Non CATS equiped suspension mods from Adamesh

[J44EAG]

I`ve always been critical of the ride offered by the earlier S-type models. I`m not the only one!

Late edit. This kit IS suitable for CATS equipped cars. No problem at all.

The pre facelift cars bang and crash their way through cats eyes and potholes. Body roll is excessive and the situation is exacerbated on cars equipped with the smaller rim diameters.

Adamesh market a lowered uprated suspension spring kit for around £260.

Believe me when I say that it is a cracker and around half the price for an equivalent H&R or Eibach spring kit.

No more banging and crashing, vastly reduced body roll and a wonderful ride. Roundabouts are now a joy with little under=steer if you are pushing on a bit. Most certainly the most noticeable mod I have made to my 02 V8 S.

I cannot recommend this kit highly enough. Makes the car look meaner as well. 25mm drop in ride height. It does not sound much but it can clearly be seen when the mod has been done.

I run ex X350 19" alloys on my car with 245/35/19 tyres. The whole combination is sheer joy and a huge improvement to a standard car. Firmer, but not harsh in any way.

Only extra tools other than your spanner and socket set needed is a pair of spring compressors.
A ball joint splitter is not required. With wheel jacking and removal/refitting, the job takes about an hour and a half for each suspension unit.

I`ve written an article for the JEC magazine about this modification complete with pictures. No doubt Nigel will publish this in due course.

Mike Kennedy S-type Co-ordinator.

[J44EAG]

An old post this may be, but just an update for the record.

The Adamesh springs are also suitable for cars fitted with CATS damping. That includes the STR. Contact Geoff Adams at Adamesh for details.

J44EAG after lowering.

Mind the speed bumps!

Mike

[J44EAG]

Three images here which show the effect of the lowering springs.

Graham Searle`s 4.2 V8 PUS on left with lowered J44EAG on the right.

Comparative of black standard and red lowered spring unloaded length.

Mike

[latebreaker]

Hi Mike,
I've been considering a suspension modification.
I'm not sure about the Adamesh option, the ride height is dropped too much for me, I'd like to keep an OE look, while improving the handling.

What's your opinion on Spires option?

http://www.spires-st.com/index.php/spir ... age-detail

Krish

[J44EAG]

I have no experience of the Spires kit, Krish but expect it will do what it says on the box. At nearly £1500, so it should!

Interestingly, Spires offer a choice of spring drop heights. 10mm-18mm. Quite useful if you don`t want to drop too low. There are advantages and disadvantages in lowering the car further. The advantage is that the lower you drop, the less body roll will occur. The weight meta centre alters and the car consequently suffers from less top hamper (As we would say in the marine world)

The disadvantage most noticeable is ground clearance. I have only 102mm below my sills to the road. In normal driving it is not an issue. Speed bumps or other similar obstructions have to be crossed one wheel at a time at around 45 degrees. Lowered suspension with reduced roll vastly improves handling and there is a marked reduction in under steer and several of my passengers have said that once they get used to faster corning speeds, the car feels most planted and secure. As a driver with a lowered car on low profile tyres, one soon learns to be more vigilant of roadway potholes and other detritus. Mounting low kerbs becomes a thing of the past. One learns to think "rims and tyres". One soon learns the technique. For me, there are more advantages than disadvantages which has included reduced tyre wear due to tyre carcass slip angles being reduced during fast cornering. that means less wear on the outside edges of the tyre during such manoeuvres.

The Spires kit comes at a goodly price when compared to the set up I built on J44. My uprated springs from Adamesh cost a mere £260 and are the best value mod I`ve ever fitted. My dampers are B6 30% uprated sport gas Bilstein units. They are equally at home serving standard or uprated spring packages. Typically front Bilstein dampers retail from Larkspeed for £300 a pair with the rear dampers from the same source costing £360 for a pair. Delivery I recall was included. Those prices were current when I last viewed them in mid 2013 for that type of set up for a non cats car. so about £920 for the Bilstein twin tube uprated dampers and Adamesh springs.

Why not fit Bilstein dampers to your existing springs and see how you like the set up. You can always change springs at a later date? bounce and float will be greatly reduced which is a characteristic I least like about the stock suspension set up.

Mike

[latebreaker]

Mike,
That maybe a better idea to change the dampers only first. My preference would be, to keep the OE look.
What I'm looking for, is an improvement in handling, without compromising the ride quality. I'm sometimes left slightly underwhelmed when I'm driving on B-roads, as the handling just isn't where I'd like it to be.
The rest of the car, gets a bigs thumbs up however!

[J44EAG]

Fully understand what you are looking for, Krish.

Once I`d done my engine mods, the standard chassis became totally inadequate for the power. In fact I`d go so far as to say that on the standard comfort springs and 16" 55% tyres, the car was verging on dangerous in wet conditions. I had a couple of nasty scares and decided I had to get the skittish handling sorted.

If you are going the Bilstein route, Larkspeed are the cheapest of just a few UK suppliers. The Bilsteins feature twin tube construction as opposed to mono. Apparently that improves damper response.

What you will find with decent dampers is that when you dive into a long dip in the road with some nose dive, you will then probably then have a road rise which gets timed with the spring and damper unloading. You get a feeling of uncontrolled suspension float and lightened steering. That can be disconcerting. On decent dampers such an effect gets relegated to past history. That uncontrolled unwinding feeling becomes damped at source. Bump...stop, as opposed to bump, bounce, float and slowly return!

A decent suspension does not to be hard nosed, uncomfortable or uncompromising. Get dampers, springs and tyres all working as one and a good ride and handling results. It doesn`t need to bang or crash or be uncomfortable.

Mike