Advise on suspension/brake mods

[Ettienne]

aye that's what pete said in post #8

I didn't realise anyone but myself had used the ashdvs set up?

He uses different discs and calipers on his 320s

[Jamest5r]

nice bits though

this thread has got me thinking about coilovers now...! If that group buy reappears I could be up for it

And me I'd be in

[S70T5Chris]

And me I'd be in

Didn't Wobbly attempt to sort a group buy for BC's a while ago? I think it fell flat on it's face. The BC's are so cheap anyway, I don't think there's a lot of room for movement. I got mine from Larkspeed for approx £650 delivered.

[Nealevo]

I phoned them up direct and got a little discount, it wasn't worth the hassle of the extra £10 I'd have saved for a group buy.

[jamesy12345]

I didn't realise anyone but myself had used the ashdvs set up?

He uses different discs and calipers on his 320s

I'm not having a dig Steve, I just don't understand what you have suggested - you've mentioned a few different sized discs, and I see Graham as someone who will do a whole load of research before fitting the best he can find in a kit/in one go and leaving it on.

(...maybe only leaving on for one week!!)

Pete suggested V50 items...if you are saying use something else maybe I missed the idea of it

[V70 Graham]

So many options! I guess it all depends on what you want from the car?

Here would be my favourite options, depending on what you want from the car:

Suspension:

Koni FSD (not suitable for lowering springs) & new standard Volvo springs (may be R equipment?) - This would be your most comfortable option. If your current setup is a mixture of old and cheap gear, then a factory refresh will make the world of difference. FSD's are a nice alternative to using factory shocks.

Bilstein B6's & H&R lowering springs - A pretty expensive option, especially if you want to replace top mounts as well, this will probably run well over £1k in parts. But will retain most of the comfort as the above option, plus the addition of a more planted sporty feel. H&R springs would be my number 1 choice of lowering springs. The most expensive (approx £275 a set) of the lowering spring options, but performance and comfort from these springs is second to none.

Koni Yellow kit - Excellent value for money, roughly £650. Complete kit with adjustable shocks and matching lowering springs. You could just buy the shocks, and use the H&R springs. The shocks are adjustable rebound damping with the twist of a knob, so you can have a play to set the ride how hard you want. But even on max soft i think they would be harsher than either of the above options. But by no means crashy or back breaking. I remember being in a mates 850 a few years ago with these set quite hard, and the car handled beautifully, but for everyday use the way he had it would soon get son your tits.

BC BR Series Coilovers (not the V1's!) - The absolute best value suspension you could spend your money on. Fully adjustable ride height and damping. The kit includes top mounts, the fronts are camber adjustable too. They're very good quality, and as far as I know no-one has had to have any shocks rebuilt. The ride can be set as soft or hard as you require, but as above the unlikely to the the same level of comfort as FSD/B6's. Obviously you have a fair amount of height adjustment also, but the key to getting them to ride nice is not to go too mad on lowering the car. My 850 is set roughly standard ride height with the shocks set sensibly in the middle somewhere. The ride is firm ish, but not crashy, and copes with bumps in the road well. Yet rag it round a bend, and it feels planted and level (granted I do also have an IPD rear ARB), it's a very nice all round set up IMO.

KW Variant 2 Coilovers - The best of the best! Fully adjustable, superb quality. When set up properly, (and to quote Mr W!) The best way to describe the ride is like driving a modern new car. Comfortable, stable yet firm and capable, they absolutely tick all the boxes. But they come with the price tag too. Once you factor in top mounts, you'll probably be looking at £1500 ish. Again the key to get the ride right, is to not be drawn into the temptation of slamming the car, which is where most people go wrong with coilovers.


Brakes:

It all depends on what you want to achieve. Decent brakes for the road? Decent brakes for the road and track? Just a bit of bling?

302's - 302mm brakes, using genuine Volvo discs and Genuine Volvo pads, with decent new fluid (I use ATE Superblue). That will be plenty good enough for the road. I doubt you'd ever get in enough trouble on the road to have any issue with a good 302 setup. If you do, your driving way to fast for the road! You always have the option to upgrade the pads to DS2500's if you prefer, which will improve them and cut down on the possibility of fade.

Using V50 or XC90 or other retro fitted Volvo brakes as mentioned above - I don't really know anything about. So can't really comment.

Brembo "Big Reds" - As used on the Porsche 993tt. Not to be confused with other, cheaper Brembo calipers. I had these on my S70. They were stunning. Using S60R discs, and Ferodo DS2500 pads, I never had one issue at all, ever, on any track day. And ask anyone who knows my driving style, I batter the brakes! LOL! They're an excellent option, as replacement discs and pads are very sensibly priced. Plus, piece the kit together, and you'll never lose a penny, you'll always be able to sell them for what you bought them for. They are an excellent option. They work as well as anything else and give a huge amount of bling also. Only downside is the wheel clearance. You end up with quite a large spacer if you wanted to use the comets. That's why most of the guys using this or similar set ups use an aftermarket wheel with quite a deep offset. My Pro Race 1.2's were 17x8 ET38. Genuine 17" Pegs do clear these brakes however, just! But they are like rocking horse poo. Having said that, Redbrick just sold a set and I believe will have another set for sale shortly.

AP's - The ultimate, I guess. But most expensive! Over £2k if you buy a kit from someone. But can be pieced together for a lot less, that's what I did with my 850. Calipers aren't hard to find, I got mine from Ebay for £400ish. Discs from Reyland are excellent value @ approx £250 a set, and DS2500 pads are only a little over £100! Bells and brackets are a bit more of a pain to organize, but can be done, as that's what I did. Including a refurb in my choice of colour, my complete kit with all new components came out at about £1300. As above these brakes will do what ever you require from them on the road or track, and add plenty of bling to boot. Not so much clearance issue as the Big Reds, some Volvo 17's will clear without spacers. Although, if you're not going on a track running a small spacer isn't exactly an issue.

