I installed the pro kit on my 500 1.4L with 16" tyres a couple of weeks ago and love the look and the ride. Have you guys made any mods to the rear bump stops? Mine was costantly hitting the rear stops. Looking thru some of the threads some people have cut them down and some have removed them. I am running with no stops at the moment and I gotta tell you the ride is much better. I think I will cut mine down a little and reinstall just to be on the safe side.

loveshandbags said:

Glad to 'hear' that you're pleased with the result of the eibach pro setup. The eibach springs must get stiffer when they compress more so than the standard springs.
I've been getting the Marea ready for duty again and came across a thread on the Marea section on shock absorbers. I was looking for a set of cheap shocks for the rear on the Marea weekend and I thought that a decent set of montube ones could work well on a 500. Explanation of the differences between mono and twintube given here. Noticed a few ebayers advertising them.
Some the A500 guys with the stiffer SS springs found that a set of Koni FSD improved the ride so that it was not just riding on the springs.
Would you consider a set of decent shocks for the rear since they are installed separate to the springs ?

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Koni FSD's from what i've read are fantastic (so good they come on the Lambo Gallardo and McLaren SLR as standard!) and if I was looking to buy an A500 i'd definetly be looking for one with them fitted, however I think they would be overkill on my 1.3 MJ. If any of the shocks started leaking I would certainly consider an aftermarket solution, such as the KYB's you linked to, which seem to be priced quite reasonably, but at the moment i'm happy on standard shockies

Turtle said:

Koni FSD's from what i've read are fantastic (so good they come on the Lambo Gallardo and McLaren SLR as standard!) and if I was looking to buy an A500 i'd definetly be looking for one with them fitted, however I think they would be overkill on my 1.3 MJ. If any of the shocks started leaking I would certainly consider an aftermarket solution, such as the KYB's you linked to, which seem to be priced quite reasonably, but at the moment i'm happy on standard shockies

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I kind of agree with you on the FSD being overkill for the MJ. If you ever decided to a A500 'you could bring them with you'. Some 'out there' are of the opinion that the Bilstein are better quality than the Koni FSD and that they are over hyped. The KYB seem good value for money and could be 'left in the car' given the price of the more race / performance orientated shocks. If I was buying a decent set I might look at the AVO (recommendation from EVO ?) Apparently the springs & the shocks are calibrated for the perfect match. Also the guarantees that are offered on the shocks are only for the original purchaser of the shocks so when they are sold secondhand they lose their guarantee.
On the new US 500 Abarth it comes with Koni FSD fitted as standard and a switchable ESP. Looks like the US guys are definitely smarter than us Europeans.

bzxhms said:

I installed the pro kit on my 500 1.4L with 16" tyres a couple of weeks ago and love the look and the ride. Have you guys made any mods to the rear bump stops? Mine was costantly hitting the rear stops. Looking thru some of the threads some people have cut them down and some have removed them. I am running with no stops at the moment and I gotta tell you the ride is much better. I think I will cut mine down a little and reinstall just to be on the safe side.

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IIRC some of the A500 guys have used Fiat Coupe bump stops which are half the height of the original stops. Leaving the original bump stops in with the reduced height is supposedly not recommended. Personally I wouldn't be happy with cutting the bump stops and would prefer to keep the originals so that they could be re-instated at a future date.

I am running Mrs Gs 2010 1.4 sport on Koni FSDs with a standard Abarth springs (I might yet fit the SS springs in the spring) Its also been running on 17 Abarth alloys too. It has totally transformed the handling of the car, feels like the sum of all the parts are now working together.

Not cheap but I would recommend. Currently on its winter wheels but I will run it on 16s next year to see how the combo works. Its a little over tyred on the 17s imho.

Turtle said:

Koni FSD's from what i've read are fantastic (so good they come on the Lambo Gallardo and McLaren SLR as standard!) and if I was looking to buy an A500 i'd definetly be looking for one with them fitted, however I think they would be overkill on my 1.3 MJ. If any of the shocks started leaking I would certainly consider an aftermarket solution, such as the KYB's you linked to, which seem to be priced quite reasonably, but at the moment i'm happy on standard shockies

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I suspect you'll find that the FSD's on a Lamborghini or an SLR are much better than the ones you'll get on a 500. FSD's on a 500 wouldn't be overkill. They will more or less sort quite a few inherent problems with the car.

