The best road handling setup

Hi all , I would appreciate coupe owners/drivers to advise me on what they would recommend for the best road handling setup. I want the car to look standard with original wheels. Thanks

For me what your after would be ,
Original setup refresh-new shocks,springs,top mounts, wishbones etc.
Strut brace
Uprated rear arb 22mm

I have had a bilsteins and eibach lowering and found it too harsh on uk roads

Thanks for the advice , what's your opinion on polyurethane bushes ?

Too stiff.

My opinion? Uprated arb is the best mod, but also battery in the boot (where spare wheel is) could be a good idea.
Standard spring and height
More stiff shocks or original but new.
2.3/4 bar front tires
2.2 bar rear tires

In order
22mm Rear ARB (Best mod ever)
Bilstein B6 Dampers
Eibach springs
PU bushes for rear subframe
New bearings for rear trailing arms
New top mounts
New wishbones and drop links

That will transform the handling, it did for mine

I've put on mine
Sparco strut bar (great mod)
22mm rear arb
lower front brace
Eibac front springs
front arb black series poweflex
black series drop link bushes
rear parcel shelf bar (for looks)
New Toyo T1 sport all round
new track rod ends
new rear shocks
new wish bones
each one makes a difference but arb,strut and tires make the most difference I love the bushes to but harsh for a daily driver.

Is the 22mm rear arb a great mod also for the 16vt? I am thinking into getting these

Also, if I would want to get a front strut bar like this one will I have any issues in mounting it considering I want to have a pair of BC Racing coilovers installed?

That strut brace will be fine, especially if you are going to but coilovers on.

Make sure the eibach bars are in stock. I believe others have ordered from supplier before with very long waiting times

Where can I get the cheapest 22mm ARB ?

These days your only option is UltraRacing (?mm), where you can buy ARBs separately, Eibach kit (front + rear 23mm) or keep looking for a used Whiteline 22mm. I know a person selling Whiteline 24mm but that's too much for road use. I have been looking for the Whiteline 22mm for almost a year whithout success.

Tried loads of set ups always end up back at ....
Standard springs ,bilstein shocks, thicker rear arb, strut brace,I have seam welded front subframe,poly bushed wishbones , a great but expensive addition was the q2 diff too...really helps turn in

I've been watching this thread before chipping in - its clear that "best" is very subjective and what is great for some people may be unbearable for others

My car is pretty much where I want it now, apart from upgrading the tyres to something much stickier now that its only a weekend car.

The spec is as follows:

Eibach springs
Osrav adjustable shocks
Novitec 23mm rear ARB (standard front)
17" Team Dynamics ProRace 1.2 wheels
Quaife slippy-diff
Strut brace
Lower subframe brace
Seam welded front subframe
Poly-bushed wishbones
1 degree negative camber
1mm toe-in

With that little lot (plus the poly-bushed rear subframe being fitted next week), the ride is firm, but very controlled. It will happily out-corner most so-called sporty RWD stuff, even in the wet. The only cars that give me some serious grief around the corners are the current crop of modern 4WD hyper-hatches, such as the AMG45 and the RS3 - I simply cannot compete with all that computing power, nibbling the brakes on individual wheels and shuffling the power around. Still - I have 'em on the next straight....

Also with that lot, I can happily cruise in comfort at 80-ish for 500+ miles in a single journey without any aches or pains

My only minor regret is that the Vibra-Technics engine mounts transmit quite a bit of noise and vibration to the chassis - an unavoidable downside of having mounts that will take the power without being ripped to shreds

Finally, I'd echo earlier comments that the uprated rear ARB makes the biggest difference for a single handling mod - 22m isn't quite enough (but still makes a huge difference) and 24mm is too much unless you uprate the front as well.

Biggest mod for actually getting the power down was the Quaife - truly amazing what the car will do now, especially in the wet, as the M3 driver this morning will testify.....

good write up Nigel

I am a bit thorn apart with the way forwards with handling mods. My 20VT setup was:
- new Monroe shocks (front) + new KYB Gas-A-Just (rear)
- 2nd hand 16VT Eibach springs
- 215/45/R16 tyres

Whereas it was acceptable in Norway, in therms of comfort, I found it too hard for patchy roads here in Poland. First thing I did was swap tyres to 205/50/R16 and boy did it help! Stiffer rear shocks helpws dialing in enough oversteer to make the car handle corners better but... I got a feeling that as for road use is concerned it is fine, it won't be quite enough for track days.

My question to those of you who experienced different setups would be. Should I upgrade my shocks to:
- OSRAV non-adjustable
- Koni adjustable

I don't really consider coilovers anymore as they will be an overkill, if I will do 3-4 track days per year.

I have Koni adjustable and Eibachs. The ride is very firm. Probably the best I've experienced on a race track and smooth roads but it's painful over old bumpy roads.

Saint has Eibachs and Osravs which I remember as being far more compliant than my combo but you'd want to check with him because it was so long ago I don't really remember.

I've tried a few Combos in Tipo 16v cars,
Jamex Springs with KYB shocks were very soft.
Full Bilstein shock and spring combo which was fantastic. The best compromise. Tipo is a little lighter though. I suspect Konis are far harder.

I've had Konis and Osravs - Konis are definitely harder than Osravs

Osravs also have a greater range of adjustment (from too soft to too hard and anywhere inbetween)

So far sounds like the OSRAV will be my choice, thou, I will aim for the non-adjustable version as cannot justify spending 40% more on the KGA kit. Still worried whether they will be too hard or not.

