What Coilover?

Hiya guys, im after an adjustable suspension for my 156 and im seeking for advice.. anyone who got through this before?
ive found several threads here and there, but i would like to see a specific thread for this. Lets say all owners who tried this, which brand, whats the feedback, the ride? cmon start writting

im thinking about KW v1 although i think its too much for my noble 1.6.... Bilstein B14? Eibach pro street? maybe a mix.. ?

Where are your priorities? Road, track, comfort, avoiding bottoming out? Maybe you do not need coilovers at all, perhaps a good spring/damper combo would do just as well and savve you money?

Good spring/damper combo mate, unless its a track car. And this is coming from someone who already has coilovers!

alright then, 2nd of May and i dont want to get rid my salary anyway ...
any good suggestions then lads?
tried n tested stuff?
cheers

P.S whos coming to Cyprus this year.

Originally Posted by Pud237

Good spring/damper combo mate, unless its a track car. And this is coming from someone who already has coilovers!

Exactly what he says. I'm taking my coilovers off and fitting Eibach springs.

Eibach dampers and eibach springs cost you about £500 + fitting.

Eibach springs & Koni FSDs..

thanks guys, will have a search.
keep them coming.

p.s cheers pud

I found this posting usefull in helping me to make up my mind to buy eibach dampers and springs......... its from alfa156.net so its in response to some one enquiring about what they should do with their 156...



que the suspension maestro>>>>>>

okay chap

if ya car is a sportpack model.its already lowered as much as ya wanna chance for uk roads

the eibach pro springs are slightly stiffer than sport pack..and a little lower on the rear end front is about the same ..you may see a 5mm drop at front over sportpack

if ya car is not sportpack...head directly to lowered springs(i speak from experiance)

to be honest on anything other than a 1-2 yr old car

you need to really consider new shocks(stock brand new aint worth a toss either)

look at eibach once again.as they really were designed to work with there springs.and supply too many race teams to mention..enough credit due

on the shock note ....theres more than a few owners that have praise for the 'eb spares' rhb shocks for uk roads..they are based on revalved bilstein shocks ....once again a top name

nayab is right ...you really do get what you pay for
expect to pay £600 alone for springs and shocks

i have seen to many people buy cheap £100 spring sets from apex and PI and end up removing them again

the top two choices for suspension on here are
eibach pro shocks and springs

or

eb spares shocks with sportpack springs (made by eibach anyways)

koni have a few followers used with sportpack springs
(i myself didnt like the short lifespan of that brand)

other than that there are offerings from KW and such which is more track orietated..and unfriendly to british roads and weather

hope this helps

also note
over 20-30k miles and the 156 starts to suffer from wishbone(front) wear which realy can affect handling

and the rear suspension bushes ripping apart

i spent £1300 on my car for suspension solution when i first got it
this was replace all front wishbones new springs and shocks all the way round
and a rear end rebuild with poly bushes

the car is safe /stable and eats the twisty roads up with vigor!...i also have much less grounding issues than with stock suspension..and the ride is compliant enough to keep the females....and my nan happy

thanks for that stevie, i did change my front wishbones 3-4k ago so its allright at the front. gonna check the rear bushes i cant use the existing dampers they are quite 'soggy' ? ill go for the eibach pro then or the koni fsd with the eibach springs..

thanks once again

There are a few options out there for adjustable coilovers along with KW and Bilstein.


K-sport / D2-racing 36 step adjustment, appear to be good value.

Intrax HDA 40 level adjustment, very good they are too.

Cobra Evo III not much info other than they are adjustable.


Last but not least, Tein Euro Damper 16 step adjustable, the thing that set these apart are that they can be combined with EDFC allowing you to change ride firmness on the fly.

The intrax HDA are excellent (Autodelta sell a modified HDA setup in the UK), probably aimed at the keener driver.
For road coilovers they have an astounding range of firmness for bound/rebound strength from comfy to full-on race level damping.

KW Var2 are very good too and excellent road comfort.

I don't think I would ever buy a non damping adjustable suspension again if I was upgrading.

Coilovers dont need to be any harsher than standard..
Many coilover kits are much more comfortable over bumpy roads than the oem ones..

