Suspension

[Essassin]

Hey guys, I'm looking for a few tips on reworking my suspension. My current setup is pretty much standard apart from king spring lows in the back. So basically I have:
- FE2 springs front, king springs rear
- FE2 shocks
- Everything else (bushes and all the rest of it) standard

To be blunt, the ride sucks. And that was before I got my 19's
My car is a daily driver, so what I want is improved ride comfort. I don't really care about going round corners fast or any of that, that's not what my car is for.
So my questions are:
1. Which component of the suspension contributes most to how bumpy/smooth the ride is?
2. What would you recommend to improve the ride in the short term for relatively low cost? If there is a way.
3. Is there any hope of having a decent ride once I lower it more? I understand you do sacrifice a certain amount of comfort when you get big wheels and lower a car, but I'm hoping with the right products it won't be too bad.

Cheers

[Dr HaxZaw]

hey mate ive got 19s on mine and ive just installed shortened kyb shocks all round and superlow springs all round... you do feels the bumps a bit more but you get used to it and it rides a lot better than it did with FE2 suspension in it... that and all my old shocks were rooted

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Shocks will make a big difference.

[Surfwagon]

I'm running Koni Yellow Sports with HSV FE2 style springs and no complaints here, ride is great and handling is good for a soft spring.
The softer rears (as opposed to Kings, Pedders etc) make quick launches good as the rear squats nicley on take off and the Koni's control the whole lot.

[kiwicon]

coilovers will do everything you want, except the " for relatively low cost" part

[GEN3RATD]

decent set of springs and shocks will do wonders, and work out half the price of coilovers.

[Essassin]

Thanks for the advice guys. I do want coilovers but in saying that I don't know if I can deal with the shitty ride/having my car at the height it is now for the amount of time it would take me to save up for them. So I'll probably look at shocks first, then springs.

[Munz]

decent set of springs and shocks will do wonders, and work out half the price of coilovers.

your on a roll today DM




keep those pics comin

[GEN3RATD]

Yeah it's a new hobby of mine haha

[Jezza]

i have fe2 springs with monroe gt struts and 18" wheels and the ride isnt exactly fe1 soft its not to bad

[Surfwagon]

Hey Jezza are you using Monroe GT Sports or GT Gas as they are different.
I thought I would try Monroe GT Sports when I bought my car but I found the Monroe GT Sports too soft on the bump setting when used with my HSV senator springs (similar to FE2).
The Monroe GT Sports are designed to make heavy duty lowered springs feel softer on the road.
With Monroe GT sports coming off speed humps the front would drop too easily with the bumper crashing into the road sometimes, this never happened with my HSV shocks ( HSV versions of Monroe Sensatracs) which I was only replacing because they had high mileage on them, they still worked fine.
I now have Koni Yellow Sports adjustables and they are awesome matched up with the senator springs, great handling but still a good ride and no front end crashing down off speed humps.

[Jezza]

i have the Monroe GT gas struts

[Surfwagon]

i have the Monroe GT gas struts

They are better suited to FE2 as they are stiffer in the initial bump/bounce and are similar to HSV clubby/R8 struts/shocks which is probably why you think they a quite stiff.