Nigel, how long did your Osravs last? Can they be rebuild if they fail?

My first set of Osravs lasted 150,000 miles. The second set have been on for five years and 60,000 miles so far

They can't be rebuilt

I also considered the non-adjustables, but I'm glad I didn't. I can make the front of the car nice and soft - almost floaty, for when I want a bit of comfort on a long journey. I can also make it so hard that traction suffers (too much damping can cause the front end to 'hop' over bumps, which reduces traction)

TBH, rear adjustment is a complete pain - the adjuster is at the top of the shock body. The left side can be reached if you have skinny wrists, but the right side can only be reached by removing the shock, of getting some even skinnier wrists through the fuel pump access panel in the boot.

I've set mine to 5 turns from soft and left them there....

As always, an awesome feedback, Nigel. I am quite set on the OSRAVs, just trying to find a reason to justify buying the KGA kit.

Nigel, is that 5 turns from soft (left to right). I think I misunderstood and set my 5 turns from center of the adjuster valve window to the right. So that would be too soft, I guess?

Hi guys,

I have a question about the uprated rear ARB, which some of you have installed.
Which one do you have installed?
Ultra racing seems to be the only one to offer only the rear arb.
Eibach is just offering a kit for the rear and the front axle.

Apologies - I missed this reply

Yes, five turns of full left-to-right movement of the adjuster. Five turns from the centre will only be 2.5 turns from full left to right

I have a Novitec 23mm rear ARB with a standard front ARB very good “fast road” setup.

24mm rear ARB is too much on its own and would need an updated front ARB as well

Has anyone tried Koni shocks on std springs? Will it be much more compliant compared with Eibach Springs?

Koni shocks are very firm, even on their softest settings - I doubt that they would match standard springs very well

I had Konis on the rear of my last Coupe for a while - I had them set fully soft, even with Eibach springs

This handling thread compares a number of different set ups which may make for interesting reading.

There's also my handling thread where I tried to get into some of the technical aspects of getting a Coupe to handle better. Warning, its a long read...

Having spent a lot of money on coupe handling in the past for a road car here is what I would go with:

Bilstein / Eibach Suspension - stock ride height
22mm rear ARB
front strut brace
standard bushes - not poly
replace any worn bits (wishbones, track rod ends, etc.)
decent place to do the alignment
decent tyres

depending on power level possibly quaiffe ATB, but if under 300 bhp or thereabouts not really needed on a road car IMO.

At one point on my coupe I went back to totally stock suspension - it reminded me why I bought the car in the first place after a test drive...really great to drive on the road 90% of the time, i.e. unless you are playing about on a smooth B road.

Hmm,

If Bilstein b6's can cure the crashing I get when on country lanes and small roads...could be interested in trying them!

MM

You can't get the Bilstein B6s any more, but in any case I've just ditched mine because they simply stopped working after about 20,000 miles, and the ride became horribly crashy. I've gone back to standard springs and dampers.

That's not good - on both fronts.

I found they were still advertising and thought they were still available.

http://www.bilstein-shop.com/fiat/fiat-c...jmnq6jriub99vp1

Back to the drawing board re my perception of the "crashiness" feeling and how to overcome it I guess!

Regards

You can get rears (and many other manufacturers still produce the rears) but it's the fronts where we don't have so much choice

Hi,
where can I find a "Novitec 23mm rear anti-roll bar" (or another option for a rear ARB) for my 16V T?
thanks

Ultra Racing.

Hi, I'm new to fiat coupes and have just purchased a 20vt last month. It's a fixer upper. I noticed the front drivers spring has broken and am looking to rent build front suspension. What are people's views on coilovers? Better than original set up or not?

Hi and welcome to the forum

Suspension is quite a personal thing - one man’s “too firm” is another man’s “sharp and precise”

A lot will depend on what you want to do with the car - if it’s going to be a pure road car, you should really consider brand new standard suspension

Coilovers vary a lot in quality - cheap coil overs are awful - stay clear.....

Thanks very much, was leaning towards standard set up and you have helped confirm it. Much appreciated

Good choice - a Coupe on fresh standard suspension is actually a very nice drive - controlled and compliant, without being too firm

Of course, if you're considering track days or you want to partake in a bit of "enthusiastic" driving, there are all sorts of mods you can make

Be careful though - its just as easy to make a Coupe handle worse than it is to make it handle better - ask me how I know....

I'm going to swap the suspension out on mine in the near future and I want to stay "standard". It's only a 20V.

By standard does that mean any decent standard dampers and springs or actually the FIAT supplied ones? Monroe and KYB seem to be easy to find damper options here.

For "standard", read "OE-quality"

Its more about standard spring rates, standard damping and standard ride height

Monroe or similar would be fine

Thank you!

Hi all! I'm a relative newbie to this site but i'm really appreciative of the wealth of knowledge you provide here. It really helped when I was troubleshooting for my 16vt. I now have a 20vt too and would like to tweak the handling for a slightly sharper road experience. I've taken on board a lot of the advice and was going to buy some Eibach springs and upgrade the rear ARB and buy the Bilstein B6's but see they are no longer sold for the front.
My question is therefore is there something comparable for the fronts? If not, I'm guessing the ride would suffer from having different brands at the front to the back so ideally they should be same brand all round? Not sure if anyone has experience of upgrading purely the rear or splitting brands front to rear. Any feedback welcome! Thanks in advance

Totally agree!

So glad I went back to standard shocks and springs on my road car.

DS