156 GTA Coilovers!!

so the Coilovers finally arrived today, along with my nice new 330 caliper and crossdrilled discs. the coilovers are gettn fitted on saturday, ill post sum piccies and a wee review when done. then ill have to wait for my alloys to arrive then the discs will go one. hopefully get rid of the nasty clunks from the current setup.

Kev

Originally Posted by jwyatt

All we are talking about is a higher-specification damper unit, really, possibly with differently rated springs to standard.

I'm not sure where the "coil-over" expression came from, sometimes people take it to mean dampers with adjustable spring platforms, sometimes not. If the spring platform is adjustable you can easily adjust the ride height of your car, and can also "cornerweight" it with a set of scales which will balance the load on each wheel and aid stability under extreme (track) conditions.

The standard Alfa damper units are poor and non-adjustable. Personally I find my GTA pretty good compared to the older cars I've had before, but the shocks aren't great. I've heard a lot of good things about the cheaper of the two Autodelta kits for normal road/occasional track use - more comfortable and better handling, apparently. There are more advanced setups with adjustable damping, external reservoirs and all the rest of it, but these seem excessive unless tracking the car.

What I really want to know is why Alfa didn't fit better dampers and an LSD as standard, and save us from all the rubbish magazine reviews we have to put up with

the term coil over comes from the spring coiling around the damper as opposed to the old leafspring system where the spring and damper were completely seperate items.

so the bad boyws have been fitted. they only took 175 notes including VAT which is pukka!!! i had a blast on the way home!!! OMG!! they are luvly!! ony thing tho, is i need a bit of advice on setting up the front damper settings. for anyone that has the AD Sportline Corse, which settings to u run on the front? i think the garage has set them on 20 turns in, right in the middle. any advice cheers!!!

Can't help you on the settings, but am eagerly awaiting your report once you have formed an opinion So far you sound well pleased with them!

Originally Posted by Peter K

Can't help you on the settings, but am eagerly awaiting your report once you have formed an opinion So far you sound well pleased with them!

been our for a 50 mile trip!! tweaking along the way hehe!!! so far ive got the front as i want it. ive got the setting at 28. 0 being dead soft and 40 being the hardest. seems a good medium.

the brakes feel like theyve been uprated lol!!! when u hit the anchors there is no forward roll, just instant bit on the brakes. the front end hardly dips. the same with acceleration. the rear really used to sit down as you accelerated. now the car just accelerates. the power delivery seems alot smoother, and i think due to the uprated kit the car acceleration has improved.

one thing i do notice is the rear seems a bit skittish due to the improved braking. i think i just need to tinker with the damper settings.

@ Peter - how have u got ure KW's setup peter. what effect does the stifness of the damper have on the rear whilst braking? do you have any rough pointers that u had in the setup of the KW's that i could maybe translate onto mine?

as regards bottoming out, thats a thing of the pass, i no longer close my eyes and ears to the sensation of the tarmac meeting the engine guard. the alu engine guard was fitted at the same time and seems pukka. ill post sum pics soon of the ride height, u folks can give me ure opinion!! hehe!!

with the traction on the acceleration thru the tires is smooth and fluid, with the traction off im struggling for grip, i dunno if this means i need to soften up the rear or if my front tires are shot. there aint much life left in the front two. they will be replaced soon, ill keep u posted.

on the road i drive every day im able to add 20-25mph to my cornering speed as the car is just so planted!!!

Its how the car SHOULD have been from the factory imho. the carbon intake adds a little rortyness, and the uprated 330 caliper set goin on in a week or two shud do the business. i am now able to explore the upper limits of the car now cause the front end is so reactive.

Great to hear you are pleased with your investment, and i agree 100%.. the best modification for a any of "oldschool" 3.2 powered Alfa has to be a good suspension. The power, brakes and chasses is pretty much there already, so tyres and suspension is the thing to tune.

As for settings on my KW's i am probably not the right person to ask for advice. As i have just recently learned, what might work for you under one set of circumstances, might not work under another one. So far i've been well pleased with the setup i have had for the past 6 months, but during the trip to the Ring, i found that i had set the rear of the car up too hard. I really didn't do enough laps to experiment with any settings, to be honest i was more busy trying to stay alive and accident free

I have installed a thicker Anti Roll Bar at the rear, and have the damper settings ½ turn harder then the front dampers. The front hight is also at 5-7 mm lower setting then the rear. All this have resulted a car which has little understeer and pitch during hard braking. This have seemed very suitable for the type of tracks iv'e spent time on in the past. Going to the Ring i all of a sudden had to cope with 3rd and 4th gear high speed curves. During those high speed curves, i found the rear end would become too light for comfort. The slightest lift off would threaten to bring the rear out. (Not an ideal setting for a powerfull FWD on a unknown track )

I plan to soften the rear dampers and lower the Psi setting on the rear tyres if i go on a similar track. This should make the car understeer more and keep the rear better in place.

