Its all fitted at last, dont ask me how it feels as I haven't had chance to drive the thing yet but I can show you some pictures and tell you about the quality <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Front Dampers

Rear Dampers

The front dampers use a 2 & 1/2 inch Eibach spring, well two springs actually, the main spring is 470Lbs and the other spring is a progressive rate from 180Lbs to 600Lbs this will give a good ride on the road with a soft initial movement that goes firm as the spring travels.
The twin tube dampers are adjustable for bump and rebound at the same time with the big red 24 position knob on the side of the damper, you need to turn the wheels from lock to lock to be able to get your hands on it to adjust each side.

The picture shows one damper with the two springs and the other with the protective rubber boot fitted that covers all the spring once the car is sat on the ground.

Leda designed the damper to use the FK top mount bearing so if anyone else goes for these then you would need to order them seperately.

Rear dampers I have had fitted for a month now, fantastic, much better than any of the other dampers I have tried (just about all of them) they come built with powerflex bushes and the same 24 position bump/rebound adjustment.

Road test to come once I've had it tracked up and camber set.
They all fit together very nicely and the quality and welding is spot on <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Looks nice and expensive <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Ah yes, the price !

Fronts £700
Rears £300

<img src="/forum/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Add to that the price of some poly bushed wishbones and new top mounts and I think I've spent enough on suspension now.

So how does she drive <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

another Leda convert <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I reckon on the fronts you should set the dampers to about 12 ( midway )

I think I recall my rears are set about 2/3 & the front about 50% damping on the adjusters <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

gives a pukka ride....

....must admit Jimbo, if your fronts work, then I may return my fronts for an upgrade ( or just flog em' )

about time my shocks had a rebuild, I've never touched em' in about 5 years, that's how bullet proof they are ! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

nice work there <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

oh, almost forgot, bit late now as you've built up the units, but if you can,. smear some grease over the threaded portion of the coilover to prevent the nickel from galling up, as it will make it a LOT easier to adjust the ride height in the future ! ( should you wish to )

love leda stuff, i had to go there a couple of times with problems with a set of fks i had in the past (on a bravo, before i was on here) and its great to see them working and some of the rally stuff they make is so impressive. if i could afford it i would definatly used leda.

shame i can't <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" />

maybe in a year or so <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

great news Jimbo,.. yep I love my rear LEDA's as well.

I've got my rears at 2/3 stiffness and my front Koni's at 1/3 (with the poly bushes I had to turn them down) and that really has made a huge difference to reducing understeer.

I really like your idea with the springs, I'd really like to compare at Silverstone please <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Joe

Taz, it wouldn't take much to convert yours to the coilover set up. It would just be the spring platforms, springs and the top mounts.
You could have it all done for £200 I reckon <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I did the greasing on the threads too and that rubber boot keeps all the crap out of the spring area so hopefully it wont corrode.
Still not had chance to drive it yet !

thats a pretty good price jombo a grand, you should be happy.

rich

Lol @ Jombo, it's the little things <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Jimbo ......................well,WELL !!!! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Getting the wheel alignment done this afternoon so I'll report back tonight on how they feel.

good stuff Jimbo !!

hope you have the time to dail them in.

cheers.

.

hopefully from all the reports on Leda stuff you will be pleased,they where the ones I origionaly fancied, but after Taz`s hassles, I knew I wouldn`t have the time or patience to go thro` what Taz did,so I opted for the FK`s, but never been happy with the decision to buy them, so they, along with 80nm, 90nm, and 100nm springs, have been sitting, still in their boxes ,in my garage for well over 18 months now................if your reports are good I can see a 1k spend coming up <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Just done my road test on, a 30 mile drive to Swindon to buy some Mobil 1 (on special offer at Halfords £37) <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I used the back roads as they are fast but with bumps and lots of bends so I thought this would be a good test for the new dampers, I set the fronts at 5 clicks (out of 24) and the rears at 11.

WOW <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

What a difference.

