Swift Sport Owners?

Django x2

Django x2

Django x2

Soldato
Joined
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Britain
Picked up one of these for the GFs birthday last October.

Two things I'd love to change

1) add a 6th gear (obviously can't do that)
2) tidy up the suspension

Don't get me wrong, it handles brilliantly, in fact, I sometimes prefer to take it out over the E60 because it reminds me of a simpler time where driver input and feedback is everything. However, it's almost too raw. Now I might just be getting old, but show it anything more than a twig and you really know about it. I'd like to at least sort out the comfort levels.

What Coilover kits are available or recommended for these little beauties?

Thanks
 
The swift drives great, i took one out and loved. I see what you mean by the suspension. I think its also because it uses big rims which make the car really crashy like the fiesta ST.

Whats stopped me buying one was that stupidly small boot.
 
Thats just it. Coilovers will allow a soft setting but keep the ride height low thus centre of mavity and probably won't impact the handling that much. Certainly not to an extent that my GF will notice anyway :p
 
Firestar_3x said:
Interesting, how badly did they design the non sport then it has smaller wheels baloon tyres and must have softer suspension?
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It doesn't. My mum has the 1.5 but she had a sport as a courtesy car, the sport is harder but I wouldn't exactly call it hard suspension.
 
danza said:
Apparently the Sport has a better ride than the lower models.

I love mine, it handles like a go-kart. :cool:
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Well that is lies for a start lol

I've owned a 1.3 and now have the sport. The 1.3 handled well and you really didn't feel as many pot holes etc.

I hear you about the 6th gear! apparently the new one (due end of year) will have a 6th gear and more power. (same engine though.. so don't think it will be much more)
 
[TW]Fox;18743195 said:
You want to improve the ride quality, so are going for coilovers?!
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Yes, what part of this evades you? If I wanted lowering springs, I could imagine a reply like yours, but coilovers offer far more than the OEM application ever could, including adjustable rebound, spring rate and ride hide. All of which, adjusted correctly, would offer the same (if not better) handling than OEM plus all the benefits of a better comfort.

If I was fitting just springs and dampers, I would expect a worse ride but coilovers offer a lot more. Do some research, then post back in this thread. Thanks
 
Coilovers are generally much stiffer from the start though, even wound all the way back they'll still be harder than stock springs. People don't buy them for comfort.
 
Lucero said:
Yes, what part of this evades you?
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Oh here we go - you've engaged aggression mode.

All of which, adjusted correctly, would offer the same (if not better) handling than OEM plus all the benefits of a better comfort.
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I think you are going to be very dissapointed if you are expecting a set of coilovers to improve the ride quality over the standard Suzuki suspension. That isn't what they are for. Just because they are adjustable doesnt mean they have an extreme comfort setting or something.

If I was fitting just springs and dampers, I would expect a worse ride but coilovers offer a lot more. Do some research, then post back in this thread. Thanks
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I think it's you who needs to do the research before you spend a fortune on suspension and end up not acheiving what you are after.
 
Sorry, I might have been a tad tipsy when I posted that ;)

In which case, I'll put the sport springs on the normal swift dampers!! :)

To be fair, with adjustable rebound rate, that's all I'm looking to alter. The swift shocks recoil far too quickly which is their only let down. If it was more progressive it would solve the niggling issue. If I can slow it down (which I could easily do with coilovers) then it would be a nicer ride, still firm, but not as crashy. Most cars I've had the pleasure of driving with coilovers are better than OEM, although I guess they've been cars that are fairly capable of soaking up the bumps anyway (compared to the Swift). 911, M3, etc.
 
Lucero said:
Thats just it. Coilovers will allow a soft setting but keep the ride height low thus centre of mavity and probably won't impact the handling that much. Certainly not to an extent that my GF will notice anyway :p
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good in theory, but coilovers will invariably have very stiff springs, unless you get something customer done by GAZ.

so with adjustable damping, to an extent, youre having to tailor the damping to suit the massive spring rate. underdamp a heavy spring and youve got a pogo stick ride.

unless youre willing to chuck loads of money at it i think youre wasting your time.
 
Lucero said:
Yes, what part of this evades you? If I wanted lowering springs, I could imagine a reply like yours, but coilovers offer far more than the OEM application ever could, including adjustable rebound, spring rate and ride hide. All of which, adjusted correctly, would offer the same (if not better) handling than OEM plus all the benefits of a better comfort.

If I was fitting just springs and dampers, I would expect a worse ride but coilovers offer a lot more. Do some research, then post back in this thread. Thanks
Click to expand...

Coil overs ARE just springs and dampers; no more, no less. There seems to be this belief that they are some kind of magical device that can transform the handling of a car - but they are typically just a McPherson strut with some adjustment built in.

If you lower the ride height you simply can't get away with using a lower spring rate as it will be bottoming out constantly; not good for ride or handling. To get a good ride you need plenty of suspension travel and an appropriate spring rate.
 
Lucero said:
Sorry, I might have been a tad tipsy when I posted that ;)

In which case, I'll put the sport springs on the normal swift dampers!! :)

To be fair, with adjustable rebound rate, that's all I'm looking to alter. The swift shocks recoil far too quickly which is their only let down. If it was more progressive it would solve the niggling issue. If I can slow it down (which I could easily do with coilovers) then it would be a nicer ride, still firm, but not as crashy. Most cars I've had the pleasure of driving with coilovers are better than OEM, although I guess they've been cars that are fairly capable of soaking up the bumps anyway (compared to the Swift). 911, M3, etc.
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You can't just go reducing the rebound rate of a shock and for everything to be fine. You may find that if the rebound rate isn't high enough then the shock will not get back to original position before another bump in the road. Thus making the suspension compress and the effective ride height reduced when driving, making it even more likely to hit the bump stops often.

The best thing you can do really is get rebuildable shocks with custom made springs. Then keep with the standard ride height and get the shocks rebuilt to suit you're wanted spring rates. The shocks will be of better quality than the stock ones which should result in a better ride if the company rebuilding the shocks knows their stuff. Though people will often do this not for comfort, but for performance so you might be pushing their knowledge.

I improved the ride quality on my mx5 by swapping for smaller bump stops, raising the ride height by 10mm and increasing the spring rate to suit my dampers. Now the ride is much less crashy due to it not hitting the bump stops all the time, this is what you will have to be careful of if you are wanting to improve the suspension on the Swift.
 
and its taken me well over a year to get the damping dialled in even close to right on the golf.

youll think youre getting somewhere, make a change, have a eureka moment and realise youve not even scratched the surface yet
 
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