Look what just arrived early this morning!!

skriblz06 · 17-10-2008, 09:52 AM

Morning guys/gals

Well this morning I got woken up by a delivery dude and after waiting for a month and a half, my eibach pro streets finally arrived. I don't get to install it until tomorrow morning but just happy they finally arrived. I shall post up pics of the car once it's installed and let you know how it handles. For now here are just some pics that I took this morning. Sorry bout the quality, just used a camera phone since I was too excited to find the digi haha

Anywho, have a good day guys!

RJO89 · 17-10-2008, 05:23 PM

:

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Yummy!! Can't wait to see them installed! Remember before AND after pics!!

marg99 · 17-10-2008, 06:13 PM

Cool hope they work really well for you

Mullett · 17-10-2008, 10:09 PM

That's freaking sweet...how much did they set you back?

-RM.

skriblz06 · 17-10-2008, 10:25 PM

well I was abit surprised that the currency conversion on Euro-parts is different to the one that paypal uses. So it ended up being $1400 + $200 DHL premium. Not $1270ish that shows on the EP website when you convert Euros to AUD. All up spent more then I was hoping to pay but shall be good when I get it installed tomorrow morning.

melbzetec · 18-10-2008, 06:35 PM

Exchange rate is all over the place at the moment and your getting big shifts on a daily basis.

How glad am I that I bought my new FR cylinder head from the US when the Aus/US exchange rate was at 95c not the 66c it is now!!!!

orsest170 · 18-10-2008, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skriblz06

well I was abit surprised that the currency conversion on Euro-parts is different to the one that paypal uses. So it ended up being $1400 + $200 DHL premium. Not $1270ish that shows on the EP website when you convert Euros to AUD. All up spent more then I was hoping to pay but shall be good when I get it installed tomorrow morning.

It's not the European Parts rate that is the problem. Paypal's conversion rate is always lower than the official exchange rate at the time (perhaps there is some blatant profiteering going on?), so now I always factor in about 8 - 10% extra on what I should be paying.

skriblz06 · 18-10-2008, 10:48 PM

hey everyone, wells I got the coilovers installed this morning. Got it installed at Wholesale Suspension at Blacktown. They done a good job, recommend the place to anyone who wants suspension parts installed. Driven it around the whole day and all I can say is wow. I was actually surprised cause I thought i would have to compromise alot of the stock comfort if I had the coilovers installed but driving around it feels better than stock. The car doesn't feel any bounce and its not stiff to hurt your back either. Overall I really recommend to those people who want to change their suspension to get these coilovers, absolute pleasure to drive. Goes through corners better as well.

The only downside I have is not with the coilovers, but rather the height I put the rears at haha. At first when they adjusted the rear to the height I have now, I thought it would be all fine as there was a 1 to 2 finger gap between the wheel arch and the tyre. But when I had passengers sitting at the back today I could full hear the wheel scraping against the inner guard. Have to adjust it abit higher tommorow.

Well anyways here are some pics that I took today. Hope you like!

Before:

After

Before:

After:

want-a-XY · 18-10-2008, 11:18 PM

that's awesome

!!!!!!!!!!!

RJO89 · 18-10-2008, 11:23 PM

Holy crap. That's so good man. You happy with it? They're adjustable yeah?

Did you have springs before you put the coilovers in?

skriblz06 · 18-10-2008, 11:46 PM

I sure do love it!! Great pleasure to drive, just the scraping of the rear inner guards is the downside, however it can be fixed with some adjusting

. Yeh they're height adjustable at the front and also the rear.

Seriously a good investment to put in the car. If you happen to sell your car in the future then you could always sell the coilovers to sum1 else as they are rare to have on a focus on Oz roads. Someone will surely snap them up if you sell it.

And nahh I never had any springs in the car previously. Just saved up to get the coilovers since when I asked around, a koni yellows + eibach springs(you supply) package would equate to around 1400 installed.

RJO89 · 18-10-2008, 11:52 PM

Yeah. Sounds like an extremely good investment. I may have to consider that. Coming into summer is busy months, so I'll be able to get the cash up. How much was installation? If you don't mind saying...
Can't believe how low that is mate. Looks so good!!!!!!!

skriblz06 · 19-10-2008, 12:47 AM

The installation was $280 fitting plus wheel alignment. If you do get it, just save an extra $360ish for customs duty. I say go for it, you wont regret it one bit!

