fiestaturbo.com

[fiestasiphil]

howdy i'm looking to buy a set of coilovers for my fiesta, what make do u recomend and why?

does ne1 know who sells adjustable camber arms? and how much?
oh yeah and best poly bush kit avalible?
cheers

[Oranoco]

Firstly mate what are you going to use the car for? Fast road, fast road/ occasional track or lots of track?

In most cases coilovers are complete overkill and won't be nice to use on the road. I don't even use coilovers on my predominently track S2. If it were my cash I would opt for Koni t/a's and 25mm Eibach springs. A well spec'd spring and damper combo will far outperform a poorly spec'd/set up coilover set.

If you really want to go the coilover route there are plenty of people on here who have them that will be able to offer advise.

[fiestasiphil]

well fast road and sum track use, at the momnet my si's has g-max 60mm drop kit on it which handles well but i want it to b lower on the rear and a bit higher on the front but at even ride heights as it sits higher on the rear, btw at that drop 60mm ive had 8 wishbone arms in one year! so i need to sort the camber problem out ive been told that adjustable wishbones r the solution as i have big plans for my car i want everything set up professionly as well

[Oranoco]

If you want to use the car properly on track get some ride height back don't drop it further. Cornering and handling are not the same thing. If you are on a G-Max kit it's definately worth sorting a proper shock and spring combo.

I would still maintain that coilovers are a bit OTT and would personally recomend Koni t/a's and a 25-35mm drop on quality springs. I would also suggest a slightly lower ride height at the front than the back. Not having the car dumped in the weeds should also help with your camber and bottom arm knackering issues.

Losing weight from the car will help no end in improving the handling. If you have a big ICE install it's worth getting shot of it. Weight is the single biggest killer of a cars performance. I was gutted to lose my ICE install until I took the car out and thrashed it.

[Raymondo]

I agree with Oranoco on this. The cost of coilovers for a road car are a bit OTT. However you cant really beat them if you want the best handling because they are pretty much infinatley adjustable. You can even swap the springs if you find them too hard/soft. As for getting Koni T/A's, when i tried to get them on my old Si, apparentley they dont make them. So i plumped for the Koni red kit, which were brilliant. They only drop the car about 25mm but the stance is about right, the handling was excellent, and they werent too harsh for use on the road like a lot of other kits can be. My H&R's on my current car are in a tottally different leage though

Its not really a good idea to drop the back down to level with the front as this will mess up weight transfer and also leave you with less traction. Obviously the lower you can practically get it the better, as long as you have the camber set up to match. Mines is lowered a fair amount at the front, with negative camber of around 1 degree, which is pretty much perfect so i can run that front ride height without any problems. It will differ on other cars, but if you say you are getting adjustable camber lower arms obviously you can have it set up properly.

[Oranoco]

As Raymondo has correctly suggested Koni t/a's are not available for the Si so it would nesecitate a swap to some earlier Mk3 hubs

[BUTRE]

Coilovers are a must on the fiesta mk3!!! The reason that coilovers are really needed on the mk3 its because the handling is all wrong!!!

You'll need to grab a zetec-s rear axle and consider bolting the FRST rear ARB to it.
You'll need to adjust castor since Ford got it to almost zero so the steering would be lighter (big mistake).
Corner weighting its not the best...

You need coilovers to properly sort corner wheight of your fiesta to your cars weight on std trim with you inside (the usual driver). Get a simple 50:50 in X distribution and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Coilovers can have their springs changed for softer or stiffer ones and you are allowed to choose what you want (springs for std shocks you dont even know how stiff they are!).

Also, front wishbones are from bad design and they allow too much torquesteer. Not even powerflex bushes will sort it for good

Rear camber can be adjusted by washers. Usually everybody forgets that rear wheels also helps handling.

Toe, I say its all about trying since it's up to the drivers feedback and driving style.

I've always been into Renaults. They handle pretty good and when I bought the FRST it was clear that I was on a mission: This fiesta will handle like a clio!

[fiestasiphil]

well i just want good handling but i also want my car to be low as it needs to look good! i really want my cars hadling to b safe and not for it too lose control and this happening again:

[url]

due to knackered front arms

this happened over a year ago and since then ive gone through 8 arms ok there r pattern ones but r ford ones much better???? as mine last about 3 months but do drive it very hard round corners mayb that could b a reason for them not lasting very long a poly bush will help but its the bottom ball joint that takes most of a hammering so to sort t out i saw the one of the fast or perfermance ford mags under deflex saying about there adjustable camber arms if i get these ok there very expensive and a nice set of coilovers and mayb rasie the front a bit say so its lowered around 50mm not 60mm which it is at the momnet and lower the back a bit more so the car sits evenly and have the arms professionly adjusted with the coilvers to sort cmaber problems out what u think?[/url]

[dannyboy]

I find my H&R coilovers perfect for all round usage, the ride is excellent, soaks up all bumps yet still hold the road well, massive difference between these and my old spax dampers. Ive been a fair few RS's with all diff suspension setups and rate mine very high up that list. only downside is the cost but well worth it

[fiestasiphil]

cheers mate i will look in2 them i still more info on adjustable arms what sort of wishbone arms do some of u have do u have poly bushes in them?? or run standard arms eg ford 1s or pattern 1s???

