E30 Zone

its time for coilovers for my drift car, but im torn

im looking at GAZ GHA or Golds and KW variant 2's

ive had trouble with GAZ coilovers before although this was about 8 years ago, then they were gas filled and i just couldnt get on with them, are they still gas filled? pretty harsh all the time.

KW, ive had no experience with them, although from what i can tell they are oil filled struts, which in the past ive seem to have got on with although not KW's, ive used Teins, Bilsteins, and some other's

this car will be used on the road, although not daily, and i dont want to be rattling myself to bits when its being used on the road but i want a firm ride for on track

basically im after some opinion's before i spend the best part of a grand and i dont want to get it wrong

cheers
Si.

Si the GAZ coilovers are Oil filled

We have sold a great number of kits for the E30 and had nothing but positive feedback, if you want some I can pass on your email to some customers and ask them to contact you?

The biggest factor for road comfort will be getting the spring rates right, which obviously we will

There will have to be a compromise though if you intend to track the car aswell, either comfort or track performance, alternatively have 2 sets of springs?

aaahhh they are oil filled, they never used to be and were very harsh but like i said this was a long time ago,

well the car as you know is a drift car , basically im after trying to get that compromise right,
i also want to car to be low, as obviously drifting is an exhibition sport, so looking good is part of it, but something that i can drive to the track on in relative comfort and give it death all day then drive back home again

what choices have i got on spring rates?

si- wrote:
what choices have i got on spring rates?

Commonly available in 25lb/" increments from 5" upwards in length

As above increments of 25lb/"

I am just putting KW V2's on my car so will let you know how I get on with 'em. The rear's are not a coilover though (standard locations) and springs are progressive (280 - 340lbs) so you may want to swap these out for drifting. Fronts are 400lbs.

As for springs, DK Faulkner springs will make you whatever you want, reasonable prices too.

I went for the KW's over GAZ etc after driving a similar spec car with them already fitted/set up and really liked them. They seem to be used more by our European friends more than on these shores and those using them only had good things to say.

cheers fella's

bullwinkle - im going for full coilover's but cheers for the heads up on that company, the rest of europe use them as most of them have probably never heard of GAZ as they are a pretty small company in comparison in sunny Essex, but they've been around fpor a long ol'time

RPM wrote:Si the GAZ coilovers are Oil filled

We have sold a great number of kits for the E30 and had nothing but positive feedback, if you want some I can pass on your email to some customers and ask them to contact you?

The biggest factor for road comfort will be getting the spring rates right, which obviously we will

There will have to be a compromise though if you intend to track the car aswell, either comfort or track performance, alternatively have 2 sets of springs?

aren't ALL shocks are oil filled? And some having a gas filling to stop the oil foaming? (in a nut shell)

UweM3 wrote:

RPM wrote:Si the GAZ coilovers are Oil filled

We have sold a great number of kits for the E30 and had nothing but positive feedback, if you want some I can pass on your email to some customers and ask them to contact you?

The biggest factor for road comfort will be getting the spring rates right, which obviously we will

There will have to be a compromise though if you intend to track the car aswell, either comfort or track performance, alternatively have 2 sets of springs?

aren't ALL shocks are oil filled? And some having a gas filling to stop the oil foaming? (in a nut shell)

The GAZ kits have a gas cell (bag) fitted for exactly that reason, yep

I've got a box of springs suitable for coilover dampers that I have run with GAZ dampers in the past. So if you need to pay extra for the springs let me know and I'll do them Cheeeeep for you.

Black_Potato wrote:I've got a box of springs suitable for coilover dampers that I have run with GAZ dampers in the past. So if you need to pay extra for the springs let me know and I'll do them Cheeeeep for you.

could you do a little list please? Might be something there for everybody.
but will not pick before si

RPM wrote:

UweM3 wrote:

RPM wrote:Si the GAZ coilovers are Oil filled

We have sold a great number of kits for the E30 and had nothing but positive feedback, if you want some I can pass on your email to some customers and ask them to contact you?

The biggest factor for road comfort will be getting the spring rates right, which obviously we will

There will have to be a compromise though if you intend to track the car aswell, either comfort or track performance, alternatively have 2 sets of springs?

aren't ALL shocks are oil filled? And some having a gas filling to stop the oil foaming? (in a nut shell)

The GAZ kits have a gas cell (bag) fitted for exactly that reason, yep

that was my point. Having a "harsh" shock isn't down to the gas filling. It's the valving of the OIL that makes it harsh or not.
GAZ are adjustable in that regards, so one can adjust within reason

UweM3 wrote:

Black_Potato wrote:I've got a box of springs suitable for coilover dampers that I have run with GAZ dampers in the past. So if you need to pay extra for the springs let me know and I'll do them Cheeeeep for you.

could you do a little list please? Might be something there for everybody.
but will not pick before si

I'lll check when I get time but...

I probably have 600 & 500 lb for the front, 350, 275 for the rear, also I have a few others, some dual rates etc.. and some connectors to add tenders.

I think there is a dozen springs at least from memory but will post when I have checked.

Have you heard of AST?

We use them on our production BMW 320i's (along with many others)and have been very pleased with them and the support too.


Edited by HartgeH27. Please contact a moderator if you wish to advertise on the Zone.

djs325 wrote:Very much waiting for a set of AST 4200s to turn up in the near future (the USA-spec ones)...

And their shocks are just fantastic to look at - precision machined monotube sexyness!

43HIGGS wrote:Have you heard of AST?

We use them on our production BMW 320i's (along with many others)and have been very pleased with them and the support too.

Edited by HartgeH27. Please contact a moderator if you wish to advertise on the Zone.

I am running Intrax.. I would happily put them on display to look at, but that would be a waste

Heard of AST again cant seem to find much on price though?

never heard of Intrax but they look good, what sort of monies where they Jhonno?

Nitron

rix313 wrote:Nitron

Personally if funds permitted,I'd be looking at some Penske or Ohlins units with remote reservoirs and high/low speed damping as well.

si- wrote:Heard of AST again cant seem to find much on price though?

never heard of Intrax but they look good, what sort of monies where they Jhonno?

AST are very good..

My Intrax were £2000 without top mounts

AST are brilliant and not as expensive as intrax

Timbopbmw wrote:AST are brilliant and not as expensive as intrax

Depends what you are buying..

2k is a little out of my budget by about ......... 1k lol

what do you mean by depends what you are buying Jhonno?

I have a set of Nitrons with Eibach springs for sale as per pictures above if any one is interested.

320smithy wrote:I have a set of Nitrons with Eibach springs for sale as per pictures above if any one is interested.

Hmm, PM sent.