FTO AUSTRALIA

Hi all, I have read through the numerous threads with regard to suspension and roughly know what to avoid or what to get.

however, i would still like to know more and hope you guys would be able to help me with it.

is it safe to say that if i intend to use my car as a daily, i should use springs and shocks? whereas if i intend to use it for the track, i should go with coilovers? can anyone share their experiences with coilovers and springs/shocks as a daily driver?

the main reason i ask is because sydney roads are crap and even with stock suspension on, i dislodge a lung everytime i go into a porthole and hit my head whenever i go over a speed bump. i'm not really keen on lowering the ride as there is a tendency to scrape the front if im not careful enough, but im open to suggestions and ideas though.

hope you guys can give me some advice! thank you!

I delivered pizza in my blue FTO that had cusco coilovers. No problems.

Just get a good set of shocks and springs. I have KYB shocks and Lovell's springs in my current car. Little too soft for my liking.

Im going to argue with you Daniel. Having had coilovers before, my opinion is that they are too harsh for most Australian roads. Ive found KYB shocks with lowering springs to be the best for the sorts of roads we have and you wont get better cornering out of coilovers UNLESS you are on a track, soits not worth the annoying rattles.

All comes down to your use and tolerance. If standard is already harsh and you don't want lots of low, as you say shock/spring is good for you. Personally, the BC BR's on full soft are pretty tolerable for daily driving, but obviously not as comfortable as a more expensive set like the Cusco or Teins.

dstocks wrote:Im going to argue with you Daniel. Having had coilovers before, my opinion is that they are too harsh for most Australian roads. Ive found KYB shocks with lowering springs to be the best for the sorts of roads we have and you wont get better cornering out of coilovers UNLESS you are on a track, soits not worth the annoying rattles.

hi dwayne, did you have to constantly adjust the shocks or was it more of one time installation and initial adjustment and you are set to go? i remember reading one of your older threads about the suspension being an absolute bugger till you had it adjusted but i cant remember if it was coilovers or shocks+springs

bjk wrote:All comes down to your use and tolerance. If standard is already harsh and you don't want lots of low, as you say shock/spring is good for you. Personally, the BC BR's on full soft are pretty tolerable for daily driving, but obviously not as comfortable as a more expensive set like the Cusco or Teins.

hi bjk, yeah, i was reading about your thread about the road bouncy thing as well. was the ride a lot less harsh and did the wheels still clip the fenders after being able to adjust it to the appropriate height?

With the coilovers, I got them revalved to reduce the harshness and they were still too hard, so gave up . As for the height, you will change that a couple of times in the first few weeks and by then you will be sick of that and never change them again - so waste of time.

With the KYB's, they are inexpensive and provide a soft, comfortable ride while still offering decent cornering. Add a decent lowering spring to the mix (that drops the car by around an inch) and you have a decent setup for a daily. And you dont need to adjust anything.

Bc v1 are a good street coil over

KYB Excel G shocks with King Springs. Unless you are using the FTO on tracks regularly, coil overs are waste of time and money. Take this from someone who has BC BRs in his car. Oh and go for progressive springs.

Yes Dwayne, but my driveway isn't a rally track like yours

He will be fine with shocks and springs, I agree.

What sort of coilovers did you have though? Craig and myself both loved the Cuscos in the smurf, but Craig also mentioned that the G4s he had in Bobby were too harsh and the cuscos were much much better. It comes down to preference though. I don't drive my FTO very often these days so maybe it isn't as bad. Like I said though with the coilovers in the smurf, I delivered pizza in it and loved it

dstocks wrote:you wont get better cornering out of coilovers UNLESS you are on a track, soits not worth the annoying rattles.

That also depends on your setup. If you are running camber arms and all that other good stuff you can get much more out of your wheel alignment. On a stock setup though with a very mild alignment which is what most of these guys will have, shocks and springs will be fine.