[dannyboy]

dont even bother with pattern parts, stick with genuine ford, ive had rose jointed camber adjustable lower but sold them on, they are great with no torqe steer but can be a bit harsh for road use.

[fiestasiphil]

cheers mate where did u get your rose jointed arms from? and do u know how much ford arms r each and would i b better off changing the standard bushes for powerflex ones if i get sum new ford arms?

[wildheart]

Bilstien or Leda for the coilovers,get someone who knows what they are doing to spec them to your car.

ZOO front rose jointed camber and castor adjustable front arms and rear beam.

Corner weight it and get camber and castor set up.

Stick a ATB diff in aswell while your at it

Then your car will handle like a dream,just a shame your bank balance will be in the red

[fiestasiphil]

cheers mate i want sort my cars handling out 4 ever, where can i find these parts? who sell them?

[fiestasiphil]

oh yeah does [ERRR] know how much geniune ford wishbone arms r?

[wildheart]

cheers mate i want sort my cars handling out 4 ever, where can i find these parts? who sell them?

Zoo motorsport

R & B Motorsport

Be sitting down though when you get prices on that lot

[BUTRE]

cheers mate i want sort my cars handling out 4 ever, where can i find these parts? who sell them?

Zoo motorsport

R & B Motorsport

Be sitting down though when you get prices on that lot

when I got the prices it was more like

[Raymondo]

What are the R & B motorsport ones? Ive never heard of them.

[wildheart]

http://www.randbmotorsport.co.uk

Email mike and he'll do you some good prices on Quaiffe diffs and Leda suspension.
Can get his hands on loads of other stuff too.

[Gianchi]

Hi everybody.
I'm planning too to upgrade my suspensions with coilovers.

My Fiesta is a RS1800 16v mk 3.5 (1994).
Wheels: 7jx16 with 195/45 tires.

I'm considering the H&R coilover kit, because it comes with Bilstein dampers.
I love the ride hight adjustability of coilovers, especially with big rims.
The question is about the handling ( and especially with my very low profile 195/45 r16 tires ).

I'm looking for a fast and precise riding and, why not some stiff, but NO choppy ride !

It seems that H&R kit is one of the softer coilover in the market, then good for road use.

So, before i'll do a big mistake with my money ( )......
please, help me with your experiences on H&R

Thanks a lot

[Oranoco]

Read this months Fast Ford as it has a pretty damn good write up on suspension and coilovers.

[~Tony~]

cant get fast ford anywhere near me atm, 4 places i knew i could get it from have stopped selling it as they cant get it from the suppliers,

what issue is the one your on about i'll try and get my hands on it

[Gianchi]

Read this months Fast Ford as it has a pretty damn good write up on suspension and coilovers.

Here in my country I can't find Fast Ford.....

[Oranoco]

If Pornstar has no objection I'll scan the item in. But I'll wait for the ok first because of copyright etc

[~Tony~]

no worries

[~Tony~]

on the burton power website it says the koni t/as are for the 2i and the rst and lower 25 ish mm, which does it lower 25 ishmm the rs or the xr as the rs was 25mm lower from factory.

Oranoco what you got on your frst?

[Oranoco]

At the moment new standard Ford dampers and a spring kit from my spares box. It will be getting a Koni shock and Eibach spring combo though as the project progresses.

[~Tony~]

as above does anyone know what one it lowers 25mm the rst or the xr2i? i'm guessing it would be the rst but not sure, will email burton in a bit i think

[Oranoco]

I've had the all clear to scan the page in from the mag so will do it this evening when i get in from work

[pornstar!]

Interresting topic- get it up Steve


im looking into coilovers at the moment for my car, although it doesnt see much road use nowadays

[MAD_Adamski]

H+R's

[Oranoco]

[pornstar!]

Good stuff Steve!


Hope it helps

[Oranoco]

If anybody is having trouble reading it (done it through Photobucket) let me know and I'll do it at work and link it as a PDF.

It's a well written and factual article. Fast Ford has been coming on in leaps and bounds over the last 12 months