So far I only have service history that shows the front nearside spring has been replaced (No shock replacements to my knowledge). Bockers worried me when he said on my suspension refresh post that the springs like to die after 11 years .. great

Wishbones were replaced in 2006, not sure on the life span of these ?

So, after reading lots of handling posts, i've thought of three ways of improving the handling of my coop.

1. Replace (all) the springs and shocks with the standard Fiat parts
2. Buy Eibach (Lowering) springs and then replace the shocks with the standard Fiat part
3. Buy Eibach springs and Bilstein shocks

prices are just estimates from old price lists without VAT

1 = cheapest route, Alternate Autos cost for springs is £100 and shocks is £250, plus fitting
2 = springs are £210 ish, shocks £250 plus fitting
3 = springs are £210 ish, shocks £550 plus fitting

I'm leaning towards option 2, i'd like to go with option 3 but not sure whether the premium of bilstein shocks is going to offer a massive improvement over the OEM, unless coop owners with this setup can convice me otherwise.

Also, if I go with Eibach springs, Do I have to inform my insurance company as they will lower the car? (albeit only by 3cm).

I've only been in a coop that's got a standard setup which doesn't help, so am relying on the forum knowledge here

Any change that you make you should tell your insurers. But for springs I'd not worry about it too much.

If you just want a re-fresh then go for standard parts, but also look at the drop links, wishbones and bushes...and the arms at the back end.

Do you really chuck the car about or is it more of a GT cruiser?

good point Suba, I use it more as a GT Cruiser but there are roundabouts where there is quite a bit of roll and i'm thinking that I could improve the handling...either by refreshing the standard parts or going uprated.

Part of me thinks if i'm going to refresh the parts I should do it with uprated ones.

The garage are currently sorting out the rear suspension (bushes/arms) but i'll update my other thread for that

The go for bilstein Eibach combo - if you really want to stop it lolling onto the outside front when you corner hard then uprate the rear anti roll bar as well. if it was me and I was spending anyway then I'd go for the upgrades......

Famous last words before a custom set of coilovers, camber bolts, top mounts, and endless days messing about with geometry!

Whats this, more mods?! You'll be looking at the engine next Duncan, mark my words

I've got Eibachs and Bilsteins on mine, those coupled with the 18" wheels mean although it sticks to the road like glue, I feel every bump. I'll be taking a cushion like James May in his Aston next time I do a long trip

I'd go option 2 if I was you.

That's because of the 18 inch wheels, no other reason.

I thought you were running Coil-Overs Dan!

I had no idea you were running the Eibachs and Bilsteins, hmm, if you make it to the Brighton meet I might just have to sit in your passenger seat to see what its like!

I did think that the ride would be firmer, but not to the extent of feeling every bit of gravel in the road

hmm, Guess option 2, Springs first and then we'll see. I've got to get new tyres more importantly first before any improvements can take place.

So far i've kept well away from any engine mods/mapping, not my thing, I don't have deep enough pockets/patience

^ I think that's mostly the 18s Dan

Option 3 plus camber bolts. 1.25deg of neg camber is nice: get this set up along with the 4-wheel alignment as part of the service

You've got decent tyres on too I take it Duncan

ETA after reading your other thread, do tyres, wishbones, droplinks, track rod ends first. See how that feels (mine felt like new again).

Will bear that in mind Richard.

at the moment i've got Continental Sport Contact 2s on, they're not near the legal limit but have got cracks in the sidewall so have been advised to replace them.

My history shows they were done in 2005 so have lasted well, they're an expensive tyre but i've no issues and will stick with them.

Will do tyres first and then buy some springs, at least I can sell them on if i don't like them. I think the car will look a bit better being slightly lower too.

Wishbones done in 2006, when should they be refreshed ??

I've no history for the droplinks or track rod ends being done on my car, will have to speak to Rog on that.

Which garage are you using for this Duncan? I will do this at some point in the future but going on the How-To think I'll pay someone to fit these parts for me!

depends on how many bumps you have gone over and if there is any play in them.

