Mr K
Member
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- 321
A couple of you may remember me mentioning at the April ACE meet that I'd like to revert my car to standard spec. I've had to finish another project before I could get started on this one - my youngest son's bedroom. I managed to finish that on Monday and in the last month or so I've bought all the parts needed and borrowed a great big floor-mounted spring compressor.
The mods I'm reverting are:
FD lowering springs (on the standard Skyhook dampers)
FD anti-roll bars
Tubi exhausts
Some of you will no doubt wonder why I'm reverting to standard. Well, last year I bought a standard 2007 QP Sport GT and I was happy with the suspension and exhaust sound. I used it for its intended purpose - driving across various countries with a family of 5 on board. The exhaust was just the right side of fruity cruising at 140mph in Germany. We're going to Italy in August in my latest QP, via Germany, and I'm concerned the louder Tubis will intrude and be tiring. Not a problem at half that speed in the UK, but as I said I like the standard sound.
In Sport mode the standard suspension works well IMO. In standard mode it's a little compromised and slightly wallowy, but that's fine, it's intended to be like that for a softer ride around town.
On my current QP the FD setup works well on smooth roads, giving sharper turn-in, without being too firm. It lowers the car even more than the standard GTS setup, and for me it's a bit too low, both in terms of ground clearance and looks. Ground clearance is more a perception than actual issue as it has never grounded over speed bumps. In practice it absorbs big motorway dips taken at speed well, but the downside is that in normal mode at low speed the damping doesn't work properly over small bumps. Colchester Maserati pointed this out when they inspected the car and they think it's because the lowered springs mean the first inch of damper movement isn't in play. I've only ever experienced this issue over the small speed bumps on the approach to the Colchester Maserati workshop and on a rough, stony, unmetalled road leading to a nature reserve. Nonetheless, for me it means the dampers aren't being allowed to work as they were designed to. It's probaly why the previous owner always drove in Sport mode.
The other factor is insurance - much easier to get quotes with no mods.
I did consider going for the GTS dampers and springs, but that's a fair bit more expensive than replacing springs and ARBs. Plus I want the car to be standard.
Meridien had fitted the modified parts in 2011 for a previous owner and although they'd binned the springs and ARBs they had retained the original exhausts and 5 years later I've bought them to re-fit thanks to eBay. Ross was pretty sure they were off my car, though he couldn't be 100% certain. I've bought all the other parts brand new from Colchester Maserati. The rear springs are a special Eibach part for the Sport GT and I've insisted on those rather than the much cheaper standard QP rear springs. I had to buy new ARB brackets and rubber mounts as the FD ones come with their own.
So I'm ready to go and will post photos of the job here. I started yesterday evening by removing all the boot trim to expose the damper cables which need to be unplugged. I have to say the aluminium petrol tank looks like a beautiful piece of engineering. This evening I took off the plastic engine bay cover to expose the front shock mounts and wiring.
That'll be as far as I get until next week as we're all piling into the Alfasud for National Alfa Day at Chatsworth house and a weekend in Derbyshire. Brave I know, especially as we're used to aircon and it's a black car :O
The mods I'm reverting are:
FD lowering springs (on the standard Skyhook dampers)
FD anti-roll bars
Tubi exhausts
Some of you will no doubt wonder why I'm reverting to standard. Well, last year I bought a standard 2007 QP Sport GT and I was happy with the suspension and exhaust sound. I used it for its intended purpose - driving across various countries with a family of 5 on board. The exhaust was just the right side of fruity cruising at 140mph in Germany. We're going to Italy in August in my latest QP, via Germany, and I'm concerned the louder Tubis will intrude and be tiring. Not a problem at half that speed in the UK, but as I said I like the standard sound.
In Sport mode the standard suspension works well IMO. In standard mode it's a little compromised and slightly wallowy, but that's fine, it's intended to be like that for a softer ride around town.
On my current QP the FD setup works well on smooth roads, giving sharper turn-in, without being too firm. It lowers the car even more than the standard GTS setup, and for me it's a bit too low, both in terms of ground clearance and looks. Ground clearance is more a perception than actual issue as it has never grounded over speed bumps. In practice it absorbs big motorway dips taken at speed well, but the downside is that in normal mode at low speed the damping doesn't work properly over small bumps. Colchester Maserati pointed this out when they inspected the car and they think it's because the lowered springs mean the first inch of damper movement isn't in play. I've only ever experienced this issue over the small speed bumps on the approach to the Colchester Maserati workshop and on a rough, stony, unmetalled road leading to a nature reserve. Nonetheless, for me it means the dampers aren't being allowed to work as they were designed to. It's probaly why the previous owner always drove in Sport mode.
The other factor is insurance - much easier to get quotes with no mods.
I did consider going for the GTS dampers and springs, but that's a fair bit more expensive than replacing springs and ARBs. Plus I want the car to be standard.
Meridien had fitted the modified parts in 2011 for a previous owner and although they'd binned the springs and ARBs they had retained the original exhausts and 5 years later I've bought them to re-fit thanks to eBay. Ross was pretty sure they were off my car, though he couldn't be 100% certain. I've bought all the other parts brand new from Colchester Maserati. The rear springs are a special Eibach part for the Sport GT and I've insisted on those rather than the much cheaper standard QP rear springs. I had to buy new ARB brackets and rubber mounts as the FD ones come with their own.
So I'm ready to go and will post photos of the job here. I started yesterday evening by removing all the boot trim to expose the damper cables which need to be unplugged. I have to say the aluminium petrol tank looks like a beautiful piece of engineering. This evening I took off the plastic engine bay cover to expose the front shock mounts and wiring.
That'll be as far as I get until next week as we're all piling into the Alfasud for National Alfa Day at Chatsworth house and a weekend in Derbyshire. Brave I know, especially as we're used to aircon and it's a black car :O
