suspension kit recommendations?

[fred rowland]

Hi all, i am wanting to put a new suspension kit on my phase 1 Gt turbo fast road and maybe a little track action car.
there are a few kits available but would like any recommendations. I am running 15 inch wheels so coil overs aren't a must however i would like to lower it by 50mm. I am going to put the phase 2 top mounts on.
The suspension kits i have in mind are as follows,
Avo GTZ coilovers,
Gaz coilovers,
Koni sport mcpherson standard jobbies.

all around the £450 mark.
Any one got any reviews or other recommendations? before i delve in! many thanks

[FlashbangGtt]

Gaz are Rock hard on all settings but go nice and low... They rust no matter what the corrosion protection story they tell you.

Avos are hard, they go low, they rust..

Koni's are great, feel good, not height adjustable but feel right.. Don't rot out because they come yellow, the club shop might have them?

[Ian S]

There might be one set left in the RTOC shop (and in the UK) of the Konis.

You get hard springs made for them. I had Konis and 250lb / inch springs at the front. A couple of people had 300lb/in. You can't, however, get hard rear springs for the 5GTT, so that might unbalance the cornering on a track. But it worked well for me on roundabouts and 'back doubles'. And less under-steer.

Some people lower the rear onto the bump stops to make it harder but it can bounce right off the tarmac. There were some firmer rear bars, possibly from the 5 van, that some people fitted into the 5GTT.

Avo are made by Gaz, I think, and maybe the same. They look the same. A Koni agent told the Avo froth after 5 minutes of hard use and are then no longer functional at damping. The Konis don't froth due to the higher pressure bag of gas in the twin tube fonts and the rears are mono tubes with higher pressure gas bag up one end. But not as high pressure as Bilstein.

There were quality Euro (German?) items in 'inox' (stainless) but maybe not available now. H&R mono tubes? K&W? Spax had some stainless height adjustables, but my experience of previous Spax would put me off trying them again.

[Mr Raider]

Koni's tick all the boxes, ideal for fast road and track action. Phase 2 top mounts so then you can use all phase 2 suspension on the phase 1.

[Woznaldo]

If you add just one zero on to your budget, you could get some custom Nitron, MCA or Ohlins? They may well be worth more than the car?...

[Woznaldo]

On a serious note, you can't go past Koni on that budget. Probably the best bang for ya buck suspension on the market.

[Matt Cole]

I will be running, Koni fronts with 350lb springs and Gaz adjustable rears.

Probably drive like shite!

[Alex]

I will be running, Koni fronts with 350lb springs and Gaz adjustable rears.

Probably drive like shite!

How much are the springs/where from? I might invest in a higher poundage depending on cost

[beng]

New poster! (less than 10 posts)

I'm in the same boat as you Fred. I'm looking at what's available because my front suspension is totally knackered. I'm finding it hard to undo the top nut because the Allen key socket in the end of the strut is split. I've got a phase 1 so I'm thinking scrap the lot and get phase 2 everything

[fred rowland]

I do already have a set of koni's on my phase 2 wich I am more than happy with but kind of wanted to see what the masses were saying. Well that's that decided, koni's it is!
Unfortunately the uber cheap set on rtoc site are no longer available however I have found a website who have pretty good reviews and seem too be cheaper than others I've seen.
Front struts £141 each and rears £82.94.
www.dcperformance.co.uk
Think I'm going to invest Any ideas as to what and where I can get some good 35 mm springs? Not sure what poundage to use? springs will be going on my phase 2 track car with f7r engine wich I should imagine is a fair bit heavier than the c1j.

Thanks to all your responses, hopefully have the phase 1 ready for some shows this year!

[Slim]

I thought the Koni's wont allow shorter than 35mm drop springs?

[Matt Cole]

I thought the Koni's wont allow shorter than 35mm drop springs?

Yeah I think you are right Slim. 35mm is plenty imo. Our roads ain't the best!

[Alex]

I run Koni's with -50mm springs...

