Need advice on suspension. for my 1.4 Fiat 500 ('08)

I now have Novitec lowering spring on with OEM shock.

I am thinking of replacing the OEM shock with the Koni FSD. Is this a good idea or should I go for Bilstein B14 Kit instead?

My focus is on ride comfort.

Thank you very much for your comment and advice.

Autostella said:

Need advice on suspension. for my 1.4 Fiat 500 ('08)

I now have Novitec lowering spring on with OEM shock.

I am thinking of replacing the OEM shock with the Koni FSD. Is this a good idea or should I go for Bilstein B14 Kit instead?

My focus is on ride comfort.

Thank you very much for your comment and advice.

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Here's a review on the Bilstein B14...
https://www.fiatforum.com/500/213503-bilstein-b14-review.html

There is another member on here who fitted the FSD and gives them the . They are on the 'approved list' for the Fiat / Abarth given your interest in the A500. Get the impression that the B14 may be of a higher quality but given the cost of either of there premium shocks IMHO I would opt for the FSD. They are also the 'standard fit' on the US 500 and the MiTo QV.

If it's comfort you're after I'd take the FSD's

One caveat re the Konis is that a few people have started to comment about knocking from the rear shock absorbers. Although this info is taken from A500 members it would also apply to any 500 fitment.

grimwau said:

One caveat re the Konis is that a few people have started to comment about knocking from the rear shock absorbers. Although this info is taken from A500 members it would also apply to any 500 fitment.

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Strange, has anyone talked to Koni about it?

grimwau said:

One caveat re the Konis is that a few people have started to comment about knocking from the rear shock absorbers. Although this info is taken from A500 members it would also apply to any 500 fitment.

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306maxi said:

Strange, has anyone talked to Koni about it?

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It's not the only area. Still with the number of new 'Fiat' models having them as a standard fit item I would imagine that Fiat would be hoping that it will fall into the 'wear & tear' period. For those who buy the Konis aftermarket are supposedly buying them with a 'life time' guarantee (this is definitely true for North America unsure about Europe). It has been reported that it can take 2 months for a refund so it's best to keep your old shocks so that you're covered for the 'wait'. Apparently it's not possible to repair them.

Here is a list (it is not an exhaustive list) of the type of shocks available for the 500 with the AVOs keenly priced. Note that there are Traders on the FF who will mostly likely offer the same prices.
There is also the Koni STR.T which have been reported to work well with lowered springs.
Prices have dropped on the FSD with some models having a 'clearance price' at a tempting £495.
Still I wouldn't buy unless ye got confirmation that there is a life time guarantee. Highly unlikely it would go with the car if it was sold on. For the 500 I wonder is there another shock that would have the comfort & performance of a FSD on a road going car ?

306maxi said:

Strange, has anyone talked to Koni about it?

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Daniel, there are discussions going on at the moment and it appears that Koni are doing something about it now. The only problem is, as Michael says, is that you need to send them back to Koni for testing therefore you need to refit your old ones to the car.

Indeed, this was how the knocking noise was diagnosed, as soon as the old shocks were fitted the noise disappeared. Abarth dealers are replacing those fitted by themselves (Black) and Koni are dealing with the aftermarket ones (Gold).

grimwau said:

Daniel, there are discussions going on at the moment and it appears that Koni are doing something about it now. The only problem is, as Michael says, is that you need to send them back to Koni for testing therefore you need to refit your old ones to the car.

Indeed, this was how the knocking noise was diagnosed, as soon as the old shocks were fitted the noise disappeared. Abarth dealers are replacing those fitted by themselves (Black) and Koni are dealing with the aftermarket ones (Gold).

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Fantastic. That's why you want to buy something from a company like Koni or Bilstein. If this were one of those companies who do coilovers for ridiculously cheap then I doubt you'd get any joy.

Thanks for the information

Going back to the OP one of the reasons for tinkering with the suspension is to improve handling.

Looking at the differences between the 2 'premium' shocks it could be summarised as in 'Gas verus oil'...

Bilstein is gas all round. Koni is oil at the front and gas at the back
with the 'oil' giving the comfort. Good real life test here...
http://www.tuninglinx.com/html/koni-bilstein-shocks.html

Some of the Alfa boys seem to be favouring the Koni sports when the springs are 'dropped' but with the standard springs the FSD seem to be preferred. Interesting posting for the FF in the GP section and the issues with knackered / damaged FSDs may well be to do with limited suspension travel...

https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punto/286026-fsd-ss-springs.html
Note that Koni are not doing the FSD for all models.

