Suspension

[lightweight racer]

Hi guys

Am looking for some aftermarket dampers + springs. Have been informed that NOVA CUP Bilsteins are the best. Are these stil avaliable?
From where?
Or should i just go for a sprintline kit.

What seems to be the suspension choice on Novaload people?

Want best hadling (comfort not really an issue) but can't afford coilovers...yet! :lol:

Cheers.

Oh, and the cars a '91 1.4SR

[krobinson]

I have them in my car. Be prepared, they aint cheap!!

With -50mm springs they were very comfortable, handled great!

Now with -80mm springs they are a bit more harsh, but the handleing is still very good..

Keith

[Jules]

CorsaNova is selling his coilovers on ebay at the moment, there's a link in the parts for sale section somewhere.

[Dan]

i use the sprintline kit with some other small bits and peices and find my car fairly comfortable but one of the best handling nova's i have owned.

[peester]

i think that the sprintline kit (the cheap bilstein one anyway) is only 10% odd uprated. pretty much o.e. when i ordered a kit for my gsi on the invoice it said the rear shocks were o.e corsa gsi shocks. so i sent them back.

[rgv_stu]

streetline is the cheap one
sprintline are good uprated shocks

[Philsutton]

i have avo adjustables on mine, handles very well. But you can change the settings of the shocks to how you want them, so you can have them really hard or pretty much what they were like standard.

[Aragorn]

i have the STREETline kit and they are basically bilstein gas versions of the original nova shocks with some -35ish mm springs not shortened or owt

i find the ride is VERY hard and it does seem to handle well but i dunno how much better summat like the sprintline would be...

[rgv_stu]

they are better - bigger piston dampers can do a lot more work.

[NovaNeil]

streetline is pants in my opnion. On a smooth road or track its very good, but on a country road it bangs and crashes everywhere....... I've tried a lot of kits and its defo the worst for bangin and crashing over bumps.

The Kit has Black dampeners and the Cup dampeners and the Sprintline kit has yellow if im not mistaken....?!

[craig green]

STREETLINE ; AS ABOVE & WORSE..warranty knightmare for my dealer
SPRINTLINE ; better shocks with blue Eibach springs.
KONI ; pretty good but not low enough.
JAMEX; low & uncomfortable (tyres wore).
Courtenay ; Premium as Bilstein cups w/the best springs I know.
"" ; Clubman using decarbon dampers w/above springs.

I think most coilover kits are generally good. DO NOT use the Streetline kit or any of the Pi springs!! I would sugest new bottom arm bushes and check the holes in the chassis leg where they bolt through. Any ovalising of the holes needs a washer/s welding in place to strengthen/re-create new holes. Also, fit uprated Tie-bar bushes, this point is so highly stressed under all accelerating & Braking + cornering. They will be shot for sure.

I have had such a nightmare with suspension most people would have scrapped my car years ago. I'm surprised the shell hasnt cracked! I have had so many kits & parts that I have got an idea of most things. I'm happy now though. see my tech spec ..

[lightweight racer]

Are the Nova CUP dampers the same as the sprintline kit dampers?

Just anted the dampers really and then get some courtenay tarmac springs.

When the suspension is bought i'm replacing all the bushes for poly bushes. Have been told this should tighten the handling up no end.

Wot sort of price we looking at for Nova CUP dampers (Bilsteins)? I no the sprintline kit is about ?360 ish

Cheers

Lol @ Craig green - i wish my suspension was that stiff- at least it'd handle better!

[brizie69]

rite dont mean to hijack the post, but some1 must now roughly wot the best set up for a road/track nova is,every time its mentioned folk just scratch the surface and theres never bin any real guidence,sorry im very confused :? from wot iv heard the bilstein cup seems to b the best, but wot bout coilovers for the front and adjustables on the back?

another point!! it seems that for best handling u cant really go too low i cant see how that works!! i no theres lots of things to take in to account but all the quick novas seem to b decked 60mm or lower!!

some 1 shed some light!!!

cheers

ps-sorry 4 the essay!!

[Dan]

ok heres my spec breifly,

no front anti roll bar
sprintline kit
poly bushes all round
full rollcage

All those help make a good handling car for my personal taste. The car is supposed to be lowered 30mm from standard gte height but with the interior stripped and 99% of all standard gte's sagging on the springs etc it does look standard height. I have taken a few from this site out in it and have suprised them on quite how different it is in motion to how it looks



Dan took me out in his 1600 on Twin 40's the other day with his ARB removed and its handling was far superior to any of the GSi/GTE's i have come across.


slimjim,cp and cambridge have also been out in it and been pleasantly suprised from what i know. Alot is also driver capability and preference, 2 people could drive the same car but with massively different results.

[Stuart]

just because F1 cars sit on the floor dosent mean to say that is the best for every car in the world.

take tarmac rally cars (granted they run on crap pot holed tarmac, oh hang on no diff to our roads) they arent on the floor, yet manage to keep a good pace going.

height has a fair bit to do with the roll center and COG (center of gravity), but its how the car shifts its load in a corner, eg spring rates and shocker bump + rebound rates, also the ARB on or off has its part to play.

so slamming a car might make straight lines and hard corners ok, but the progressive stuff and the car will "fall off".

As dan has said, he ahs a good combo, hence my "copy" that i will do lol, as i dont want the mentalness of coilovers.

oh tyres also play a massive part in the cars handeling but thats another story as they are more complex than a complex thing

hope some of that ramble shed some light