Coilovers

[msherry21]

Just to bring this thread up again, did anyone find out what make the Coilovers were that were selling for £550 from "fast road automobiles"?

I'm looking to sort my suspension out ASAP and will be going for the Konis(wheres the cheapest place to get the kit from?) if I can't get these coilovers.

cheers,

Michael.

[dex]

Excuse my ignorance but what is the physical difference between the Leda shocks and the Koni's?

Cannot answer the question but one thing I don't like about the Leda's is that the take off for the remote canister on the rear dampers projects from the strut body towards the wheel limiting the width of the tyre. I wanted to go from 205 to 215 width and couldn't as the 205's only have about 1mm clearance.

[welly_59]

Just to bring this thread up again, did anyone find out what make the Coilovers were that were selling for £550 from "fast road automobiles"?

I'm looking to sort my suspension out ASAP and will be going for the Konis(wheres the cheapest place to get the kit from?) if I can't get these coilovers.

cheers,

Michael.

mike i've been in contact with fast road automobiles and here is the reply i got:

Hi Michael,



The GAZ Shocks coilover set for theMR2 mk1 has adjustable ride height, and 1 way adjustable damping. The Kit consists of 4 struts with adjustable spring seats, top adjustable damping (aprox 22 settings), 4 2.5” springs and spring seats. With the adjustable spring seats the struts don’t have location brackets for the anti roll bars, we are currently experimenting with alternative locations using a few simple brackets and rose joints.



The kit is supplied exchange, GAS cannot reproduce strut to hub brackets and use the original, we can supply outright for an additional fee for the exchange struts, and the normal turnaround on the complete set is 3-4 weeks.



The MR2 project has had a few setbacks and the car with this setup has only been on the road for a short time, the initial results for ride and handling are good, we will continue to test the setup in all conditions with various spring rates, ride height, damping and wheel alignment to give the best advice for any end use.



We currently have PRO-TECH Shocks producing us a aluminium coil over strut set up for the MR2 mk1, this setup is not going to be cheep but with fill aluminium struts, 2 way adjustable damping this is going to be the ultimate setup for the mk1.



If you need and further information on this or any product, please don’t hesitate to contact us we will continue to add to the range we manufacture and supply for the mk1 if you have any parts you require or would like to see in production please let us know, I will do my best to help.





John Light



i've mailed back asking when he thinks the anti-roll-bar brackets would be sorted out and what spring rates etc he has been using on them. when i get a reply i'll post back on here as im quite interested in them as well

[LimeyMk1]

The Americans get round the lack of a rear ARB tabs with these,



I'm sure something similar could be used on the coilovers.

[tamiyauk]

Can anyone explain why coilovers are better than the Koni's? I'm very close to ordering the Koni's,

Cheers in advance

[welly_59]

adjustable height is one reason!

[tamiyauk]

adjustable height is one reason!

Cheers, I spoke to Awesome GTi today and they were very helpful, their website has the Koni set for the MK1 with springs at £302, including VAT and delivery the total is £366.
The guy explained that coilovers are very good and a lot more adjustable but likely to be a lot stiffer and as I want to use my car for track days and road use I think I'll go for the Koni's.

[anna]

Excuse my ignorance but what is the physical difference between the Leda shocks and the Koni's?

Cannot answer the question but one thing I don't like about the Leda's is that the take off for the remote canister on the rear dampers projects from the strut body towards the wheel limiting the width of the tyre. I wanted to go from 205 to 215 width and couldn't as the 205's only have about 1mm clearance.

hmmmm - well that's very odd - we have Leda's all round (bought by the previous owner in the group buy), and have 225's all round... and there doesn't seem to be an issue (i've not had a close look at them though)

[dex]

Offset of the wheels different? Do you run very close to the arch?

[msherry21]

I have just found this website:

http://www.gaz-shocks.co.uk/cs.html

and have e-mailed them to see what they say about a full coilover setup for the MK1...and prices!!!

