Suspension advice for VY SS

[mechatron]

Hi guys,

For years I've ummed and arred whether to lower my VY SS S2 sedan (with factory sway bar) and now I've finally come around to liking the idea. I not only want my car to look good but I really want it to handle as well so I want to do it properly...ie with good shocks and springs. One thing I want to make sure of is that after lowering my car I don't want the race car like ride where you feel every imperfection in the road and I really don't want my car to fall apart & rattle severely. I'm hoping to get my car to handle but have a similar comfort level to the factory FE2 suspension. I'm thinking of lowering the front by 50mm and the rear by 60mm.

Ive done a bit of research and narrowed down the shocks to either Bilstein B8s or Koni yellows. As for springs I'm up for suggestions.... Something like Kings or Eibachs. What are people's thoughts? Budget approx $2K and I'm not rely interested in coil overs

What setup will make my car handle like its on rails but still retain a level of comfort?
Apparently the Koni yellows are adjustable...but are they height adjustable as well?
Is the legal lowering limit in NSW still 100mm to the lowest point of the car?
Has anyone used Wholesale Suspension in Penrith since they've changed their name to Sydney Suspension?
Whats the going rate to install shocks springs and do a wheel alignment excluding parts ($250-$400)?

FYI, my car has 245/35/19s

Thanks heaps guys

[Short_Duration]

Hey mate, i lowered my car in december with a monroe/kings combo. kings are very hard and you feel everything. kinda regretting it but looks nice and handles better. in regards to height, my cats are the lowest point and scrape alot. im running superlows.

[mechatron]

Thanks for the reply bud. I'm hoping that by getting a good quality shock like Koni I can lower the car and still get a comfortable ride with the King springs or equivalent

[CV8ZMAN]

Hi guys,

For years I've ummed and arred whether to lower my VY SS S2 sedan (with factory sway bar) and now I've finally come around to liking the idea. I not only want my car to look good but I really want it to handle as well so I want to do it properly...ie with good shocks and springs. One thing I want to make sure of is that after lowering my car I don't want the race car like ride where you feel every imperfection in the road and I really don't want my car to fall apart & rattle severely. I'm hoping to get my car to handle but have a similar comfort level to the factory FE2 suspension. I'm thinking of lowering the front by 50mm and the rear by 60mm.

Ive done a bit of research and narrowed down the shocks to either Bilstein B8s or Koni yellows. As for springs I'm up for suggestions.... Something like Kings or Eibachs. What are people's thoughts? Budget approx $2K and I'm not rely interested in coil overs

What setup will make my car handle like its on rails but still retain a level of comfort?
Apparently the Koni yellows are adjustable...but are they height adjustable as well?
Is the legal lowering limit in NSW still 100mm to the lowest point of the car?
Has anyone used Wholesale Suspension in Penrith since they've changed their name to Sydney Suspension?
Whats the going rate to install shocks springs and do a wheel alignment excluding parts ($250-$400)?

FYI, my car has 245/35/19s

Thanks heaps guys

I know a few people that have regretted lowering their cars with kings because they are so hard. If you don't necessarily want to go with kings, you could find some VZ Monaro springs ore HSV springs. They are lower than your factory VY SS springs and not kidney jarring hard.
I can't comment much more on the springs except for what I've heard.

However, I have just fitted Koni yellow adjustables to my VZ Monaro. I retained the stock springs and it handles HEAPS better! I've only got them on 1/4 turn and that had improved the bump and wollow that they standard shocks had tremendously. The bonus is that the car has less body roll and sits much flatter through a corner.

I had the work done at Penrith Sydney Suspension. Workmanship was excellent and service was good. When you ring, talk to Dean. I didnt find anyone else on the phone very helpful. When it comes to springs, you tell them what height you want and they'll fit different springs until they achieve it. The only downside, is that they wont tell you what they put in it. From what they told me, they are quite secretive about how they achieved the desired height.

[mechatron]

I know a few people that have regretted lowering their cars with kings because they are so hard. If you don't necessarily want to go with kings, you could find some VZ Monaro springs ore HSV springs. They are lower than your factory VY SS springs and not kidney jarring hard.
I can't comment much more on the springs except for what I've heard.

However, I have just fitted Koni yellow adjustables to my VZ Monaro. I retained the stock springs and it handles HEAPS better! I've only got them on 1/4 turn and that had improved the bump and wollow that they standard shocks had tremendously. The bonus is that the car has less body roll and sits much flatter through a corner.

