[ferrari_f50_2]

i did abit of a search but couldnt realy find the answer that i was looking for. i was looking to get some stiffer shocks for my 2.0 gtv and was looking at bilistein monotube with heavy duty valving, its the only one i can find from bilstein for this car. Are they alot stiffer? there doesnt seem to be a sport shock from bilstein. If anyone has any other opinions on other brands as well like koni's id like your opinion.

thanks

 

[Gabor K.]

I am using Spax adjustable gas filled shock absorbers. And have done so since beginning of the nineties. You can adjust them soft and stiff until they rattle you teeth, its up to you. I think they are stiff enough in the middle of the adjustment range. On my racer I have Õhlins which is from Sweden, they are rather stiff also, so is the price. The price of the Spaxes are about the same as for Bilstein. If you are in the market for a handling kit the Dutch RSR kit would serve you well, however they are twice in price of Spax Bilstein.

Links:
SPAX - The No 1 site for performance car suspension, backed up with 50 years of racing experience

AlfaRomeo-PerformanceParts (powered by CubeCart)

 

[ferrari_f50_2]

thanks for the answer, are spax easy to find worldwide?

 

[Gabor K.]

Spax has a lowering kit and a regular kit for the 116GTV, so you can choose. They are represented in AUS by this company. You should search a little in their uk. homepages.

Proven Products- About Spax - proven.com.au - For all your suspension needs

 

[lowmileage]

i did abit of a search but couldnt realy find the answer that i was looking for. i was looking to get some stiffer shocks for my 2.0 gtv and was looking at bilistein monotube with heavy duty valving, its the only one i can find from bilstein for this car. Are they alot stiffer? there doesnt seem to be a sport shock from bilstein. If anyone has any other opinions on other brands as well like koni's id like your opinion.

thanks

Certainly I'm not expert here but IMO, stiffer )when talking about shocks) is not necessarily better. Too stiff won't control the rebound.

 

[ferrari_f50_2]

Certainly I'm not expert here but IMO, stiffer )when talking about shocks) is not necessarily better. Too stiff won't control the rebound.

it doesnt have to be ridiculously stiff but something reasonable, because at the moment there is alot of body roll which is annoying and im sure it would change the handling quite abit, so i guess a good balance somewhere inbetween would be good.

 

[ferrari_f50_2]

Spax has a lowering kit and a regular kit for the 116GTV, so you can choose. They are represented in AUS by this company. You should search a little in their uk. homepages.

Proven Products- About Spax - proven.com.au - For all your suspension needs

much appreciated i will look into them a little bit

 

[prn 31]

I had Spax shocks on the front of my Alfetta 1.8 many years ago. While I liked them they did need to be rebuilt a couple of times and the next owner of the car replaced them with a set of Bilsteins that I had.

My race Alfetta GT runs Konis that have been specially valved to run with my stiffer springs. All this was done via Vin Sharp of Pace Engineering in Melbourne.

If your Alfetta is standard spec and rolling a lot in corners I suggest you upgrade your front torsion bars and rear coil springs at the same time.

Don't lower your car on the standard springs, this will just cause your Alfetta to bottom out.

 

[Gabor K.]

In fact I went the other way, I had defective Bilsteins even as new(!) and rapidly deteriorating Konis. So by changing to Spax I got the firmness I wanted and my GTV6 is on Spax since late 80´ties(same set) and my ex user car is on the 3rd. Spax set in 20 years. The new owner liked them so well so he ordered another set. Also note that the Spax company changed owners some years ago and the new owners beefed up their quality program since then!

 

[ferrari_f50_2]

thanks all good ideas, hadnt heard of spax before but they sound good. With these upgrades is there a huge difference? how much better does the car feel and handle?

 

[Gabor K.]

I really would´nt tell you that the Spax s are the best, just that I like them because of their firmness and control. They cannot compensate for inherent weak springs and stabilizers on this car. However they will improve the handling over standard a lot, and the result will even improve if lowering the car 3 cm. Spax has the lowering kit. You could get an even better result using the Dutch RSR kit, however for twice the price.

 

[gtv27]

Koni yellow work well on an otherwise fairly standard car. Bilstein might be a bit of overkill for a road car with soft springs. Shocks will not stop roll (that is job for anti roll bars) but will help to control it.

If you have an early 2.0, could be worth getting hold of later model torsion bars (23mm I think), stiffer rear springs and front anti roll bar from a 75 or 90 (22mm). This will reduce the roll a lot, work well with Koni yellow and still be nice on the road.