Of course there are a huge range to chose from with cheap as chips FK up to the Tein electronic control damping.

Anyway Vamos said it right, it depends on what you want from the car - if you at all want to tinker or make the car temporarily more focused especially for a track day weekend then you can't beat coilovers.
..but if you are just unhappy wirh the standard poor Alfa damping then spring/dampers could be just fine for you.

ksport!
thanks caldo
wow 850usd .. cheap!

Have the k-sport as $1,160 (£591@ 1.96) + tax on their website, still cheapest of the bunch. What jumps out at me are the spring rates 12kg / 4kg seem too stiff, even for a V6. Front with 7 or 8kg on the TS with 4kg rears would be better balanced and streetable. In contrast the Tein's are more road friendly with 5kg / 1.7kg (156 TS).

d2racingsport.co.uk is down at the moment, but there were a range of springs that could be selected (same but purple and slightly more expensive) I'm sure they could be with the k-sport as well on request.


Unicorse is a good reference for springs, down to lap times around the Okayama international circuit on various set ups.

Street use, linear front, progressive rear

156 : F=7.0kg R=1.9-4.4kg
147 : F=6.0kg R=2.3-3.4kg


Some track use, linear front and rear

156V6：F＝12kg R＝5kg
156TS：F＝9kg R＝5kg
156GTA：F＝13kg R＝6kg
147TS：F＝9kg R＝4kg
147GTA：F＝13kg R＝5kg


Mostly track use, linear with helper springs

156V6：F＝18kg R＝9kg
156TS：F＝16kg R＝9kg
156GTA：F＝18kg R＝10kg
147TS：F＝16kg R＝8kg
147GTA：F＝19kg R＝10kg


Strictly track use, progressive with helper springs

156V6 : F=24-28kg R=12-16kg
156TS : F=20-24kg R=10-14kg
156GTA : F=24-28kg R=12-16kg
147TS : F=20-24kg R=10-14kg
147GTA : F=24-28kg R=10-16kg

Yes, their front spring rate seems way too stiff!!

I have experimented with something close to their "some track" settings on my AD sportline Corses 10Kg front and 4.25->7Kg progressive rear.

I can tell you that dropping to 9Kg fronts from 10Kg took the best part of a second off my laptime, and changed the balance of the car very nicely plus improved road comfort.
The car would understeer like a demented pig if you followed their 13Kg front recommendation with the relatively lowish rear spring rate compared to the front..

In my own setup I have no doubt that stiffer rear springs will hugely help too with balance, I just have to get some for my AD coilovers!
Ideally I want to keep my 9Kg front, and obtain an 10Kg linear rear, with my very stiff whiteline rear ARB (20mm).

The "mostly track use" 18Kg fronts listed above would be undrivable on the street,
to and from the track maybe - thats it..

That was more my own interpretation of what it says, the description for the CS55 does say street & circuit . Google language tool's direct translation:

Note:
Depending on individual differences, CS55 ride to town to be a strong thrust
Feeling the passenger seat and rear seat who may fear offensive
. Be careful when making your purchase please.






On the road it I think a certain amount of load over the front is a good thing to gain traction out of corners, imagine that's less of an issue on the track as it is above a speed where it becomes difficult to break traction. As long as you don't have to over correct, sounds like a winner.

translation =
..but I guess they were warning these are pretty hard core settings.

Softer front springs help traction (and braking too - actually quite a lot!).
Stiffer front springs will help stability, but will cause understeer and cause tyres to heat up more although heat is not really an issue for road use with good tyres.
True for pure road use you may wish to play safe and not wish to cause the tail to be frisky.

Hear what you're saying, soft across left and right not loading the outside as much. Front and rear another thing, at the moment with said arb the weight is going to the outside rear, when I need to load the outside front more to get the power to the ground. Reminds me, must chase up that 18mm, if it ain't on its way I'll have to get me an Eibach from Alfisti dot slash instead. That isn't the reason I'm changing though, just doesn't like some of the uneven roads around here going in a straight line So what I lose in oversteer, I gain in traction, hopefully.