Setting Up Gaz Coilovers

[Guest donny206]

I have just got my set of gaz coilovers and was wondering what is the best way to get them setup right?

 

The height is pretty simple but with the dampers, harder front or rear etc?? And also do i put them on the hardest and work outwards?

 

It will mainly be a road car but a few bumps doesn't bother me but dont want my windows falling out etc lol

[Guest RACEFACE120]

I set the rears on mine to fully hard, and set the fronts to about 2 and half turns from softest this seemed to work pretty well. I found the best improvement came from changing the springs fro the 275lbs one supplied to some 200lbs ones as this improved the ride quality and front end grip. this was on a standard 1.9.

 

HTH

 

Pete.

[Pugnut 9 1 Cars]

i'm no expert on coilovers but on other adjustables (no expert either)i normally start on the middle settings all round .once you've got the settings good for a straight line and you're personal preferences then work on the cornering. the harder the back is compared to the front the better the turn in will be . As with all suspension you're final settings will be a comprimise rather than 'the perfect setup'

 

please do a review on the gaz coilovers , i just recieved mine today

 

cheers Al

 

p.s. mine came with 8" 250lb springs

[tom_m 0]

the first thing you wanna do is get yourself a set of 180-200lb springs 250lbs+ is too stiff, unless you're running a seriously solid back end.

 

i'm running 180lb springs on my coilovers with 21mm torsion bars and standard dampers on the rear end. turn in is excelent

[pug_life 0]

i got 200lb springs with mine

 

personally don't stiffen rear as i had this on mine to start with and tailhappy was an understatement

it was that bad that letting off on sliproads off motorways resulted in sideways action...

 

go softer at rear and if you have torsion bars lowered then go 5-10mm lower at front and stiffer but not too stiff or you will experience alot more understeer

[Martin@PRD 0]

Why would you let off on a corner in an fwd car, especially a 205?

 

You have only been driving for a year!!!

 

So I'm sure your flat mate is telling you this, who has experience with rwd F3

 

The rear should be lower, as heavy braking, part throttle and letting off makes the car swing round more if it’s higher at the back.

 

Always set the suspension to you requirements at part throttle while counering, so you can reduce over steering with the throttle, This why in experienced people crash because they panic when going side ways and then let off when their foot should be to the floor.

Edited December 9, 2005 by Martin@PRD

[pug_life 0]

over 2 years thank you martin

i'll ignore the cocky comments

[Wurzel 16]

I've been running my coilovers (GAZ) for a while now with the 275lb springs. Fronts are set at mid level whilst the rears are set to stiffest.

 

This is running a set of 23mm torsion bars and a 25mm arb. The spring poundage does need to be changed depening on the rear and you'll see significant changes. Mine seems to be balanced well now but is obviously quite stiff. The damping setting on these dampers seems to be quite soft and so the ride is still pretty good.

 

No leaks or corrosion yet despite the car being used regularly (although not recently) on wet roads etc. So far they seem to be a good quality budget coilover kit.

 

I regularly turn the setting dial fully from full soft to full hard though to prevent it seizing, especially the rears which are exposed. The fronts tended to corrode slightly but a dab of engine oil every now and then prevents further problems.

[Guest donny206]

what about height setting how do u know u got like 30mm lower etc

Edited December 10, 2005 by donny206

[Guest donny206]

oh and if you didn't know these are going on a 206 and how the fcuk do you get them compressed for the top nut not go in? The spring copressors dont fit inbetween the spring and damper so im screwed lol

[veloce200 3]

oh and if you didn't know these are going on a 206 and how the fcuk do you get them compressed for the top nut not go in? The spring copressors dont fit inbetween the spring and damper so im screwed lol

is the lower seat wound all the way down the coilover? Have you pulled the piston rod all the way out?

[Guest donny206]

should the yellow bush thingy still go on with the coilovers?