This same bit of road with the FK's would have had the car bouncing around as the dampers struggled to keep the springs under control, not with the Leda kit. Hitting a dip in the road at speed and the car will just squat and get and get on with it totally unfazed, bumps are the same, no loss of traction no bouncing at all, it just takes it all in its stride.
I used to feel I would have to back off on uneven roads because it felt like I was losing control, now it just soaks up the road surface and lets you press on.

It is still a firm ride, although the springs are half as soft as the ones I was using but it is a very nice ride. I wouldn't say its a kit that will equal the Bilstien/Eibach combo for comfort although its not far off, it is a kit for an enthusiastic driver though and especially someone who likes to put their car on the track once in a while. I’m looking forward to Silverstone so I can try winding them up and seeing how they handle the track.

I did try the front on 14 clicks but it was way too firm for the road !

I’m still getting some noise from the springs as they settle in, this might go or it might not, I've had coilovers before and they do make a little more noise than normal shocks, its hardly noticeable just a sort of ping from the springs when you turn the wheel.

So in summary, they cost £1000 for the kit so they are only for people who are serious about handling, out of all the suspension kits I have tried this is easily the most focused on handling but they still keep a very good level of comfort.
Recommended <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Sounds good Jim <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />
And they may improve further as the dampers and springs settle <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Jimbo,

did you get a pivot-ball top-mount ?

and is the camber adjustable ?

.

nice work Jimbo, i was looking into your feed back on leda as the price <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />, but i think it deserve the amount after all <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />


good point..

I think that's known as "reassuringly expensive", Omran <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

* makes note on future "suspension changes" list *

The Leda suspension is half the price of the Ohlins!

Who's got Ohlins on their coupe?? Do they have a system designed for a coupe or has someone got a bespoke system made up?

IIRC Auto Integrale were developing once for the coupe.

True, but the project coupe they were working on has been put on the back burner indefinitely. The price Keith quoted me at the time (must have been around Apr/May) was about 2000 quid all in. I've emailed Aurok (UK Ohlins distributor) anyhow to see if they've got an off-the-shelf system or if a bespoke one would need to be made up. I'm thinking the latter more likely.

i was reallly pleased with my ploy wish bone kit - they made a fantastic difference to the coup - i think my old wishbones may have been shot - but the coop is now much more pointy - shooty, doesnt seem to need any correction, feels tighter and feels much more confident turning into corners <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

couple of questions -
were the topmounts in the kit?
where did you get it from?
could i fit them myself?

i have £1000 set aside for fks and top mounts but i couldnt get them fitted (supplier problem) but these sound very tempting, especially with the cash sitting there.....<img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

I would guess it will be bespoke as they have not made suspension for the coupe before? If you do hear back from them, i would be interested in what they say <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Pistole, No they use the standard fiat mount at the top, I didnt want the extra noise you get with spherical bearing top mounts and the fiat units use a rubber section inside theirs to isolate the noise slightly.
I used the FK bearing and spring cup to allow the spring to turn on the top mount , Leda adapted this to fit the Eibach ERS spring (FK use a 60mm spring Leda use a 2.5" ERS spring). The camber is adjustable, I asked them to slot the top hub mounting hole to enable camber adjustment. I've got it set to -1.1 deg. Any more and I found the handling suffers on bumpy roads, the car fights you. That might have been cured now thogh with the poly bushed wishbones ?

Ohlins stuff would be the dogs danglies but they would also be another £1K on top of this price. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

13ad 13oy, you can order the FK top mounts from any FK dealer but get ready to wait a long time to recieve them, they really take their time <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />
Yes you can fit them your self, they fit the same as a standard damper.

is that price including VAT? what was the breakdown? I've looked at them before and they were much more - maybe they have reduced prices now?

hi Jimbo.

okay , understood.

my car is in the shop to have the rears rebuilt ... leaking.

am thinking of revalving the entire set ... see how.

cheers.
.

I rang Leda this afternoon and there preparing a quote for me based on going straight from standard shocks+springs to Leda.

This should include everything i need for Rog to fit so ill give you guys the info when i get it.

what rear spring are you using Jimbo, is it the one from the FK `kit` or lowered Eibach ?