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Lowering springs fitted, not happy.

8K views 29 replies 13 participants last post by  Kuan 
#1 · (Edited)
Got these for around £120 by Apex and supposed to be -30mm and they were fitted yesterday. Turn your brightness up and you will see the arch gap which is too much especially with 17's on.

Honestly I see no difference between the old standard springs and these. Don't say they need time to settle because -30mm should be noticable straight away. Infact the other side is slightly higher still!

Just annoyed really, not going to spend another 4-5 hours getting them off and fitting a better brand.
On the positive side, I found out the car has been polybushed by last owner which was a nice surprise.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Alfa romeo gtv and spider Sports car


Land vehicle Vehicle Car Alfa romeo gtv and spider Sports car
 
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#2 ·
Ahh Apex springs.

I fitted some of these to my Fiat Coupe when I owned it.

They were utter crap.

The car was slightly lower at the front, but at the back the ride height stayed the same.

I also had issues with the lower coils on the springs touching each other when the car was on the ground. This translated to banging and clanging as the car went over the bumps as more of the coils hit each other.

Also the top part of the spring where the coil bearing sits wasn't quite central to the spring. This meant that the top mounts didn't sit correctly and this made the steering notchy and clonky.

As for the ride and handing, it was harder than standard but at the same time the ride was worse.

This was fitted in conjunction with bilstein B6's

Your best bet would be to get rid of them and get a set of Eibachs which are the real deal.
 
#3 · (Edited)
First i have to say these wheels sit too much inside of the wheel archs and that makes it seems like there is even a bigger gap between the tyres and the archs. Plus, if you have 215x45x17 instead of 225x45x17 (which is the original gtv size) your tyres are smaller than they have to -which also increases the gap-
 
#6 ·
Heard they were better than FK and the like and Eibach were a bit pricey. Oh well, maybe I'll get them next year or something. :(

The funny thing is, I know these springs didn't lower because since it still has standard shocks the ride is exactly the same. No bounce over rough road, nothing. Even the handling round corners feels the same.

Gutted.
 
#18 ·
#15 ·
reads like it was already lowered ?
...or the old springs had sagged...this is very common.

To the OP/Retard, measure your ride height from all 4 wheel centres up to the wheel arch, best on a good flat surface. Please post your measurements & we can soon tell you if it's lower than std/new.

My experiences with Apex hasn't been good & -30 is too much anyway, IMO.

Clive
 
#13 · (Edited)
Spacers will also help to give the look you want. I've got 12 mm universal spacers on the rear bolted to the hubs to save having to line everything up when changing wheels. Along with 50 aspect ratio Tyres fills the arches better even on standard springs.
I'm slightly confused as in a previous thread you state 7mm universal & normally universal spacers don't bolt to the hub. Hub centric adapter/spacers do though & they would need to be at least 12mm.

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa...762-ts-16-tyre-size-options.html#post10448553

Also I'm still querying your tyre clearance?

I don't advise everyone rushing out & fitting new 50 profiles as they will rub, you say you fitted used tyres though. New they have a 23mm taller diameter which puts the tyre's tread 11.5mm closer to the arch. This doesn't sound much but under full compression it is & will rub the front arch liners under normal/static load on lock.

http://www.etyres.co.uk/tyre-size-calculator

Clive
 
#16 ·
Hi Clive. Yes it was 7 mm but I had some 5mm spacers around so I drilled and tapped the hubs and fitted both spacers with 6mm counter sunk bolts. No rubbing detected but would have to take the wheels off to have a good look at the liners. Might have a look this week to be sure.
 
#17 ·
!!!!!!!!!!

That would mean that the wheel has no hub lip to 'sit' on as the lip is only 10mm wide. Your wheel is therefore relying on just the wheel bolts, not a good idea or very safe, IMO. Best to get some 12mm hub centric spacers, which have their own 10mm lip, asap before you hit a large pothole & lose a wheel.

Clive
 
#24 · (Edited)
Well, gave springs a chance to settle but see no difference. Strange because I remember the old springs were quite a bit longer especially the fronts, maybe they just compressed more.

Don't know about you guys but it just looks like the standard ride height to me.
Venom are doing a good price on FK coilovers at £400 so think I'm just going to save up for them.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Alfa romeo gtv and spider Regularity rally


Land vehicle Vehicle Car Alfa romeo gtv and spider Sports car


Land vehicle Vehicle Car Alfa romeo gtv and spider Regularity rally
 
#25 · (Edited)
Well, gave springs a chance to settle but see no difference. Strange because I remember the old springs were quite a bit longer especially the fronts, maybe they just compressed more.

Don't know about you guys but it just looks like the standard ride height to me.
Venom are doing a good price on FK coilovers at £400 so think I'm just going to save up for them.

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Forget asking us to guess the ride height from photos, have you measured it yet as I asked?

Cheap coilovers are a waste of time, IMO.

Clive
 
#27 ·
I am still sticking to my original advice, if you want it lowered on a budget get some Eibachs.

If you want to do it better get some Bilstein B6 to go with them.

If you want they whole hog get some decent coilovers, not the cheap ones.


Apex springs are crap as I found out, I wouldn't risk buying other cheaper ones either especially as Eibach springs (which are known to be good) are not really that much more expensive in the grand scheme of things.
 
#28 · (Edited)
If Eibach made -30 springs for the GTV then they'd probably be just as bad/stiff/firm etc.

Coilovers are a waste of time & money for the road, IMO.

Also, IMO, a GTV lowered by 30mm, or more, IS rubbish on any road surface that's not completely smooth**................so not a lot of good for the majority of the roads in the UK.

**Edit: Unless running 50 profile tyres which help re the comfort level, ie: 205/50 16s

Clive
 
#30 ·
Hi mate, From the photos you posted, the car is definitely lowered, front and rear are having 3-finger wheel arch clearance. I would say this is the ideal lowering unless you have more undercar ground clearance left to give - around 90mm should be what you are having now, with the downpipe flexy being the lowest point.

I have been there, chasing for extreme, lowering it to 2-finger wheel arch clearance. I have to admit it looked very aggressive, giving the best road hugging stance (attached photos), but with the 75mm ground clearance left, I just can't go many places say multistorey carparks, even little ramp up/down at shop/house fronts etc. I did have some good times with it running in the hills, open roads and highways. It handles well and rides comfy, feels like a set of very well dampened/no-noise race suspension - it was the BC Racing BR series by the way. Despite the good sides, plus I knew it is painful reconfiguring, undoing and doing up the spring pans which going to take me 2 hours one side, I still ended up raising the car.

The standard height, for V6 anyway, is definitely higher as photo attached. I forgot the front but the rear was about 4-finger wheel arch clearance from memory.

I suspect maybe the offset of your wheels is a little inwards, reflecting the car is sitting a little higher from some angles?
 

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