Coilovers FK or KW

Ok I'm getting to the point now where I need to start sorting out the rest of the car. I have looked at many different brands and have narrowed it down to these two.

I want to be able to use my car everyday but give it the odd track day once or twice a year etc. I'm not sure if I really want/need to be able to adjust the damping/rebound. But the height is important I don't want to have to avoid certain roads etc...

The FK Silverline X are fully adjustable all round, height and damping for £685.
http://www.venommotorsport.com/product_d...gory=Suspension

I am concerned that they are not for long term use due to this: http://www.kw-suspension.co.uk/salt-spray-test.htm

The KW Variants are fully adjustable all round except the rear height which is a fixed 50mm drop. I'm worried that this is too low.
http://www.kw-suspension.co.uk/coilover/products.php?vid=270

Is there enough justification for the extra £320 from Variant 1 to Variant 2 or should I spend this on a nice Eibach Anti roll kit?

Ideally I would prefer the KW's on the front and FK's on the rear but this is NOT possible

I'm unsure what route to take so any suggestions?

The FK's are too hard for road use IMO.

I've not used the KW's...

How about the Gaz kit - not cheap, but very good for road and track.

50mm is a big drop - too big on a coupe (you dont want more than 20mm for handling), not sure about the Bravo?

50mm drop is the rear only.
FK's do three different springs 80Nm, 100Nm & 120Nm
I will look into Gaz.

KW is the best suspension I have driven with in a Coupe. Not tried the Gaz but everything in between including the FK, Leda, Konis, Bilstein...

I'm also considering this as I suppose a good sport suspension as oppose to race setup.

http://www.venommotorsport.com/manufactu...amp;model=Bravo

Why don't give these guys a call and see what they can arrange for you?

FK's are OK if you fit the bravo top mounts (as also used by KW) but they do give you a little tin of clear rubbery paint to spray them with

Its in a bravo

Well that's OK then, but there may be a few people who have Coops and they might be reading

The top mounts are from a 1.6 Bravo so I would need them regardless. I think I'm leaning to the KW sports as I think 95% of my driving will be on public roads. Seems a waste to get coilovers for 5% usage.

Not wanting to sound funny but this forum is mainly used by coupe drivers so not many people will know what works in a bravo ?

The difference between the fk and the fk silverline x is a koni insert and the damper body being made from stainless steel.

Sorry was written in a hurry and just realised how it came out

Should have read "he'll be ok its in a bravo anyway" (and to correct myself his mounts are different so it doesnt matter)

Forget the coiloves now, I've decided that a good sports kit is more suited for my setup. It's out of KW vs Koni

http://www.venommotorsport.com/manufactu...amp;model=Bravo

http://www.venommotorsport.com/manufactu...amp;model=Bravo

I do believe the adjustable KWs use a koni insert anyway so your looking at the same or at least similar thing.

KW v2's

However you decide (KW, FK, Koni, etc.), you better buy a Coupe version and not a Bravo version.. since we have the same conversion, let me tell you why:

As I have done, you need to buy the HGT-version ( in my case KW1) anyway because the HGT and the Coupe have the same wide hub strut 35mm, also thicker bolts too..

I additionally ordered stronger springs at the front (60kg) because the Coupe's KW has 70kg springs and the HGT-KW only 50 kg..

Additionally, the damper insert is a little bit stronger to cater for the extra weight of the 20vt engine as opposed to the 20v..

I first thought that the Bravo is not as heavy on the front as the Coupe so the HGT-version damper should be ok but I recently found out that my Bravo20VT is exactly 865 kg on the front (445kg rear)

In total that is 1310 kg with full tank but without the driver !!! So clearly more than the HGT..

And after 2 years I feel that riding / damping is not as smooth as it used to be and see that the damper is starting to leak - in my point of view due to the weaker damper...

I am also intersted in the GAZ kit but unsure if it will fit our top mounts..

Greetz Jochen

Well I know the coupe and Bravo HGT use the same wishbone but I’m unsure about the hubs as I still use the Bravo HGT wheel hubs and NOT the coupe ones. I was going to get my car weighed before I order any suspension anyway. So are you saying that the only difference is the top mounts, in which case any coupe 20VT suspension will work providing the top mounts fit?

No, the spacing of the two bolt holes in the hub may be different too.

20vt top mounts will fit the Bravo but you may need to buy the suspension kit for the 20v n/a or 16vt as I think that has the same bolt holes as the bravo.

Double check though, I could be talking out of my ass....again

Ok I'll have to get my mates coupe over and try and fit his old standard suspension. If that fit's then



Are you referring to this thread http://www.fiatcoupeclub.org/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=876276#Post876276

That and many like it

Have a look on eper, if the hubs have the same part number then they should fit

They won't have the same part number the ABS is in different location for a start.

I had KW V2s on my coupe and im getting KW Clubsports for my golf, i cant speak highly enough of them.

I'm not going for the coilovers anymore as I'm a constant road driver and can't justify the price jump but if I was KW's would have been the final choice. KW sports shocks use Koni parts so might as well get the Konis as they are adjustable KW's are not, but if my Bravo can run coupe gear then this opens more options.

I have just had the car weighed.

Front Axle weights 840KG
Rear Axle weights 440KG
TOTAL weight 1280KG with half a tank of fuel (30 litres = 30KG).

So if I had a full tank of fuel I would have a weight of 1310KG which is exactly the same as you

I have passed this information onto Koni as they need to confirm whether the Bravo kit will be suitable for my increased weights. Koni make the dampers but the springs are made by Lesjofors. The coupe kit WILL fit on the bravo but they are setup for a coupe so I have to wait for confirmation from Koni for what to do next. My friend will be taking his coupe to the same weighbridge so that we can compare axle weight differences between the coupe 20VT and the Bravo 20VT.

Well to be pedantic, petrol is less dense that water (specific gravity is typically around 0.75, so 30 litres is more like 22.5 kg) but when you add up all the sweet wrappers and loose change it's 1310kg still

lol, u must be bored

Koni have come back to me and said that I must use the Bravo HGT kit as it has been setup for that car. The coupe kit will not be setup correctly. The weight difference is very minor compared to STD HGT and the kit is able to deal with my conversion. So I have ordered Koni's all round for the bravo no chopping required

Thanks to all you guys for your input.

On back order till Nov

Did you ever look into the GAZ setup? They are only in Essex if I remember corectly

GAZ is not for me, don't want coilovers plus they don't do a Bravo setup and I don't want to be the first to try.

You don't want coilovers on a thread titled FK or KW ? The beauty of coilovers is the ability to change spring rates easily so it won't take long to get the perfect setup with the Gaz kit. Streets ahead of the hard riding koni kit.

Yea I changed my mind half way through the thread, maybe a rename is needed

I understand the ins and outs of coilovers but adjustable height for me is not a priority. The 30mm drop is spot on to what I would have dropped my coilovers too anyway as I don’t want the car too low. The Konis are damping adjustable just turn a knob. They are an in-between between coilovers and fixed sports suspension and that suits my needs. If it turns out to be a bad choice then i’ll change them but for now I'm goona stick with my decision. I'll give a review when I fit them.