Help.....

**C70T5auto** · Monday 17th October 2005, 17:11

Have had the car a few weeks now so finally decided it was time to see how well it handled round a slightly twisty road under power.

OMG. its CRAP. the front lifts up, the arse is all over the road, checked tyres and they are fine(loads of tread and correct pressure, not cheap either.) Any ideas???? on par my oil burning laguna gave me more confidence on road handling.
any help to rectify this would be greatly appricated.... or the car is up for sale!

thanks

**Wobbly Dave** · Monday 17th October 2005, 17:25

Fret ye not. All is not lost. There is plenty you can do to make you car go around corners and stop well. What is the worst bit of it?

Sounds to me like your shocks are quite shocking! Over time the shocks will loosen up until they arent really doing any dampening. Anti-roll bar drop links (17 quid each) - the bushes loosen.

For about 70 quid - you can get a Volvo strut brace to span between the front turrets. I find it tightens up the front end a lot.

The first thing I would look at is your front shocks. You can compliment these with lowering springs (GT spec C70s usually already have them). If all you did was front shocks then you will find the handling is much improved. I spent quite a bit on shocks/springs etc and mine handles like a dream. J drove her on Saturday and he will be able to give his opinion on it. "Power is nothing without control" as they say.

I would personally recommend the eibach lowering springs and monroe reflex shocks. The harder you push the shocks the more they react - very trick. The eibachs give the GT ride height without looking silly and provide a very responsive ride. Replacing the shocks with Volvo OEM (Sachs) - which is cheaper is still no bad thing.

You can add better disks and pads to the mix too - my personal recommedation is DS2500 pads from Ferodo and plain disks (only if you need them).

Depends mostly I suppose on how much you wanna spend.

**Wobbly Dave** · Monday 17th October 2005, 17:25

I would be more than happy to let you drive mine to get the idea of what you can end up with?

**C70T5auto** · Monday 17th October 2005, 17:28

thanks for that Dave, Chris (c70t5) was meant to be bring a strut brace down for me but he forgot.... as for the shocks and springs, where? and how much? also do the camber angles need to be adjusted once the car has been lower that lil bit/

**Wobbly Dave** · Monday 17th October 2005, 17:46

I would ring VT - ask for Hamish and ask for a quote. He can explain the options to you, better than I can, including the monroes, sb's etc.
I dont thing the camber is altered that much TBH but I would check - it is only a 35mm drop onto Eibachs - Hamish will know for defo.

**MartinK** · Tuesday 18th October 2005, 13:33

I might be in the market for some suspension mods too. I found out how bad the cornering is this morning. A bumpy left hander (that I can usually take at 50mph in my 406 coupe) had the C70 wallowing half-way across the road before I managed to pull it back. God knows how bad it looked from the point of view of the poor guy I'd just overtaken.

I've already got SW Autos to order me a strut brace, so we'll see how much that improves things before I decide on springs and shocks.

How long does it take to fit suspension kits like this? I'm already looking at several hundred quid for parts. I'm guessing the bill will rise to the order of a grand when I include labour costs.

**Wobbly Dave** · Tuesday 18th October 2005, 13:46

Martin,
I had mine done @ VT - on my 850R, originally & Fitting was done within a day and loan cars are available if you need them.
the standard price for a complete suspension upgrade used to be about £850 from VT for Eibachs/Monroes for all 4 corners fitted. But that was ages ago. Parts have come down in price since then.
I would do some research - get quotes from them?

If you need a demo then I'd be happy to show you so you can get a feel for the monroes.

**MartinK** · Tuesday 18th October 2005, 14:11

Originally Posted by Wobbly Dave

If you need a demo then I'd be happy to show you so you can get a feel for the monroes.

Dave, that'd be cool. I'll wait until the strut brace turns up, then I'll be in touch.

Upgrading the suspension has suddenly become much more important than a power hike.

**Wobbly Dave** · Tuesday 18th October 2005, 14:18

Chicken and egg - some like the power only to find handling becomes a bit more fruity than they would like, and some get the handling only to find they havent got the welly to induce the 4 wheel slide.

**siamblue** · Tuesday 18th October 2005, 14:21

Originally Posted by MartinK

Dave, that'd be cool. I'll wait until the strut brace turns up, then I'll be in touch.

Upgrading the suspension has suddenly become much more important than a power hike.

I agree Martin I must admit it's a bit crazy going for a power mod and not uprating your brakes and suspension, but each to their own,

Andrew · Tuesday 18th October 2005, 14:23

MartinK

I wouldn't change anything till your warrenty runs out. Strut brace is ok as it's a volvo part.

Andrew.

**MartinK** · Tuesday 18th October 2005, 14:24

I'm not sure I'd want to induce a slide around this particular corner.

**MartinK** · Tuesday 18th October 2005, 14:30

Originally Posted by Andrew

I wouldn't change anything till your warrenty runs out. Strut brace is ok as it's a volvo part.

It'll give me a bit of time to save up, too.

Andrew · Tuesday 18th October 2005, 14:30

Ok I'm going to tell you how to fix it without invalidating your warrenty but don't tell anyone else this stuff is gold!...

Take right foot from right pedal - place on middle pedal prior to going around corner...

ssshhh don't tell anyone....

**MartinK** · Tuesday 18th October 2005, 14:32

Originally Posted by Andrew

Take right foot from right pedal - place on middle pedal prior to going around corner...

You're babbling, son. You're not making any sense.

Andrew · Friday 21st October 2005, 08:24

Originally Posted by MartinK

You're babbling, son. You're not making any sense.

I'll explain it to you tonight Martin and give you a practical demonstration.

**elliot** · Friday 21st October 2005, 10:58

Larkspeed are selling the koni kit at £380 ish i think 4 adjustable koni dampers apex springs with a very nice drop all around and poly bump stops on the front.The old man has just fitted it to his T5R and it handles very well the only slight fault being the ride in the back if a tad firm even on full soft but still better than std T5R.I have tried eibachs and found the drop to subtle and the springs slightly to soft so moved on.