Which dampers are best?

ozturbo · Post by **ozturbo** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 11:53 am

I was wondering what people's thoughts and experience were with dampers for the 480. Mine are due for replacement, especially the rears. I have Koni yellows on my Alfa 75 and they are fantastic on that vehicle. I like tight cars and don't find the yellows too stiff. What are they like on a 480 or would people recommend some thing else? I believe the dampers are the same as on the 440 so I shouldn't have too much trouble getting some.

Moved to Wheel Suspension and Steering - volvo-bigbrother

hebruins · Post by **hebruins** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 12:24 pm

I have those same Koni Yellow on my MR2, I like them, just a comfortable as before when set on soft, can be turned to much stiffer.

Only downside is the price... 500 euro's for a set of 4. The rear of my 480T is a bit sagging also, but that price....

ozturbo · Post by **ozturbo** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 12:43 pm

I was lucky because the 75 already had them when I bought it, along with springs and suspension tuning from the best in Australia for Alfa suspension. The handling on that car is awesome. The GTV I bought recently also has Koni yellows. I suspect that whatever I buy for the 480 is not going to be cheap, unless I can get some good second hand ones.

catgroom · Post by **catgroom** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 5:28 pm

Yep Koni all the way dude!

You get what you pay for.I had Koni on all 3 of my Lancia and theyre very much the top ones!I had yellows.

Mind you,on the 480 I havent paid for Koni,so have a lesser ride!

Murf · Post by **Murf** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 8:10 pm

Any chance you could make your avatar a bit bigger groom, i cant quite make out the speck of dust on the bonnet

As for dampers, i'm running bilsteins at the front with sachs at the rear, it handles pretty good. Dont get rear bilsteins as the top mounting eye is slightly too big and they rattle like buggery!

Darren · Post by **Darren** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 10:30 pm

What dampers do the 480s have as standard, and what selection of dampers do us 480 owners have to choose from? I'm thinking of upgrading mine / suspension on the next service but don't have a clue what to look out for, nevermind where to buy!

Standard suspension is a little bouncy compared to what I'm used to driving a Mini (used to 'Gas-a-just' Dampers), so wouldn't mind something a bit stiffer in the Volvo.

hjkort · Post by **hjkort** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 12:34 pm

koni sports (yellow)

catgroom · Post by **catgroom** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 3:33 pm

From new 480s came with Sachs/Boge dampers.

You can feel an immense handling upgrade by fitting PI lowering springs with these std shocks.These lower the car by 40mm,then sag a bit so say 55!
You do lose lots of comfort though.

The best handling upgrade I think is to fit the KYB lowering springs,again 40mm,with Koni or std shocks.This way you keep ride comfort and quality.

Steve

ozturbo · Post by **ozturbo** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 6:10 am

I just got a price on Koni yellows - over $1000 for a set and they are not easy to come by! It is the fronts that are the biggest problem at $345 each! Boge on the other hand are $612 for the set. What are your thoughts on Boges? I am not sure how bad mine are exactly. The old standby used to be that if you bounced the car and let go it should come back up and settle half way. It is hard to tell with mine. It feels soft and wiggles slightly when settling, but maybe that is the way they are normally. It doesn't keep bouncing though. I am used to the Alfas with the Konis which are quite stiff to push down and don't wiggle at all. What are the 480s like with standard, good condition, dampers?

hjkort · Post by **hjkort** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 6:16 am

Yellow Koni's are adjustable. They are not very hard to come by. If you want a pair, just say so, I can send them to you when you want.

ozturbo · Post by **ozturbo** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 6:39 am

They are available ex Sydney but are only brought in in small numbers. The price is the biggest problem, especially the fronts. I don't know how it would go with Konis on the rear and Boges or the originals on the front. There would be a fairly big difference in the stiffness I think. How much do Konis cost where you are?

hjkort · Post by **hjkort** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 7:43 am

I will check for you this weekend. I'll call my supplier tomorrow and I am online again this monday.
I'll try to make you a good offer, but I think the prices won't differ much.

Mounting the Koni's on the back doesn't do much. It's the front ones you need to have. Then to finish, replace the ones on the back by Koni's.

Alternatively you can use Kayaba shocks. Gasfilled on the front (like the no longer available red Koni's) and gasfilled, adjustables on the back (like the yellow Koni's)
Prices are on my site. I don't have any experience with them, but they are very nicely priced.
prices on the site are just an indication, probably I can get them even cheaper

hebruins · Post by **hebruins** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 8:03 am

I can get myself a set of Koni yellow (front and rear) for â‚¬550,- then add â‚¬100,- for shipping to Australia. (6-8 workdays deliverytime)

Including some paypalfees that comes to $1100,- (australian dollars)

Not really interesting I guess.

piper1st · Post by **piper1st** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:22 pm

Is there an option of suppliers for the various brands of dampeners? Whats the cheapest anyone has found for Koni dampeners or KYB lowering springs?

hebruins · Post by **hebruins** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 2:55 pm

Cheaper than those â‚¬550,- including delivery to my house in the netherlands I haven't found them and I looked around a lot.

Only thing cheaper was a german site which sells them illegaly but woudn't ship outside of germany...

gambafreak · Post by **gambafreak** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 2:49 pm

I had my shocks replaced, front and rear for 382,-- Euro, fitted.

Nothing fancy like Koni or Bilstein. But Gabriel fitted by Kwik-fit. I only plan to use the car for two years and didnâ€™t want to spend too much on shocks.

But road holding dramatically improved and the ride is far better than before.

Sadly (or luckily) they (kwikfit) destroyed my inner left cv joint. One bearing fell out while they removed the driveshaft. And they put is al back together without noticing this.

I felt a big shudder when any drove the car any faster than 40 km/h. So I went back to claim the cv-joint and they replaced it after a short discussion with the manager and the mechanic.

I always felt a light shudder when I accelerated hard, so the cv joint wasnâ€™t great anyway.

Now no wobble over bumps, better road holding, good comfort and no more shudder on accelerating.