Springs.?

[Big Dave]

Hi.
Im just wondering a few things.
On my car I have a set of Mark Fish springs.
The car came with them fitted.
I also got the standard springs as part of the deal.

Without changing them around, can somebody tell me,,
Are the MF springs shorter an stiffer than he standard ones.?
If so, how much do they lower the car from standard?

Thanks.

 

[Mikeyjp]

I believe, they drop the car 2cm ish, and you will not notice any difference in ride quality swapping back

 

[fpan]

Is the roll centre not affected by lowering the car a futher 2cm?

 

[Mikeyjp]

you mean does it handle better yeah

 

[Claude]

You could always get in on the roll centre bump steer correcting hubs group buy on cliosport.net. They are very well endorsed by those who've fitted them, but they do come at a price...

 

[Luke335]

Yeah, they are about 25% stiffer and the car sits less than an inch lower all around. I think the front drops something like 15mm and the rear a little more.
There's no need to worry about the roll centre in my opinion. I've covered over 60,000 miles standard and the same with MF springs and I don't think there are any issues with this.

 

[fpan]

What improvement over the standard springs do the MF ones give?

 

[Mikeyjp]

as said above they lower it and they are stiffer

 

[fpan]

Lowering is not always better, there are cases where a car rolls more when lowered due to the roll centre being wrong (been there and done it with factory option STi springs in a FSTi).

Also a suspension needs travel to work (unless you travel on smooth roads or on track).

On a different note, I've test driven a Trophy and have found the damping a bit too stiff for my liking over pot holed roads. I haven't had a chance to take for a blast on an uneven B-road but does the car feel planted on uneven roads or does it jump over potholes loosing traction?

Will depinned shocks and softening them make the ride more compliant?

 

[Mikeyjp]

easy answer for you really, dont buy a Trophy, these cars are meant to be a hard ride, and im sure mark fish knows what he is doing, i believe he had them made up specifically to his spec for the trophy

 

[Claude]

I know how much attention to detail you like to give suspension from your earlier posts here. With that in mind I think you'd really need to buy a Trophy of your own, unpin the Sachs and use the 36 (?) clicks of adjustability to find the setting that works best for you.

Combine that with some adjustable rear dampers like Konis, various spring options (you might prefer Eibach Sportlines, or at least use them as a base to get some custom springs made), plus a rear anti-roll bar, front strut bar and maybe the bump steer correcting hubs and you could have one of the best handling Trophys anywhere.

Out of the box I think they're a very capable car. I'm not too keen on the ride at low speeds on broken surfaces but it more than makes up for it when pushing on.

I'm no expert when it comes to suspension, I think it's quite subjective, but if you did buy a Trophy and various components in your quest for the zenith of damping & handling etc, I'm sure you'd be able to sell after 6 months without losing much, assuming you couldn't find the right setup.

I've never driven a 'Mark Fish' Trophy but they sit so well. Looks aren't everything, though

 

[fpan]

Thank you Claude, a very informative reply

 

[aucky]

Did anyone ever get to the bottom of what the MF spring rates are?

 

[olliep]

Does any one have pic's of how much it drops the car vs standard?
what the pricing of both options are are more inportant wat the ride differences are i love the tropy as it is but it has all ways looked a little heigh.

i am about ato get my shocks done and thinking of getting springs done at the same time as car now on 80,000 miles and might save me the labour if it take the hit now.
its also still on orignal rears so looking to do these at the same time?

 

[Claude]

Eibach Sportlines offer the best ride but don't drop the car at all, or if they do it's negligible.

Cooksports offer the best drop of any spring I've tried, but I think they're too low at the back. The ride is very good but not quite as good as the Sportlines.

All in my personal opinion having tried standard and both of the above.

For pictures, head over to www.cliosport.net and the search function will bring back specific threads devoted to how each option looks.