I had the work done at Penrith Sydney Suspension. Workmanship was excellent and service was good. When you ring, talk to Dean. I didnt find anyone else on the phone very helpful. When it comes to springs, you tell them what height you want and they'll fit different springs until they achieve it. The only downside, is that they wont tell you what they put in it. From what they told me, they are quite secretive about how they achieved the desired height.

Thanks for the reply mate. It's good to know that handling can be dramatically improved by only using better shocks and retaining the factory height.

Can the Koni yellows be height adjusted or is the adjustment only for the rebound?

Also, if you don't mind me asking, what did you pay to have the shocks installed (supplied and fitted)?

[IJ.]

Koni's are an insert that goes into the stock Strut body so no height adjustment, their adjustment is limited to Compression/Rebound at the same time.

If needs be they can be revolved to suit your personal needs but I find them good out of the box with a large range of adjustment if needed.

[mechatron]

Thanks for the reply IJ. I was thinking that was the case.

Who else out there has lowered their car (preferably VT-VZ) with the Koni or Bilstein shocks and are happy with the ride quality? And what lowered springs did you use?

[IJ.]

I did Kings/Coupe4 Struts in my VZ, not great, then went to Airbags and it was a Pogo Stick, Added Koni's adjusted them and it's now acceptable

[mechatron]

Hmm maybe I need to find a different type of spring to be matched with the Konis

[IJ.]

Kings Lowered Springs are quite a stiff rate and not well suited to road cars, gets worse with low profile tyres..

[Ratsmow]

Mate just been down this path and I think IMO cv8zman is on the right track. To lower your car that much you are not going to get a good ride on the street. I was recommended eibach and h&r lowering springs for my Monaro and was told they both sit at around 350-360 guard to centre of hub, guess what height my original fe2 Monaro springs are, 352. Fancy that.
Had kings in mine and way to firm for me, car looked cool though. Put fe2 springs back in and it transformed the car the right way. If I were you original springs and Koni yellows if your driving the car every day, forget the lowered look. If you decide to lower don't go lower thAn 340 guard to hub, hope this helps.

[CV8ZMAN]

Thanks for the reply mate. It's good to know that handling can be dramatically improved by only using better shocks and retaining the factory height.

Can the Koni yellows be height adjusted or is the adjustment only for the rebound?

Also, if you don't mind me asking, what did you pay to have the shocks installed (supplied and fitted)?

I had to do my strut tops and bearings because they had collapsed. Cost me $1000 drive in, drive out. I couldve done it cheaper myself, but I was too busy.
Koni yellows aren't cheap and their is a fair bit involved in fitting them. You have to cut the original struts and fit the inserts in. Took them about an hour or so each side.

[toey]

Just had my car in there this week. For the lowered pedders springs removed and stock springs re installed, my koni fsd shocks checked over, fix up dodgy original strut base install, find knock in front end and tighten up swaybars one notch front n rear.

Also got a Rego check, service and 2 x o2 sensor bungs put infront of cats for tuning purposes.

Can't fault the guys work and the wheel alignment is the best I have ever had!!

Car now looks like standard but handles better then ever before as it was too low to let the shocks do their job properly.

[surfwagon]

I have Koni Yellows in my senator with HSV springs and the ride with shocks set on about 3/4 of turn from full soft is great and very controlled as well.
After sampling urethane through out I have gone back to original equipment rubber for most of the ride components, strut tops inner lower control arm bush, rear K frame front cradle bushes and rear control arm bushes.
The rest I have and will stay with urethane, all sway bar bushes F&R, F&R radius rod bushes and rear diff bush insert as these all control bushes and don not contribute to ride harshness.
I have also fitted 30mm F and 18mm rear swaybars to keep handling nice and flat without resorting to stiff springs.
I'm sure there are plenty out there with full urethane saying their cars ride fine but for my older body I prefer the softer option plus not having the car too low allows me to drive over most speed humps as fast as most normal cars do without wiping out my front bumper or my exhaust.

[mechatron]

Thanks everyone for their detailed replies. There is a lot of good info in this thread. I was kind of hoping that I could lower my car and the Koni yellows would help retain a comfortable ride. My car isn't my daily driven car but as I said before I really want the car to handle but as a bonus I really wanted a smaller gap between the tyres and the wheel arches.

surfwagon, what brand are your front and rear sway bars and how much were they to have supplied and fitted?

Also I would also stick to rubber components if certain items needed replacing since my car has only done 68K kms and its still nice and tight with no rattles as yet.

So are there any other members out there with a magical combo where they have lowered their car at least an inch or so and retained similar comfort to what the fe2 suspension offers?