[acidco916]

If it’s like konis on the rear of my fiat coupe you have to remove them then push the piston all the way in and turn it

 

[acidco916]

As this

 

[GavinH]

That's exactly right, same procedure on the GTV

 

[GavinH]

I've tried this and you're right, it has helped! Less bouncy and crashy, so definitely better.

1/2 turn harder than fully soft - out of a total of about 2.5 turns to fully hard.

Are the rear Koni Sports adjustable? There's no mention of this on their website...

Yes, that's what I found. My understanding is that with the Eibach springs being a stiffer than standard, more damping is required to manage the forces. So the higher setting will actually damp out the crashy/bumpy stuff and make the ride "better".
And definately adjusting the rear makes a big difference too, just it is a pain removing the shocks to adjust them.
I think probably the rear setting is more critical than would normally be the case as you have the powerflexed rear (which I also have).

 

[WantAGTA]

Looking at that image, smaller wheels/larger tyres would help give some cushion, 17s with 225/45 are the sweet spot on a GTV in my opinion, with the balance of appearance/grip and ride quality

 

[Mountain goat]

I agree - but, the tightening torque you apply can greatly affect the movement of that polybush, you can effectively ‘lock out’ your suspension by applying too high a torque figure. It took me a while to realise that the service manual torque figure, designed for the standard metal rose joints etc, was just too high for my polybushes. I also think that rear subframes have different tolerances - and what may work for one car, does not necessarily apply to another.
You could check this movement by just pushing down on a rear corner?

I had the same thought about the torque being too high when polybushed. I recently bought a second V6 with rose bushes all round (completely original setup), and the rear suspension goes up and down with my weight. On the other car (Powerflex'ed, Suplex springs, Koni Strt), it's rock solid with no movement at all with my (fly) weight. When you look at the poly bushes, there's a large radial surface area either in contact with big fat washers or the subframe itself. I'm at the point where the polybushed setup is going to get swapped out back to rose joints as the front is soft and the rear is too hard.

So do you think it's just a case of taking 10-20% of the torque value off the bolt loads? And making sure the bush interfaces are all properly greased too?

 

[cARloTB]

The torque on the bolts doesn't have any effect on how stiff those poly bushes are.

Or the ears must bent that much open because of verryy loose bolts?? In that case the mounting ears will break because the cast aluminium is quite brittle.

 

[Matt GTV]

Sorry Carlo - that's not my experience. Torque applied does make a dramatic difference to some poly bushes. A good example is the rear upper suspension arms, they can 'lock' in situ with the nominal service manual torque figure applied; as Mountain Goat says, probably due to the large radial surface area of the bush being 'squeezed' (by the subframe) to the point of it becoming almost locked. I loosened these upper suspension bolts on the ramp and the difference to the ride was night and day. The inner springpan joint and inner dog leg bushes work in the same way (attached to subframe). I've had 4 x GTVs, I go back to what I said earlier, subframes vary car to car, it maybe manufacturing tolerances or it may be natural wear, but when the same suspension part is loose in one subframe and tight in another then there are differences between subframes.

I do take the point that an aluminium casting is brittle and should not flex much, but it's worth investigating if you have a rock solid rear end - like I and others have had.

 

[Matt GTV]

I had the same thought about the torque being too high when polybushed. I recently bought a second V6 with rose bushes all round (completely original setup), and the rear suspension goes up and down with my weight. On the other car (Powerflex'ed, Suplex springs, Koni Strt), it's rock solid with no movement at all with my (fly) weight. When you look at the poly bushes, there's a large radial surface area either in contact with big fat washers or the subframe itself. I'm at the point where the polybushed setup is going to get swapped out back to rose joints as the front is soft and the rear is too hard.

So do you think it's just a case of taking 10-20% of the torque value off the bolt loads? And making sure the bush interfaces are all properly greased too?

I wouldn't want to start quoting different torque figures, grease sounds sensible. This will be the next job on the list when I get time, go back to rose joints all round and swap out the rear upper arms for new originals. I have spare springpans etc so I'll get those powder coated first. Pretty sure alfa workshop and eb spares sell the rose joints as well.

 

[cARloTB]

Than the length of the steel bush is to short or the bushes to thick. Otherwise it should not completely lock up when torqued up.

The tollerance of the subrames shouldn't be a factor because the combination of the length of the steel bush and the thicknes of the poly bush dictates how firm it fit.

Btw, the original rubber bushings are locked in the subframe for sure: torque up the bolts when the weight of the car is on the suspension to lock the joint when the suspension arms are in "neutral" possition.

