My quest for the perfect (for me) suspension set up continues and this week I'm trialling some KYB Excel G shocks which are currently standing in for my Koni sport adjustables on my FK Konigsport kit. Personally, I find the ride with the Koni's too harsh although the body control is excellent.

I've tried KYB's before but their Gas Ajust model which I thought had far too much compression damping for the light weight of the Coops rear IMO, resulting in a very stiff ride. These shocks were listed as a mild upgrade over OE but they were a very serious upgrade and more like van shocks designed to assist the spring rates and stabilise large heavy rear loads.

The Excel G's are also a Gas shock but seemed to be a lighter alternative on paper. Testing off the car they have slightly more compression and rebound damping than OE but far less compression damping than the Gas Ajusts or the Koni Sports. This seemed to be what I was after.

On the car the ride is improved, slightly more comfort, no real feeling of underdamping and only very slight reduction in body control over the Konis.

Unfortunately they seemed to have unhinged the balance at the front again and despite the 100n/mm front springs Ive still got more movement at the front than I would like. This may also have something to do with the front / rear weight distribution as I've raised the level at the rear by 10mm.

Im playing around with the settings on the Koni front adjustables over the next few days and we'll see how we get on.

At the moment the KYB Excel G's represent a bargain and at £40 a set, way cheaper than anything else out there but still better than standard shocks. I suspect these will mate nicely with the Eibach springs overcoming some of the issues with a crashy ride when running with standard shocks. It also appears that the Nissan guys have been running these successfully with Eibachs for some time.

What a pity KYB's dont do the fronts.

More later

They sound just perfect for your needs Cosmograph. Exactly what you have been looking for .

Oh, remember you still have a very keen customer for the old Konis!! Name your price (please!)

I'm sure Hanny had KYB's on the front?

I've got KYB's on the front too (I've got the Barbz KYB ultra sr set). But the fronts aren't orginally for a coupe, the spring sit a bit lower as well (which lowers the car approx 20mm).

The rear ultra sr's are rock hard (have eibach springs on the back as well) and the fronts are quite soft. Great way to reduce understeer and improve turn-in but I'm still not sure if I like this setup that much. The front can feel a bit bouncy on some roads.

These are the mystery front shocks that KYB UK themselves dont know anything about. As said above, the spring pan sits 15mm or so lower and they are also way too soft. The Ultra SR's are too hard for the Coop IMO. Jurgen, the Excel G's may improve things for you.

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Or its not down to the fact that the front FK's have a dampening (lack of) issue?

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Begbie, maybe but I have had the Konis wound up to near full hardness on the front and it doesnt seem to make a great deal of difference. As our American cousins would say, perhaps coilovers just suck on the road.

Actually I don't mind the ultra sr's on the back that much. They are hard, but not crashy at all. I have been considering to change the fronts for a set of bilsteins with 16vt eibach springs in the near future. However I need to sort out a few other things first.

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If you used the same spring and damping rate as the standard stuff then you'd get the same ride as a standard car.

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Hi Jimbo, more suspension fun!.

I think there is a bit more to the spring than just spring rate. The coilover springs are linear wound, basically this means that the rate increases exponentially with load as its compressed. If you look at a standard OE spring you'll see its wound progressively at a large diameter then a smaller one as it approaches full compression. This allows for a much wider band of compression without increasing the rate as much. ie. for coping with bumps/undulations in the road. Where the narrow guage coilover spring will score is in fast small undulations where it will react quicker. But as soon as you go over a big bump the spring rate goes through the roof and overpowers the damper hence the uncontrolled movement.

As I said above Ive wound the Konis onto full rebound damping but it doesnt reduce the behaviour which I am fairly sure is down to the spring. Some more compresion damping may help a lot as the front Konis dont have any, the rod falls into the insert at rest

A replacement insert would be very interesting but I dare say the cost would be more than the FK's were to start with?

What did you conclude on the Bilstein/ Eibach combo.? Was it too crashy?

Ah, now this is where coilovers can be tuned too. On the set that FK provided us the low rate helper (tender) spring is there just to prevent the spring from dislodging when the suspension is on full droop.
What you can do is fit some stiffer helper springs or fit 2 shorter main springs of different rates to act more like a dual rate spring.
I was looking into some uprated tender springs but at the moment I need a new clutch so the springs have gone onto the back burner for now.