Here is a useful US test in comparing OEM with the Koni sports & the Koni FSDs and given my history with an M spec I could relate to it. The 2 Konis are very close. If you were looking for durability I know which one I would go for. It would be useful to get feedback from someone who fitted the 'Sports' to a 500 or a A500.
http://www.tirerack.com/suspension/tests/koni_fsd.jsp

Note this 'suspension test' is for 'die hards' and illustrates that the 500 does pretty good in the handling tests.
Video is in Japanese and to save you the trouble of watching (I have warned you !!! ) it I've summarised the results in the picture...
1. VW Sicorro 2. A500 !! 3. MPS 4. MiTo (poor result - no surprise to me)

Note that A500 has TTC which means that the brakes are used to minimise understear as opposed to cutting power as you would in ESP on the Fiat 500. Some interesting results with ESP off on the VW.
http://www.tuninglinx.com/html/best-motoring-19.html
suspension test (3rd video)

This demonstrates that it is worth spending a few bob on the 500 - it can handle.

I have the Konis on my GP with lowered springs, and they totally transformed the ride and handling of the car for the better.

I was so impressed that I had a set fitted to our 1.4 sport 500 with the Abarth standard spring. A big improvement allround and very impressed.

Next month I will fit the Abarth SS prings and revert back to Abarth 16s and see how we go. I will report in as to how this works out.

Currently on its 14" winter wheels/tyres and its like driving a mini limo!!

IainG GPS said:

I have the Konis on my GP with lowered springs, and they totally transformed the ride and handling of the car for the better.

I was so impressed that I had a set fitted to our 1.4 sport 500 with the Abarth standard spring. A big improvement allround and very impressed.

Next month I will fit the Abarth SS prings and revert back to Abarth 16s and see how we go. I will report in as to how this works out.

Currently on its 14" winter wheels/tyres and its like driving a mini limo!!

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I'm not too sure if anyone is interested in this but here goes...

There has been a trend for some of the 'developments' to be released in the Alfa range and then work their way to the Fiat range. On the release of the new 595 it was kinda expected that it would come with TCT but no - it just got the dualogic that 'we' have all along. I wonder what Fiat will do with the new range of 500s when they arrive in Europe ?

The new range of multi-air Mitos - the 'base' model 135 gets the Koni Sports shocks (not the Koni FSDs as in the US A500) and on the top of the range Cloverleaf 170bhp it gets what they call an adaptive suspension (this is quite rare in 'normal' cars) using Konis...
using five sensors spread across the car, keeps check of what the car is up to and adjusts the suspension to suit. The damper for each wheel alters itself independently of the others.

Below is a promotion chart for the Koni sports shocks on the 135 model - a smart move given some of the issues with the FSDs. I don't believe the Koni Sports are more comfortable than the OEM shock even on the 'soft' setting with adjustment only possible on the front. On a side note I'm personally very disappointed with the steering wheel feedback on this car and it's reflected in the graph - the 500 is in a different league in this 'department'.
http://www.koni.com/fileadmin/user_upload/news/products/New_Product_Infos_Car/NPI_Alfa-Romeo-Mito_KONI-Sport.pdf

The 1st thing i changed were the springs to eibach pro kit approx 30mm drop with original oem dampers. The change was immediate, and very satisfying as the body roll was reduced extensively, and the harshness from the oem ride had gone away. I could have stopped there, and it would have been completely acceptable for my standards. I decided to continue with the suspension upgrade and go that extra bit. So I installed the yellow koni adjustables. The settings on the shocks were left almost stock at their softest settings, for the 1st 100 km or so.I felt that making them stiffer would not satisfy my driving style and road conditions, so they havent been altered. Were you really appreciate this set up is upon cornering,as the car doesnt roll or dive (when the road makes those dips) giving you more confidence and better feedback. Another factor that i must mention is tires. I recently changed from dunlop sp sport 01 oem 185/55/15 to dunlop sp fastresponse 195/50/15. I can honestly say that the ride is not as harsh as the 55's and theres less of that spine jolting thats assocoated with stiffer suspension setups. All in all I would rate this setup at an 8.5 out of ten, but not because of the lack of handling, rather than the loss of comfort.
hope this helps.
andy

In my opinion, it is not worth saving money on repairing the car, especially when it comes to comfort and driving safety.

CarMonster said:

In my opinion, it is not worth saving money on repairing the car, especially when it comes to comfort and driving safety.

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Thanks for that input almost 9 years after the last post in this thread.

It's from a bot ben
Carmonster