P1 GTi in black
- Thread starter Raceworx
- Start date
got some coil springs (a cheap way of coilovers, as i carnt afford the real thing just now) cheap off a lad with an almera gti who is on a local cruise site (gti shaun), payed £90 so we thought that id would give them ago, got the stndard springs off the car (front) to see if they would fit, the first thing i noticed was that the stndard springs were massive compared to the coil things lol, but still no problem. i then went to put the coil springs onto the dampers, but they wouldnt fit as the bump stops were in the way! so good thing i had an angle grider in the shed! once that the bump stop was ground down a bit they fitted a treat. they do work! but are a b#####d to get to work 
i have only done the front tho, will be doing the rears later.
heres some pics, you can see the diffrance in the two!
just some pics after it was done....
that nice front arch gap has gone!
i have only done the front tho, will be doing the rears later.heres some pics, you can see the diffrance in the two!
just some pics after it was done....
that nice front arch gap has gone!
blimey mate that is quite a difference! Say goodbye to your front splitter now
Twas tommo's Sikow_gti said:
well iv driven it for today thers a couple of problenms that need sorting.. the problem is the design of the almera shock absorber.. i can see why companys only offer 30mm-40mm springs.. if you look in this picture iv drawn youll see what i mean
the first one is like most dampers you get about 4 or more inches of travel A which means theres plenty of room to drop it over 30mm with springs.. the almera on the other hand has super long springs but the spring cups themselves are ridiculously far down the damper body so in actual effect you only get about 3 inches of travel B even on the standard car with mine being lowerd as it is iv got about 40mm travel to the bump stop if that.. iv hit it twice today the way im getting round this is by placing stronger springs in because the system uses a 2.5" IDx6" length spring i can pritty much use any coilover spring in demon tweeks red. theres lists of them i can choose any lb/inch i need for roughly £70 a pair from tein.. and there so easy to change.. but i know this isnt ideal as the dampers will be way of suited for the springs but its not a track car so im not botherd i can put up with a little lack of ride quality for the fact it looks alot better.. it will still handle pritty well but wont be as good as some of the cars on here..
the best way to lower an almera would be to take a new shock take the lower mounts off and re weld them furthur up the shock Cbut this would be complicated and i dont know what clearence there is under the shock itself.. but just thought id share my thoughts with everyone.. with some high lb springs she will be alright.. just need to watch the splitter
the first one is like most dampers you get about 4 or more inches of travel A which means theres plenty of room to drop it over 30mm with springs.. the almera on the other hand has super long springs but the spring cups themselves are ridiculously far down the damper body so in actual effect you only get about 3 inches of travel B even on the standard car with mine being lowerd as it is iv got about 40mm travel to the bump stop if that.. iv hit it twice today the way im getting round this is by placing stronger springs in because the system uses a 2.5" IDx6" length spring i can pritty much use any coilover spring in demon tweeks red. theres lists of them i can choose any lb/inch i need for roughly £70 a pair from tein.. and there so easy to change.. but i know this isnt ideal as the dampers will be way of suited for the springs but its not a track car so im not botherd i can put up with a little lack of ride quality for the fact it looks alot better.. it will still handle pritty well but wont be as good as some of the cars on here..
the best way to lower an almera would be to take a new shock take the lower mounts off and re weld them furthur up the shock Cbut this would be complicated and i dont know what clearence there is under the shock itself.. but just thought id share my thoughts with everyone.. with some high lb springs she will be alright.. just need to watch the splitter
the ride quality in itself is like standard just ever so slightly stiffer.. i was always unsure of these systems i was always against them but i dont have big money so when they came up i thought id give them a shot.. alright there not Full coilovers but for £90 icarnt complain infact i would recomend them over normal springs as you can so ewasily change the stiffness of the springs for your own tastes rather than having to stick with what are available..
and i would like to think i know a bit about suspention it took me ages to set my old blue micra up and it impressed everyone who got in it with just how well it gripped, the only factory bits were there lower wishbones and some bolts. the almera with this setup will never be anywhere near it or anywhere near an almera with proper coilovers on it.. but they offer a cost effective way of being able to tailor the harshness of the ride to what you want whilst keeping the cost low.. on the highest setting they offer the same travel and ride hight as standard so if you wanted you could drive around all day like standard (with whatever level of spring stiffnes you wanted) jack her up at a show and wind it to the floor with no problems what so ever wouldnt even need to remove the wheels to do it..
and i would like to think i know a bit about suspention it took me ages to set my old blue micra up and it impressed everyone who got in it with just how well it gripped, the only factory bits were there lower wishbones and some bolts. the almera with this setup will never be anywhere near it or anywhere near an almera with proper coilovers on it.. but they offer a cost effective way of being able to tailor the harshness of the ride to what you want whilst keeping the cost low.. on the highest setting they offer the same travel and ride hight as standard so if you wanted you could drive around all day like standard (with whatever level of spring stiffnes you wanted) jack her up at a show and wind it to the floor with no problems what so ever wouldnt even need to remove the wheels to do it..
as i said this isnt a "track car" and i dont street race any more i usually have kids in the car.. so for day to day driving there fine and look good.. trust me first time i looked at them i thought usless pile of shite i wouldnt have touched them what so ever but somthing told me to have a look so i have it was worth the punt and they seem alright so far i expected alot of negetive coments hence why i have looked at it from as many angles as i can..
iv had alot of scary moments in alot of cars lol and with coilovers the are alot less forginving than any other suspention systems iv driven.. thats how my blue micra was finished tyres getting to the end of there life and to stiff settings on the rear for the conditoins that day.. when they work well there is endless amounts of grip but cross that grip line and theres no give thats where driver skill kicks in and ill admit im not an F1 driver im still leanring
i expected alot of negetive coments hence why i have looked at it from as many angles as i can.. iv had alot of scary moments in alot of cars lol and with coilovers the are alot less forginving than any other suspention systems iv driven.. thats how my blue micra was finished tyres getting to the end of there life and to stiff settings on the rear for the conditoins that day.. when they work well there is endless amounts of grip but cross that grip line and theres no give thats where driver skill kicks in and ill admit im not an F1 driver im still leanring
Car looks great, have you got any plans for the front grill or are you just going leave it off.
Best bet would be to chop up a Phase 2 grille Ian! I think thats what mine is, it looks identical to an msdesign one though!
Ahh not seen that done on a P1 before! 