[Slim]

I run Koni's with -50mm springs...

Which springs? From my understanding... some -50mm are not true 50mm drop..


I too am looking to get koni but also want a 50mm drop..

[Matt Cole]

Which springs? From my understanding... some -50mm are not true 50mm drop..


I too am looking to get koni but also want a 50mm drop..

Are you getting from the RTOC shop Slim?

[Slim]

Are you getting from the RTOC shop Slim?

If I do get them, I probably will get them from here

https://www.dcperformance.co.uk/upra...renault/5.html

[Ian S]

You probably won't be actually getting them from there as few if anyone keeps them in stock, only perhaps the sellers who bundle springs in as part of a suspension kit.

What happens is that you simply pay a dealer and they then have Koni deliver them to you, which is exactly what I do for RTOC, except that we get the dealer price and pass that onto members without making a profit.

HOWEVER, since the Koni UK business folded last year with the demise / purchase of Andrew Page Ltd, and restarted with another company, RTOC lost the wholesaler price we used to get. Now we get a much smaller discount so with no profit we can only sell for about £30 less that the big dealers such as Larkspeed who still get that bigger discount.

For me to order a set in for someone it's a significant faff and my personal time used up, so now that the price is so near to some big sellers I'd rather members did buy from them. Any warranty issues are also then dealt with by people who are being paid to do that rather than by this volunteer.

https://www.rtoc.org/shop/product_inf...roducts_id=110


These might have been better than the Koni's but I think they're never coming back into stock:

https://www.dcperformance.co.uk/upra...renault/5.html

[Slim]

Understood

Thanks Ian. To be honest.. I dont desperately need suspension... just maybe I will look for a change... I heard Koni's were the most comfy for road use..

[Ian S]

I think some of the comfy reputation comes from the soft springs that were supplied. And that the likes of Avo seemed to be using much stiffer valving to go with perhaps expected harder springs. Spax used long rubber bump stops that would make the ride hard over bumps. Bilstein tend to be known for a tauter ride and are different from the nearly all the rest by using monotubes at the front and their design used very high gas pressure to precent foaming of the hydraulic fluid.

You could look at K&W, maybe variant 3, in stainless, or maybe H&R as they use monotubes. But these German makes are more expensive than Dutch Koni.

But you get the choice of relatively cheap 'coil over' springs of many different rates. And, IIRC, the K&W are adjustable for both bump and rebound. So you can chose your own level of comfort vs. handling. And also choose your own ride height and change you height with little or no extra cost.

[Matt Cole]

For me, I would be trying a set from RSC:-

https://www.rtoc.org/boards/showthrea...ght=Suspension

[Yammer5]

I'm about to buy a set of Gaz coil overs, are they really that bad?

[tubbyG]

Depends on much you value comfort. There is adjustments you can make on the shocks to be either soft or hard. There are also different rated springs you can buy for them.

I have a set fitted to my 5 and really enjoy the drive caused by the firmness of them.
My 5 is just a weekend car so comfort and smooth running is not on my list of priorities at all.
I don't find them much more uncomfortable than my old spax shocks on apex lowering springs (50mm)

[Yammer5]

Thanks for the reply.
Mines a weekend car to, so I don't think it will bother me, as long as they are good at what they do, I'll be happy.

[Ian S]

What dampers do is to stop the springs bouncing the car and so should be matched to the springs and the mass over each wheel.

People sometimes use them to make up for inadequate chassis and suspension design and simply adjust them to their most resistive setting so don't move much in either direction, thereby reducing body roll. But also reducing ride quality and reducing traction (resulting in wheel spin and locking under braking) and cornering (as the car has bounced off the road surface) as the suspension is degraded at keeping the tyres on the road because the car is bouncing uncontrolled on the tyres pneumatics instead of on the springs.

[Alex]

Which springs? From my understanding... some -50mm are not true 50mm drop..


I too am looking to get koni but also want a 50mm drop..

Mine are the KTR/Apex yellow springs.