please help with my suspension

[vx mad]

hello i come on here quite a bit and have a look around but i need some guidance or help with my suspension i have a nova c20xe and it was lowered on 60mm springs but the ride was unbareable so i bought some courtney springs for the front and some hardened corsa springs for the rear now its rediculessly high i put 16s on and there was still a 2" gap i put the courtney springs on the shocks which was already on the car and not used the billy b8s that courtney recomend i need to lower the car cos it looks bloodey stupid but i cant afford the b8s and the car is now undriveable cos its on stilts and i nearly crashed it on the test drive after fitting it

1 could i put shortened shocks for a 1.6 gsi on with the courtney springs to lower it a little and then match up the back
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VAUXHALL-NOVA-83-93-1-6-GTE-FRONT-PI-SHORTENED-SHOCK-ABSORBER-/230729384176?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item35b88b00f0
2 or do i need coilovers all round and if so can anyone recomend good a budget kit

heres how it looks and i think you will all agree it looks daft but im stuck guys
http://s1088.photobucket.com/albums/i337/aldawn1/?action=view&current=Picture759.jpg

any help will be greatly appreciated thankyou

[mowgli]

here, you can borrow some of my commas & full stops ,,,,,,,,,,,............. lol

seriously, what you need to do is decide what you are actually after. is it handling, or looks, or a bit of both?

then you need to decide a ride height that suits you.

and finally save up for some decent stuff, basically the most expensive full car set you can afford, as buying bits & bobs can lead to even more trouble..

the gsi shock absorbers will lower the spring by about 30mm compared to an original nova shock absorber.

[Edd]

Just get the b8's

Any nova that is low is going to be a harsh ride even more so with a two ton xe in it

[Alex J]

get some coilovers, job done! springs and shocks are kak on an xe nova

[Jack]

I used Koni adjustable suspension when I had my XE - wasn't too bad. Not a harsh ride but I did have quite fat tyres. It was sat on the floor when I put the V6 in though so switched to Spax RSX Coilovers.

Bought both second hand for reasonable prices - I can't remember how much the Konis were (not too much iirc) but the Coilovers were around £200.

Are GSi dampers really 30mm shorter? I thought it was more like 10-15mm or so.

[mowgli]

mine were about that jack.. it is on -30 spax, and it used to be about -60 on the front with gte dampers, i have stock size ones now.

[Edd]

get some coilovers, job done! springs and shocks are kak on an xe nova

everyone will have a different opinion one suspension

Personally I won't use any other shocks than yellow bilstein

Every coilover set up ive used has been utter rubbish

[vx mad]

Sorry mowgli, I needed to get everything down on this thread and forgot all about my grammar lol.

Thankyou for replying guys i really apreciate this. And i can see there is a wide opinion on this some of you prefer coilys and some say get the b8, and the gsi ones will drop the car about 30mm.
Basically i dont want the car sat on its a"s* i want to be able to enjoy the car at weekends
So it looks like it could be the b8 or the gsi ones.
But any more input would be great cos im really pulling my hair out

thankyou again

[Stuart]

everyone will have a different opinion one suspension

Personally I won't use any other shocks than yellow bilstein

Every coilover set up ive used has been utter rubbish


Or setup badly..... Coil overs aren't an off the shelf to instant perfect handling as they need a bit of thought for the given application etc.

[BRoadGhost]

Getting the spring rate right makes the conversion useable - If you want it lower understand you embark on all manner of undesirable angles that take some proper engineering to remedy. That said it could still be ok a bit lower.

[Bubba]

Or setup badly..... Coil overs aren't an off the shelf to instant perfect handling as they need a bit of thought for the given application etc.

wind all the way down...remove helper spring...chop coil off actual spring...bingo...you has epic stance and are now uber cool along with your 15degrees of camber and super streched tires