Avo Suspension

[jamesnormandale]

Hi All,

My current Caterham runs the standard roadsport bilstein dampers, I want to upgrade my suspension to an adjustable option. I am thinking about upgrading to the following Avo dampers on advice from a friend:


http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/Motorsport/Suspensio...


Does anyone run these dampers, are they better than the standard bilsteins? If they are consider pants are there any other dampers which anyone would advise.

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

James

[sam919]

Pro-Tech was set-up, i think, by a lad who used to work for AVO. I had Avos on my fury and changed to Protech, it changed the car completely. Have them on the caterham just now, just single adjustable not rebound.

http://www.protechshocks.co.uk/

[davedlr]

I've got AVO on my 7, provided by Freestyle motorsport. They were fitted when I bought the car, but they are easy to adjust and seem decent quality.

I believe Freestyle specify their own spring rates, and their kit is well regarded. Worth calling them to compare with the offering from Demon Tweeks

[Mavic82]

I run AVO's. Initially steel bodied now alloy. They have proved durable, useable and perform very well. Buy direct though, they carry them in stock and I got next day delivery. You do need to be specific about which model you need though as there are a few options.

[Ult-Jim]

Here's mine, with freestyle springs. Have no experience with other makes. Very satisfied with no problems.



& one more..

[BertBert]

I wasn't super impressed with the Avos I put in my caterham (from freestyle, not that it matters). The adjustment wasn't particularly linear. Went bouncy, bouncy, bouncy (etc), ok, hard, hard, hard, hard, if you get my meaning. SO there was one setting that worked basically. I'd be sticking with billies if I had the choice again. Also one failed quite quickly.

BErt

[Mavic82]

I have heard of some AVO's leaking, how many this has effected is hard to say as unfortunately the experience of a few can often be repeated making it sound worse than it is. I have also heard of nitrons leaking, is one any worse than another? Who knows. All I can say is that my steel units were 13 year old and when tested on a damper rig were almost idenical to a new set of alloy dampers. Both had a linear damping rate. Which may not ultimately be what the fine tuners want. But for a cost effective, single djustable damper I have found them leak free and reliable.

[Yellow 7]

The Bilsteins are pretty good for the sort of money that Avos / Bilsteins go for.
Not that that I've priced Bilsteins. Avo's are ok but nothing particularly special.
Bilsteins had sort of mass market development on a low vol car so...

I still think the progressive sprung long Bilsteins are best on the rear of all the ones I've tried for the road.

IMO well worth getting repaired and they will do higher miles than competitors low vols usually low mileage achievers.

Nitrons are supposed to be very good.

[jamesnormandale]

Will my standard caterham bilstein springs fit avo shocks or will I need new springs?

[sam919]

Try these guys, they have a lot of experience with caterhams/ westfields race and road with regards to suspension set-up.

http://www.brandxevents.co.uk/2747.htm

[Shaun_E]

What is your budget? What is your usage of the car?
If you've got deep pockets and are competing then the 2 way Ohlins are very, very good.
For track/road and costing only a little bit more than standard Nitrons you can get Nitron by Aurok.
If your budget doesn't stretch that far then Avo seems to be a better choice now than in the past.
For purely road use it probably isn't worth using anything other than the Bilsteins.
I went from some tired Bilsteins to some nice bling Nitrons (which were pretty good) and now have the Ohlins built by Aurok which are great.
For info I am running 225 lb/in front springs and 140 lb/in rears.
N.B I am nothing to do with 7 Tips but I do compete against the owner and he was instrumental in a number of sprint/hilclimb Caterham owners choosing Ohlins after they had driven his car.