There's a few companys out there that might knock up an adjustable insert for the coupe, I've read good reviews about GAS dampers also AVO will produce a 2 way adjustable insert,I really want seperate bump and rebound adjustment though.

The Bilstiens with the 16vt Eibachs I found to be the best compomise between handling and ride quality.

Cosmo, I had bilsteins with 20vt Eibachs ,as did GrahamL,but wew both found the ride just too hard and crashy.
I`m sure Jimbo tried this set up first too,and then found the 16vt eibachs where better.
Jimbo did you not even try cutting down a set of springs too ?

A memory like an elephant

Yep, I chopped 1 coil off the 16vt springs so it sat at the same ride height as the 20vt versions plus the 16vt is a progressive rate spring and the bottom 3 coils were all coilbound so removing 1 coil didnt affect it.

Yes I ran KYB's allround, the front was lowered slightly but with using diff springs (slightly stiffer) I found that the set up best suited my driving style.

In essence there would/will be no set up that will suit all as people have different driving styles or want slightly different handling.

I found the KYB set up allowed me to push harder than in standard form but at the same time not become a bone shaker, to wards the last 12 months of ownership my main travel was on twisty/bumpy B roads with an A road here and there.

The KYB's in partnership with my brakes allowed me to show up many a car.

Finally but not last, I paid £299 for both front and back KYB's and in my books that makes the KYB's an excellent choice for my self. There are better systems but to me a Grand Touring Coupe that has 67% weight loading on the front axel will always have its limitations - its just a case of how much you intend to spend.

I've run KYB exel g's for a little while. I settled for those after reading your thoughts on the gas a justs on the old forum.
Brand new shocks with brand new apex lowering springs. Originally I just changed the springs but the old, and probably knackered, shocks bottomed out and the wife complained about the ride in the back. (ooeeerrr )
Changed to the exels and the ride is definately improved. It's still harsher than stock but acceptable and the handling seems ok to me so far.

I'm happy with them I have to say, especailly at £15 a side

£15? from where mate?

Clicky

Hanny, KYB don't list a shock for the front in any of their ranges, any idea what it was you bought?

cheers for the link Tbirdx

Resurrecting this old topic. In case I won't be able to source the OSRAV dampers I am considering going for the KYB Excel-G front and back or Gas-A-Just, maybe Ultra SR on the back axle. I will then use 16VT springs to compensate for the 10mm drop on front axle due to lower spring seat of the damper.

I believe that for the rear part numbers are 554077, 344115, 244040.

As for the front dampers part numBer seem to be 334918 (AR 155 Q4 Turbo). Can someone confirm if this is the right part number?

The KYB dampers were very firm, I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for?

I agree with Jimbo - I borrowed a pair of KYB rears for a while - very firm

Osrav should be available from Zagato Lancia

OSRAV is my first call sure thing.
I guess Ultra SR are the ones you are talking about, right? I could try Excel-G or Gas-A-Just.

Been doing a lot of research on here on kyb lately , seems the excel-g are slightly more expensive and are the ones i'm going to get for the 20v. Them or kilen , not too much info on those though. Definitely not the ultras though, I like my back !

i fitted ultra golds on mine a few weeks ago and they are awesome.

Glad to hear this. What springs did you mate them with and what have you got on the front axle. Can you post some pix of your coupe with them fitted?

Guys. Can someone confirm what is the right number for KYB front shocks of a 155 Q4? I was just told by OSRV that their dampers are not TUV certified so I won't be able to pass the Norwegian MOT. Seems that my next best bet are KYB dampers with Eibach springs.

On Friday I swapped my Koni Sport with KYB Gas A Just (borrowed from a friend) and yesterday I drove 200km through very beautiful mountain roads (a lots of fast and slow corners). I can say that with KYB Gas A Just the ride comfort is better than with Koni sport (hardest setting).

Also my problem with the car tendency to oversteer when driving fast -> disappeared !

If the Koni Sports were on the hardest setting then it will be uncomfortable and you will get oversteer.