Tuning 500 S versus 500 lounge/pop suspension ?

Currently reading:
Tuning 500 S versus 500 lounge/pop suspension ?

sellickjw

New member
Joined
Sep 28, 2009
Messages
5
Points
2
Location
somerset
Hi,

I'm wondering if anyone knows the technical differences between the 500 S suspension set up, and the 500 lounge/pop suspension set up ?
As far as I can see, the S model has lower ride heights front and rear, i.e. presumably shorter & stiffer spring rates, and the damper settings seem stiffer on bump and rebound as well.


I've previously owned Panda's, the Sporting, 100HP, Elegance, models etc. and even bought a complete front & rear brand new (Fiat) 100HP spring/damper package to put on my Sporting MJet.


The 500 S suspension set up compared to the 'comfort' lounge/pop set up feels a lot like the difference between the Panda 100HP compared to the Panda normal set up, i.e. quite a fair bit 'stiffer'.

I've checked out the heights of the front strut units of the 500 S and it's damn near identical to the 100HP strut unit, also the rear spring height and rear damper length of the 500 S and the 100 HP are near identical as well !!

Am I missing something here, have Fiat essentially just put the stock 100HP suspension under a 500, stuck a chin and rear tailgate spoiler on it, and Lo & Behold, it's now a 500 S (Sport) ??

I've asked my local Fiat dealer parts guy, and the suspension part numbers are different for the 500 S v the 500 normal suspension parts, but that's as far as he can really go.


Has anyone got any information on this, bearing in mind that reading through the threads here, it looks like ALL the stock dampers are rubbish, and Bilstein B4's, or more probably B6's, if fitting onto the 500 S, are the way to go.
 
Gents,
I can assure you there is a definite difference between the suspension rates fitted to S models, and the more 'normal' ones.
Being retired (early) I can go and 'annoy' car dealers more often now, and yesterday I drove a 1.2 S 500, and then a Twinair S 500 as well.
Naturally they both have the sporty interior, but they also were both stiffer then a lounge 500 that one of the dealers had in stock.

Admittedly none of the 500 S models I've driven, including the MJet that I own, are quite as stiff as the Panda 100HP, but it's definitely not 'standard', the S models just don't roll much at all.

I'd just like to know if anyone has details on what the uprated spring / damper rates on the S models are, especially as I have a well looked after, built up set of 100HP suspension units, which look very very similar to the struts on our 500 C S Mjet.
 
feel free to look through the parts catalogue different spring for convertible and for the different engines but not for the trim levels
 

Attachments

  • Capture.JPG
    Capture.JPG
    167.2 KB · Views: 103
Just an update to this thread so that other members can see the real answers.

The suspension is stiffer on the 2014 era S models. My left front shock absorber started leaking, and I asked my local Fiat Dealer for a replacement one. He confirmed that the part number was different for the 'S' compared to the other trim versions.

But, he said that 'all the normal (non Abarth) 500 models' essentially have similar suspension settings now, and that he couldn't guarantee that if he ordered the Shox, it would actually match the original 'stiffer' one.

That wasn't any use to me, so looking through this forum I found that there were posts giving ride heights for variously suspended 500s. Mine matched someone's 500 with Bilstein B6 shox fitted.

I decided to buy a pair of front Bilstein B6 shox from Larkspeed on Ebay, and after fitting, the car has identical ride height to the original stiff 'S' shox, and what's more, the stiffness of the B6 shox matches the original 'S' shox. You'd never know it had Bilstein B6's fitted, until you look at the bright yellow shox in the wheel arch that is.

- So, if you've an old 500 'S' model that's got defective / leaking shox, just replace them with Bilstein B6 ones, they're cheaper than the original Fiat ones, even if you could guarantee to get them, but better quality, and you're guaranteed to keep the stiffer suspension feel and at the same 'S' ride height. - Brilliant !
 
500 S/Sport/Sport Air and Turbo (pre-2018) have different suspension than the Pop/Easy/Lounge. Iirc the main difference is in the ride height. I think there's less coils on the springs. The green one is an S/Sport, the gray one is my Pop.2012-Fiat-500-Sport-front-three-quarters1.jpeg20210726_193106.jpeg
 
Back
Top