Yehh its pretty low but the rear is impractical if you have passengers that are an average adult weight haha. the mechanic said there was about another 1 to 1 and a half centimeters of thread left to lower it some more

RJO89 · 19-10-2008, 01:13 AM

That's an awesome price. I got quoted something like $300 for spring installation!!
I want to get coilovers, but due to the price of those Eibachs and the current exchange rate, a local source might end up being slightly more appropriate. Will see how it all goes when the time comes though.

You need to lower it that extra bit for shows though for sure!!

Mullett · 19-10-2008, 05:50 AM

Coilovers are actually easier to install than springs, so maybe they were quoting more time for the springs? Seriously, it's not hard, if you've got a couple of spanners at home have a crack at installing them yourselves, and then just get them to do a wheel alignment for you afterwards...

With the Customs duty, was that on top of the price+shipping, or included?

-RM.

skriblz06 · 19-10-2008, 09:10 AM

All up it was:

$1400 for the coilovers
$200 for DHL premium (optional)
and $365 for Customs Duty
= $1965

Although it was abit pricey, I think that its money well spent. Cause in comparison with a Shock and spring setup I was getting quoted:

$1200 for Koni Yellow shock absorbers (including fitting)
$360ish for Eibach Springs from EP
= $1560

FOCUSonTHIS · 19-10-2008, 10:33 AM

I'm not a fan of the bodykit but everyone has their own choice in them. I love the rims and the ride height just looks amazing. Great job and I do think money well spent. With suspension you should always do it right and not a half a$$ed job.

F6 R-Spec · 19-10-2008, 10:34 AM

Thats a fantastic result.

Looks HOT! very nice.

orsest170 · 19-10-2008, 11:49 AM

Looks fantastic mate. Now get some black angel eyes and black tails to finish it off.

Have you taken it on a poorly maintained road yet? That is where you'll find out if you've suffered significant ride quality loss. With all the aftermarket suspension I've had on cars over the years, I've never really noticed much difference in comfort while putting around town, but when cruising on poor roads at 110km/h, you can definitely feel the bumps a lot more. Still, it's a worthwhile trade off I reckon.

Personally, I'd look at raising the height about 5-7 mm all round, because although it looks great at that height, there are too many downsides. Firstly, you'll be running so much negative camber, that tyre wear could be a serious issue (can you get camber kits for MK II's yet?), and secondly, every curb and speed hump becomes a major obstacle. The other problem is what you have experienced already - rubbing - this will damage the guards and the tyres.

That's the great thing about coil overs though, you can change ride height whenever you like!

skriblz06 · 19-10-2008, 11:59 AM

thanks guys! Nahh I haven't done high speeds on a chatty road just yet. However I did travel on Sunnyholt Road, Blacktown doing the legal limit. And for people who have travelled on that road you will agree that in some parts of the roadway it is pretty poor hahaha. I couldn't feel any difference in comfort from stock on that road. It took up the mini road dips and uneven tar level easily and also ran over those manhole type coverings on the road and didn't have a loss of comfort. I really need to test it out on a more demanding road though. Any locations in the west sydney area?

Ohh yehh btw I have raised it up just this morning cause of the rear scrubbing problem. Was about 320mm from centre wheel to the tip of the wheel arch body. Raised it up so the rears sit about 340ish now. Got my dad to sit at the back while I took some turns to test it out and it doesn't scrub anymore. Gotta love the heigh adjust ability, very convenient. It took me a while to figure out what the mechanic said yesterday about the adjusting being a 2 to 1 ratio or whatever. But when I adjusted it today I got what he meant as one full clockwise turn is 2 cm, 180degree turn is 1cm, and 90degree turn is half a centimeter

Fast Eddie · 19-10-2008, 03:23 PM

Quote: "Any locations in the west sydney area?" Sure are, you could have a quick run up the Blue Mountains on the Bells Line of Road to Lithgow. That should be a good indicator of the difference between old and new. P.M. me and we'll go for a run one weekend.

Conquest_Tsi · 19-10-2008, 07:29 PM

Nice wheels, what size are they?

skriblz06 · 19-10-2008, 09:38 PM

ohh yehh I think I've travelled on that road before. Last time I went it was traffic hard though, I think cause it was a public holiday and roadworks going on recently so everything was put into 1 lane each.

the wheels are 18inch

Mullett · 20-10-2008, 12:11 AM

The only catch with the ride-height adjustment is that you alter your wheel alignment every time...

As far as rear-camber kits go, from what I've heard a lot of the rear suspention is carried over from the LR focus, I wonder if anything is interchangeable...

-RM.

