155HGT - dodgy handling???

[Thomas]

I picked up my 155HGT on tuesday while trading in my old 1.6 brava. safe to say i love it already and porsche boxters arent as fast now!

however i find the steering feel very strange (not a question of it being heavy). i was driving down a hill in second at 30mph and the car was trying to go all over the place and i have to fight the wheel. its also very uncontrolable over not so smoothe road surfaces. dont know if this is me being lame - will just have to get used to it!

also can any one tell me what are the best tyres to use for the front as they need replacing. money not a problem but dont want to pay anything silly.

cheers folks!

**Name Added**

 

[Tom]

Worn shocks.

 

[thomas]

Re: Re: 155HGT - dodgy handling???

cant argue! Tom or anyone do you know of any aftermarket shocks that would address this problem and make the car handle better? i take it i would need better springs to lessen bodyroll too. the bilstein streetlines seem to get respected alot on here

ta!

 

[Tom]

Re: Re: Re: 155HGT - dodgy handling???

Bilstein don't do front shocks for the HGT The streetline only fits the 1.2/1.4/1.6/1.8.

Lowering helps with bodyroll as it lowers the roll centre and centre of gravity.

 

[thomas]

Re: Re: Re: Re: 155HGT - dodgy handling???

Shame on bilstein. Does anyone know of any uprated kits to improve handling without lowering. Also does anyone know of decent front tyres?

Tom i have a suspicion that the tracking is out as the steering wheel is very out of line when going straight forward on a flat surface with no roll off.

i'd just find it a little hard to beleive the shocks have worn after only 35000 miles.

 

[Tom]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: 155HGT - dodgy handling???

35k is a lot in terms of shocks. I've just changed my rear shocks after 18 months and the difference is quite massive.

You can't really do much about body roll without lowering, fact of life. You can stiffen the suspension and change the roll bar but it will get twitchy and won't handle as well.

I use yoko A539s, they last about 10-12k.

 

[thomas]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: 155HGT - dodgy handling???

cheers tom i'll look into it! i'm sure my car isnt handling as well as it should rite now. Does anyone else have any tyre/suspension kit recommendations or opinions??

thanks

 

[Ozric-Al]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: 155HGT - dodgy handling???

I also have the A539's on Toms suggestion. Find them a bit twitchy in the wet but great in the dry. Absolute SHITE on snow though (eh, Tom?)

Do yourself a favour though and put your rears on the front and put 205's on the back. The 195's are actually more expensive as they are a less popular size so you get a wider tyre for less money. Then when you need to change the fronts you can get 205's again to get the full set without having to fork out for four tyres now.

Shabash!

 

[AlfaNige]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: 155HGT - dodgy handling???

I found that the HGT handles very differently to the other Bravo's with huge understeer. I tried a variety of combinations on mine without any real success, but my good ole fave Conti Premium's seems to give a better bite on the front under load.
Get the shocks done and the car lowered but dont expect it to improve the grip!
Nige

 

[Tom]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: 155HGT - dodgy handling???

LOL! The a539 is AWFUL in the snow

I've not found them that bad in the wet, maybe cos I'm running 14" so they flex quite a bit normally.

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: 155HGT - dodgy handling???

strangley enough i've been more than happy with the grip, understeers slightly, just enough to tell me to ease up. in the dry it grips beyond my confidence in the car, in the wet i'm no hero so dn't push it ( parked a renault 19 in a tree at 50 MPH when I was 21, lesson learned).
what wheels have you on the HGT? If you've got aftermarket alloys in a 4X100 fitting with 'wobbly bolts' to make em fit, these can make your wheel shake if not used properly (experience)
get a tracking check done
koni do a shock set for the hgt
if you intend on lowering do that before the tracking as you'd only have to do it again

just my 2p



I want to die peacefully in my sleep like grandpa, not screaming like the passengers in his car!

 

[Gspot]

Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re 155 HGT dodgy handling

anybody know what it would cost for some shocks on a 1.2 bravo?

 

[Barakka]

Re: Re: Re: Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re 155 HGT dodgy handling

The Bilstein stuff from http://www.motorsportworld.co.uk/ is regularly recommended on here, they do the Steetline kit with shocks and springs. Or there are individual shocks, but best to phone for those as the codes are confusing.

 

[Dan]

Re: Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re 155 HGT dodgy handling

As above but for the 1.6 cos i think i might have the same problem as the steering on mine is shocking, its very difficult to keep it under control at high speed. The back end almost flew past me last week when i was doing about 80 round a corner on a dual carriageway. And this corner was about as steep as a ruler, (ie: barley even a curve in the road.) Scared the **** out of me cos i went right across both lanes, luckily no-one was around for me to hit.

 

[Tom]

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Dead shocks on yours too, they make the back VERY twitchy.

 

[Dan]

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BUT DOES ANYONE KNOW THE COST OF IT?

 

[Tom]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re 155 HGT dodgy handling

£160ish.

 

[Roberto]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re Re 155 HGT dodgy handling

You see Dan, no need to shout LOL

Rob

 

[Pete]

Dodgy Shocks?

I took my HGT to DTR Sports this week for the cambelt. I got them to have a look at the shocks, and yes they're worn, but DTR reckoned not to bother replacing them yet (unless I'm made of money). My car is a little twitchy (lift-off oversteer), but still controlable. What I notice most is if you hit a bump mid corner, the car does a sort of shimmy, although it seldom looses grip. DTR put it down to having such a heavy front end.

 

[Tom]

Re: Dodgy Shocks?

Sounds like worn shocks as thats what my car does.