Soldato
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- 24 Apr 2007
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Lowering Springs
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Brilliant! Are you Bill Gates?!
william actually.
Soldato
- Joined
- 26 Aug 2003
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dont bother with springs you need matched dampers aswell ome shocks dont like uprated springs
Not true, not entirely false though as it depends on the application. A lot of aftermarket springs are specifically designed to work with OEM set-up's.
Ding Ding Ding. Round 2.
Soldato
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- 11 Dec 2005
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This is true, like Eibach lowering springs on new MX5's, mazda offer them as a dealer fit option.
Bunging random springs on is another issue all together, covered earlier in this thread.
the makers would say that though
can you explain why a manufactuer would specify a damper for their oem spring and how that damper can be perfectly ok with an uprated lower spring?
you need an uprated damper to cope with the new forces the uprated spring is capable of
well they probably have the same spring rate as ome no way to tell unless you can get hold of the spring rates
eibach claim their sport springs are designed for oe dampers... which is complete rubbish. they are so much harder than stock.
Eibach did a kit for the Mk1 focus which was supposed to be very good and was Ford approved.
Never heard of this weitec kit, but the estate version is definitely different loadings to the hatch so be aware the back will probably sit a bit higher than it should and this will impact handling.
I had Tein replacement springs on my S2000 with the standard Showa dampers. It was good, but so hard that bumpy b roads resulted in you literally bouncing side to side.
The Focus Mk1 is 'fire and forget' geometry so you can't adjust camber and caster at the front, nor the camber at the back, so you would have to get plates to do any adjustments if you pick some random make springs.
In short, your best option to improve is doing something like an Andy Walsh car control day, (not a full blown one when its 1-2-1, as thats a bit mental for just a focus) you wont be anywhere near the cars capabilities more than likely.
Never heard of this weitec kit, but the estate version is definitely different loadings to the hatch so be aware the back will probably sit a bit higher than it should and this will impact handling.
I had Tein replacement springs on my S2000 with the standard Showa dampers. It was good, but so hard that bumpy b roads resulted in you literally bouncing side to side.
The Focus Mk1 is 'fire and forget' geometry so you can't adjust camber and caster at the front, nor the camber at the back, so you would have to get plates to do any adjustments if you pick some random make springs.
In short, your best option to improve is doing something like an Andy Walsh car control day, (not a full blown one when its 1-2-1, as thats a bit mental for just a focus) you wont be anywhere near the cars capabilities more than likely.
Soldato
- Joined
- 18 May 2010
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The Mazda Aero kit for the Mazda 3 MPS consists of eibach pro kit springs
I'm sure we'll all miss you when you die in a ball of flames after losing control of your car due to changing teh springs
I'm thinking about either changing my shock absorbers, or getting a coilover kit when funds allow at somepoint next year.
This is correct, although it's highly recommended the springs are only upgraded on Mk1 Focus models with the 'Zetec' dampers, as these are firmer and are known to be able to cope with the extra load from the shorter firmer eibach suspension springs.
LX and Ghia trim models will suffer a lot with damper wear.
I had a set of Eibachs on my old Mk1.5 focus zetec, and it made the car sit perfectly, and the cornering was a lot smoother. The ride was more rough especially when I stuck the ST170 alloys on her!
I now also have Eibach springs on my Focus ST3, she handles like a dream too, and I still need to get the alignment and geometry sorted out too.
You not got any plans to go further with the suspension?
Looking to sell now, so no.
If I were to keep her I probably would have got some ARB's and bushes. But the ride is pretty harsh as it is round here, jump up out of my seat whenever I go over a line of paint in the road!