AVO shocks
AVO shocks
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Discussion

tvr-fan

Original Poster:

237 posts

258 months

Wednesday 13th April 2005
quotequote all
Ok guys just a quicky..... I keep reading thread about nitron shocks, i checked mine out today and i have adjustable AVO's all round. My question is which is the better, AVO's or NITRONS ?? Are they as good as each other or is it a matter of personal preferance ??

Kev

crazycats

700 posts

278 months

Wednesday 13th April 2005
quotequote all
Most will say Nitrons...

Some people on here have tried both, and they have nothing but praise for Nitrons.

I bought a set of second hand AVO's via the classifieds, stuck on a set of springs from Joolz, and they're great.... far, far better than stock.

tvr-fan

Original Poster:

237 posts

258 months

Wednesday 13th April 2005
quotequote all
Yes i have adjustable springs too, ive had a fidle with the damping adjusters to find a comprimise between a sore bum and road handling put that peski impreza still gets me on a big roundabout near where i live but of course i blast past on the straight hehe

Steve_T

6,356 posts

301 months

Wednesday 13th April 2005
quotequote all
AVOs are ~£100 a corner, Nitrons are ~£250 a corner. The question is whether you will get the benefit of the pricier units, the answer is consult Joolz I'd say.

Steve.

tvr-fan

Original Poster:

237 posts

258 months

Wednesday 13th April 2005
quotequote all
These arnt that old so im not about to change them any time soon as they must be tons better than the origonals, i think my money for now is best saved for some kind of failure, who knows what but you know it's coming eh. I just wondered what opinions anyone had on these things and thanks for all the input im getting.

I must try to at least keep up with that soddin WRX on that roundabout though hehe.

eddie 4.2

1,996 posts

266 months

Wednesday 13th April 2005
quotequote all
Kev ive got avos on mine they are much better than the tvr ones.
what settings are u on, me 5 rear 7 front for the roads round here


Eddie

tvr-fan

Original Poster:

237 posts

258 months

Wednesday 13th April 2005
quotequote all
I had the rears on 10 for a while but a scuffed exhaust and tyres has prompted a 5 and see how it goes later tonight. maybe a couple more "clicks" in tomorrow morning although its wet outside so wont be testing them properly anyway. Not sure what the fronts are set to but i remember bringing them out a few "clicks" some time ago due to a bouncing sensation along the M20, the concrete bit which was very uncomfortable.

kojak

4,547 posts

282 months

Wednesday 13th April 2005
quotequote all
I've got AVO's on mine, and they are so much better than the standards. Not sure what they are set on though. The nitrons are supposed to be better.

alderley

184 posts

262 months

Wednesday 13th April 2005
quotequote all
There are dear AVOs and cheap ones. I have the cheap ones with 22 damping stiffness positions. There is no separate compression and rebound adjustment. I took a lot of advice from AVO and spent a lot of time experimenting with settings, ride height and different spring rates (ie testing a series of different springs). I think any dampers are only going to be as good as the set up. As I have said before, the advantage of going to Joospeed is that Joolz already knows what settings work. It is a lot of work finding out for yourself. Good handling also requires finding the right tracking and camber settings etc. etc. You also need to decide if you want a soft or hard ride on the road and whether you would need a set up suitable for the track. You can certainly improve on the dreadful TVR set up I used to have.

2 sheds

2,529 posts

313 months

Wednesday 13th April 2005
quotequote all
I've just had AVOs fitted by Austec, basically they are all a big improvement over standard and the important thing is the setting up rather than the brand, basically use a trusted specialist for this.

J_S_G

6,177 posts

279 months

Wednesday 13th April 2005
quotequote all
AVOs beat standard. By a considerable margin. (And for less money!)

Nitrons beat AVOs. Similarly, by a considerable margin. But they cost considerably more.

Ohlins are better again (allegedly), if you can get them set up right. But they're another league in terms of price.

There are other options inbetween, too...

King Joo, your turn...

>> Edited by J_S_G on Wednesday 13th April 22:39

joospeed

4,473 posts

307 months

Wednesday 13th April 2005
quotequote all
Avo make a great budget introduction to adjustable suspension .. they're a bit limited on spring rates and the adjusters are never accurate enough, but as everyone says they *are* better than std and do offer a degree of adjustability.

they fall down for serious track work though because they're a twin tube steel body so relatively poor at transferring heat from the inner tube to the outer body and then to the air. you'll notice an avo drop in performance after 4 or 5 laps of hard driving.

for more consistent performance you need to be looking at alloy bodied dampers .. and preferably monotubes like nitrons which offer the best oil viscosity performance under hard driving.

redleicester

6,869 posts

274 months

Wednesday 13th April 2005
quotequote all
..... thanks KingJoo......

And to add my 10%, I had Nitrons fitted a fortnight ago..... I was seriously cynical that they'd make that much of a difference.

I was wrong, they make THAT much of a difference! :thumbsup:

tvr-fan

Original Poster:

237 posts

258 months

Thursday 14th April 2005
quotequote all
Hmmmmmm maybe worth investing some pennies in a set of nitrons sometime then if i get a couple of months of nothing going wrong il treat myself, mind you the amount of miles i do somehow i dont think thats going to happen and i recon il be purchasing another clutch off joos before the end of the summer!!

Can always sell my nearly new AVO's on EBAY ?? just a thought.

BCA

8,651 posts

286 months

Thursday 14th April 2005
quotequote all
Another thought...

Not tried Nitrons, so cant comment - we run avos. I hadnt driven the car hard before they were fitted so again I cant comment.

One thing I'll happily suggest though, is if you have avos - and are happy enough that your car is nicely set up (might be worth getting a specailist like Joolz to get on it) - then why sell them for Nitrons?? A £1k investment in suspension isnt worth it without investing a little on the nut behind the wheel first.

May I suggest keeping your current dampers and splashing out on proper driver training. I have no idea what your ability is and am not having a go at it in the slightest (you are miles better than me undoubtedly!) Just seems more sensible to go with the long term investment of learning - then when you finally knacker your dampers and get some Nitrons, you'll appreciate them more. Win/Win situation.

FWIW I find Joolz's set up on our car (avo's/ slightly lower than std)to be nicely progressive. Will wait till I buy it off dad till they get replaced probably!!

tvr-fan

Original Poster:

237 posts

258 months

Thursday 14th April 2005
quotequote all
Of course in some respects you are correct, my origonal post was a question for ppl's opinions on these dampers and they have provided some valuable information from thier experiances. In an ideal situation and one thats never going to happen, a try before you buy would be good for me just to see if there is a differance. That pesky WRX on the roundabout thing, well maybe it's my tyres or could be suspention setup but i always seem to drift out wide or end up in a power slide in an effort to save face on that roundabout!! (tyres are toyo's by the way and 18" wheels) So just wondered about the suspention i have fitted but not that bothered cos on the straight..... well he's history he he he he Oh and have some new tyres on the way soon so will be good to see how they perform.

joospeed

4,473 posts

307 months

Thursday 14th April 2005
quotequote all
For sure don't discount avos as an introduction to suspension tuning .. there's a lot of suspension snobs out there who insist on fitting nitrons / ohlins etc and then never adjust them, or adjust them badly .. they probably end up witha car that's worse than an avo-shod car that's set-up by a driver who's more in-tune with what he and the car need to go fast.

BCA makes a good comment about learning your car, getting training etc .. the nut behind the wheel is the most important on the car.

A well set-up avo kit can be better than a badly set-up nitron kit, and I've seen some blinking awful set-ups that people have paid a serious amount of money for.

tvr-fan

Original Poster:

237 posts

258 months

Thursday 14th April 2005
quotequote all
Id bring mine up to you Joos but im way down in kent so not an option unless i fancy a day trip out hehe.

joospeed

4,473 posts

307 months

Thursday 14th April 2005
quotequote all
tvr-fan said:
Id bring mine up to you Joos but im way down in kent so not an option unless i fancy a day trip out hehe.



I'd want at least a week with your car anyway, if dampers need revalving it's not possible to do it in a day.

Tam Lin

694 posts

282 months

Thursday 14th April 2005
quotequote all
tvr-fan said:
Id bring mine up to you Joos but im way down in kent so not an option unless i fancy a day trip out hehe.


Two day trips mate, we're in Bucks, and it's a well tried process: You can do it "Evo Magazine" stylee, i.e. a couple of cars, up on Saturday then use the brilliant roads in deepest, darkest Derbyshire for a proper pre-Brunstrom-Wales-type hoon. Pick up, as they say in Haynes manuals, is a reverse of the above procedure, a week or two later.

Or you can do the Billy-no-mates approach, meaning two expensive one way trips on BR. Still beats having a sh*t handling car. And no disrespect to anyone else, but Joolz specifically set up his company for go-faster/safer add ons, he has done an awful lot of Cerberas, and he does take the time to listen to the nut behind the wheel's requirements, whatever he may privately think about it, and tries his damndest to comply.