 

[Phase3dude]

Interesting... I have 2 V6 gtvs with identicle suspension rig. Koni sport front and rear on softest setting, standard rear springs and all rose jointed except the centre strut mount and the upper wishbone bushes and rear subframe braces. Alfaholics handling kit, - 20mm eibach springs on front standard front bushes and front strut brace. Both cars have 18 40 225 pirelli p0. One car ride and handling is sublime, the other is much more harsh..... I lowered the tyre pressures to 34 front and 36 rear which has helped but each gtv is very different.... 🍀

 

[cARloTB]

Interesting... I have 2 V6 gtvs with identicle suspension rig. Koni sport front and rear on softest setting, standard rear springs and all rose jointed except the centre strut mount and the upper wishbone bushes and rear subframe braces. Alfaholics handling kit, - 20mm eibach springs on front standard front bushes and front strut brace. Both cars have 18 40 225 pirelli p0. One car ride and handling is sublime, the other is much more harsh..... I lowered the tyre pressures to 34 front and 36 rear which has helped but each gtv is very different.... 🍀

Why do you have higher tire pressure at the rear? The load on the rear wheels is about half of the front wheels.

With the original 205/50-16 pressure are 2,7 Bar front and 2,5 Bar rear.
With bigger wheels you can go a bit lower I guess. Maybe 2,3 or 2,5 Front and as low as 1,8 rear =>> Rear tire pressures are mostly given for maximum load which will never happen on a 916.

 

[Matt GTV]

Interesting... I have 2 V6 gtvs with identicle suspension rig. Koni sport front and rear on softest setting, standard rear springs and all rose jointed except the centre strut mount and the upper wishbone bushes and rear subframe braces. Alfaholics handling kit, - 20mm eibach springs on front standard front bushes and front strut brace. Both cars have 18 40 225 pirelli p0. One car ride and handling is sublime, the other is much more harsh..... I lowered the tyre pressures to 34 front and 36 rear which has helped but each gtv is very different.... 🍀

It would be interesting to back-off the torques of the rear upper wishbones/arms on the harsh GTV to feel if it becomes more compliant. Interesting also the standard rear spring vs eibach front spring combination, I've seen it the other way round on V6s before but that was likely for aesthetics rather than feel.

 

[Matt GTV]

Btw, the original rubber bushings are locked in the subframe for sure: torque up the bolts when the weight of the car is on the suspension to lock the joint when the suspension arms are in "neutral" possition.

That's good advice, a quick drive around the block first to allow the suspension to settle before final torques applied.

 

[Stu GTV]

, I am about to strip the rear suspension on my GTV in order to get the parts all blasted and powder coated,

Mind if I ask how much the powder coating is as I am considering doing the same to my Gtv upgrades.

 

[Phase3dude]

Why do you have higher tire pressure at the rear? The load on the rear wheels is about half of the front wheels.

With the original 205/50-16 pressure are 2,7 Bar front and 2,5 Bar rear.
With bigger wheels you can go a bit lower I guess. Maybe 2,3 or 2,5 Front and as low as 1,8 rear =>> Rear tire pressures are mostly given for maximum load which will never happen on a 916.

Good point. I tried various tyre pressures and 36 rear and 34 front seems to work....
Lowering the front by 20mm makes the p3 front end nose sit better whilst standard hieght rear avoids smashing the bump stops. Also I like the look off the higher rear, especially with the larger wheels and with the spoiler on boot. It also seems to heighten the effect of the angled cut line on the sides..... 🍀

 

[Phase3dude]

It would be interesting to back-off the torques of the rear upper wishbones/arms on the harsh GTV to feel if it becomes more compliant. Interesting also the standard rear spring vs eibach front spring combination, I've seen it the other way round on V6s before but that was likely for aesthetics rather than feel.

The harshness seems to come from front along with much lighter steering too, almost as if the tyres are totally over inflated at the front..... 🍀

 

[Naffy]

Mind if I ask how much the powder coating is as I am considering doing the same to my Gtv upgrades.

Hi Stu, not too sure of price yet as I will need to take all the components to the blaster/coater to get them priced accurately but he reckoned on budgeting around £350 for the dog legs, spring pans, upper wishbone, antiroll bar. That would be shot blasted, zinc primed and the powder coated. I started to pull apart the rear suspension last night but reckon it will be a few weeks before I have all the part off of the subframe. Once I get a firm price I will let you know. I am thinking of getting the sub-frame done as well, but as it is alloy wondering if I should paint it in situ ?