The definitive "What Shocks" thread
Discussion
Guys,
I need to replace the dampers on my Mk1 Tuscan, and am looking for the experience and advice of the PH collective! So without getting into a thread like this: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=242... ..... !
No plans to track the car, but you never know, so I'm looking for an optimal set up for A and B roads.
The choice (so far) seems to be narrowed down to:
- Gaz Gold at about £500
- Protech at about £670
- Nitrons (Basic, non-remote reservoir) at about £1000.
Worth the extra?
Cheers,
FT.
I need to replace the dampers on my Mk1 Tuscan, and am looking for the experience and advice of the PH collective! So without getting into a thread like this: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=242... ..... !
No plans to track the car, but you never know, so I'm looking for an optimal set up for A and B roads.
The choice (so far) seems to be narrowed down to:
- Gaz Gold at about £500
- Protech at about £670
- Nitrons (Basic, non-remote reservoir) at about £1000.
Worth the extra?
Cheers,
FT.
pete said:
I replaced the 30,000 mile and 3.5 year old shocks on my mk1 with Gaz Golds, through Derek at Absolutely Shocks. The car has been completely transformed - much more compliant over small bumps, but much less wallow over larger bumps. The geometry setup has also had a huge effect on the car's stability at high speed. The other advantage was that when touring Europe recently with a boot full of luggage, I could just dial in an extra click on the damping to better control the weight at the back.
I've heard from a small number of people who have had reliability issues with Gaz Golds, as I'm sure some people have with Nitron and Protech. However I got the dynamometer plots from when my individual shocks were bench tested at the factory, so at least I know they were performing to spec when they were fitted. They've been faultless in about 3,000 miles so far this summer.
Ultimately you need to talk to the various suppliers and find one who's in your area if you need after sales service, and who gives you a explanation you like for why they work the way they do. I concluded that choosing someone like Derek, Jools at Trackcar, or Topcats to do the setup is probably more important than which hardware you fit, at least for road use.
Pete
Thanks, you raise a good point, which is that many people get new shocks fitted at the same time as having the geometry re-set... making it hard to tell where the benefits are coming from.I've heard from a small number of people who have had reliability issues with Gaz Golds, as I'm sure some people have with Nitron and Protech. However I got the dynamometer plots from when my individual shocks were bench tested at the factory, so at least I know they were performing to spec when they were fitted. They've been faultless in about 3,000 miles so far this summer.
Ultimately you need to talk to the various suppliers and find one who's in your area if you need after sales service, and who gives you a explanation you like for why they work the way they do. I concluded that choosing someone like Derek, Jools at Trackcar, or Topcats to do the setup is probably more important than which hardware you fit, at least for road use.
Pete
I got the car back last night with the geometry re-set, and (despite my complete lack of skill as a driver!) it really does feel better already. This despite having at least two shocks which are of very doubtful efficiency (read: leaking!) I should think they are original (7 years and 30k miles on them then) as the spring platforms are all corroded and seized. It also looks like the car has been hitting the bump stops rather a lot.
All in all I'm looking forward to getting the entire system fully sorted!
Cheers,
Tom.
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