Hi Guys/girls

Im looking for advice as im fed up of my stilo 1.6 active sports handling as it rolls alot around bends.

I am thinking of 35-40mm lowering springs all round, does anyone know if this helps the handling alot?

Or is spending £250 on full shocks and springs worth the cost?

Thanks

Matt

Lowering with just springs only will stop the wallowing but in my experience has minimal effect on body roll. On anything but the best surfaces it's also likely to degrade your handling so you'll need to take bends a bit slower too

Go for a full matched spring/damper setup - or simply drive it differently (drive on the throttle and not the brakes) :devil:

Yeah, would be best to get the full spring and damper combo, though not sure if you'll get a full set up for £250. My springs and dampers cost a little over £400 and that was the cheapest I could find, though they were Eibach.

There are probably cheaper kits out there of course, but just remember that often you're paying for quality, so although something cheap may be appealing, you could end up with a second rate product in the end. Saying that, there was the System 2 kit, which Oz rated rather highly iirc. He got it from Proven Products, though can't remember the url of the new site. That's certainly cheaper than the Eibach kit and isn't too drastic in the drop nor the price you pay in terms of £££s.

As for the set up I've got, well, will have, I'll be able to review that hopefully within the next 7 days. Just need the garage to pick up the car, fit the suspension and for me to go pick it up. Honestly, if you ever do any work on a car and come to a rusty bolt, just leave well enough alone unless you have garage facilities literally yards away

Thanks guys, iv seen a full set up on ebay brandnew on ebay for £250 http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4-LOWERING-SP...3|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:0|293:1|294:50

Wot u fink of the kit in the link?

Yeh if lowering gona make it worse on ruff surfaces ill only get into more trouble for drivin fast.

im wanting do wotevr i do on the cheap as wen i turn 20 in 6 months i can insure a 4motion golf v6 or scuby woop

Yeh i cn keep up with ma dad in a 120d in the stilo easy which is gud but it jus feels like im gona crash real bad

MattyJLegend said:

Thanks guys, iv seen a full set up on ebay brandnew on ebay for £250 http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/4-LOWERING-SP...3|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:0|293:1|294:50

Wot u fink of the kit in the link?

Yeh if lowering gona make it worse on ruff surfaces ill only get into more trouble for drivin fast.

im wanting do wotevr i do on the cheap as wen i turn 20 in 6 months i can insure a 4motion golf v6 or scuby woop

Yeh i cn keep up with ma dad in a 120d in the stilo easy which is gud but it jus feels like im gona crash real bad

Click to expand...

FK are pretty decent. Coyle's got a set of their coilovers on his smoothed Stilo and don't think he's got any complaints. Dunno bout they're standard suspension sets though. I actually noticed them myself when having an eBay browse myself.

The actual ride may actually improve with higher quality dampers, even if it is lowered. Though the springs may well have less travel in them, the higher quality damping can often mean the car will cope with bumps better. A lot of manufacturers suspension is built to a cost after all and has to have a compromise between comfort and handling, often with the former being the priority, so many standard suspension set ups could be improved with just upgrading the dampers. You can see this in many manufacturer tuned vehicles when they lower the suspension AND change the dampers.

The handling on my 1.2 probably wasn't helped by the springs though as the dealership fitted the wrong springs on the recall...JTD/Abarth instead of the one's for the smaller engine. Meant my car was riding perhaps an inch higher than it should meaning it was even more roly-poly round the bends

I've only got the EIbach Pro Kit lowering springs on mine with the standard shocks. Been about 2 weeks and i'm very happy with them. Bumps are felt a little harder than usual but nothing too drastic. Went to Wales and back today, still very comfortable for me. Although, on leaving a dirt uneven car park, she scraped a little. My car was full though carrying passengers and the new twin subs in the back only weigh her down more.

Looks mighty fine though! :slayer:

chicken_chau_mein said:

I've only got the EIbach Pro Kit lowering springs on mine with the standard shocks.

Click to expand...

I'd say if only changing springs then that's the only kit worth considering. The fact you're only dropping by 30mm obviously helps.

saw an old celica yesterday.. it was lowered and scraping on the humps.. saw another car stuck on a hump (wheals spinning but not touching - that was quite hilarious..) with all due respect.. if you're going to use it on the racing track only - i'd understand.. but if it is a city car.. why? i scrape on some humps with bog standard fiat setup.. though perhaps for the humour factor (occasionally i get to see bits of sump etc.) it is worth it! You bought a stilo for (imaginatively) practical reasons – if you want something that’s fun instead – buy something else for a second car or dish out on a hydraulic system.. low when needed –high in the city

you wont scrape on speed humps on a 40mm drop.

FIATs standard setup is VERY soft and the car bounces like a bouncy castle, I bottomed out my JTD quite a few times on country road on standard shocks/springs.

As for body roll, get a decent shock/spring setup, thicker anti-roll bars (if you can get them) and poly bushes should help

dude most london humps @ 5 miles an hour scrape on undertray.. only way is to accelerate to bring the front up.. still - it's a personal decision

mine never scraped on any speed hump on both a JTD (with a leaking shock) and Abarth, aftermarket springs are stiffer and have less bounce if that makes sense

Mine bumped and scraped, occasionally hit - one the OEM setup. And bounced and rolled. After 30 mm lowering (ofcourse with a damper kit) I have never touched the asphalt once - and it's been on for over 2 years now.

M.

dan-the-man said:

...aftermarket springs are stiffer and have less bounce if that makes sense

Click to expand...

Yes; that's right.

With the OEM setup you get quite a drop after dropping off the speed bump (if taken at speed) and that's when you hear the rear of the undertray make contact.

Lowering springs being stiffer tend to stop the front dropping so much on speed bumps which can give the impression you can take them a bit faster.

However, the fact is, you have less ground clearance and when you do make contact then you'll know about it OK - often with a solid whack as something underside makes contact.

With mine lowered just 35mm there was one pothole (in narrow road so not easily avoided) which would cause one hell of a whack if I took it at speed (I soon learnt to slow to a crawl ). With car back to it's OEM setup I can now take this exact same pothole at pretty much any speed I like and the suspension just soaks it up beautifully

Pure joy :spin: