Suspension options
Discussion
Hi all,
what is your advise on suspension replacement on a budget?
Car currently has a very tired set of adjustable bilsteins, and i see following options:
1. Servicing of existing GBP475 + shipping cost
2. Replacement with new GBP 700
3: Protech GBP 548
4. Nitron street series GBP 700
Protech seems like the best value for money, is it so in real life?
How do they compare to the adjustable bilsteins?
Do they last equally as long as the bilsteins?
What is your advise?
Thank you
what is your advise on suspension replacement on a budget?
Car currently has a very tired set of adjustable bilsteins, and i see following options:
1. Servicing of existing GBP475 + shipping cost
2. Replacement with new GBP 700
3: Protech GBP 548
4. Nitron street series GBP 700
Protech seems like the best value for money, is it so in real life?
How do they compare to the adjustable bilsteins?
Do they last equally as long as the bilsteins?
What is your advise?
Thank you
With suspension as with most things in life you get what you pay for. As I understand it the more expensive shocks are more consistent and also adjustable. It really depends on how you are going to use the car, if it is purely on the road then the Bilsteins are fine and are well matched to a Caterham. Not sure what you'll gain from spending out on Nitron street series apart from looks and apparently the they cost about the same to service as the NTR1s so could be false economy? I managed to find some secondhand NTR1 and they've been great but probably now need a service. Found mine for £700 and they do come up for sale occasionally when people upgrade or sell their car.
Best person for suspension advice is Simon Rogers of Meteor Motorsport and he will offer advice with no hard sell.
Nick
Best person for suspension advice is Simon Rogers of Meteor Motorsport and he will offer advice with no hard sell.
Nick
Eccles52 said:
I put a set of Protech's on my Sigma a couple of years ago and they were far better than the original Bilsteins (I only use the car on the road). As culminator says, much better ride.
Can i assume they offer better damping than the bilsteins?Would you say they could last equally long ?
analog_me said:
Can i assume they offer better damping than the bilsteins?
Would you say they could last equally long ?
Assuming that there wasn't a problem with my Bilsteins I found them WAY to hard for road use and not having adjustable damping (spring seats yes) had to live with it whereas the Protech (with new springs) have a good range of damping making the car a lot more able to soak up the bumps on the B-roads.Would you say they could last equally long ?
I wouldn't like to stick my neck out on your second question but have been good so far and they can certainly be serviced/rebuilt if needed.
Ivan
I use Avo 3 way adjustable, I have found them to be a good balance for track and road,
Good value for money.
If the Car was mainly for track, then I would go for the Nitrons, expensive over 3k, but you really do get what you pay for.
Check the Avos out, there certainly worth a look at. They will tailor them to exactly what you require.
http://www.avouk.com/index.htm
Good value for money.
If the Car was mainly for track, then I would go for the Nitrons, expensive over 3k, but you really do get what you pay for.
Check the Avos out, there certainly worth a look at. They will tailor them to exactly what you require.
http://www.avouk.com/index.htm
Edited by sundance002 on Tuesday 21st November 22:34
Eccles52 said:
Assuming that there wasn't a problem with my Bilsteins I found them WAY to hard for road use and not having adjustable damping (spring seats yes) had to live with it whereas the Protech (with new springs) have a good range of damping making the car a lot more able to soak up the bumps on the B-roads.
I wouldn't like to stick my neck out on your second question but have been good so far and they can certainly be serviced/rebuilt if needed.
Ivan
I've got the 13x6 wheels all round on my 7 and I find the Bilsteins too hard aswell. It would be nice to be able to dial them down for road use and then stiffen them back up for trackdays.I wouldn't like to stick my neck out on your second question but have been good so far and they can certainly be serviced/rebuilt if needed.
Ivan
If I use the car enough next year I might look at it as an upgrade for next winter. I moved house 2 years ago and all my time off has been spent doing the place up!
Another vote for Simon at Meteor, at least to discuss the options. He's advised me on both my Caterham and Elise and the results have been excellent in both cases. On the Caterham, I can hand on heart say the NTR1s Simon built were transformational. With a proper set-up on the car, it went from wayward and compromised (19 year old Billies) to controllable and adjustable, in every sense of the word, overnight.
nitron has invested some time and effort to valve their shocks for caterham-cars...hence they work better as the usual damper....but the general design isnt far away from spax, gaz, avo or protech...means vice-versa...if all those brands would invest a bit more time & effort in their valving they could bring their dampers up to a much higher level....and here we go:
dont buy protechs at protech...buy them at procomp....because they do exactly what i described b4...they re-valve the shocks to make them work on lightweigh cars.
this said..before i would,invest in such low-budget brands i would get the original (premium-brand) bilsteins refurbed.
dont buy protechs at protech...buy them at procomp....because they do exactly what i described b4...they re-valve the shocks to make them work on lightweigh cars.
this said..before i would,invest in such low-budget brands i would get the original (premium-brand) bilsteins refurbed.
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