 

Ive put on on and only just thought about this now, and the hub seems to be alot higher off the ground then before when it was lowered 40mm

Edited December 10, 2005 by donny206

[veloce200 3]

yes you need the bumpstop. I can't see why you would need a spring compressor - the spring is short and the there would be plenty of room to get the top mount on? The strut will be a lot shorter than original but the springs are stiffer so you have drop under compression and the struts are shortened to give less droop.

Edited December 10, 2005 by veloce200

[Guest donny206]

right ok i think i got that sorted apart from getting the bump stop on right but i havent looked yet but any tips obviously will save me time

[Wurzel 16]

The biggest problem, namely around MOT time, will be the fact that the spring will come away from the top spring pan when the car is jacked up. To overcome this, you'll have to raise the lower spring pan so the spring is held firm (car jacked up). The front will be much higher than you're used to but it is only for the MOT.

 

The bump stop sits inside the spring. Assemble the whole strut and top mount off the car, tighten the lower spring pan up and the bump stop will squeeze into the spring. Mine wasn't that tight and went in by hand. Fitting them took about an hour from old struts off to new coilovers on and driving down the road.

[kyepan 291]

hi there,

 

Just got my GAZ coilovers and shocks..and refub rear beam.. and topmounts, bearings, group a / n rear mounts.. so I am also hunting for a decent initial set up.. have trawled through an hour of searches.. without much concrete consensus. .

 

is this around right for fast road and a little bit of track?

 

rear beam 1 spline lower.. already done

rear shock stiffness.. about half to begin

Front height - 35mm.. not sure how to reference against original as the car is in bits

Front stiffness... ?!?!?

 

 

 

any help or similar set ups or suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

cheers.

 

Justin.

[veloce200 3]

hi there,

 

Just got my GAZ coilovers and shocks..and refub rear beam.. and topmounts, bearings, group a / n rear mounts.. so I am also hunting for a decent initial set up.. have trawled through an hour of searches.. without much concrete consensus. .

 

is this around right for fast road and a little bit of track?

 

rear beam 1 spline lower.. already done

rear shock stiffness.. about half to begin

Front height - 35mm.. not sure how to reference against original as the car is in bits

Front stiffness... ?!?!?

any help or similar set ups or suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

cheers.

 

Justin.

 

there is a correct level of damping. start at 3 up from full soft then dial in first front and then rear, but remember front is rebound only. full hard on rear is way too much unless you had like 30 torsion bars. Your looking for enough damping to stop bouncing at higher speeds. too much and you loose grip. too little and you lose grip. PM me your email - I wrote a good guide explaining damper set up.

[kyepan 291]

Cool thanks for the reply, got the bushes in and the new dampers on the front, the difference is unbelievable.

 

The tyres are working much more effectivly now, you can really load it up and then hear the tyres make that shrill squeal, and the level of accessible grip is much higher, roll is reduced, set the height just below standard. and about ten clicks from soft, seems to be a good starting point, 3 was way too soft.

 

does anyone know the standard distance from ground to top of the arch? as i want to set mine 35mm lower

 

Have not done the backs yet, but have the new bushes in the new beam, got used to burning and smacking the carp out of them.. got all four out and replaced in about an hour.

 

Will change the rear beam tomorrow, weather permitting.

Edited April 16, 2006 by kyepan

[parry 23 1 Cars]

I have been running Gaz coilovers (front only) for over a year now for dedicated track work. The way I adjust the front is thus:

 

Start off at half way, go out do 4 laps. If the car was skipping through a left hand corner I woul then soften the right hand side shock.

 

No skip then I will go up a turn or half until it did skip and then dial back.

 

Every track is diferent.

[kyepan 291]

got the rears on now,

 

before the front end grip was very good, now i'm in understeer city, with the back feeling slow to respond and bouncy...

 

 

does having the rear beam lowered one spline effectively reduce the spring rate?

[kyepan 291]

thought a little bit more of a systematic approach may help others in the long run.