Hopefully I'll get a response soon and I'll let you all know.

cheers,

Michael.

[msherry21]

Hi all, just got this reply from Gaz:

Hi Michael,
I can make MKI MR2 kit but i will need your donor struts as I don't have the brackets for this model. The kit will cost £520 plus carriage and vat. it will take 3 - 4 weks to manufacture.
Best regards,
David Lyon

I don't have donor struts as I use my car on a daily basis at the moment. It does look like a good price though for a full coilover setup.

What do you all think?

[tonigmr2]

Not sure, have never heard of Gaz

My only comment is re: hardness, a lot of coilovers are very 'crashy' as manufacturers tend to make them very hard with a limited range of adjustment (hard to very hard indeed!!) so I'd really recommend you go sit in a car with them fitted first.

Ditto the Ledas, have no trouble with rubbing on mine, and the remote cannisters are there too. (Anna you've oil filled Ledas IIRC with no remote cannister?) But the real reason for rubbing is offset, if it's rubbing that's the thing to look at.

The reason I love the Ledas btw is the damping is spot on, all four wheels remain in contact with the road (unlike my previous konis which skipped and jumped) and it has 24 point adjustment

T

[LimeyMk1]

So I guess he will remove the spring seats, machine a thread onto the outside of the strut housing and fit another spring seat onto the threaded housing.

[tamiyauk]

What do you all think?

I think I'd like coilovers but at the moment I can afford the Koni's from Awesome-GTi (£366.60 including VAT and delivery) and these coilovers will be at least an extra £260 and have not been tried and tested.

This sums it up for me I think, especially with my current budget:

Though the leda kit is i guess the ultimate, putting konis, springs and bushes on the car will totally transform the handling and for a lot less money too.

I've driven a well setup race MK1 with Ledas and it was fantastic... i'd have to admit that. Though i've had mucho fun driving various MK1s in all guises on Konis and KYBs. Konis get my vote.

[Lauren]

What do you all think?

I think I'd like coilovers but at the moment I can afford the Koni's from Awesome-GTi (£366.60 including VAT and delivery) and these coilovers will be at least an extra £260 and have not been tried and tested.

This sums it up for me I think, especially with my current budget:

DING. From a value for money perspective Konis are the best bet.

[Matt_J]

Gaz shocks are made just round the corner from mine.

David Lions used to be the technical guy at Leda when they were on Burnt Mills Ind Estate, across the road from where Gaz are now.

They've just done some custom ones for my AE86 which i'm very happy with price wise. Asked about some for a mk1 myself when i was there and the price was ok.

The custom stuff is like leda, its for race not road and is much better than the off the shelf gaz stuff for things like saxo's which are a bit more mass produced.

[msherry21]

yeah, thanks for all your advice and since Konis are proven to be great and easily available to buy and replace, It has to be the best option.

thanks again for everyones help.

Michael.

[jrleech]

Toni, has the spring rate supplied changed since the set I bought off you a long while ago?

The ones I had were way too stiff/hard, even on the softest setting, such that braking hard on a poor road felt like I had ABS (tyre's weren't in contact with the road all the time). Putting on the Koni's/Kgmm springs fixed this, but they're not as good as the Leda's were on smooth roads (turn in isn't nearly as good as with the Leda's).

Tempted to get another set for my project car (as I sold the last ones), but not if they'll behave like the last ones.

Also, did anyone sort out the best way to sort the camber? I'd used camber bolts last time and one snapped, so never again!

Cheers,
Jon

[tonigmr2]

Jon

With my car I took it to them and we tried different spring rates - tbh I am not convinced it is worth buying Leda unless you go to the factory and let them fit/set it up - it's not a comment on anybody's ability its just that way they drive it and tweek it for you (which included changing springs on mine).
T

[jrleech]

That's a fair comment.... If I'd played around with different springs then maybe I'd have got a better ride..

How much do Leda charge for fitting and setup?

Cheers,
Jon