Anyone using these? I'm thinking of pulling the trigger and adding these to my '89 coupe mainly to improve handling for AutoX. I've seen several "tuners" that are using these on their cars and have heard some good things. Also the external adjustment is a nice feature.

Would like some feedback from any C4 users?

 

yea i've got em. best mod to my car so far for handling. installation is easy. you'll probably need a bushing spacer for the rear so keep that in mind when you order. they're expensive, but well worth it. on the softest setting, i daily drive it, rides like a cadillac. on 12, the hardest, rides like a derailed locomotive! there is Zero movement for most forces applied. handling is INSANE! this will really start to make your car rely on tires more. i did have one bust, the **** came out in my hand. i sent it back and had it fixed for free. all is well now, i think these cars shoulda come with these shocks. pics are on my page somewhere. search around the bottom.

 

How much for a set of em?

 

Been running them on my car for few hundred miles now and I love them. The "floatiness" of the stock shocks is gone. Can't wait to go to the track in a few weeks and see if they help my 60' times. I will set them to the softest settings to improve weight transfer. For everyday driving I have them on 5 clicks all around. I got them brand new of eBay for $420 shipped. Got lucky! They go for about $140 a piece.

 

I saw them for $130 each on Jegs.com. I haven't found them in too many places to compare though.

 

Are these with Z51 springs better or worse than coil-overs?

 

So how do these compare to the Koni adjustables? I'm trying to get my car stiffened up for autocross ... ...

 

I just purchased a set of the QA1's where do you get the bushing spacer from?

 

I ended up putting a large washer (5/8" ID) on either side of the rear shocks. I've heard of people buying some sort of spacer from the manufacturer, but I don't have a part number. Try doing a search as this was discussed a couple of months ago.

 

I love mine they have been on for about 2 years...

I have a few pics on my website...

Mo

 

I've got them on my car are well, love'em. Drag, autocross, road course, street. You can go with the stock springs or coil overs, which wasn't an option when I bought mine.

KONI is a better shock, but to get the KONI rear shocks to adjust on the car you need to drill a hole in the frame!

 

Looks like several folks went with the coil overs, I think those are not allowed for SCCA AS class, have folks had good luck with the non-coil over shock as well. I would assume more of a bolt on installation with little to no mod?

 

Same here. The versatility and ease of adjustment make them well worth the price. I'd highly recommend them!

 

Is the bushing spacer for the rear needed for the coil over shock or for either? Is the spacer made of bushing type material or a metal spacer?

I think my mind is made up to order these.

 

I just put a set on the front of my '89 last week, they went on just fine, had to reuse the stock upper bushing with it. Made a difference for the good. Plan to put a pair on the rear in the spring when I have more "toy funds". My only concern with them is the lack of dustcovers and the loss of the front suspension bumper (was located on the original shocks), but I don't think there is really enough suspension travel to worry about it anyway.

 

shotchkiss, when you installed the fronts did the position of the suspension change quite a bit. I did mine yesterday and the position of the hub when the car is on stands seems to have dropped about 2". I don't think this is right, but can't see a way to adjust this?

It just seems like the shock has more travel and therefore the suspension drops. I'm relucant to test drive until I get some info whether it is OK.

 

The QA1 shocks seems to extend more than the stock ones when the car is jacked up, but the car looks like it sits the same when sitting on its wheels and driving. Should be fine unless you spend alot of time airborne, then I think you'd have bigger problems to worry about.

 

OK, I think I'll put the wheels on and check out the height and travel slowly, then pass judgement. I guess it will just make changing wheels a bit tougher as the car will need to lifted higher. Since I AutoX a good bit that just make life a bit more difficult.

 

Dolfan,

I responded to a post last night it seems to have disappeared...

If you are using the HAL 4885 's they are 4 inch total travel... with the shock or coilover ration to the A frame ratio there is plenty of travel. even being dropped 2 inches I have not had a problem with the front shocks giving me enough travel.

If I recall there was like 3 inches of wheel travel to 1" of shock travel in the front... I have it somewhere in my notes...

The rear coil overs I had to shim them slightly to the center to clear the half shafts I used a combination of washers andbushing inserts to do so. I have pictures on the website , I would suspect that you would also need to do the same even if you aren't using coilovers. Thereis also a difference if you are using the bearing inserts vs. the poly bushing ends as you are correct they are narrower. The bearing ends do come with different spacers.

As a side note on the rear shocks I went to the HAL 5885 shock's as I did have a problem with the rear leaving the ground over like railroad tracks etc.

What I did to check travel is I measured the wheel center to a location on the car.. then jacked up the car, put it on a jack stand then put a hydraulic jack ubder the a frame or rear mount and jacked the wheel up to the same location and it was easy to see the travel of the shock and so forth in slow motion. this was especially handy as I only have about 1/4" clearence between the coilover spring and the ha;lf shaft in the rear.

I hope this helps some.

Mo

 

You'll love these shocks no matter what kind of driving you do.

Street, autocross, road race, drag race, you can adjust them to fit the moment, all w/o having to jack the car up or remove a wheel.