Anyone running on Koni's & Eibachs? Or Konis & OEM Springs?

[Jimbo_Jet]

Hello! I have Koni adjustables on my MK1a but I'm not happy with the springs Koni have paired with them – FAR too soft/undersprung at the rear.

I want to reduce body roll but ride comfort is very important to me so I have wondered about putting Eibach progressive springs on with my Koni’s instead and wondered if anyone had done the same and can comment on ride quality and handling? (I run with my Koni’s on full soft all the time.)

My second thought was to go back to standard height Toyota/OEM springs instead and beef up the front and rear ARB’s to reduce roll. Has anyone any comments on either of these ideas and perhaps where I could get OEM AW11 springs from without having to pay with two severed limbs to get them from MR.T?

Ta!

[IanClements]

I have koni's and Eibachs and I found the springs to be a bit on the soft side on the front end. Steering was a bit sloppy and there was body roll, not what I was expecting from lowering springs, IMO they start off too soft before getting much stiffer as they compress.

Managed to cure this in the main by putting prothane bushes on the front arb but then put a turbo rear arb on and the car really feels great now, the springs do work well in this setup as the ride is OK but the car still handles great.

[Jimbo_Jet]

Cheers How were the rear Eibachs?

The springs that came with my Koni's compress far to much at the rear when cornering so much so that I get body roll oversteer. I reduced this slightly by turning my Koni's up one full turn, 50% up to max, but this was only tolerable for journeys less than 20miles due to the increased vibrations.

What I've found, by increasing or decreasing my Konis front or rear independently of each other, is that it's the rear shock/spring absorption that really matters to ride comfort - I can ride with my font Koni's on full hard all day long. but put my rear Koni's to full hard and I'll be luck to drive 3 miles before I'm pulling over to turn them down again!

[IanClements]

I think the rears are fine to be honest, i've always felt that the fronts had more effect on ride quality but would think it should be about equal.

I do find that I can't use Koni's on full soft with the Eibachs as the car will bottom out over any decent size bump in the road and things start to get a bit floaty as well, half turn in is my favourite setting for cruising with another full turn for faster driving.

Have you thought about bushes at all? If they're worn at the back you'll get problems.

[Jimbo_Jet]

The problem with the rear being too soft was instantly noticeable once I removed the existing rear shocks and springs and put the Knoi shocks and springs on. I would presume the bushes had not changed/altered in the switch over so I put this down to the new set up? That said I'm sure the bushes are in need of replacing by now!

Before I installed my Koni springs and shocks it did roll a bit too much at the rear but now it is worse, or at least it certainly feels worse. But it does concern me that you say you need to turn your Koni's up with your Eibachs as even with my perceived rolling/undersprung issues I've not really felt my konis and koni springs bottom out yet over bumps :/ I can run mine on full soft without issue but it does duck down a hell of a lot at the rear when going over large bumps.

Basically on full soft setting on my Koni's, and with the springs that came with my Konis, my car feels more softly sprung than it was before. I feel noticeably less impact/vibration from the front though the steering wheel (about 10-15% less) and I notice more roll at the rear.

Generally people seem to say that Koni’s feel around 15% stiffer on full soft setting than OEM shocks so with my car feeling softer and rolling more after the Koni kit was fitted I presumed that this was because it was now under sprung and not because the shocks offered less resistance than the ones I’d just removed, IYSWIM? Even if I turn my Koni’s up to 50% it still rolls a bit more than before, or about the same at best.

That being the case I presumed the springs Koni bundle with their shocks were too soft and therefore replacing them with Eibach or Fensport springs would mean a stiffer spring weight, less roll, less ducking over dumps and certainly less need to worry about bottoming out? So with you saying that you need to turn your Koni’s up with you Eibachs makes me wonder a) how soft are Eibachs and b) are they any better than what I have on my car now?

This is the issue, I’ve no idea what make springs I have on mine now as they are unbranded that came with my Koni inserts so does anyone in the North West have a MK1 on Koni’s with either Fensport or Eibach springs on that I can crib a ride in please to see how they feel by comparison? Or Konis and Toyota OEM springs? Thanks

This is doing me head in

[IanClements]

Just for the record, I notice more intial roll with the Eibachs than the stock springs but put the car into a corner hard and what was once too much for OEM springs with 100k on is easily dealt with by the Eibachs.

IMO the Eibachs are better overall, just lack the initial sharpness of the stock springs.

[Jimbo_Jet]

That very interesting, thanks for that Ian.

I have been advised that the Eibachs are 10% stiffer at the front rising to 30% stiffer under load and 20% stiffer at the rear rising to 30% under load. That being the case I am surprised to hear you say that they are less sharp at the outset of loading compared to the OEM springs, as you would have presumed that they should be sharper being 10-20% stiffer from the outset?

