I need new shocks and springs. What should I go for?

[GreenV8S]

quote:[quote]P.S fitting £42+ per corner, that's nearly double what I charge..............

what do you charge then, 4 bolts dont tell me mail me off list? just winding you up That might include loading the springs onto the dampers? Still seems a bit steep though. Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)

[LeeBee]

Ok point taken, I will load, fit, polish and tell them stories for £42+ each Cheers LeeBee

[BurdeG]

So which are better GAZ or AVO ? Lee - I'd rather you fitted them than Tower as that price would be daft. Gaz are £653 incl vat & assembled with 20% stiffer springs. Giles

[Greenv8s]

quote:So which are better GAZ or AVO ?

Having tried both - Gaz. I would go so far as to recommend never fitting AVOs on an S series, although they seem to work well enough on wedges and on Cerbies. Cheers, Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)

[monaco]

Chaps Are the Gaz shocks a low pressure design the same as the nitrons ? I know that nitrons are good but are they that much better for the extra cash.

[Greenv8s]

quote:Chaps Are the Gaz shocks a low pressure design the same as the nitrons ? I know that nitrons are good but are they that much better for the extra cash.

The Gaz shocks are perfectly OK but the Nitrons are in a different league. Unfortunately the price reflects this. Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)

[monaco]

peter Do you have any info on the REDLINE shocks that WEDGE automotive are now selling instead of AVO's ? £199 inc vat spring and shock sounds ok but not sure of the performance. Chim400HC

[Greenv8s]

quote:peter Do you have any info on the REDLINE shocks that WEDGE automotive are now selling instead of AVO's ? £199 inc vat spring and shock sounds ok but not sure of the performance. Chim400HC

No, I gather they're sold as 'redline Nitrons' but Nitron don't know anything about them. Perhaps it's just a rebadging exercise, or maybe they're a clone Richard has got from somewhere? If you find out please let me know. Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)

[normanbutcher]

I cannot quite understand the slating of SPAX and the heralding of AVO and even GAZ.
I have tried all 3 (SPAX most recently). The latter 2 are still using 1960s technology and, if the photos of their "factory" is anything to go by, GAZ is using 1940s equipment and production techniques!
SPAX is now in a totally different league. I called their technical help line and grilled the guy there. He stood up well and convinced me to try a set. They are excellent in quality, reliability and performance and the ride quality is better than I expected. As a budget set up, excellent

[Pies]

normanbutcher said:

I cannot quite understand the slating of SPAX and the heralding of AVO and even GAZ.
I have tried all 3 (SPAX most recently). The latter 2 are still using 1960s technology and, if the photos of their "factory" is anything to go by, GAZ is using 1940s equipment and production techniques!
SPAX is now in a totally different league. I called their technical help line and grilled the guy there. He stood up well and convinced me to try a set. They are excellent in quality, reliability and performance and the ride quality is better than I expected. As a budget set up, excellent

Oh Peter

[clarenceboddiger]

Avo's Direct from Avo were £250.00 per pair,with a C spanner,Can't compare them with Spax or others as I've never had any, I only know they are 10 times better than the ones I took off.They do seem fussy as to spring set up though,took a while to get right,I met Rockey the other week and I think he said he paid slightly more ????? but got stainless bodies on his, wish I'd seen them before I bought mine.

Edited by clarenceboddiger on Tuesday 10th October 21:58

[S3Paulo]

I had new Gaz shocks and springs fitted earlier this year which improved the handling quite a bit...the car felt a lot more 'planted' on the road so to speak...made me drive through bends faster...oops ..hope the wife doesn't read this...mind you the old ones were pretty shagged...originals I believe. The new Gaz shocks are looking a tad rusty already...thought they were nickel plated..oh well...as long as they do the job....Paul

[the gazman]

normanbutcher said:

I cannot quite understand the slating of SPAX and the heralding of AVO and even GAZ.
I have tried all 3 (SPAX most recently). The latter 2 are still using 1960s technology and, if the photos of their "factory" is anything to go by, GAZ is using 1940s equipment and production techniques!
SPAX is now in a totally different league. I called their technical help line and grilled the guy there. He stood up well and convinced me to try a set. They are excellent in quality, reliability and performance and the ride quality is better than I expected. As a budget set up, excellent

The Gazzard factory was good enough for Spax to buy components off for a number of years untill the recent incarnation.
Computer controlled machine parts screwed together are very a labour intensive business but if you want quality, its the way to go.

[GreenV8S]

normanbutcher said:

I cannot quite understand the slating of SPAX and the heralding of AVO and even GAZ.

I don't know about everyone else, but the slating they get from me is richly deserved based on my experience with them. I would need to be convinced that the safety, reliability and performance has improved dramatically before I would ever consider fitting Spax again. I didn't have any safety or reliability problems with AVOs, but they were quite harsh. OK as a budget damper but not something to aspire to. The early Gaz dampers seemed to be basically similar to AVO but I gather they've been improving steadily. Perhaps AVO have improved to, I haven't tried theirs recently. I haven't tried Protech either, although I hear very good things about them. What I will say is that the Nitrons I've used perform dramatically better than the Konis, Spax, AVOs or Gaz that preceeded them. Good quality suspension set up correctly makes a huge difference to the car, probably more noticeable than just about any other modification including engine, brakes etc. I would say get the best suspension components you can afford, and get them set up correctly. This doesn't mean you *have* to buy Nitrons, or Ohins, or whatever, if Gaz or Protech fit your budget then that may be the right answer. But for dampers you definitely don't want to try cutting corners.

Edited by GreenV8S on Wednesday 11th October 11:25

[V8Smith]

I was running AVO's and they were poor really, I changed to the GAZ Golds and the difference is very clear, gives greater confidence around corners and feels much more planted on the road. Highly recommended and IMHO the best choice for value for money.

Mike

[the gazman]

Its no secret that I have a perchant for Ohlins and I also think the Intrax are brilliant but they are soooooo much money and as a back road hooner with no trackdays I think spending this ammount of money is not justified, I'd sooner spend the money on go go juice.

[trackcar]

I took a guy for a session of laping at croft recently in the V8S (big northern gathering i think) and he was amazed at the corner speed i could carry in, through and out of the corners compared to his Intrax suspended griff. However he could quite easiy drve his car home after that day whereas I trailer mine because the road comfort is now very compromised, that's no to say i can't drive it on the road- i have done 10k miles on it's track day set-up wound down to full soft for gentle road cruising - but that everything is a compromise and it's important to get "your" compromise sorted out as soon as practicable in your suspension choosing process ...

best thing is to listen to everyone, phone all the suppliers and get rides in as many cars at your local club as you can, then spend your money as you see fit

[the gazman]

Yeah Joo, that car of yours is set up like the S3erbera, it's no wonder you can carry such high cornering speeds.
If you go in the middle between the quite soft rates Nitron/Ohlins/Intrax put on their shocks as standard and what you run on the V8S, road comfort can be reasonable, I ran 500/400 on Jonny W's Cerb for sprinting and he claims reasonable road comfort.