Transformed

[SuperRedMR2]

Hi all,

I had my Koni suspension kit fitted last weekend, and although it took such a long time and cost an awful lot of money, Jesus, Joseph & Mary it has completely transformed the car!

Cornering is such a joy it really is! And not only that, it gives you the confidence to speed up through the bends. No noticable bodyroll, no understeer through corners or junctions, its just fantastic.

I reccommend this to anyone, as you will be loving your car even more than you used to! Think i'll be getting through tyres more now, but it'll be so worth it!!!!

The little sods on the winding bendy roads through Essex think they suped up Fiestas and Peugeots gives them the idea they can escape me on a corner, they couldnt be more wrong; this thing sticks to the road, like xxxx to a blanket!

Many thanks to Dan @ DCDezign, and for Nigel & Tony for telling me my shocks were shagged and needed some new ones

[triplecustard]

I've KYB's & Fensport lowered springs on mine, its far too stiff even trying to press down on wings there is very little movement & even catseyes are to be avoided! It does corner well though!
Will Koni inserts improve it? Keeping the lowered springs.

[SuperRedMR2]

I havent played with my settings yet, and speed bumps seem to be ok, but I havent dared to go at them like a bull at the gates lol

[[SiG]]

I've KYB's & Fensport lowered springs on mine, its far too stiff even trying to press down on wings there is very little movement & even catseyes are to be avoided! It does corner well though!
Will Koni inserts improve it? Keeping the lowered springs.

Your problem might be the springs not being progressive as the KYB's are not supposed to be too harsh...

[PW@Woodsport]

polybush it and it will transform it again

[System-G]

I've KYB's & Fensport lowered springs on mine, its far too stiff even trying to press down on wings there is very little movement & even catseyes are to be avoided! It does corner well though!
Will Koni inserts improve it? Keeping the lowered springs.

Your problem might be the springs not being progressive as the KYB's are not supposed to be too harsh...

Erm... not quite...

KYB make two types of shocks for the MK1 - one type is soft, basically replacement OEM and the other are seriously uprated.

We have the uprated KYB's and progressive springs on the track car and the ride is very, very harsh - far too uncomfortable for daily use, but as the car is primarily a track toy, I intended it to be so.

Our SC has 4-way adjustable Tokiko shocks with unkown linear springs. We don't like the handling at all. I think it's mainly down to the springs though as I've driven other cars with Tokiko and progressive springs and it felt quite nice on all damping settings.

Jo's Tango has Koni's with progressive springs - it feels good on full soft and right through to full hard on the road. We've not had the car on track to compare to the other two.

I would also recommend pollybushing as Paul says - even better transformation

[[SiG]]

I've KYB's & Fensport lowered springs on mine, its far too stiff even trying to press down on wings there is very little movement & even catseyes are to be avoided! It does corner well though!
Will Koni inserts improve it? Keeping the lowered springs.

Your problem might be the springs not being progressive as the KYB's are not supposed to be too harsh...

Erm... not quite...

KYB make two types of shocks for the MK1 - one type is soft, basically replacement OEM and the other are seriously uprated.

We have the uprated KYB's and progressive springs on the track car and the ride is very, very harsh - far too uncomfortable for daily use, but as the car is primarily a track toy, I intended it to be so.

Thanks for correcting my info. I'll leave the advice to the experts in future

[SuperRedMR2]

I will be getting the the roll bar bushes polybushed when i have more money. I need to get the zorst sorted first though.

[Kooga]

As a matter of curiosity, how did the car feel to drive with knackered shocks? Did it feel a bit wandery-across-the-roady and a little more bouncey then you might expect?? I suspect this is the issue with mine, just trying to confirm....

[LimeyMk1]

Your problem might be the springs not being progressive as the KYB's are not supposed to be too harsh...

Erm... not quite...

KYB make two types of shocks for the MK1 - one type is soft, basically replacement OEM and the other are seriously uprated.

We have the uprated KYB's and progressive springs on the track car and the ride is very, very harsh - far too uncomfortable for daily use, but as the car is primarily a track toy, I intended it to be so.

Thanks for correcting my info. I'll leave the advice to the experts in future

Depends VERY much on the springs Garrick (and not having rear shocks in the front ). My current Mk1 was perfectly drivable on the road with KYBs and Whiteline springs (15-20mm drop).

My Coupe which had the same shocks and harsher springs (35mm drop) was a lot more unforgiving.

[tonigmr2]

polybush it and it will transform it again

Wholeheartedly behind this sentiment. The single biggest 'wow I can't believe it' after all the things I've done to my cars.

T

[mr2mk1chick]

As a matter of curiosity, how did the car feel to drive with knackered shocks? Did it feel a bit wandery-across-the-roady and a little more bouncey then you might expect?? I suspect this is the issue with mine, just trying to confirm....

you can push on the wing and see how bouncy it looks
anything more than two small rebounds is a bit worn i think
really stiff - you struggle to push down at all.

for mot there is some guide to when it is knackered

i guess if you are in doubt they are probably shot

however, the wandering may also be a combination of other stuff like drop links, bottom ball joints, bushes

[SuperRedMR2]

The passenger side shock was half full and rusty.

The front was very noisy, no real sense of steering accuracy. Very light. Wandered all over bumps. Adverse effects when on uneven camber. Just a bucket of xxxx really.

The worse handling you can think of. A few days before it was changed, i was experiencing understeer through corners and on roundabouts.

