Discussion
I don't have a VXR8, but I've been running Pedders suspension for years without any complaints. If you click on my user name that will show you what I've done to my Monaro.
I'm not saying Pedders are the very best, but you can get all their stuff in the UK very quickly and its not too pricey.
Do yourself a big favour and stay away from Vauxhall, assuming they can get the parts you want they will charge you an eye watering price for the privilege.
On Monaros the general opinion was that coilovers were better suited to track work as they were quite firm for road use. I suppose it depends on how comfortable you need the car to be, and how you intend to use it.
Hopefully a VXR8 owner will add to this post. If not try Facebook as a lot of owners seem to operate on that forum.
John
I'm not saying Pedders are the very best, but you can get all their stuff in the UK very quickly and its not too pricey.
Do yourself a big favour and stay away from Vauxhall, assuming they can get the parts you want they will charge you an eye watering price for the privilege.
On Monaros the general opinion was that coilovers were better suited to track work as they were quite firm for road use. I suppose it depends on how comfortable you need the car to be, and how you intend to use it.
Hopefully a VXR8 owner will add to this post. If not try Facebook as a lot of owners seem to operate on that forum.
John
I've got Pedders xa coilovers on my VXR8.
I bought them second hand off a Facebook group member, but if i was doing it all again i'd look into the pedders suspension kit.
The coilovers are good, and the car feels a lot more planted and rolls less in the corners, but on my daily commute it crashes and bangs over the potholes, also in the 3 years i've had them on the car i've only changed the height once, so that feature is wasted on me.
You've got to think about what you use the car for.
I bought them second hand off a Facebook group member, but if i was doing it all again i'd look into the pedders suspension kit.
The coilovers are good, and the car feels a lot more planted and rolls less in the corners, but on my daily commute it crashes and bangs over the potholes, also in the 3 years i've had them on the car i've only changed the height once, so that feature is wasted on me.
You've got to think about what you use the car for.
I've had Pedders springs / dampers on the Monaro for about 25,000 miles, it's hard to give a useful comparison compared to standard as although it was a night and day transformation, the OEM fit ones were worn out...
As echoed above, coilovers on the Ro do change its character slightly, I think you need to try and be objective as to how you'll use the car, yes on track the coilovers will be vastly superior, and yes you can adjust the damping / ride height etc. but realistically, when are you going to decide you want the ride to be worse or the handling to be worse? You'll bang them on, then either decide it's fine and max it either way and that'll be it
One other thing, I believe the coilover dampers need refreshing comparatively regularly, I've heard figures like 30,000 miles but I can't remember and don't have any ownership experience to offer.
VXR8 again I'd say leans possibly even further from the track car angle and more 'fast road', at which point compliancy is much more important unless you live somewhere with much better roads than us!
Pedders UK stuff as above is well priced and available easily / quickly too. I've not been in a Monaro on coilovers, although with my different seats it'd likely feel very different anyway...
As echoed above, coilovers on the Ro do change its character slightly, I think you need to try and be objective as to how you'll use the car, yes on track the coilovers will be vastly superior, and yes you can adjust the damping / ride height etc. but realistically, when are you going to decide you want the ride to be worse or the handling to be worse? You'll bang them on, then either decide it's fine and max it either way and that'll be it
One other thing, I believe the coilover dampers need refreshing comparatively regularly, I've heard figures like 30,000 miles but I can't remember and don't have any ownership experience to offer.
VXR8 again I'd say leans possibly even further from the track car angle and more 'fast road', at which point compliancy is much more important unless you live somewhere with much better roads than us!
Pedders UK stuff as above is well priced and available easily / quickly too. I've not been in a Monaro on coilovers, although with my different seats it'd likely feel very different anyway...
In terms of set-up, generally softer suspension means more grip, but at the cost of response.
As far as balance is concerned, a stiffer front vs rear will give a more understeery balance, stiffer rear more oversteery.
Also from various bits I've read over the years, the set-up of the rear of the car contributes a deceptively large amount to the feel of turn in.
Personally I'd probably try extremes at each end to try and get a feel for what effect the changes have, and then try to work out a middle ground that's as soft as possible. Hopefully you've got a useful bit of favourite road nearby to investigate
As far as balance is concerned, a stiffer front vs rear will give a more understeery balance, stiffer rear more oversteery.
Also from various bits I've read over the years, the set-up of the rear of the car contributes a deceptively large amount to the feel of turn in.
Personally I'd probably try extremes at each end to try and get a feel for what effect the changes have, and then try to work out a middle ground that's as soft as possible. Hopefully you've got a useful bit of favourite road nearby to investigate
SturdyHSV said:
In terms of set-up, generally softer suspension means more grip, but at the cost of response.
As far as balance is concerned, a stiffer front vs rear will give a more understeery balance, stiffer rear more oversteery.
Also from various bits I've read over the years, the set-up of the rear of the car contributes a deceptively large amount to the feel of turn in.
Personally I'd probably try extremes at each end to try and get a feel for what effect the changes have, and then try to work out a middle ground that's as soft as possible. Hopefully you've got a useful bit of favourite road nearby to investigate
I have KW3 coilovers on a Monaro, which were already fitted when I bought the car. The installation instructions advised the suspension height and shock settings to start with. Then try adjusting softer or harder as above. I rang KW and asked them for advise on settings, who gave lots of info and were very helpful. As far as balance is concerned, a stiffer front vs rear will give a more understeery balance, stiffer rear more oversteery.
Also from various bits I've read over the years, the set-up of the rear of the car contributes a deceptively large amount to the feel of turn in.
Personally I'd probably try extremes at each end to try and get a feel for what effect the changes have, and then try to work out a middle ground that's as soft as possible. Hopefully you've got a useful bit of favourite road nearby to investigate
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