The point with all this, is that as i've just learned, "the right setting" depends very much on how you use your car, so i would suggest you try to examine your driving pattern, and then ask someone like TB for advice of what would suit you best.

cheers p[eter, what psi do u run ure rears at? i have std 17' 225/45-17 alloys that came with the car, i think im running them a bit high. i think i must have mine 2 hard 2 cus i get bags of oversteer lol!!! weird on a car that has understeered for 3yrs lol!!!

i think TB aint seen this thread yet. i posted him a pm, so i see wot happens hehe!!! he must b a busy man. lol.

one other thing is that a get a small rubbing or vibration thru the steering when i heavily load a wheel. it feels like there is a rubbin but i wantd to kno if u have a similar experience?

when u were on the ring did u feel a slight scrubbing of vibration when goin in to a real tight corner?

i felt that on the fast flowing corners its great, just the tighter bumpier ones.

any advice on anti roll bars?

cheers mate!!!

Amazing installation price!
BTW Did they check tracking?

The coilovers have 40 settings, so 20 is exactly middle.

20 is quite a firm setting for day to day use so you might find the ride a bit jarring over bumps, but the car will probably handle very sharply.
I was using 15 front 11 rear for day to day use for a while, but my tyres and springs are so different to yours.

What I would say is start with a soft setting and gradually work it up.

This does two things, you actually learn what the dampers do because you definely will feel the difference.
Soft means extra comfort to an extent, but can cause extra unwanted momvement at speed which can reduce comfort, so its all a balance

I think in general the rear setting seems to be best when it is less than the front.

Also when you use a stiffer rear setting the car is more inclined to oversteer which is good fun on track when you are the one that has decided to do it but maybe not such a good idea for the road

So definitely don't go crazy with super stuff rear settings at least until you really ar very comfortable with the car and the new way it handles.

Also be wary of setting a hugely stiff front and a soft rear this will cause understeer.

For track use you can use much stiffer settings.

Hope this helped a bit, but tinkering is a lot of fun, and the system is so quick and easy to adjust.

Have fun! (and hope to see pics of your alloys soon )

TB

ah they didnt check the tracking. the garage were very efficient, and did a nice clean job. i never thought about the tracking. although to be fair they never suggested and i never asked lol.

im guessing the chances of it being out are quite likely then? so i prob shud get it laser tracked. i think kwik fit can do it quite quickly. mite pop in2moz. althought i was astounded with the 175 price. i was looking to shell out bout 250-300.

Just back from a nice restricted attendance track day at Mondello, and messing around with damper settings for Track tyres Vs Road tyres.

Originally Posted by ElTigro_UK

the brakes feel like theyve been uprated lol!!! when u hit the anchors there is no forward roll, just instant bit on the brakes. the front end hardly dips. the same with acceleration. the rear really used to sit down as you accelerated. now the car just accelerates. the power delivery seems alot smoother, and i think due to the uprated kit the car acceleration has improved.

Traction and stability under braking are hugely improved.

Originally Posted by ElTigro_UK

one thing i do notice is the rear seems a bit skittish due to the improved braking. i think i just need to tinker with the damper settings.

Softening the rear dampers will add stability to the rear.
Have you just installed the 19" 35 profile wheels that you mentioned earlier? These would be a bit skitish for breaking on uneven surfaces I would imagine.

Originally Posted by ElTigro_UK

with the traction on the acceleration thru the tires is smooth and fluid, with the traction off im struggling for grip, i dunno if this means i need to soften up the rear or if my front tires are shot. there aint much life left in the front two. they will be replaced soon, ill keep u posted.

Softening the front will add traction, what tyres and pressures do you use though?
I have PS2's and I don't have any tractions problems, and believe me I should have more traction problems than you

Even so it was still a bloody good price.

Its worth the piece of mind, and I believe should always be done after installing coilovers.

Some of the tracking shops are fussy about having good condition tyres before they do tracking, so if you are replacing your tyres very soon, maybe get the tracking done then?

Originally Posted by ElTigro_UK

ah they didnt check the tracking. the garage were very efficient, and did a nice clean job. i never thought about the tracking. although to be fair they never suggested and i never asked lol.

im guessing the chances of it being out are quite likely then? so i prob shud get it laser tracked. i think kwik fit can do it quite quickly. mite pop in2moz. althought i was astounded with the 175 price. i was looking to shell out bout 250-300.

