Lower / Stiffer Front

[Furyblade_Lee 2]

Hi guys, we have an '88 205 open which we use for autotests and autosolos, and i'd like to lower the front by just a couple of inches( it seems really high as is ) and go for stiffer front springs to reduce the comedy body roll a bit! Can anyone reccomend a good setup and where to get some lower / stiffer springs and good dampers? I will also be replacing all the worn bushes too. Cheers.

[johnnyboy666 195 1 Cars]

depends what your buget is really! theres a few options:

- swap for gti front shocks and springs (although im not sure if that would drop it much due to the lighter engine in yours)

-fit some lowering springs to your current shocks (eibach are a good place to start)

- get some uprated shocks and lowering springs, either second hand, or new (bilstien are well regarded but not cheap)

- go with coilovers with adjustable ride height, adjustable damping and plenty of spring length/stiffness options

[welshpug 1,646]

what surfaces is it used on? I wouldn't be particularly concerned with body roll as long as it is still gripping.

[Cameron 16]

What he said!

 

Edit: The first guy I mean! I would be concerned with body roll as it gives pretty unfavourable geometry.

Edited August 6, 2012 by Cameron

[MiniGibbo 142]

I have apex springs and billi dampers and for back road sunny Sunday drives its pretty impressive IMO..

 

Very capable.

[Anthony 1,002]

It's worth keeping in mind that merely lowering and stiffening the front in isolation without also doing the rear to match is unlikely to improve things.

[kyepan 291]

A stiff rear anti roll bar will do more for the handling than any lowering at the front, keeping standard ride height will give you better geometry, less bump steer etc. That and a decent quality front strut brace.

 

Stiff low front will make it boring to drive and understeer more

Edited August 6, 2012 by kyepan

[Furyblade_Lee 2]

Cheers. The car is currently mainly used on grass Autotests but will be tarmac soon as my nephew hits 16 and can enter Autosolos. but also we will be using it for 1400cc road rallying in the future, we are doing a tulip book fun rally in France in September. I bought it to teach my 15 year old nephew to drive in, going into the last round he is winning the Sevenoaks Motor Club Autotest championship junior class, despite entering the first round after only 30 minutes of driving in a field being his only experience... The last round is at Brands this Sunday in the fields there, he is only top due to entering all the rounds but even after having to drop a score he will hopefully come in the top 3. Its nice to know too a streeetwise 15 year old in 2012 still thinks a 205 is "well cool" !

 

Currently the body roll is of "comedy" levels, I need to reign it in a bit and just want basically a shopping list of parts to buy. It sits really high at the front, a couple of inches would not hurt, it certainly won't excite the "stance" boys even with a couple of inches!

 

I know my way around a set of spanners having built and SVA'd kit cars, an currenty sprint an R1 bike-engined road legal car and also a 1971 mini cooper S in the Sevenoaks Motor Club Speed League. But I absolutely love the cheap little 205, bought drunkard on ebay for £181.49p! In the past I have owned a 205 1.6Gti and a 1.9 Gti 309 ( stupidly though in innocence I bought one of the low power 110bhp 1.9 Gti's, just my luck