

My 100hp is goin into garage tomo to get back checked. Getting that thumping/crashing noise going over bumps in road.

fpan said:

Hi,

I am looking at buying a Panda 100 (not 100% sure yet after reading about the suspension problems, other options are Clio 182 Cup) and have test driven a couple so far.

The second car I drove has 52k miles and felt very crashy on uneven roads.

Suspension is one of my main interest/hobbies and I want a car that has good ride quality, doesn't crash/bottom out on potholes and handles well.

Reading this post it seems the good quality options are:

- Koni STR T
- Koni yellows (do they come with lowering springs and if so by how much do they lower the car? I don't really want to lower the car, if the suspension travel is already so short, the suspension needs travel to work properly and it seems there is not enough of it already from factory)
- Bilsteins (which model?)
- H&R although I don't can't justify paying £1k if the car costs a little less than £3k, I may as well look at other cars then.

Also, do all of the above require custom made bolts as mentioned here?

https://www.fiatforum.com/500/338796-koni-fsd-rear-shock-rattle-shock-4.html
http://www.abarthforum.co.uk/500-abarth/fsd-koni-knocking-the-solution/

Thanks for your help.

Click to expand...

Koni STR.Ts are the most cost effective way to sort the 100HP's damping issues. You don't need lowering springs to go with them and they bolt straight on as a replacement for the OEM dampers, no special parts needed. I think a full set of 4 STR.Ts should cost about £300ish (£100 each for the front and £50 each for the back). However, whatever you do to the 100HP, it has a hard ride, but then again, so does the Clio 182 (from what I understand).

As I'm sure you know, the 182 is in an entirely different league to the 100HP in terms of speed; it weighs about the same, but has 82% more power. That said, speed doesn't necessarily equal fun...though the 182 is meant to be a brilliant steer.

The 100HP has a more...err..."civilised" following than the 182, very few are owned by disreputable types and the vast majority of people on the forum are literate and relatively articulate (modest, too ). We get the odd idiot, but that's life haha. I get the feeling that far more 182s are bought by Chavs and ragged about their local industrial estate at 3am etc.

Oh, and welcome to the Fiat Forum !

Get the clio!

I agree that horsepower isn't what it's all about.

One of the most fun cars I have ever owned was my first car, a 1.0 205 Trio Plus.

Despite the 45bhp, with a set of Monroe shocks and Michelin bike size tyres it was great fun and taught me to be smooth.

I've had an AX (again 1.0) and a couple of 205 GTis since, the biggest mistake was selling my first 205 GTi.

Yes it may be difficult to find an standard, unabused Cup but it's the closest modern equivalent to the 205 GTi IMHO.

Regarding the Panda, my dad drives a 1.2 4x4 and it has none of the crashiness the 100 has.

As suspension is something completely subjective, I would like to get a passenger ride in a 100 that has Koni STR T or yellows or Bilstein in order to get a feel.

Are there any owners with such a setup in/around the Berkshire area that could help me? I am willing to travel within reasonable distance.

Thanks.

Also aren't the custom made bolts required for the Panda as well or does the issue with the knocking only occur in 500s?

I can't post links unfortunately but if you search for "Koni FSD rear shock rattle" you will find the thread I am referring to.

fpan said:

Also aren't the custom made bolts required for the Panda as well or does the issue with the knocking only occur in 500s?

I can't post links unfortunately but if you search for "Koni FSD rear shock rattle" you will find the thread I am referring to.

Click to expand...

I know of the rattling issues the 500 suffers with, but I've never seen anyone on the Panda forum mention it or mention that they've used special bolts to attach the shocks to the car.

As for a passenger ride, I'd help if I could, but I'm cheap and my car's on standard Fiat suspension and will be until the shocks need replacing haha .