But having said that, that's been exactly my experience with the lowering springs that were bundled my my Koni's. Got to make you wonder about going back to new OEM springs hasn't it?

[IanClements]

You only have to look at any of the front springs that are progressively wound to see that they are softer than normal initally, the coils at one end are very far apart whereas very close together at the other. Just going by feel in the main though.

[Jimbo_Jet]

Anyone else got any comments?

[MartG]

If it's roll that is your major concern, put a set of Whiteline ARBs on

[Jimbo_Jet]

Yeah, I am considering that. Am wondering about going back to OEM springs, new poly bushes and a MK2 Turbo rear ARB and poss whiteline front ARB as well.

I've not been impressed with the lowering springs that came with my my Koni's and I am struggling to find another lowering spring which gives good ride quality and everyone agrees performs well in all other ways. I thought Eibach might be what I needed but Ian, in the above posts, says he needs to turn his Koni's up to stop his car bottoming out! That would suggest to me that they are too soft and possibly not much better than the ones I have now.

That's not what I want, I want to run my Koni's on full soft without bottoming out, be more supportive at the rear, reduce excessive roll and still be comfortable on long drives. The more I think about it the more I think OEM springs are the way to go and beef everything else up instead?

[Paul in the Port]

Have you considered the Fensport lowering springs at all? Are these much different to the Eibachs at all?? Its a conversion i'm looking to do myself very shortly but with a V6 conversion in mind (1MZ-FE) i think i'll need stiffer springs on the back more in line with the standard SC cars. These are linear springs unlike the Eibachs

http://www.fensport.co.uk/Parts/Model_2 ... ory_2/1601

[Jimbo_Jet]

oh that's interesting For some reason I had presumed that the Fensport springs were progressive like the Eibach ones but reading the description again it doesn't say anything about them being progressive does it?

[tottacrolla]

Could this apparent softening be down to a geometry change now the car is lowered ? Just a thought..........

[Paul in the Port]

oh that's interesting For some reason I had presumed that the Fensport springs were progressive like the Eibach ones but reading the description again it doesn't say anything about them being progressive does it?

It says above the picture that they are a linear spring kit - pretty much an uprated / shorter version of the standard springs by the looks of it. Question is - how do they really work when fitted. We can theorise all day but hopefully someone will have fitted them. Safe to say that Fensport will surely have done their research though??

[MartG]

I had the Fensport springs on my SC for several years, and can thoroughly recommend them for both road and track use

They were firm but with a much softer ride than the springs it had on when it was imported.

[Jimbo_Jet]

Yeah, must admit I’m considering the £ensport ones now, their a bit more than you can get a set of Apex ones for from ebay but maybe they’re worth the extra?

Can’t help wonder tho if I’d end up wishing I’d gone for Eibachs for a more comfortable ride

[Jimbo_Jet]

Have you considered the Fensport lowering springs at all? Are these much different to the Eibachs at all?? ........These are linear springs unlike the Eibachs http://www.fensport.co.uk/Parts/Model_2 ... ory_2/1601

Well here's something strange, just checked the prices of the £ensport springs and A) they’ve just gone down in price and B) they’re now shown as progressive springs?? You link still works to the more expensive linear springs but they’re not showing up on the Fensport site but these cheaper progressive ones are??

http://www.fensport.co.uk/Parts/Model_2 ... ory_2/1600

Seriously tempted to plump for these now as can progressive Eibachs really be worth best part of £90 more?

[feral4mr2]

If it's roll that is your major concern, put a set of Whiteline ARBs on

indeed, even with stock suspension (springs and shocks) a upgrade of the swaybars make a very much marked improvement on body roll and handling as a whole. a nice fat front one helps with turn in as well. but dont go too big in the rear end IMO.

[coanda]

Have you considered the Fensport lowering springs at all? Are these much different to the Eibachs at all?? ........These are linear springs unlike the Eibachs http://www.fensport.co.uk/Parts/Model_2 ... ory_2/1601

Well here's something strange, just checked the prices of the £ensport springs and A) they’ve just gone down in price and B) they’re now shown as progressive springs?? You link still works to the more expensive linear springs but they’re not showing up on the Fensport site but these cheaper progressive ones are??

http://www.fensport.co.uk/Parts/Model_2 ... ory_2/1600

Seriously tempted to plump for these now as can progressive Eibachs really be worth best part of £90 more?

Interesting that these only show up for the earliest Mk.1 category - the later version and the SC show linear springs that are out of stock. Will these progressive springs work on any version of the Mk.1?

I turned my dampers right down after buying the car. It seems that the stiffer the rear end dampers the worse the weight shift at the rear. I have a rear (green?) ARB and a swaybar.