Because of poor trade-in value decided to keep my 03 JTD Multiwagon for now so going to treat it to some new shocks but which one's. Proven Products advice Gabriels, dont want to lower car as i use it for towing. They dont advice Koni's at £444!! Boge only do front shocks. locally i've been priced for Queinten Hazell's, premier? or Karber's?. Advice needed please, tried to search the forum & read 30 threads but came away confused. Want to keep the height as is but improve the handling. thanks

That price for Koni's looks a bit high and you might beat it by shopping around. Gabriels will be like an OEM replacement - no improvement on the std FIAT damper. KONI may be pricey, but I can tell you their Sport adjustables are excellent.

There's nothing really wrong with only changing the front (dampers) you know assuming the rears are still OK.

Certainly make it a cheaper job and you could have fun with adjustables

Fella at Proven Products was talking me out of the koni's said i didnt need them for my type of driving!. They do seem expensive but cant find them cheaper, anyone know where to try?

Bit of an old thread but I assume etiquette is to keep threads going ratherthan starting a new one?

I too have a Multiwagon, a 53 plate 2004. As I also own a 2000 Brava on Gaz shocks I was a little concerned by the difference in handling.

Whilst I appreciate that the Multi is a big tall estate there doesn't appear to be any need for the comedy "wooah!" bodyroll that feels like it starts at the rear; ultimate grip actually seems ok though.

As there sems to be no way of fitting an antiroll bar to the rear I'd like some shocks with a more damped rebound stroke (I think) whilst keeping the compression side about the same so as not to compromise the ride.

Does this sound about right? Any suggstions?

Maybe Strut braces would be more of a significant improvement.

Adjusting the bump/rebound is more a fine tuning adjustment, but adjusting the the stiffness is going to make more of a difference. Also spring rate would make more of a difference. Is the car lowered? I found this made the car much better.

Also would be cheaper!!

There's always KYB

http://www.kayaba.co.uk/catalogue.asp

May be worth a look

John

sixpotman said:

There's always KYB

http://www.kayaba.co.uk/catalogue.asp

May be worth a look

John

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There are Monroe Reflex, too... I´ve fitted them to mine MW, they´re a good choose on the whole. The only fault is that they have a too fast rebound in the first third of travel. I wanted to fit KYB but there weren´t available in Spain ¿?, and my dealer didn´t advice me Koni´s, unless I would want to loose my teeth fillings. There were Sachs, too, but they are as OEMs....

A friend of mine has fitted K&W on his Stilo JTD. Fully adjustable: car height, compression, rebound, spring preload... But they go over 1200 €...

Fitting as strut brace will have no effect at all on body roll. You could fit KONI Sport Adjustable dampers which will nicely tighten up the wallowy ride and reduce roll. Not cheap, but a quality product...

Enoch said:

Bit of an old thread but I assume etiquette is to keep threads going ratherthan starting a new one?

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As there sems to be no way of fitting an antiroll bar to the rear I'd like some shocks with a more damped rebound stroke (I think) whilst keeping the compression side about the same so as not to compromise the ride.

Does this sound about right? Any suggstions?

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Unless the MW's suspension is different to the 3/5 door then this doesn't sound right at all :chin:

Don't you have a ruddy great torsion beam on the rear of yours It's the front that's normally susceptible to roll rather than the rear.

Argonought said:

Unless the MW's suspension is different to the 3/5 door then this doesn't sound right at all :chin:

Don't you have a ruddy great torsion beam on the rear of yours It's the front that's normally susceptible to roll rather than the rear.

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Rear suspension setup in the MW is completely different to a 3/ 5 door. They share the same bushes that always fail and also use a torsion beam, but I think it is also different.

A Strut Brace in an estate.
You have all that space in the back, then you want to make it useless by putting a big steel bar across the middle of it.

If you want handling, buy something else.

jostheboss said:

Also spring rate would make more of a difference. Is the car lowered? I found this made the car much better.

Also would be cheaper!!

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I agree but I can't lower the car as I regularly plod up and down farm tracks and things that it grounds on already. What about rising rate stock length springs? Is there such a thing for Stilos?

Enoch said:

What about rising rate stock length springs? Is there such a thing for Stilos?

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I think you'll find Yellow Peril has already given a tried and tested solution in post #9

....although I think he means fit to the front rather than rear

Argonought said:

I think you'll find Yellow Peril has already given a tried and tested solution in post #9

....although I think he means fit to the front rather than rear

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Just to be clear, I fitted my KONIs to standard springs. IMHO the KONIs are so good you don't need to change springs. Both front and rear dampers are adjustable and I would always recommend replacing fronts and rears. TBH I used my KONIs on the factory setting (straight out of the box) and felt no need to change them. But I guess that after high mileages you could tweak them to compensate for wear...

thought konis were shorter sport dampers, hence lower the ride height, not what he wants to do

red-devil said:

thought konis were shorter sport dampers, hence lower the ride height, not what he wants to do

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Nope. The KONIs fit perfectly with standard springs on the Stilo. For some applications KONI do make a 'Sport Short' damper which is designed for cars with lowering springs fitted (more than 30mm below std ride height). I fitted them to a Fabia vRS I previously owned - the damper actuating rod is shortened. Don't think they even make Shorts for the Stilo though...