KYB's are decent enough, but for the price you pay you're not that much worse off buying a set of FSD's or some Bilstein coilovers.

306maxi said:

I suspect you'll find that the FSD's on a Lamborghini or an SLR are much better than the ones you'll get on a 500. FSD's on a 500 wouldn't be overkill. They will more or less sort quite a few inherent problems with the car.

KYB's are decent enough, but for the price you pay you're not that much worse off buying a set of FSD's or some Bilstein coilovers.

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You've made quite a few assumptions there, so i'll just jump straight to the bit where you say "FSD's on a 500 wouldn't be overkill" - In my opinion they would, as my 75bhp 500 is a fun commuting car and not a track weapon, so spending over £500 on shock absorbers that aren't out of place on Lambo/McLaren or even Abarth would be an expensive step too far. If you have the disposable income then go for it, but i'd rather spend it elsewhere

I made an offer a wee while ago on some used Bilstein B12's, but i'm glad it never materialised as i've got what I wanted for half the price in terms of an improvement in looks and handling. Like I said in a previous post, the only reason I would look at aftermarket shocks, is if the standard items started to leak.

Turtle said:

You've made quite a few assumptions there, so i'll just jump straight to the bit where you say "FSD's on a 500 wouldn't be overkill" - In my opinion they would, as my 75bhp 500 is a fun commuting car and not a track weapon, so spending over £500 on shock absorbers that aren't out of place on Lambo/McLaren or even Abarth would be an expensive step too far. If you have the disposable income then go for it, but i'd rather spend it elsewhere

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Whoa Let's be honest, the dampers that get fitted on a Lambo or a McLaren share nothing more than the name with their counterparts which live on a 500.

Plus FSD's are not performance dampers, they're just a good quality aftermarket damper which is comfort focused.

i do love when people shove a set of lowering springs on a car they think it transforms it into a a drivers weapon, i've just shoved a set of eibachpros on the scirocco to sell it and taken the coilovers off and my god once you've savoured a decent set of coilies you'll know what i mean, in reality its the damping i have issues with on the 500, in reality you get what you pay for

wigit said:

i do love when people shove a set of lowering springs on a car they think it transforms it into a a drivers weapon, i've just shoved a set of eibachpros on the scirocco to sell it and taken the coilovers off and my god once you've savoured a decent set of coilies you'll know what i mean, in reality its the damping i have issues with on the 500, in reality you get what you pay for

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The rear shocks on my '09 FW at 8.5K miles are rattling particularly on the drivers side. If I was keeping the car it would be the first thing I would change. And on the other 500 they were knackered when they were changed at 38K miles compliments of Fiat. I really can't see how one could just change the springs without tackling the shocks.

wigit said:

i do love when people shove a set of lowering springs on a car they think it transforms it into a a drivers weapon, i've just shoved a set of eibachpros on the scirocco to sell it and taken the coilovers off and my god once you've savoured a decent set of coilies you'll know what i mean, in reality its the damping i have issues with on the 500, in reality you get what you pay for

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Is that aimed at me? No where did I say springs made the car a drivers weapon, but they have certainly improved the stance and handling. My last car was a Civic Type R (EK9) and had Cusco Zero 2 coilovers fitted so I know the difference between fitting lowering springs to make a daily commuter a bit more fun to drive and a "decent set of coilies" on a car that will actually benefit from them

wigit said:

i do love when people shove a set of lowering springs on a car they think it transforms it into a a drivers weapon, i've just shoved a set of eibachpros on the scirocco to sell it and taken the coilovers off and my god once you've savoured a decent set of coilies you'll know what i mean, in reality its the damping i have issues with on the 500, in reality you get what you pay for

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Completely agree.

My issue with the 500 is mainly damping also. The rear of the car is too soft in terms of roll stiffness, but I could live with it if the car actually had some decent damping.

My dad has owned a few cars with aftermarket dampers.

