Change Springs

TimR

Member
Messages
2,654
Fifty, Just think race cars setups, corner weighting and stuff

Absolutely...This is a given. Having bought after market kits in the past, Im wary of poor quality products, supplied with rubbish set up sheets. Its an expensive waste of time and money...So there's that ! :)
 
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FIFTY

Member
Messages
3,100
Fifty, Just think race cars setups, corner weighting and stuff

Yeah for sure the fuel tank in the M138 chassis is not far off where it would be in the 4200 Trofeo which is on coilovers anyway... it's all about finding a suspension tuner who is very good at setting up and balancing race cars but knows how to use that knowledge tune the car to handle better and be more comfortable on the road than Skyhook... There must be a few people out there that can do a good job of it... during my research I found a few 911 owners opt for KW V3's and that has the engine in the rear bumper!

I have been toying with the idea of buying the KW's pretty much since I bought the car, if I fit them myself that will negate some cost but I expect several hours to set the car up correctly with a good tuner. I do not want to lower my car or achieve any "stance" it would be no more than 10-15mm drop to bring it to the same height as the 05 face lift... it is a MY03 so it looks like it is on stilts; that said it makes it very usable on long road trips when the car is heavily loaded and you find yourself on a broken road in Tuscany

20180909_170418.jpg

Also is this an excuse to post a photo of the 4200 Trofeo at Umberto's farm? Yes!

20180908_151500-EFFECTS.jpg
 

Tufan

Member
Messages
233
Tufan, i believe that i do know who is the guy from Greece. If we are talking about the same person, i have seen his car in the flesh, he had lowered it very, very much, much more than 6 or 7 cms from standard. Some years later he was selling his kw suspension.
Many thanks for your feedback though, as i always looked for it.
Personally i would not look any further than fd products. It's true, they are a bit expensive, but they are built exactly for the 4200. My latest investment was the sway bar kit, which i truly admire and adjust at the moment. Sport springs was the first upgrade on my suspension.
Hope this helps.

It's Nikos at Greece, nickname "specialized", probably you know him. He sold the 4200 already but have plans to join him to Seres circuit during Alfieri organisation. He suggested only sway bars would be enough to make me happy.
 
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masertel

Member
Messages
102
I wanted Coilovers but had negative feedback from an 4200 owner in Greece with KW3 as it didn't cope with the weight of the car. Now my move is FD springs, sway bars and add dbw.

Also changing front brakes to 6 large Piston new calipers from Akebono, 350mm much bigger air vented discs. Normally they are not 5x108 but we have a cnc trick for that.

My local garage will do the changes but I want to show him the most practical way. Your help much appreciated, many thanks.

I can recommend the FD springs and roll bars having used them for 8 years and clocking up 70000 hard miles including about 25 track days with no issues. I fitted them myself to both my 03 Spyder and a 05 Facelift 4200 (both manuals). The FD setup even with the standard skyhook coil over shocks completely transforms the car both on road and track and turns a GT into a true sports car.

No more nose diving when ******* the brakes or nose lifting when ******* the motion lotion and flat round the twisties. Another plus with the FD springs is the fact they sit snug on the shock, unlike the standard springs that are almost impossible to adjust as there is so much tension on them- hence setting the ride height and adjusting the balance of the car is so much easier.

I now have a set of KWs and Tarox 8 piston calipers with 350mm discs that I plan to fit to a 05 Facelift CC that I will use as a track only car so hopefully by this time next year will be able to compare the FD setup (not the FD full coil over kit -just springs and anti roll bars) with the KW v3 coil over setup. I will be fitting the FD anti roll bars to complement the KWs on the track car as I found them to have the biggest improvement in the road cars handling.

Will post a few photos of the cars with the FD setup and look forward to getting the track car ready to perform next year!!!

Hope this helps in the decision process.
 

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Tufan

Member
Messages
233
Dear Masertel, decision already made on FD springs and sway bar. And I'm really happy to read your positive feedback. Problems you state are my biggest issues costing me lots for tyre wear as well as track joy.

Great cars you shared, looks like you also changed rims.

I looked at Tarox discs but no fitment I found to GS. Is there a direct fit or you'll play with it? In my case, I already had a Q7 Caliper/Disc set new available for a very good price so I went 6 Piston + 350mm way. I noticed many AudiR8 8 pistons available used in good condition as they switch to ceramics.
 

Mr.Cambio

Member
Messages
7,096
It's Nikos at Greece, nickname "specialized", probably you know him. He sold the 4200 already but have plans to join him to Seres circuit during Alfieri organisation. He suggested only sway bars would be enough to make me happy.

I know Nikos, but i did not mean him on my previous post. He has made a lot of upgrades to his car, but i didn't have any negative review on his coilovers. Strange.
Having made both springs and arb on my coupe, i would again go for springs first. Then i would go for very reliable tyres. Choosing falkens, michelins, hankooks etc simply do not do the job on the 4200. If you need some serious cornering, pirelli rosso is the way. Yes, they are not good on wet, yes, they are loud, but they do handle perfect. Living on a warm climate, i now have my first set of corsas on, which i love.

