gibbo frst

iTrader: (2)

im running gaz gold coilovers with 350lb front and 180 rear springs and 215/35/18 yoko paradas and at speed the car feels totally stable in a straight line but any slight turn in the road it feels like the front is fine but the rear goes light and totally unsettles the car.

just had a bit of a tear up with a golf gti on a 2 lane racetrack and could not belive how well he kept with me. these bends in the road are not even noticable at 70 - 80 but when pushing on im ending up braking before them as the car does not feel safe.
when i had konis and ab springs t38 and greys i used to be able to hold the car pretty much flat out along their but now feels as if its too quick but cant really be going that much faster..
im pretty sure the 3 door hubs made it feel worse too.. i know an adjustable beam is the way to go and will come at a later date but wondered how people go about setting the coilovers up
ie rear hard front soft .. their is so many settings that it would take me a lifetime to try every one..
and before anyone moans about speeding dont waste your time..
thanks for any helpfull advice..

Acidburn

Can you list all thats been done to your car, may help people diagnose whats up.

gibbo frst

iTrader: (2)

sure.. suspension wise it has
gaz golds 350/180
poly bushed all round (even the trailing arms which i didnt know at the time was a bad idea.)
std style diff mount but solid rubber all round from a rally spares place..
3door hubs
took the solid beam mounts off as was too noisy
215/35/18 paradas
the coilovers are only set a few clicks from soft . when i tried the rears stiffer it felt like it skipped about too much.. ive got other springs but are horrible compared to these and still had the same handeling problems at speed.. was 400/225 before. ive also got 600 front and 275 rear but these didnt even give any suspension travell at all and was horrible to drive.
i know everyone says that a beam will transform the handling but i cant see that all the other cossies out their with half descent power feel this unsafe just down to the std beam.
my mates escos can be held flat out on these same corners and feels awesome even when backing off mid corner where mine feels really unsettled.

Gav Diamond

iTrader: (6)

I know Mike Rainbird says 150lb rear springs for road use, waiting to hear back from him regards the fronts.
Soon as I know I will post up

gibbo frst

iTrader: (2)

oh right.. i couldnt believe the difference from 225 to 180 its so much nicer for round the bumpy roads.. maybe ill try them on a stiffer setting and see how that goes.. although the front feels ok grip wise its like it lifts and dips a lot.. if i get no joy ill sell the coilover setup and go back to shocks and springs..

Longshanks

Was just going to buy gaz gold to replace my koni .. Don't think I will bother now

Harris.

I had gaz on my car for around 10 miles , took them off and went baack to koni as with the gaz it felt way to hard for road use and didnt handle well . As said above you spent hours adjusting and never driving

gibbo frst

iTrader: (2)

I'm more thinking they need adjusting properly and maybe some proper bushes back in the trailing arms. Since fitting softer springs it is a pleasure to drive even on bumpy roads that I'd normally avoid. I just want it to feel more stable at speed. Can really throw it into corners at lower speeds but as soon as speed builds its like the car feels light

Gav Diamond

iTrader: (6)

Mike got back to me and says 350-375lb on front so would say your fronts are fine

gibbo frst

iTrader: (2)

ah cool.. like i say it does drive nicer with these on now and grips so much better with softer springs on the rear too.. i think learning to drive better would help..

andremarca

How low is the car? People on coilovers usualy over do it and it just messes the geometry.

I'm on Gaz to and i just love them. Got strut mounts and got more camber and caster on the front and got camber shims on the back.

gibbo frst

iTrader: (2)

its not too low really.. its a lottle lower on the front but id say near on std height on the back.. most saffs ive seen seem to be a little lower on the front.. when i put the 3door hubs on the front went down without touching the coilovers so i raised it up after driving it ..

KSA-Cossie

iTrader: (4)

What beam do you have ? What settings have you used on the golds ? What camber and toe settings have you used ?

gibbo frst

iTrader: (2)

hi.. ive just got a std beam... as the gearbox let go again i had to fork out for an uprated one instead of the beam.. got some rnb tin foil which im told adjusts the toe on the rear?
ive seen the camber shims but think it would make the rear wheels stick out at the top as its pretty much std height.. the front is just the 3door hubs and think was something like 1 degree toe in. cant remember as was ages ago so could probably do with looking at.. the coilover settings are all on just a few clicks from soft..
its hard to explain the feeling the car has at speed but its a bit like the tyres have gone flat but obviously havent..

DAN-Saff

You need to set the coilovers up properly even though the car is level you prob do not have the wheel/axle weights right, you can do it with a jack it's not difficult but it's long winded to explain.

I've taken my 3 door hubs off because it wasn't nice to drive fast - a little correction made the car unstable.

You should check you rear end for toe out I bet it shakes when you pull off

gibbo frst

iTrader: (2)

to be fair it is really nice to drive around town with the coilovers on now feels like a standard car .. is their somewhere on the net i can have a read up about setting them up a bit better or is it something id need to pay somewhere to do..
to be honest i only want something else to tinker about with on it as the cars pretty boring when its all working. maybe painting the wheels gold will solve the handeling problems..
.. ive told the missus it will but she says it will look shit...

DAN-Saff

Google corner weighting read up.

The short version - when are adjusting the platforms you are tipping the weight about so if the front is too low on drivers side but correct hight on the passenger side you would actually drop the passenger side rear platform to take weight off the corner but if you do the obvious and adjust the passenger front you are moving the weight from the opposite side. This is assuming your springs don't dangle when you jack the car up.

escoskmv

I have got avo on mine and no problems. I think you have to mess with the settings till you find wot suits your driving style. Mine was like driving a brick to start with, seemed to jump off the slightest bump in the road at speed/100+, played with it every time it went out an seems better now. Think you have to give them chance an get use to them.

dakar

iTrader: (1)

got bayjoo springs and konis on the saff and its the worst handling car i have ever owned,i just dont drive it fast anymore

KSA-Cossie

iTrader: (4)

I run my golds 4 clicks from soft on the back and 6 clicks from soft on the front. An adjustable beam makes so much difference imo, I have 2 degrees neg camber on front, 1.5 on the rear, 2mm toe in front and 3mm rear and it handles really well.

Harris.

Really ? Have you not changed any bushes etc ?

gibbo frst

iTrader: (2)

mine was real nice on ab springs and koni fronts bilstein rears.. only bloody changes as the coilovers looked better when the wheels off..

Turbosimpsons

iTrader: (3)

i think changing your rear arm bushes back to original type one's will greatly help if you can't afford a 6deg beam.

KSA-Cossie

iTrader: (4)

Totally agree.

DaveCrack

iTrader: (1)

Did anyone try the nylon trailing arm bushes MC2 racing / USA is selling yet?

gibbo frst

iTrader: (2)

i did think that about the trailing arm bushes... years ago one of them had play in it so i had them all pressed out and put the polys in.. then i see that it is a shit idea once ive done it.. the std bushes are so bloody expensive though. probably going to cost half the price of a proper beam.. maybe ill look out for a s/h pair of arms and chance them being ok...

gibbo frst

iTrader: (2)

i tried one of these tracking plates that you run the car over just to see if their was any obvious signs that something was way out and didnt seem any problem. both front were toe in 0.5 and the rears both 0 . i know its not the most accurate way of doing it but a few of the local tyre places use them and charge for it so at least this was free..
guess ill have to take it all to bits over the winter now to powdercoat the beam as i sprayed it about 6 years ago and some of the paint is comming off now anyway..