2006 Alfa Romeo 147 twolitre: which coilovers?

[dinkel]

After 222.000 kms our trusty, sporty and very comfy twolitre Jarama Nero bella has tired underpinnings.

I don't want to go low. Standard ride height is OK, or maybe an inch lower max. What to choose, and who has experience?



I'm going for a fast road spec approach with rally quality in mind, because roads are bumpy and crappy everywhere in Europe, and I'm not interested in track days.

Michelin PS5 on 17" Tooras offer insane cornering speeds and enough comfort for long-distance travelling.

It's not easy to adjust camber on a 147/156 so camber plates and coilovers should be a good option.

Also I'm thinking about a strut bar to keep things straight when I fly over roundabouts.

As most Alfa FWD fans over here choose to go low and rock hard (Bilstein setups), I ask the UK PH community to help out.

Status: rubbers are going now, and squeaking gets worse every mile.

Cheers!

[Nigel_O]

Bc racing coil overs. Adjustable ride height independently of spring preload. Adjustable camber.

Solid top mounts though, which will increase road noise.

When I needed to replace the suspension on my 200,000 mile Alfa GT, I fitted standard dampers and springs - a massive improvement over the very tired original kit, but still nice to drive.

[dinkel]

Cheers, so what you are basically saying is standard is almost as good as it gets?

I got that impression from a few other enthusiasts....

Camber plates could be useful though: my 147 has not much room to give me some toe in.

[Nigel_O]

dinkel said:

Cheers, so what you are basically saying is standard is almost as good as it gets?

I got that impression from a few other enthusiasts....

Camber plates could be useful though: my 147 has not much room to give me some toe in.

If you’re not going on track, then top-quality near-standard suspension is all you need. Together with top-end tyres (which you have), really good brakes and an accurate geometry setup and you’ll have a really sweet car. Slightly firmer damping might help with spirited driving on bumpy roads.

Alfa 147/156/GT are prone to poor geometry, as the rear end is adjustable too. Make sure the ear end is in good order (the track control arm bushes wear, which allows some rear-wheel steering - not good)

Most people looking for ‘uprated suspension’ are driving cars with old, tired standard suspension. Simply fitting new OE parts would give a massive improvement, with no downsides.

If you lower a 147, you end up with the front wishbones parallel or close to parallel to the ground, which means that any suspension compression will take the wishbone beyond parallel. This is bad, because you’re then losing camber with suspension movement.

Summary - if you’re only using the car for what Alfa intended, then stick with what Alfa designed.

[dinkel]

Yup, I think I'll have my conclusion after a year waiting, asking and looking for clues.

I found a 4k solution with camber plates but that's a bit too far on a standard car.

Also, it's my wife's car and I have my eye on a 2002 916 TS Spider to do some commuting (interim jobbie): test drive saturday.

Tks man!

[arguti]

I have never owned a 147 but have several 155s which traditionally suffer from a "crashy" suspension especially on UK roads. Larger wheels 17 inch make this worse and my standard road setup is Eibach springs (around 30mm drop) and standard shocks.

My widebody 155Q4 came with 17 inch wheels and D2 Coilover setup, which frankly was too harsh for road so reverted to Eibach/standard shocks on 17 inch wheels with much improvement. To me as an amateur driver, the RSR suspension kit the older Alfetta GTV/GTV6 setup is the best balance between road and track and I believe this are actually Intrax components.

[dinkel]

2002 TS Spider next week: cheers for the advice!