Has anyone fitted Hottuning coilovers

[DaNnY_LaD]

Howdo do mate..

That twank is the Spring settling in...Did you use lithium grease on the springs and topmounts?

i use them coilovers and there really good for the price

And as some off u lot are moaning about stiffness there are nothing on my old Spax Coilover as they would so hard it was unreall

 

[phil-sparky]

but the spring doesnt get compressed does it... as u adjust the base up or down the spring moves up or down taking the piston rod in the damper up and down with it.

fully up or fully down the spring should be to same size/ no more or less comreseed.

it is the position of the spring base that varies the hight

the spring will be compressed as on the top of the complete strut assembly you have the top mount etc which keeps the top of the spring in place, but as you wind the spring base down (lowering the car) this un-compresses the spring and making it more stretched out, as the point from the toip mount to the bottom of the spring is a greater distance for the whoile spring assembly to fill, and its harder to wind them up to lift the car up as the spring is always been compressed each time u wind the spring base, * this is this case on my hot tuning coilovers may not be same on other models*

 

[Cupra Gsy]

This is what the helper spring does as the normal spring dont really change size but the more you wind the coil up the smaller and more compressed the helper spring gets

 

[ttothec]

the spring will be compressed as on the top of the complete strut assembly you have the top mount etc which keeps the top of the spring in place, but as you wind the spring base down (lowering the car) this un-compresses the spring and making it more stretched out, as the point from the toip mount to the bottom of the spring is a greater distance for the whoile spring assembly to fill, and its harder to wind them up to lift the car up as the spring is always been compressed each time u wind the spring base, * this is this case on my hot tuning coilovers may not be same on other models*

but if it as described above... this wouldnt lower or raise the car... its just changing the length of the spring as well as the moving the spring base

to lower a car on springs alone... u buy shorter springs as the spring base cannot be moved on standard shock absorbers

with coilovers the spring stays a constant size and it is the position of the base alone that allowes for differences in ride height.

if u imagine... the top mount is fixed, as is the spring length... by adjusting the spring base (which is actually in a fixed position due to the top mount being fixed and the spring length being constant) it actually moves the body of the shock absorber up and down inside the spring... and as the wheel attached to the body of the shock absorber it moves the wheel up and down, raising or lowering the car respctively

does no one else here see what im talking about??

 

[Cupra Gsy]

Yes i no what your saying but i was just explaining that the helper spring does compress.

And if you buy just lowering spring they aint actually shorter they have more coils closer together and less coils spaced further apart would make it higher

 

[ttothec]

im not entirely sure what helper springs are for...

an example of why the spring is not compresed to lower the car... when u lower the car on coilovers u wind the spring bases down (away from the top mount) stretching the spring theoretically... but the spring doesnt stretch, it stays a constant size but moves down the shock absorber body, as does the top mount and the rest of the car, lowering the car

to raise the car you wind the spring base up (toward the top mount) compressing the spring... but the spring does not compress it moves up, as does the top moount and rest of thhe car... raising the car

am i talking sense? am i all alone

 

[Reuvers]

im not entirely sure what helper springs are for...

an example of why the spring is not compresed to lower the car... when u lower the car on coilovers u wind the spring bases down (away from the top mount) stretching the spring theoretically... but the spring doesnt stretch, it stays a constant size but moves down the shock absorber body, as does the top mount and the rest of the car, lowering the car

to raise the car you wind the spring base up (toward the top mount) compressing the spring... but the spring does not compress it moves up, as does the top moount and rest of thhe car... raising the car

am i talking sense? am i all alone

no.

Like I said, the easiest way to understand is physics. The less tension on the spring, the less force is needed to compress the spring, thus lowering the car more (due to its own weight)

 

[warren_cox]

Interesting to read this thread, and to see that the current national obsession with sourcing cheap coily's and doing a DIY fit isn't all that it was expected to be.

I don't dispute you can get 'good value' coilovers today, but I have had one set on a car (H&R's), and they were mercilessly hard, a PIA to set up, and after having them fitted by a garage the first thing I did was have the car sent for a full 4 wheel Beissbarth alignment to ensure that what I paid for actually was doing what it should.

I've had a mix of other suspension on previous cars (Koni-Eibach / H&R / Weitec / Spax), and by far the best all rounder was a 40mm lowered Weitec damper and spring kit which when fitted in combination with new top mounts was the most compliant but balanced handling ride I have ever achieved. The kit was under £400.

People are free to spend their money exactly as they please, and I'm not knocking people for their choices, but all you hear these days is coily's coily's coily's, and unless your car regularly sees a track, or gets regular underside maintenance I honestly don't think they are the best option for your money.

Best of luck with sorting your issues, but for your / others safety I'd probably get them checked as in the dry you can get away with so/so set up suspension. In the wet / adverse conditions it can significantly increase your braking distance or the ability to stop in a straight line.

 

[ttothec]

no.

Like I said, the easiest way to understand is physics. The less tension on the spring, the less force is needed to compress the spring, thus lowering the car more (due to its own weight)

^^ i still do not think that this is correct (or maybe i do not understand what you are saying)

see my image below (i know its rubbish, i did it quickly) as a description of why i believe the spring is not being compressed during lowering on coilovers. notice that the spring length does not change (is not compressed)... the only thing moving is the spring base (green arrow).

taking physics into account... why would the spring compress? the car hasnt got any heavier and there is nothing preventing the spring from moving up because the piston rod floats up and down inside the shock body and is only attached to the top mount (which moves the car up and down with it)

im 100% sure that this is correct... unless anyone is as sad as me and can do a drawing/description that proves me wrong?!?!

