Best AVO coilovers

[Chris J]

What's the best value for money regarding AVO coilovers for the front end?

I'm thinking bearing ends are a must for a Hawk, but beyond that I'm not sure.
Steel body, alloy body, single or double adjustable???

[chris.richard]

Depends on what you'll use the car for I suppose!
And how deep Santa's pockets are!

[strat6v]

As Chris Richard says, it depends on use and the depth of your pockets. For a road car, single damping adjustment would be fine. Once you have found the setting you prefer, you'll probably never adjust them again.

Spherical bearings at each end would be better for alignment but do introduce an element of harshness.You probably wouldn't notice it anyway, you'll be too busy trying to tame the monster behind you ;)

John.

[Chris J]

Probably a pair of these then?:
WD 140/095 14" 9-1/2" 6-1/2" 9" £90.00ea+vat
Something like £220 inc. vat and carriage.
(or £297.00 on Demon Tweeks)

http://www.avouk.com/pm/78

As long as they're going to be better than the old but low mileage Spax that I've got?

[strat6v]

The old spax units are just about good enough to leave on while you manouvre it around the garage.

Going back to my biking days, others used to say how much better their bikes were once they had fitted a good quality rear shock, i didn't believe them. Once i changed from my stock damper and fitted an ohlins unit the transformation was untrue, what had been a difficult bike to hussle along was now a doddle.

Conclusion is same as most other things, buy the best you can afford. Dampers and braking kit especially ;)

[Chris J]

I think Bilsteins at the rear would be the best I can afford (although not fitted yet), but you're right, these front Spax maybe don't fall into the same catagory?

[strat6v]

Once you get some decent dampers, there is a good explanation in the staniforth suspension book on setup and what to change to correct/improve handling. Quite detailed but easy to understand for a numpty like me so you should be fine :) :D

[CorseChris]

Have AVO Pro race on mine at the front, with the spherical bearings. It's never felt harsh, but I had to replace the lower joints for poly earlier this year as they had started to wear out after only 5k miles of road use. Top ones are OK, so I'm assuming it's due to dirt getting into the joint. YMMV