I pushed all four corners down for the bounce test, and from that you couldnt tell that they were really bad. The fronts were softer than the others though.

The back was very bad as well. I.e. It was wandering all over the place

[Kooga]

Aw no, I don't think its understating things to say that this car is turning (turned??) into a bit of a money pit! Is there a cheaper option that 400 quid for a set of Koni's?? I know that's not an unreasonable figure (I once comissioned a one off set of Koni suspension for a Cherry turbo I had-that WAS pricey) but I've already destroyed the wedding fund dealing with rust and replacing panels, and I can't believe 19 year old shocks are serviceable in a sharp handling sports car [/b]

[010on1986]

The worse handling you can think of. A few days before it was changed, i was experiencing understeer through corners and on roundabouts.

I pushed all four corners down for the bounce test, and from that you couldnt tell that they were really bad. The fronts were softer than the others though.

The back was very bad as well. I.e. It was wandering all over the place

I had a front shock go, when removed it was just a rod freely moving in its case, gave very similar effects to yours. Chronic understeer, worse, any bump in the road would move the offending wheel so severely that you would need to grab the steering wheel to keep it straight, the steering wheel would move violently and a bad bottom out sound would be heard.

The bounce test never confirmed that the shock had gone, <guess the arb holds the offending shock firm on a bounce test>, only removal revealed the fault.

I have kyb's on progressive springs on my na and they are just as nice as konis on progressive springs (on the front of my sc), in fact I prefer the kybs because you don't have to faff around with the adjustment.. you get one setting and settle for it. (it is a road car after all that never sees a track).

I have potenza adjustables on the rear of the sc (didn't bother fitting the konis), these are much better than the konis because you have a 4 way dial and just click it, 1 firm through to 4 soft using a micro screwdriver (no finding the koni knob and forgeting how much it has been turned)

[monkeymax]

I can only echo what the others have said.
I'm in the middle of my suspension swap, and was amazed at the condition of the old struts. To say they were knackered is an understatement; I could easily push the shocks inwards, and then they'd just stay in those positions. Only one was still useable - barely (though bizarrely that corner's lower ball joint was gone).
However, the 'bounce test' didn't show this at all - to the point that a mechanic didn't think there was a problem with the suspension and thought that my lack of confidence in the car was down to either driver ability or worn bushes (well, the bushes are definitely worn).

What persuaded me to do the suspension regardless was similar to what has been said by others. I didn't feel that the suspension was that great - it was a bit vague at speeds (speeds like 40 - not 70), awful understeer, a bit of a 'floaty' feeling... However, I learnt to adapt my driving style to it regardless and lived with it. It wasn't until I went on one of the Guildford runs and couldn't keep up with the Mk2s around the corners ( ) that I realised that it really wasn't good. Then I drove another Mk1 that had been sorted only a couple of years back... then I realised my suspension was actually very poor...

So, yeah... unfortunately the bounce test isn't a good indication in my experience...

Kooga, it may be a lot - but another way of thinking of it (actually the only way I can make myself feel better about it!) is that it's unlikely to be a recurring expense on the car while you keep it! After all, the last suspension lasted 19 years, so hopefully it should be a fairly long time before you need to worry about it again!

[un1eash]

Some people are reluctant to spend that much on a 19 year old car. £400 for konis, £300 for SS exhaust, £150 for poly bushes when you add in labour thats more then alot of people spent buying the car.

Poly bushes are a must, even if you just do the front strut arms, the difference is brilliant. My car was abit floaty before and the back end was twitchy after gettin the bushes done it felt great. My shocks werent to bad either, the car did have abit of a lean to the drivers side though from worn springs.

2 years on from having the bushes done and a year from having the koni's ive finally decided to get my alignment done. Ive brought some old rear control arms to refurb and getting a new steering rack fitted then everything should be easy to adjust.

[WeirdNeville]

I'm looking to gather bits to do an overhaul. I'd like to do it myself as a bit of a hobby.
I'm looking at polybushes, Koni adjustable dampers an a set of not too harsh springs. I'll also change tie rods, track rod ends and ball joints for good measure.

Should transform the car!

My only real issue is selecting the right springs. Can anyone recommmend good fast road springs? I want to keep ride compliance, and I'm not too bothered about dropping the car although I suppose a 20mm drop would help the looks a little. There seem to be loads of springs out there, but none give spring rates to compare.

[SuperRedMR2]

Kooga, it is alot of money, yeah, but you'll never have to replace them ever again, never have mot failures on your suspension as that can be very pricey aswell.

Everything on the rear of my car HAD never been replaced, so my wallet is very empty for paying for the labour! About 18 hrs @ £46.50 but I didnt pay that full amount, i managed a cash deal, but still very expensive.

I dont regret spending as much as i did, as it is just amazing! We managed to get some money off as a group buy as well, so that was good.

If you drive another mk1 thats been modified on its suspension, you'll realise that yours is so below par!

Its only money afterall! Im getting my rear arches done and one front wing ready for JAE

[rootes]

As a matter of curiosity, how did the car feel to drive with knackered shocks? Did it feel a bit wandery-across-the-roady and a little more bouncey then you might expect?? I suspect this is the issue with mine, just trying to confirm....

mine felt like that..

replace shocks with kyb gr2/excelg from that ebay place in the states.. £140 in shipping for all 4 and easy to fit

made an enormous difference... no wondering or floating sensation..

first car i have ever own where I have only replaced the shocks and not done springs bushes etc at the same time.. proves shocks are there for a reason