[PHudson]

I enquired of a spring manufacturer if they would be able to make some uprated and/or lowered springs.

Thay said they could indeed re-design springs to cutomer requirements - i.e uprated and lowered etc, and they'd cost about £20/ea. This is a lot less than, say, Abbott! They'd be black painted unless we paid more for custom colours.

Is anyone else interested? We'd need to supply a sample front and rear for an accurate quote which could vary dependent on the change in design and the material content involved.

Personally I think I'm after some Abbott like springs - minimally lowered (10-25mm?), and perhaps 25-30% stiffer than normal.

Delivery 2 working weeks from receipt/confirmation of order

P.

 

[paulmanchester]

I would be depending on quality etc...what is a good compromise for ride/handling lowering?

 

[potto]

The problem with this sort of approach is if you just pick an arbitrary rate for the springs, how do you know what the car is going to handle like when you fit them? You have no idea whatsoever. It could be a complete dog, dangerous even, as you've not tested them.

Most (but I doubt all!) of the sensible go-faster suppliers have actually invested in developing their products to ensure they achieve the desired effect, whatever that manufacturer has set out to achieve. Of course, if you're only interested in the cosmetic effects of lowering a car then fair enough, just watch out next time you try to throw it into a bend at speed.

My 2p...

 

[PHudson]

Originally posted by fliptop:
[qb]The problem with this sort of approach is if you just pick an arbitrary rate for the springs, how do you know what the car is going to handle like when you fit them?
[/qb][/b]

Call me cynical, but I don't believe most of the spring companies try all combinations of springs on all their cars. It's too many to test, and I don't think they'd sell enough to pay back the testing. And given the reports of some springs in past postings (Pi? I think), I think I'd have to say testing almost certainly wasn't done.

I was proposing to go for approximately the 25% increased stiffness/25mm lowering of the Abbott springs. I think that would be close enough - I'd agree if you go for extreme stiffness or extreme lowering that would be risky, but moderate changes would be likely to be OK. And I wanted a "moderate" set - the reports posted here seem to suggest most are very stiff, often unacceptably so - without paying the £300+ that Abbott want.

Yes, there's a risk it won't work acceptably. But not that high a risk, IMO.

And (if enough people go for it), we could get one set done, see how they went, then order the rest, at not much (incremental) cost.

 

[andycannon]

Count me in for a set

 

[1989agoodvintage]

IMHO, it would be better to approach a tuning company who do not yet supply their own custom wound springs for the 9000. If you got enough names on a list then you could probably get them interested. Trent Saab "spring" to mind!

The reason you pay so much for the Abbott stuff is that they've spent the time (and money) testing springs wound to various stiffness levels and for different ride heights until they arrived at a setting which offered the best results. I would balk at the prospect of fitting springs to my car if that hadn't been rigourously tested.

 

[billj]

Bear in mind also that different springs are fitted to 9000s, not only between the sporty and less-sporty models, but also depending on whether it is saloon or hatchback, has a sunroof, even manual or auto. That might explain why some tuners' springs work well on some 9000s but give odd ride heights or sagging on others. If you're going to go for 25% stiffer, which springs is that based on? There is a bewildering array of specs. I believe Abbott stock many different springs for the 9000 and will ask you about the spec. of the car (as above) before supplying a set.

 

[PHudson]

Originally posted by BillJ:
[qb]There is a bewildering array of specs.[/qb][/b]

I had assumed (based on the fact that Elkparts, say, only stock a small number of lowering springs) that things were a bit simpler. But there are 5 different rear and 6 different front springs for the various variants of a '97 Anniversary, so it looks like BillJ was right.

I could still go for taking my current springs and asking for an uprated version - I still think that would work OK - but it rather kills the idea of a group buy.

Oh well, back to the saving of pennies

 

[turkish]

Count me in for a set

 

[PHudson]

Originally posted by turkish:
[qb]Count me in for a set [/qb][/b]

See my reply just above yours

 

[philcrombie]

While on the spring topic, do CS Aero springs command a decent price for the non-aero cars? If anyone was interested in my springs, I might take the plunge and get the abbott springs.
That ended up like an advert - wasn't intended! - more out of general interest...