fiestaturbo.com

[ANDY B]

HELP I'M CONFUSED !!! I'M LOOKING AT GETTING A FULL SUSENSION KIT FOR MY '94 RS1800. I'M GOING TO BE RUNNING 6.5J X 16" MONDEO SI ALLOYS WITH 195/45/16 TYRES. MANY KITS SAY WILL ONLY MY CAR BY -35MM AS ITS LOWER FROM STANDARD ANYWAY, OTHER COMPANIES SAY THATS WRONG. SOME PEOPLE ARE SAYING THAT CVH & ZETEC SPRINGS ARE THE SAME BUT LOWER DIFFERENT AMOUNTS DUE TO ENGINE WEIGHT & SOME PEOPLE SAY THATS WRONG, SO WHAT SHOULD I BUY & HOW LOW IS BEST TO GO, -25, -35, -40, -50 OR -60MM. I TRAVEL 70 MILES A DAY SO ITS STILL GOT TO DRIVE NICE. HELP / PICS PLEASE !!!

[edders]

TUN OFF CAPS LOCK!!!!

now thats taken care of the best way to do it would be to get a set of colovers and lower it 35/40 mm.

[Oranoco]

35mm drop will be ample and you do NOT need coilovers. People on here get far to hung up on them. Unless you are spending a lot of time on track normal struts and springs are more than up to the job at hand. If you can stretch to it a Koni t/a kit would be my choice but if you have aMk3.5 your options are more limited

[Ollybee]

Exactly. Anything more than -35 and it will start to handle like a pig on roller skates.

[Big Walker]

Exactly. Anything more than -35 and it will start to handle like a pig on roller skates.

nutsack

My car is dropped 60mm and handles great

[Ollybee]

When mine was lowered -60 it handled like a sack of s**t and would switch between understeer and oversteer mid corner! It's now at -35 and handles peachy.

[Big Walker]

That switch between understeer and oversteer is due to having too much speed coming into the bend and when you lift offf the throttle the back end steps out, Lift off oversteer. Most small cars are very prone to this ie Nova's older clio's etc

Lift off oversteer is common with mine when running the 14" steels but whenever 15" alloys on (wider tyres) there is very little, and the car is great to drive

Yea i know where you are coming from though about the lift off oversteer can be a bit tricky when you're not expecting it

PS Wheels look schweet on your wagon

[GavStyli]

id go 35mm, thats what i have on same wheels, it rubs arches a tiny bit on the fronts on big bumps, apart from that its confortable to drive everyday

[Oranoco]

Exactly. Anything more than -35 and it will start to handle like a pig on roller skates.

nutsack

My car is dropped 60mm and handles great

Counter nutsack I've done various lowering heights and 60mm is absolute s**t. There's more mechanical grip at 35mm as well due to the steering and suspension geometry not going up the spout.

[XR2i-Fiesta-]

people are getting mixed up between ''handling'' and ''cornering'' I think.

[Big Walker]

Exactly. Anything more than -35 and it will start to handle like a pig on roller skates.

nutsack

My car is dropped 60mm and handles great

Counter nutsack I've done various lowering heights and 60mm is absolute poo. There's more mechanical grip at 35mm as well due to the steering and suspension geometry not going up the spout.

Counter counter nutsack

How my dirty female provider of 'horizontal refreshment' sits atm



Prior to the 60mm droppage i tried the good old chopped springs and i know this will seem like a wanky statement but it handled suprisingly well. Think it was 'bout 45mm roughly.

Wasn't as if they were hanging out or anything, I pulled the strut up to full extension and the measured half a coil height more than this so that even if there was no weight over the front of the car they couldn't pop out. btw was cut slowly using a hacksaw so the heat wouldn't affect the properties of the springs



i knopw where you're comin' from Steve but i like the way it handles, feels and looks

[XR2i-Fiesta-]

cutting springs is very dangerous! regardless if u did it with a nail file or a angle grinder! anyways! its upto you! ur ride!

[Big Walker]

Why do you think it to be so dangerous using the way i have described ???

And also if you read my post i said i used to ride with chopped springs. Now running Koni adjustable front shocks and Koni sport rears with 60mm springs

[RS1800pec]

35mm drop will be ample and you do NOT need coilovers. People on here get far to hung up on them. Unless you are spending a lot of time on track normal struts and springs are more than up to the job at hand. If you can stretch to it a Koni t/a kit would be my choice but if you have aMk3.5 your options are more limited

Agreed

A good suspension kit like spax or koni will be fine. Mines dropped 35mm and its ample. coilovers are the nuts but a bit extreme for general everyday use.