What is this Alfieri orgnanization? If you come to Serres, simply pm me.
 

Mr.Cambio

Member
Messages
7,096
I can recommend the FD springs and roll bars having used them for 8 years and clocking up 70000 hard miles including about 25 track days with no issues. I fitted them myself to both my 03 Spyder and a 05 Facelift 4200 (both manuals). The FD setup even with the standard skyhook coil over shocks completely transforms the car both on road and track and turns a GT into a true sports car.

No more nose diving when ******* the brakes or nose lifting when ******* the motion lotion and flat round the twisties. Another plus with the FD springs is the fact they sit snug on the shock, unlike the standard springs that are almost impossible to adjust as there is so much tension on them- hence setting the ride height and adjusting the balance of the car is so much easier.

I now have a set of KWs and Tarox 8 piston calipers with 350mm discs that I plan to fit to a 05 Facelift CC that I will use as a track only car so hopefully by this time next year will be able to compare the FD setup (not the FD full coil over kit -just springs and anti roll bars) with the KW v3 coil over setup. I will be fitting the FD anti roll bars to complement the KWs on the track car as I found them to have the biggest improvement in the road cars handling.

Will post a few photos of the cars with the FD setup and look forward to getting the track car ready to perform next year!!!

Hope this helps in the decision process.


How far have you set the ride height? I have sport setting for years and i was wondering if dropping it a little would affect handling positively.

And what holes did you use on the arb? i have the inner rear and the outer front. The outer front gives me an additional perfect front grip while late braking.
 

Tufan

Member
Messages
233
I know Nikos, but i did not mean him on my previous post. He has made a lot of upgrades to his car, but i didn't have any negative review on his coilovers. Strange.
Having made both springs and arb on my coupe, i would again go for springs first. Then i would go for very reliable tyres. Choosing falkens, michelins, hankooks etc simply do not do the job on the 4200. If you need some serious cornering, pirelli rosso is the way. Yes, they are not good on wet, yes, they are loud, but they do handle perfect. Living on a warm climate, i now have my first set of corsas on, which i love.

What is this Alfieri orgnanization? If you come to Serres, simply pm me.

I'm running Trofeo R already but due to poor stability, they are being consumed rapidly on track and I'm trying to reduce with upgrades.

Do you mean to install springs first without arb? Why?

Where are you based? Seres is possible when an event I can be invited :)
 
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Mr.Cambio

Member
Messages
7,096
Athens.

I suggested springs first in the case you need to see how the car will react first and if you are still not satisfied, proceed to arb.
What do you mean with trofeo R? Springs?
 

alfatwo

Member
Messages
5,517
Don't forget, driving a track set up car down your local high street on your way to Sainsbury's it's going to feel like shite!

This is why manufacture's take years of R&D with there road cars to try and find a happy medium!

Buying a couple dampers and a spring kit on eBay for a grand or so and you think you've cracked it:rolleyes: … and they most probably don't have EU certification so there not legal for road use in the UK and would void your insurance!

Dave
 
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FIFTY

Member
Messages
3,100
Don't forget, driving a track set up car down your local high street on your way to Sainsbury's it's going to feel like shite!

This is why manufacture's take years of R&D with there road cars to try and find a happy medium!

Buying a couple dampers and a spring kit on eBay for a grand or so and you think you've cracked it:rolleyes: … and they most probably don't have EU certification so there not legal for road use in the UK and would void your insurance!

Dave

Let's see some links to these eBay Maserati 4200 compatible non certified coilover kits for a grand then
 

alfatwo

Member
Messages
5,517
And It's going to get worse after Brexit next March.. as all the rules will change, just stick to the standard spec for now

You can just see all the insurance companies lining up to make a killing if you slip up!

Dave
 

FIFTY

Member
Messages
3,100
And It's going to get worse after Brexit next March.. as all the rules will change, just stick to the standard spec for now

You can just see all the insurance companies lining up to make a killing if you slip up!

Dave

You just saying stuff for the sake of it?

Why live life fearful of what might happen in ten years? I can gaurantee you nothing much will change other than maybe the economy slowing down. They cannot change VED retrospectively as for your scaremongering on insurance I told mine that I have FD track rod ends and the premium increase over standard was NIL, likewise my exhaust modifications made no increase... In fact all of my mods are declared and none of them have caused any increase I pay £400 pa

Are you one of those people who panic buys and freezes sliced bread and 2 litre bottles of milk if there is snow on the forecast?
 

alfatwo

Member
Messages
5,517
You just saying stuff for the sake of it?

Why live life fearful of what might happen in ten years? I can gaurantee you nothing much will change other than maybe the economy slowing down. They cannot change VED retrospectively as for your scaremongering on insurance I told mine that I have FD track rod ends and the premium increase over standard was NIL, likewise my exhaust modifications made no increase... In fact all of my mods are declared and none of them have caused any increase I pay £400 pa

Are you one of those people who panic buys and freezes sliced bread and 2 litre bottles of milk if there is snow on the forecast?

Fair enough mate!

Dave