R3 Suspension - springs vs coilovers

[Goobie]

If you want a drop then coilovers are the way to go.
Some on here including myself (on my S1) have Tein Monosport which I have to say are superb.
You can adjust the ride height and damping, the springs are stiffer than standard.
In my opinion with the dampers adjusted to half way (8clicks from full hard) the ride is pretty much the same as a standard R3.
You can also fit Tein's edfc system that allows you to control damping from the drivers seat or even automatically.

Hell yeah! I'll second that.

If you lived near by I would happily demo that set up that I have fitted to plus I've got the front and rear racing beat roll bars, your be maxing that credit card if you got to feel how good this is!

[craigy85]

Thanks for the offer Goobie... probably a good job you don't live too close. I'm guessing that's around £2ks worth of suspension which the budget definitely won't allow right now!!

I've decided to save some money and go with the Eibach Pro springs... Managed to find them for under £160 delivered so definitely a budget option but seems a common upgrade with lots of positive reviews! If I need to replace dampers in the future i can buy the bilstein B8s separately (or go coilovers at that point and sell the springs on)

That leaves plenty of pennies for the exhaust, which is the next area of attention, but I already have a plan for that....

[craigy85]

And with the money saved on suspension, she's been treated to a full valet today...

[craigy85]

I've decided to save some money and go with the Eibach Pro springs... Managed to find them for under £160 delivered so definitely a budget option but seems a common upgrade with lots of positive reviews! If I need to replace dampers in the future i can buy the bilstein B8s separately (or go coilovers at that point and sell the springs on)

Scrap that... Had an e-mail through this morning offering 30% off suspension kits so cancelled the order for the springs and got the full B12 kit for £480

[Goobie]

Scrap that... Had an e-mail through this morning offering 30% off suspension kits so cancelled the order for the springs and got the full B12 kit for £480

That’s a result hey.

[CLOVERLEAF159]

The B12 kit arrived yet craigy?

[craigy85]

Not yet - hopefully arriving this week!

[CLOVERLEAF159]

so will that be a job you do yourself or getting someone else to change the bits over?

[craigy85]

Haven't decided yet - if i can get a mate to help, i'll probably try and tackle it. Never changed springs before so will need to buy some compressors and axle stands though...

[CLOVERLEAF159]

yeah, just be carful with those springs now.....

[350matt]

compared to some swapping rexi springs is quite easy, as the whole shock assembly comes off the car with the spring so you disassemble on the bench
and you will need some compressors but nothing too major

https://www.screwfix.com/p/hilka-pro-cr ... lsrc=aw.ds


on the rear undo the rear main lower c amber arm and anti-roll bar to get them out ( make a note of where your camber bolt was)
and on the front undo the 2 top wishbone mounts to give enough room to swing it out

watch on both that you don't strain the ABS sensor wires as its possible to have the suspension hub pulling it tight like a banjo string if you're not careful

[ChrisHolmes]

compared to some swapping rexi springs is quite easy, as the whole shock assembly comes off the car with the spring so you disassemble on the bench
and you will need some compressors but nothing too major

https://www.screwfix.com/p/hilka-pro-cr ... lsrc=aw.ds


on the rear undo the rear main lower c amber arm and anti-roll bar to get them out ( make a note of where your camber bolt was)
and on the front undo the 2 top wishbone mounts to give enough room to swing it out

watch on both that you don't strain the ABS sensor wires as its possible to have the suspension hub pulling it tight like a banjo string if you're not careful

Alternatively undo the top rear arm and the arb then simply lever down the whole hub assembly to extract the shock absorber without any risk of disturbing the geometry.

[craigy85]

That's how I do it.

Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk

[craigy85]

Well the kit arrived this morning and I've ordered a new pair of dust boots for the front, as mine are shredded (unfortunately none left in the club shop so had to order them through the local stealer)



Hoping to get it all fitted in a few weeks, when I next have a free weekend...

Also ordered some Innotec Deblock to try and make life easier when it comes to disassembly, so will start spraying everything up regularly once that arrives. Anything else I should be thinking about ordering (just in case)? I hate getting half way through a job and then have to stop and wait for more parts to arrive, so if there's anything likely to bend / break / seize / need replacing, I might as well get it ordered now...

[350matt]

spring compressors?

[craigy85]

Thanks Matt, got spring compressors and axle stands on the list - I was thinking parts (bolts, bushes, drop links etc.)

[ChrisHolmes]

Possibly rear drop links but you may get away with not removing the rear drop links if the bolts are the short ones!

[RX8R3Rod]

Hi, that’s a lovely looking car you’ve got.

If not already covered in previous thinking, one other area perhaps to consider is what type of car you’re aiming for.

I had a series 1 and have driven that to Salzburg, and that was a reasonably relaxing ride, even full chat on the Autobahn.

I then bought an R3 and with stock suspension I have driven that to Spa, but it’s certainly more ‘demanding’ than the S1, and I wouldn’t have felt like driving it all the way to Salzburg. Great fun, though.

My R3 now has active Tein Monoflex, which are fantastic to drive but even more ‘demanding’, and I find that about 2-3 hours is my comfortable maximum drive time, before my bones break and teeth shatter ... so for me I now wouldn’t really want to drive it to Spa unless I had plenty of time for breaks. But even more fun to drive.

Horses for courses, and all that ...

Have fun!

[craigy85]

Thanks Rod, very kind of you to say so! Still plenty of little bits I want to sort, but she's getting there...

Its our family's second car, as much as it is my toy, so can’t go too wild (my wife has to be able to drive it with our nearly 3 year old in the back)... I'll be keeping her stock(ish), just a few subtle mods. And with the little one, the chance of a boys trip to Spa (or any other European circuit) is slim.

Aside from the B12 suspension upgrade, I’ve got a set of 15mm eibach spacers on order and need to sort a new exhaust (currently running a decat pipe and rusty original cat back)... I'm waiting on the RRP 200 CEL cat coming back into stock and waiting to see what their new R3 backbox looks / sounds like. I was originally planning on a Racing Beat (or Milltek) but can't justify the price of a new one and 2nd hand ones for an R3 seem about as rare as rocking horse poop!

I also need to sort the gearbox out as she's crunching badly in 5th, so I'm currently debating a rebuild of the R3 'box or swapping it out for an S1 'box.

[craigy85]

When was the gearbox oil last changed? What oil was used?

The R3 'box isn't as fussy about using GL-4 oil as the S1 6-speed, but it hates worn-out or cheap oil.

[350matt]

are the R3 and S1 boxes a straight swap then?
I thought the ratios were different

[craigy85]

When was the gearbox oil last changed? What oil was used?

The R3 'box isn't as fussy about using GL-4 oil as the S1 6-speed, but it hates worn-out or cheap oil.

Had a master reset service from Rotary Revs about 2 weeks ago... I understand they use Millers

[craigy85]

are the R3 and S1 boxes a straight swap then?
I thought the ratios were different

The ratios are slightly different (I know the S1 box will sit a few hundred RPM higher at motorway speed) but I belive it's pretty much a straight swap.

[Ainmhidh]

The R3 and S1 6-speed boxes are also different layouts

[craigy85]

As in reverse is next to 6th in the S1 (bottom right), whereas in the R3 box it's next to 1st (top left)?