[Ollybee]

That switch between understeer and oversteer is due to having too much speed coming into the bend and when you lift offf the throttle the back end steps out, Lift off oversteer. Most small cars are very prone to this ie Nova's older clio's etc

Lift off oversteer is common with mine when running the 14" steels but whenever 15" alloys on (wider tyres) there is very little, and the car is great to drive

Yea i know where you are coming from though about the lift off oversteer can be a bit tricky when you're not expecting it

PS Wheels look schweet on your wagon

I'm perfectly aware of what lift-off-oversteer is but that was not what I was describing. The car would do it at relatively low speeds and be completely unpredictable. Also further to your point of cut off springs, it totally dangerous and the reason it's an MOT fail to have an incomplete spring. Under hard compression the spring can become coil bound and when at full extension the spring could become dislodged from the seats. The fact that cut the spring with a hacksaw makes no difference whatsoever!

[Oranoco]

Exactly. Anything more than -35 and it will start to handle like a pig on roller skates.

nutsack

My car is dropped 60mm and handles great

Counter nutsack I've done various lowering heights and 60mm is absolute poo. There's more mechanical grip at 35mm as well due to the steering and suspension geometry not going up the spout.

Counter counter nutsack

Prior to the 60mm droppage i tried the good old chopped springs and i know this will seem like a wanky statement but it handled suprisingly well. Think it was 'bout 45mm roughly.

Wasn't as if they were hanging out or anything, I pulled the strut up to full extension and the measured half a coil height more than this so that even if there was no weight over the front of the car they couldn't pop out. btw was cut slowly using a hacksaw so the heat wouldn't affect the properties of the springs

i knopw where you're comin' from Steve but i like the way it handles, feels and looks

The simple fact that you have shortened the spring straight away means you have compromised it and effected how it will behave. This is just how springs work.

You need to try a propper set of springs and then you WILL see how completely wrong you are

[ANDY B]

Exactly. Anything more than -35 and it will start to handle like a pig on roller skates.

nutsack

My car is dropped 60mm and handles great

& your si aint on 16"s, like mine !!!!!

[Big Walker]

Exactly. Anything more than -35 and it will start to handle like a pig on roller skates.

nutsack

My car is dropped 60mm and handles great

Counter nutsack I've done various lowering heights and 60mm is absolute poo. There's more mechanical grip at 35mm as well due to the steering and suspension geometry not going up the spout.

Counter counter nutsack

Prior to the 60mm droppage i tried the good old chopped springs and i know this will seem like a wanky statement but it handled suprisingly well. Think it was 'bout 45mm roughly.

Wasn't as if they were hanging out or anything, I pulled the strut up to full extension and the measured half a coil height more than this so that even if there was no weight over the front of the car they couldn't pop out. btw was cut slowly using a hacksaw so the heat wouldn't affect the properties of the springs

i knopw where you're comin' from Steve but i like the way it handles, feels and looks

The simple fact that you have shortened the spring straight away means you have compromised it and effected how it will behave. This is just how springs work.

You need to try a propper set of springs and then you WILL see how completely wrong you are

So how are my 60mm springs not proper springs ???

The chopped springs is a PREVIOUS thing that i done. I was broke at the time so couldn't afford a proper set up like i have now


Never said she was on 16's. Usually on 15's though

Car passed a proper N.I. MOT even dropped 60mm hence the steels. Alloys catch on full lock but when do you ever drive on full lock over 10 mph ?

[Oranoco]

What I mean is get some proper (quality 30mm springs)

Passing the MOT doesn't mean squat fella. An MOT doesn't automatically make the car safe or good

[Big Walker]

Over here testing is very strict so it means bucket loads to me
first time the feckers failed me though :'(

Steve post up or PM me a few pics or your 'scort n fez plz wanna see the comparison.

And if anything, suspension wise, coilovers would be next

[Oranoco]

Fiesta


Escort


Not sure how it'll help though

Coilovers are not the bee all and end all of handling despite what so many think.

[Big Walker]

Fez looks well And thats with a 35mm drop ??

Just wanted to see the stance of yer scort

Love it though

[Oranoco]

Yep Fiesta is a 35mm drop on brand new Ford dampers.

Fair enough That's a 30mm drop but as it has no interior the arse sits high but that does seem to aid things rather than hinder things