 

[Reuvers]

hmmm looking at that i might be wrong actually...

need to get my fronts off soon due to changing topmounts so will have a looksee

 

[ttothec]

hmmm looking at that i might be wrong actually...

need to get my fronts off soon due to changing topmounts so will have a looksee

im sure its a common misconception... it wasnt until a friend of mine got a set of coilovers that it occured to me that spring doesnt get compresssed.

 

[PhilW]

Howdo do mate..

That twank is the Spring settling in...Did you use lithium grease on the springs and topmounts?

i use them coilovers and there really good for the price

And as some off u lot are moaning about stiffness there are nothing on my old Spax Coilover as they would so hard it was unreall

Settling in? WTF. He hasnt got a top mount bearing if you read the first post, thats why the twang is happening. You need top mount bearings end of. And you should have any noise or twanging at all


The helper spring is there so when you jack the car up the main spring doesnt flop about.

This is what the assembly without the top mount in place looks like on my FK coilys.

 

[PhilW]

The helper spring compresses under the cars weight.

 

[Reuvers]

The helper spring compresses under the cars weight.

See i knew it!
thats what a said as well a few posts back....

 

[phil-sparky]

im sure its a common misconception... it wasnt until a friend of mine got a set of coilovers that it occured to me that spring doesnt get compresssed.

i see what your saying now, it was just when i was raising the car up as it got higher the spring base was harder to turn so thought that it would be compresses the spring slightly, as the damper would be at its maximum travel, but i'm an electrician so not to sure

 

[phil-sparky]

Interesting to read this thread, and to see that the current national obsession with sourcing cheap coily's and doing a DIY fit isn't all that it was expected to be.

I don't dispute you can get 'good value' coilovers today, but I have had one set on a car (H&R's), and they were mercilessly hard, a PIA to set up, and after having them fitted by a garage the first thing I did was have the car sent for a full 4 wheel Beissbarth alignment to ensure that what I paid for actually was doing what it should.

I've had a mix of other suspension on previous cars (Koni-Eibach / H&R / Weitec / Spax), and by far the best all rounder was a 40mm lowered Weitec damper and spring kit which when fitted in combination with new top mounts was the most compliant but balanced handling ride I have ever achieved. The kit was under £400.

People are free to spend their money exactly as they please, and I'm not knocking people for their choices, but all you hear these days is coily's coily's coily's, and unless your car regularly sees a track, or gets regular underside maintenance I honestly don't think they are the best option for your money.

Best of luck with sorting your issues, but for your / others safety I'd probably get them checked as in the dry you can get away with so/so set up suspension. In the wet / adverse conditions it can significantly increase your braking distance or the ability to stop in a straight line.

the reason i bought my coilovers was because they were adjustable so i could have my ride height as i wanted, i had various springs on my old 106 koni/eibach but they never lowered it as it stated it should a -35mm spring would lower it about 20mm if lucky, it wasn't just me who had this problem a few of my friends did also,and the majority of 106 owners om the forum, i ended up getting -50mm eibach springs which again didnt lower it as much as it said, but i changed the engine for 16v and due to it been heavier the car was lower but i would of said it was -35mm rather than the manufacturers description of -50mm so i would say people get the coilovers for ride height rather than anything else

 

[Reuvers]

I agree with above mentioned.
On my old Escort I had Weitec springs with red Koni shocks fitted (great ride btw) and although it said it would lower the car 40mm it wasn't enough.
With the coilies you can adjust until you're satisfied.
I am somewhat of a person who wants his exhaust to almost hit the floor lol and a fixed spring set would never do this for me...

 

[artemis_1991]

Just reading this thread. Ttothec is right, the spring doesn't get more compressed when the car is lower, but if you look at his (very helpful) diagram you can see that as the spring base moves down the shock body the damper plunger is pushed further inside the shock absorber.

Surely this causes the gas/oil in the shock absorber to become more compressed (As there is less volume inside the shocker). Could this attribute the harder ride with lower coilies? surely more compressed dampers make a difference to the ride?

 

[ttothec]

Just reading this thread. Ttothec is right, the spring doesn't get more compressed when the car is lower, but if you look at his (very helpful) diagram you can see that as the spring base moves down the shock body the damper plunger is pushed further inside the shock absorber.

Surely this causes the gas/oil in the shock absorber to become more compressed (As there is less volume inside the shocker). Could this attribute the harder ride with lower coilies? surely more compressed dampers make a difference to the ride?

i dont know how the internals of shock absorbers work... but i think this could be the case for gas filled shocks, as the gas is compressed it makes the shock stiffer

but for oil filled shocks.... the oil isnt compressed as liquids dont compress (relatively). I'm sure someone will correct me, liquids can be compressed but it requires a great deal of pressure to acheive only a small amount of compression. So for arguments sake we'll say they dont compress

I was under the impression that a plate with holes in (or similar) moved throught the oil, providing the damping ... kind of like the mesh filter in those cafetiere things...

 

[artemis_1991]

good explaination, that makes sense as the oil would be very viscose and relatively uncompressable (By the forces it would experience under the load of the car etc.). So really lower coilovers couldn't make for a stiffer ride then.