Velociraptor82 · 20-10-2008, 01:35 PM

My coil-overs are fully adjustable. but didn't lower it much as I don't want to car scrapign the ground during everyday use (just lowered it for shows and such). However I found the suspenssion at teh back dropped suddenly after about a month due to the springs settling in... now i have top raise it again...

If your getting scrubing with passengers in it imagine when it settles.... You definallty need to get it raised. Are they adjustable in the way of stiffness like mine? if they are then you can stiffen it so that when your passenges get in the car doesn't lower..

RJO89 · 20-10-2008, 03:57 PM

Hey Simon did you get your coilovers from PPM racing?

Mullett · 20-10-2008, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Velociraptor82

My coil-overs are fully adjustable. but didn't lower it much as I don't want to car scrapign the ground during everyday use (just lowered it for shows and such). However I found the suspenssion at teh back dropped suddenly after about a month due to the springs settling in... now i have top raise it again...

If your getting scrubing with passengers in it imagine when it settles.... You definallty need to get it raised. Are they adjustable in the way of stiffness like mine? if they are then you can stiffen it so that when your passenges get in the car doesn't lower..

I wouldn't have expected them to settle that much, and certainly not rapidly...a centimetre maybe, over the course of a couple of months...unless the springs weren't seated correctly.

How do you mean yours are adjustable for stiffness? As in the shock stiffness? (which shouldn't affect the sag under load) Or can you also adjust the spring pre-load?

-RM.

skriblz06 · 21-10-2008, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Velociraptor82

My coil-overs are fully adjustable. but didn't lower it much as I don't want to car scrapign the ground during everyday use (just lowered it for shows and such). However I found the suspenssion at teh back dropped suddenly after about a month due to the springs settling in... now i have top raise it again...

If your getting scrubing with passengers in it imagine when it settles.... You definallty need to get it raised. Are they adjustable in the way of stiffness like mine? if they are then you can stiffen it so that when your passenges get in the car doesn't lower..

Nope the coilovers are only height adjustable, not damper adjustable as well. Would've been good to have that feature, but I am fine with how the comfort is with these ones. How often do you change your settings btw?

Velociraptor82 · 21-10-2008, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RJO89

Hey Simon did you get your coilovers from PPM racing?

Yes. Bought them from PPM and was installed by them as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mullett

I wouldn't have expected them to settle that much, and certainly not rapidly...a centimetre maybe, over the course of a couple of months...unless the springs weren't seated correctly.

How do you mean yours are adjustable for stiffness? As in the shock stiffness? (which shouldn't affect the sag under load) Or can you also adjust the spring pre-load?

-RM.

Yeah I agree was really surprised to find the rear was almost sitting on the wheels when i got out of the car one day (car was on a slop at the time and with no hb was siting on the gears, which accounts for a little lowering at the back). I did a bit of asking around and seems to be normal. But i do need to get it raised again....

In regards to the adjustable stiffness I'm not sure how it is done (not that technically minded). but they did cost me alot and were installed by my mate who owns the business so i trust his info is correct. They were set for the highest and softest setup. but since the back has dropped i'm planing to get the back raised (was still a few threads left before the top) and I'm also considereing stiffening it too. as i feel it still has too much roll and understeer still. Would LOVE to lower it, but I can't, i need the clearence to get up the driveway. But if i stiffen it the car won't bounce as much so maybe i still maybe able to lower it a little.

I havn't had them adjusted since they were put on. Had intended to drop the car for the show in syd but i didn't get a chance to arrange beforehand.

Mullett · 21-10-2008, 08:29 PM

Spring pre-load adjustable coilovers are rare, normally you can't adjust this (because increasing the tension on the spring will increase the ride height proportionally) To be able to adjust the spring preload you need adjustable ride-height stoppers, which will also mean that there is no down stroke on the shock. That's got implications on all sorts of handling complications as well, so you won't usually find it on street shocks.

Usually the only way to make the spring rate stiffer is to buy new springs, but you'd be amazed at the difference there is to me had in shock tuning. Grab your adjusters and play with the stiffness, if they've been set fully soft it'll be wallowing terribly.

Grab your adjusters, turn them all the way soft, then all the way hard and count the turns. Set them in the middle, and see how it feels through the kind of driving you normally do, if it seems a little understeery in steady state cornering (NOT on turn in!) then increase the rear stiffness, if it's soft on turn in, increase the front stiffness. It's a bit of an artform, but just keep paying until the car feels good.

My personal preference is normally for about 30% stiffer rear shocks to front shocks, but that changes wildly from car to car, but I think it'd feel nice in something like a Focus.

-RM.