Coilovers??
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FBRXMIKE85
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Coilovers??
Hey everyone I've been doing some research and notice that there are no bolt in options for coilovers for my 85 GS. I have found sleeve type coilovers that involve some welding but i'm not sure I wanna go that route unless I have to. Any ideas? I plan to road race and drift my FB so any info would be great! Cheers!!
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Steve-A
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Re: Coilovers??
I'm sorry to say Mike that I don't think there are any bolt in coilover options. 
The weld on sleeve option is tried and tested and seems to perform well for the US guys, though obviously the rears aren't really coilovers it still gives you the improved damping , stiffer springs and height adjustability. I believe the re-speed kit is the most popular.
In the UK by the time we've paid import tax and postage the re-speed kit isn't really financially viable. There aren't many guys in the UK on coilovers, but myself and the few others that are are mostly on GAZ Gold Pro coilovers. GAZ take the standard front struts and cut the old body off them before replacing it with a new one and new top mount arrangement. For the rears they offer a true coilover, but fitting requires either cutting out and welding new shock towers or cutting the mounts off the axle and rewelding them on in a slightly different place. The thing that makes it difficult is making room for the spring in a space only designed to take a damper! There might be a company nearer yourself that offers a similar service? I imagine again with tax and shipping the GAZ stuff wouldn't be worth it.
Most guys over here go for shorter stiffer springs and upgraded damper inserts and seem quite happy with that as a much cheaper compromise that still improves ride and handling massively over worn out 25+ year old OEM stuff.
The weld on sleeve option is tried and tested and seems to perform well for the US guys, though obviously the rears aren't really coilovers it still gives you the improved damping , stiffer springs and height adjustability. I believe the re-speed kit is the most popular.
In the UK by the time we've paid import tax and postage the re-speed kit isn't really financially viable. There aren't many guys in the UK on coilovers, but myself and the few others that are are mostly on GAZ Gold Pro coilovers. GAZ take the standard front struts and cut the old body off them before replacing it with a new one and new top mount arrangement. For the rears they offer a true coilover, but fitting requires either cutting out and welding new shock towers or cutting the mounts off the axle and rewelding them on in a slightly different place. The thing that makes it difficult is making room for the spring in a space only designed to take a damper! There might be a company nearer yourself that offers a similar service? I imagine again with tax and shipping the GAZ stuff wouldn't be worth it.
Most guys over here go for shorter stiffer springs and upgraded damper inserts and seem quite happy with that as a much cheaper compromise that still improves ride and handling massively over worn out 25+ year old OEM stuff.
Ex-rotor owner exploring the world of pistons and valves....
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FBRXMIKE85
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Re: Coilovers??
Alright thanks for the insight. So just a good spring and shock and strut setup should do me just fine with lowering the cars center of gravity, stiffen up the suspension for drift, auto-x, and road racing?
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Lucky
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Re: Coilovers??
Mike, I've literally just finished doing this on my S3. Details are at the (current) end of my build thread viewtopic.php?f=4&t=337 but the short version is it's made a huge difference (for the better 
) to the car. Yeah, it could be lower for fashion reasons lol, but the ride has been transformed. Very pleased
) to the car. Yeah, it could be lower for fashion reasons lol, but the ride has been transformed. Very pleased-
FBRXMIKE85
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- Joined: Mon May 07, 2012 8:33 am
Re: Coilovers??
What setup did you end up going with? On the short term I think I'm gonna run a shock/strut and spring setup and then go to RE-Speed coils.
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FBRXMIKE85
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Re: Coilovers??
Well guys I think I'm just gonna end up going with the RE-speed coils. Everyone on this side off the pond loves them!!
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BO0557
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Re: Coilovers??
Anyone know anything about Leader suspension.. mine seem to look like this..
New rig has had the struts made by these guys..
New rig has had the struts made by these guys..
Re: Coilovers??
Leda went out of business a few years ago, then were revived and I think popped again a shorter while ago.
First gen stuff was ok, pretty solid and became the standard club racing damper. Second gen was a bit pricier. no bump control, but for the money..
Reasonable stuff for the money, but the staff from Leda are now elsewhere. Dave from Leda went to Gaz, John Stubbs set up Black Art Design.
Certainly up until a while ago Gaz were servicing Leda dampers. They did mine for a while but I've moved on again now.
What do you want to know?
S.
First gen stuff was ok, pretty solid and became the standard club racing damper. Second gen was a bit pricier. no bump control, but for the money..
Reasonable stuff for the money, but the staff from Leda are now elsewhere. Dave from Leda went to Gaz, John Stubbs set up Black Art Design.
Certainly up until a while ago Gaz were servicing Leda dampers. They did mine for a while but I've moved on again now.
What do you want to know?
S.