Cheaper Brembos - There have been a few kits pieced together using Boxster calipers or Renault calipers or similar. Braking performance isn't going to be as high as the AP kit or the Big Reds kit, but still going to be a good improvement over a standard 302 set up. And fairly cheap too. If I was going to be using the car on a track a lot, I'm not sure I'd run with any of these options. But for the road, ideal, and blingy too.

Hope that helps a bit!

Thanks Chris, though if your not going to do an in depth review don't bother

As far as I can see the B6/H&R option will work out to around £900 with the KW2's coming in at £1200

https://www.larkspeed.com/shopper/i/Q15267010

I'd have to add on fitting to that (unless someone would like some beer tokens )

My car is currently lowered around 30mm so the range of 35mm-65mm would probably see me at the lower end (35mm).

Brakes wise Ash has sent me a detailed e-mail which has all the details I need to price up the parts I would need for the V50 conversion, I could of course go AP running spacers, but would I then need to upgrade the rears ?

So many choices.....thank's to all those who have contributed so far.

[S70T5Chris]

No need to worry about the rears mate. Rears are purely for bling factor.

I haven't bothered doing the rears on my 850, yet

[S70T5Chris]

Thanks Chris, though if your not going to do an in depth review don't bother

As far as I can see the B6/H&R option will work out to around £900 with the KW2's coming in at £1200

https://www.larkspeed.com/shopper/i/Q15267010

I'd have to add on fitting to that (unless someone would like some beer tokens )

My car is currently lowered around 30mm so the range of 35mm-65mm would probably see me at the lower end (35mm).

Brakes wise Ash has sent me a detailed e-mail which has all the details I need to price up the parts I would need for the V50 conversion, I could of course go AP running spacers, but would I then need to upgrade the rears ?

So many choices.....thank's to all those who have contributed so far.

You may need/want to do your top mounts while your at it.

[jamesy12345]

As far as I can see the B6/H&R option will work out to around £900 with the KW2's coming in at £1200

https://www.larkspeed.com/shopper/i/Q15267010

...KW3's 'only' 200 quid more...overkill I know I know

https://www.larkspeed.com/index.pl?p=F35267010&a=i

[Redbrick]

It's much easier to price these upgrades by tanks of fuel. @ roughly £80 a tank those V3's are just two and a half tanks of fuel more... it' easy to justify when you do that.

[jamesy12345]

It's much easier to price these upgrades by tanks of fuel. @ roughly £80 a tank those V3's are just two and a half tanks of fuel more... it' easy to justify when you do that.

80 quid a tank you should be using v-power...or has fuel prices dropped so low now???

[V70 Graham]

It's much easier to price these upgrades by tanks of fuel. @ roughly £80 a tank those V3's are just two and a half tanks of fuel more... it' easy to justify when you do that.

Or roughly 50 Big Mac meals.....if I didn't eat for a week or two I'd almost be there lol

[jamesy12345]

This thread has almost convinced me to get that Gaz kit...you can buy loads of tins of waxoyl for the price difference to KW's

Or is it a Leda kit from Kalmar Union. Gaz Gold are not camber adjustable AFAIK, maybe with different top mounts. Anyway will see, thanks for a useful thread Graham

ps mcdonalds is the devil

[Ettienne]

This thread has almost convinced me to get that Gaz kit...you can buy loads of tins of waxoyl for the price difference to KW's

Or is it a Leda kit from Kalmar Union. Gaz Gold are not camber adjustable AFAIK, maybe with different top mounts. Anyway will see, thanks for a useful thread Graham

ps mcdonalds is the devil

Did you not fancy the bc's

[jamesy12345]

Did you not fancy the bc's

They look pretty good but the Gaz stuff is larger diameter so 'should' take a bit more punishment. I'm not scared of the corrosion on the tubes (quite happy to slap something like waxoyl on there...it doesn't need to look pretty). And getting stuff re-built/changing spring rates would be a lot easier with the manufacturer in the UK.

Speaking of corrosion, in my line of work (marine atmosphere), we don't mix different materials..or try not to without precautions. Won't mixing of stainless and carbon steel with the KWs cause galvanic corrosion..? Just a thought.

All this is just conjecture..think I need to put my money where my mouth is

[V70 Graham]

Won't mixing of stainless and carbon steel with the KWs cause galvanic corrosion..? Just a thought.

Will it what ?

On a serious note do coilovers cope with the winter weather ? I've also heard they need rebuilding every couple of years.

[Kingsford G]

I know from my experience Belstein shocks are good quality and made to last therefore is a good choice.

[jamesy12345]

Will it what ?

On a serious note do coilovers cope with the winter weather ? I've also heard they need rebuilding every couple of years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanic_corrosion just trying to convince myself tbh

Keep them clean I guess, rebuild when they leak...? Those threads at the base of the springs look like they would catch dirt but most of the designs are like that

Some good comments here about protecting them from crap:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=995558

...and coilover condoms!

I know from my experience Belstein shocks are good quality and made to last therefore is a good choice.

Agree with that they are on my Renault, but never seen any coilovers for p80 cars from them

[Redbrick]

The KW's hav some coating on them and don't rust. My 855 was lifted from its bump stops when Tim Williams set it up. Everything moved freely with no problems after years of being in use.

[Redbrick]

80 quid a tank you should be using v-power...or has fuel prices dropped so low now???

Yes I only use V-Power.