For those of you who are pondering on getting one, here is my WMSS/Elksport strut brace...
Performance? Well I'd say that the brace makes more appreciable to difference handling than the springs and shocks did! The front of the car is now extremely well behaved and the biggest gain is to be had in terms of road stability. There's absolutely no percievable tramlining, steering is much sharper than ever before and camber steer (so often a problem on lowered 9000's IMHO) is considerably reduced. I think if your going for a stiff spring/shock setup then a brace is absolutely essential.
My car has the standard aero suspension, except for the poly bushes on the wishbone and anti-roll bars.
This mod makes a huge improvement to steering response and the "feel" through the steering wheel.
The car feels much tighter and taut, also eliminated one or rattles that I had from the dash area.
My 9000 can now be chucked around with much more confidence.
All this is achieved without affecting the ride quality or refinement.
Have you had the Bilsteins fittedn now? If so, what do you think to the ride/handling balance?
I'm still not totally convinced by Koni dampers/Abbott springs, though wonder if a lot of my disatisfaction is due to the chassis/suspension design of the 9000 and not the shocks/dampers themselves.
Yes, I have the Bilsteins on at the moment. Unfortunately I hadn't had them on long enough to really get used to them before the head went.
But from the drivng I did I could say that they are definitely sorted for high speed driving. On good A-roads and motorway crusing the ride is actually very good, certainly straight line stability is incredible now! The cars very responsive and requires only gentle, flowing steering inputs to negotiate evne the twistiest bits of A-road. I think the real test will come on the track, which is the main reason I went for this kit as I intend for this car to become my track day tool when I can afford something a little newer.
The downside is that when driving at lower speeds the ride is very firm and dampers are a bit too "quick", meaning that you feel every rut and bump in the road. It's far from bone-jarring, but it's certainly the stiffest 9000 I've been in so far and I'm only running it on 16" wheels!!!
[qb]I'm still not totally convinced by Koni dampers/Abbott springs, though wonder if a lot of my disatisfaction is due to the chassis/suspension design of the 9000 and not the shocks/dampers themselves. [/qb][/b]
At the end of the day it's a car that was designed for comfort and ease of use. I think that as an Elise driver your always going to feel that the 9000 is wanting as it can never be as responsive as you would like it to be.
Jeff - I'm hoping to fit my abbott springs/front konis (plus other kit) in the next couple of weeks. You say that you are not totally convinced by the setup yet - can you tell me in what way?
PS - What are your konis set at? (I have my backs currently set at 1.5 turns with standard springs and haven't fitted the fronts yet - if I'm fitting rear springs I have a chance to change the settings to a 'well proven' one)
I recently drove Jeff's 9000 Aero from the South coast to Watton in Norfolk and back. Nice motor - well sorted with the LSD and the strutbrace for confidence on corners fast twisty bits.
The downside was the ride on long, flat motorway surfaces I expected the 9000 to be a relaxed, refined cruiser. Instead it was fidgety and rarely relaxed - and it became quite tiresome when I just wanted to cruise.
I have driven Jeff's car a number of times before - but mainly on shortish journeys (to the pub ) Jeff had never been satisfied with the suspension and has a number of modifications adding and removing poly bushes.
Having spent some three to four hours in the car by myself I was better able to appreciate some of Jeff's concerns ...it is a far less refined ride than my 9-3 Sport with Eibachs (cue lots of people who know nothing about 9-3s to regurgitate the same old rubbish that comes up when you mention 9-3 and suspension
Oops I meant JezF.
I wonder whether this is down to the koni settings?
My planned setup (after months of reading here!):
Front strut brace
Konis all round,
Abbott springs,
Poly rear ARB bushes,
New std front ARB bushes,
New std front rear control arm bushes
New std ARB drop link bushes
Settings:
Rear konis - 1.5 turns
Fronts - 1 turn (although I can play with this)
When I first fitted the konis on the back, the ride was truly awful and has taken about 10k miles to settle down. Hopefully the new springs won't destroy it again!
I'm also going to try the standard bushings, as although moving to Poly is a good move, I bet most move from worn standard bushes to new poly(mine standards are at 100k miles) so I'll try it this way first as it will still improve things without being too harsh.
Looking forward to the strut brace though...
faero - I'll let Jeff answer the questions on the Konis - but I think he has experimented with the settings.
Regarding the strutbrace - I am not the best to comment as I am not a regular 9000 driver. My limited (10 hours or so) or driving a 9000 Aero with strutbrace does tell me it is worthwhile. I have heard nothing but positive comments from people who have fitted them.
Hi all
I need a bit of advice. I have a friend who is selling some lowering springs. However the springs are for a vauxhall insignia tourer. I have a saab 9 3 2.8 v6 on a 56 plate. I have been told these may well fit my car. Does anybody know if this is correct??
Thanks in advance
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