If they were OE wishbones, they'll probably still be OK. If droplinks are shot you get a definite clonking, so they'll be ok for now.

In that case, yeah, tyres (no idea about the contis - but 452's good value) & springs. Get a full 4-wheel alignment done - AND for the £30-odd quid they cost, get some Eibach camber bolts part no. 5.81240K

See how you get on with this then you'll be in a better position to decide on the shocks that'll be best for you Top mounts can wait till then too.

Adjustable camber bolts are only about £20. Well worth investing in.

Ah sorry been mentioned already....

in the general maintenance thread is my post on a heatshield or loose exhaust, one that I thought was creating a banging noise. It's not, it's suspension related.

I'm not mechanically good with the suspension stuff but I could see once it was jacked up (and pointed out) that a rubber seal was missing on the nearside rear, where the offside was intact. Hence the noise that I kept hearing was metal on metal but on the suspension, at lot worse than I thought.

Jim @ Southsea MOT pointed it out to me (as thats where I get my MOT done), He did ring me back with some other things that needed doing, of which I think he said rear arms/bushes, i'm expecting the car to be ready on Friday so will update the thread in General maintenance with exactly what was done, the bill estimate was approx £350 though

if that doesn't sort it to your satisfaction duncan i'd recommend :-

nigel lower brace
whiteline 22mm rear arb
dedra front arb

i had those fitted and it corners very flat compared to standard

you would be looking at another £350+ however

I changed the spring because mine looked very rusty, I had seen a few reported failures on coupes my age and given that I was replacing everything else and they were not that expensive i thought why not

If the springs were more expensive i would have used the old ones

You can't adjust the rear end of the coupe - it's just the fronts.

To get the camber setup you also have to go somewhere that can do it - a lot of places dont have the equipement. Running negative camber will also increase turn in, but the car will tramline more, and will also wear the inner edges of the tyres a lot more if you do a lot of motorway miles.

Unless you stiffen up the back end it also loads up the outside front more, so you have to have decent suspension to compensate.

Running toe out will also help turn in.

Do NOT test suspension on a car running 18's - you can't compare it to a car running the stock 16's. it will crash and bang over bumps even on the standard shocks.

I run my car with all standard fiat suspension.
Before this years Spaitalia i took it to Joes(cc) for a full service /health check.
He replaced wishbones and drop links also top stabiliser bush inserts.
Everything else was checked.All to be found good.
The 13 year old Coupe has done 53,000 miles.
With brake fluid changed.
I used toyo proxys 888s for the Spa circuit.
I then hurled it around Spa,with no handling probs whatsoever.It stuck like glue,even on a wet track.
With a change back to road tyres ,the coupe handles perfect for most road conditions and speed. Road tyres are Eagle F1.

There you go - you dont need to run fancy coilovers on a road car if all the suspension component are in good condition. you also certainly dont need or want 18 inch wheels.

Completely agree. It'd probably make you not want them, but the 18's don't demonstrate the bilstein/eibach combo well. If I have time I'll change to my 17" track tyres for Brighton. If again, I come down for that

Suba - I bought my coop with the 18's fitted, wouldn't have chosen them but they do look

When i put 18's, bistiens & eibachs on my old 16vt, the car was slower for normal driving than on 16's and normal suspension.

18's just make the car too rigid. It made the car crash and bounce all over the place and you just couldnt go round the corners as quickly becuase of it.

On a track i'm sure it's great but on normal roads, its rubbish.

adjustable osrav shocks on std springs is another option,that way you keep full travel of the std springs and a good ride.
you can then play with the shock settings and if you think it rolls to much you can add anti roll bars with out degrading the ride.
This is if you don't mind the std ride height,but this should equate to a good all round package thats much better at country roads etc

well, the rear springs are quite rusty.

I'm not sure if that's a good enough reason to get new Eibachs in but i'm going to try and justify it to myself.

Where abouts is the cheapest place to get them from ? Alternate Autos or .. ?