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1985-1998 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
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Well, I've been driving around on my Abbott Racing springs and Koni shocks since I fitted them to my '96 Aero last weekend. I finally figured out that the reason the rear wasn't sitting straight was that the front was sitting on a left-right slope when I measured everything (thanks for the tip, Sully). This wasn't the original cause - one of the original rear springs I removed was noticeably shorter than the other.
So what do I think?
Well, I set the rear shocks to 2.5 half turns from softest (Aero Guy recommended 2.5 turns, but it won't go this far so I reckon he meant half-turns). They're a pain to adjust as you need to disconnect them, so I went for a best guess. I didn't want them too hard as I almost never have any weight in the back (load or passengers).
Front shocks are adjustable in the car, and after playing around, I settled on 1/2 turn from softest. This gives a really nice ride, but very firm. It closely approximates the only car I have ridden in that had the ride I decided I wanted, which was a Mercedes E-class with the sports suspension pack - obviously firm, but very comfortable. Even though my new setup feels signifcantly firmer than standard, it doesn't crash about like the standard Aero suspension.
The body weight is very controlled, body roll is much reduced and on uneven surfaces, the car feels much more stable. I tried it on a road about 10 miles from home that is straight but with a rather uneven surface. Overtaking on this road used to be very scary, even though the road is straight enough to take at 60-70mph, with the steering wheel wanting to leap out of my hand and me fighting to keep the car out of the ditch. Now the car is much easier to control at this speed on this uneven surface.
My one fear was that the car would end up too low to be practical. Having heard that Aero Guy's '97 Aero was lowered by 37mm on the Abbott springs and he had problems with speed humps before fitting 17" wheels, I was worried about the speed humps where I live (I used to laugh at people with lowered cars crawling over these humps and grounding on them!). Abbott told me I could expect an Aero to be lowered by about 10mm, but I really didn't know what to expect.
Having measured the wheel arch heights before and after (ignoring the rear corner that had been sagging) the car has been lowered by exactly 22mm all round. I gingerly attempted the speed humps, then less gingerly and finally found I could take them at 30mph (the speed limit) just as I have always done. The biggest ones gave a bit of a thump with the front shocks set to 3/4 turn, but at 1/2 turn riding over them at 30mph is quite comfy.
Roadholding seems a bit better, but the steering is a bit vague. This is probably because I haven't had the wheels aligned yet. I plan to fit my SuperFlex control arm bushes this weekend, then have the alignment set to 1mm toe-in as recommended by Abbott for a car with poly control arm bushes.
I expect the roadholding to improve after alignment too, although I will need new tyres soon.
Overall, I'm very pleased with my £700-odd worth. Pity I picked about the hottest day of the year in the UK to do the front struts! I was really struggling with the heat before I finished.
Sully asked for pictures. I'll try to do some this weekend.
posted by 62.253...
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