 

All heights measured from center of wheel to high point of wheel arch... how do they compare to standard.

car has poly bushes at front, group a mounts at rear and height / stiffness adjustable gaz coilovers.

 

Height rear 322mm

Height front 319mm

 

Rear, 3 from soft

Front 5 from soft

result: Too soft and squidgy off curb, did not test further

 

Rear, 3 from soft

Front 10 from soft

result: good ride, some understeer, rear scrubbing on turn in

 

Rear, 10 from soft

Front 10 from soft

result: good ride, some understeer, not greatest turn in, unable to provoke oversteer

 

Front 15 from soft

Rear 10 from soft

Result: best cornering speed on smooth surface, little bit unsettled on rougher roads, unable to provoke oversteer

 

 

with a slightly lower front the car felt like it wanted to turn in more

Height rear 322mm

height front 311mm

 

caught the exaust probably about 8 times with this set up in one evening.

 

front 4 from soft

Rear 15 from soft

Result: scrubbing at front on turn in, woefull understeer, back drags behind, bottomed out several times at motorway speeds

 

Front 30 from soft.. 2 cm movement at most when leaning on wing...

rear 15 from soft

Result: light steering and precice turn in, super grip on smooth surface, car bounces across undulations and bangs on bumps.. a little scary

 

Front 20 from soft

rear 15 from soft

Result: fairly precice turn in, good grip on smooth surface, small bounces across undulations felt very planted, progressive understeer when pushing..

 

 

 

Going to raise the front next time ( will this increase preload on spring and increase bouncyness?) and play with some settings may try some super hard rear damper settings to see if i can provoke over steer or dial out the understeer that seems to be the common behavour.

 

any thoughts and advice on setup welcome.

Edited April 25, 2006 by kyepan

[kyepan 291]

Front 20 from soft

rear 32 from soft -eek

Result: strange things happen when you turn in hard, sounds like front inside wheel is lifting cause the rev's rise and the dif spins.. feels planted when flat with some gentle progressive understeer

 

 

Front 20 from soft

rear 24 from soft

Result: good all round dry set up, back feels planted and strong, front turn in and understeer progressive and controllable.

 

 

Any thoughts and advice on setup still welcome, and if anyone can answer these two question i would be gratefull..

 

Still have to raise front, but that can wait till the weekend.

 

Does lowering the beam 1 spline, effectivly reduce the spring rate at the rear.

Does raising the front by about 2cm increase the spring rate because your preloading? (250lb springs)

[jackherer 543]

when setting the front ride height have you looked at the wishbone angles? if they are 'pointing the wrong way' (subframe end lower than hub end) then the ride height is too low IMO and raising it will help massively.

[smckeown 1]

if it helps, here are my LEDA setups.

 

Out of 25 clicks:

 

Front - 4 road, 6 track

Rear - ~18 road, 23-25 track

[veloce200 3]

Does lowering the beam 1 spline, effectivly reduce the spring rate at the rear.

Does raising the front by about 2cm increase the spring rate because your preloading? (250lb springs)

 

 

NO and NO. Spring rate will only change by either cutting the front springs so there are fewer coils or if the coil is progressive (which it is not on a coilover) where lower coils come into contact with each other. On the rear you cannot alter the torsion bar rate. the only rate change will come about when you hit the rubber bumpstop. Strongly recommend not doing this as the sudden rate change mid corner can cause sudden oversteer. I think I sent you a damper set up guide which explains how your front (rebound only) and rear (bump and rebound) interract together. There is a "right" mid point level of damping where the damper effectively controls the oscillation of the spring... turn them up and to a point you can gain grip - go to far and you lose grip. Bilsteins are not adjustable and many people have excellent results with them with variable spring rates. Turning adjustables up as far as you have gone effectively stops the suspension working properly. Not only that you can damage the car. On some cars turning dampers up full can make the top mount literally rip through the bodywork (fortunately not on the Pug).