Do you mean wheel scrub on the road because of the cornering speed?

OR do you think the wheel is making contact with some part of the car?

What height is your car at front and rear now?
If it was lowered too much your wheels may be rubbing something?

I haven't noticed anything like that on the standard alloys.

Cheers,
TB

Originally Posted by ElTigro_UK

one other thing is that a get a small rubbing or vibration thru the steering when i heavily load a wheel. it feels like there is a rubbin but i wantd to kno if u have a similar experience?

when u were on the ring did u feel a slight scrubbing of vibration when goin in to a real tight corner?

i felt that on the fast flowing corners its great, just the tighter bumpier ones.

any advice on anti roll bars?

cheers mate!!!

i have PZero Rosso's but the front aint got much life left in them. i usually run 36psi in the front and 34ish in the back. the traction is fine with the ASR active, when its off the car is a real animal lol. they car just seems BLINDINGLY fast now, i have visions of that kind of tranformation with an LSD.

the car seems to have a rubbing feeling when i really nail it. if u see the pics above u can see the height i have it running at, not really low at all. i think its just the tires have had their day. ive had 4 sets of rosso's on the front since new 25k miles. lol 6,250 miles per set haha!!! so this time i swapped back to front. these are the original pzeros, and i just wanted to use the last of the tread and get a new set of boots. i think that will make a difference. these alloys (17') are the winter tryes.

the 19' super legs-iii's are still in 'production' lol in italy, hopefully 2-3 weeks and they b here. when they do, its the 330 upgrade going on and the alloys. ill maybe just get it laser tracked when they arrive. shudnt b too long.

tbh i think its cornering speed, i maybe are just pushing too hard lol, thinking im michael schumacher. as i said in the post above i think the tyres are tired lol. its defo not a rub, just worn tyres maybe. plus it did it on the standard setup too. just pushin too hard.

Originally Posted by Trailbraker

Do you mean wheel scrub on the road because of the cornering speed?

OR do you think the wheel is making contact with some part of the car?

What height is your car at front and rear now?
If it was lowered too much your wheels may be rubbing something?

I haven't noticed anything like that on the standard alloys.

Cheers,
TB

ElTigro_UK, maybe the rubbing is because of your stiff front damper setting. If the damper is too stiff the tyre will not have time to follow the small undulations in the road surface. It just skates on the undulation crests. Try softening the dampers and see if it makes a difference.

ah i figured it out!! lol!!! i was a bit silly. i set the rear dampers to 0 and this is what had the effect. i had set it with the intention of working the setting up the way, and forgot to finish the job lol.

im currently running 19 on the front and 14 on the back. bearing in mind i have the longer 220-80 spring configuration on this too.

i got the 80 springs as per Jano's recommendation as the 19' alloys will b arriving soon.

i just can believe how these coilovers transform the car. u can literally throw it right into the corners now, and its grip grip grip all the way, not even a hint of understeer, its just deadly.

one thing i will say is i feel i got the front height set a bit low and will be moving it up maybe 5mm or so. just to give me a bit more room for bumps etc.

all in all tho, im a very happy camper!!!

FYI 10mm between the front and back height is the standard difference.
Measured from the middle of the wheel to the top of the wheel arch.

See post 9 of this thread for how to measure.
Bmoferrall had kindly confirmed the original standard measurements
as 35cm for front and 36cm for rear.

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/showt...r#post51345 5

If you lower the rear too much relative to the front you will actaully add understeer, but you really don't want to lower it too much anyway since you can graze the soft lining of the roof arch ..as you have just discovered.

Having the dampers set to 0 wouldn't have helped for sure, although I suspect you must have been motoring on a little bit

I fully agree with setting the ride height at a level that is fine for speed bumps and car parks, you don't want to lose their amazing feeling of freedom from grounding out that these coilovers give you.

I didn't ground out or hit the bump stops entering the legendry huge dip at Fuchsrohe in the Ring at 140mph so these babies really do their stuff very well.

Cheers,
TB

cheers again TB ure the man, im gunna get em adjusted after the 19's go on then ill have a true indication of the ride height.

cheers again
Kev

Just found this useful thread. Good to learn the spring rate unit of measure. I found that the KW V2 and V3 both have the same spring rate. 60-200 for 4 cylinder petrol and 70-200 for 6 cylinder petrol and diesel. Base on this KW V3 might not really for track use only.

Anyway, I still can't decide whether should go for Autodelta or KW.

- Autodelta : Special tune for Alfa GTA but heard a few quality issue when I was doing the research in this forum.
- KW: Big suspension company but not specialise just for Alfa. It shouldn't have any quality issue.