He's had a 504 with Koni adjustables set to soft
A Fiat 131 which ended up being my first car, which had Bilstein's
My mum's Saab 900 with Bilstein's

I've driven all three and they were fantastic and I had a 504 of my own with standard dampers and I drove the Saab before and after the Bilstein's.

None of the cars had aftermarket springs as lowering was never the object. If you gave me the choice between decent dampers and decent springs I'd take the dampers every time.

Turtle said:

Is that aimed at me? No where did I say springs made the car a drivers weapon, but they have certainly improved the stance and handling. My last car was a Civic Type R (EK9) and had Cusco Zero 2 coilovers fitted so I know the difference between fitting lowering springs to make a daily commuter a bit more fun to drive and a "decent set of coilies" on a car that will actually benefit from them

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If your shocks are good it is certainly an expense that can be delayed. One of the benefits in the shorter springs is less pogo'ing. Still personally because of the OH that likes to go for jaunts in the car I've kept with the standard 10mm shorter 500 springs which IMHO are OK.

Turtle said:

Is that aimed at me? No where did I say springs made the car a drivers weapon, but they have certainly improved the stance and handling. My last car was a Civic Type R (EK9) and had Cusco Zero 2 coilovers fitted so I know the difference between fitting lowering springs to make a daily commuter a bit more fun to drive and a "decent set of coilies" on a car that will actually benefit from them

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not aimed at you mr turtle, however, my experience is springs don't make that much difference to the sportiness but i did look a bit cooler in the maccyd's carpark

on the 500 306maxi i agree and would prefer it if the front felt attached to the back sometimes but in reality these flaws are why its so fun and i tolerate it

wigit said:

not aimed at you mr turtle, however, my experience is springs don't make that much difference to the sportiness but i did look a bit cooler in the maccyd's carpark

on the 500 306maxi i agree and would prefer it if the front felt attached to the back sometimes but in reality these flaws are why its so fun and i tolerate it

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Difference with your TA is that it has an ARB which sadly is missing from our cars.

loveshandbags said:

Difference with your TA is that it has an ARB which sadly is missing from our cars.

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so does that make it a drivers weapon, vroom, vroom, or should i say put, put

wigit said:

so does that make it a drivers weapon, vroom, vroom, or should i say put, put

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The downside of the ARB was that the suspension was softened a little.

loveshandbags said:

Difference with your TA is that it has an ARB which sadly is missing from our cars.

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I'm always very caution at calling it an ARB to be honest as it isn't a true one. The 500 merely has a stiffer rear beam as opposed to a proper ARB setup where the wheels are full independent of each other.

Our Subaru does that trick where it manages to resist roll well, still be supple and have fantastic body control.

This is because it has fully independent rear suspension and has springs which are a touch stiffer than the ones on the cooking models and it also has slightly thicker ARB's than the cooking models too. The 500 feels sportier because it's got better tyres, but the Subaru just absorbs midcorner bumps like they're not even there whereas the 500 feels like it's going to swap ends because you go a bit too fast through a corner.

As for the damping..... well tbh I think the 18 year old dampers on the Subaru are better than the 30 month old ones on the 500....

suspension is massively overlooked, when it comes to modifying a car for me now i would rather have a car with uprated suspension and arbs and stock engine rather than stock suspension and a map

first thing to get swapped on the eddie 35 when it arrives and has done 600 miles is engine mounts, suspension, arbs and brakes before we start cranking up the ponies

wigit said:

suspension is massively overlooked, when it comes to modifying a car for me now i would rather have a car with uprated suspension and arbs and stock engine rather than stock suspension and a map

first thing to get swapped on the eddie 35 when it arrives and has done 600 miles is engine mounts, suspension, arbs and brakes before we start cranking up the ponies

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Completely agree.

A year and a half ago I had the front of our Subaru rebushed with polybushes and replaced the balljoints, tie rod ends and rack ends with new parts and replaced the standard plastic droplinks with alloy ones with polybushes. Made a world of difference to the car and it's now nice and pointy

Eventual plan is to replace all the bits like strut top mounts, engine mounts, transmission mounts and all the rear suspension bushes. Will be nice to not feel an ounce of slack in the suspension or in the drivetrain