Technical Suspension

[Jimmy punto]

Hi guys, I know it's been done to death but i want to lower my car, I don't have a massive budget so it essentially comes down to two choices, the FK AK coilovers on ebay about £200 or the eibach pro kit £150ish. The roads round me are pretty awful so the coilovers won't be getting wound all the way down, but heard good things about the eibachs too! Anyone had experience with either?

Cheers

 

[Momanatorz]

Coilovers are better cos you can adjust to see what you like instead of just gettin a fixed ride height... say you like it -60mm lower but might want it more lower? easy... twist

 

[MikeSalt]

All depends what you want, looks or performance. The Eibach Pro kit lowers the car just the right amount to seriously improve handling because this is a high-end spring kit. At £200, those coilovers will be at the low-end of the coilover market, so probably better as the aesthetic choice. Most coilover kits tend to lower the car too much, and do not have sufficient adjustment to raise the car enough.

 

[Momanatorz]

All depends what you want, looks or performance. The Eibach Pro kit lowers the car just the right amount to seriously improve handling because this is a high-end spring kit. At £200, those coilovers will be at the low-end of the coilover market, so probably better as the aesthetic choice. Most coilover kits tend to lower the car too much, and do not have sufficient adjustment to raise the car enough.

Really ? so you can't go to stock height? can't be true... rally cars use coilover gas suspension... goes quite high on dirt/gravel. or is that cos they're a tad more costly lol

 

[Jimmy punto]

I'm looking for performance, just wanted to check whether anybody had tried both and how they found the comparison between the two, I understand that the coilovers will provide the ability to tweak the height independently and like the idea, but if they're not as good as the eibachs then i'll go with just springs. Contemplating a trip to the nurburgring :slayer:

 

[MikeSalt]

Really ? so you can't go to stock height? can't be true... rally cars use coilover gas suspension... goes quite high on dirt/gravel. or is that cos they're a tad more costly lol

I'm afraid so, but notice the caveat 'Most'. If you pay for top-end rally-spec, then adjustment to stock height is usually possible. However, in the sub-£600 arena, adjustment is typically from about 35mm down to something silly like 80mm.

 

[MikeSalt]

Ideally though, you want to supplement the Eibach Pros with some form of uprated damper. With a higher spring rate, you need a higher specific damping coefficient.

 

[Jimmy punto]

The pro kit says they're made for the original damper, the coilovers are now on the FK Automotive website for £154 (depending on the euro exchange rate) don't know what to do!

 

[snapyoursticks]

I bought a set of FK AKs a few weeks ago, havn't got round to fitting them yet though. There is a thread on punto mk2 about them, i'll see if i can find the link

 

[snapyoursticks]

Here it is, have a read and see what you think

http://forums.puntomk2.co.uk/showthread.php?28508-cut-price-fk-s-for-200-pounds

 

[Jimmy punto]

I've read through but not many peoplehave lived with them for a long time, can't find much with a google search either, think i'll probably settle on the eibachs because of their reputation, let me know if you fit yours and how the ride is please