Skyhook Dampers / Coilovers

Mr S

Member
Messages
821
How do they even get away with that ..?
One thing to note- FD offer a Skyhook error delete in the form of a plug that cheats the ECU to think the damper is still present. A friend of mine who build looms for race bikes for the TT and BSB and the like, tells me he has played with this and a set value resistor, plugged into the loom is too simple to work in most all cases....FD confirmed that their error delete isnt that simple either...
Maybe it expalins the cost of the FD kit if its included. ( I cant remember TBH) Not something you need in a non Skyhook car anyway but of you have Skyhook, AND a CC box..it gets a little more tricky. I switched off Sport mode in my manual. Its easy. But doing that to a CC car will delete F1 Sport mode functions ...and that'd never do !



£15 a pop for the SKF item..
Mind you - the FD plain bearing, teflon enhanced rod ends can be had for about the same anyway...! Just thread them onto some cheesy string of the right length and away you go....!!:D
Me and Zep were very fortunate when we swapped out the bearings on my GS. Less than an hour each side from start to finish, but Zep knew what he was doing, so probably would have been even quicker without the buffoon he was showing. (Me)
Car had been Geo’d last year which probably also helped. Cant remember exact cost but £36 delivered rings a bell. Rear end now feels much tighter and oversteer much more predictable.
As for the Skyhook damper swap, i have a GS, so watching with interest, as had a look the other day, and Larini want £500 for the gizmo to keep the Skyhook light off the dash with their FD coilover’s. Can imagine its alot cheaper if you know how.
 

TimR

Member
Messages
2,654
As for the Skyhook damper swap, i have a GS, so watching with interest, as had a look the other day, and Larini want £500 for the gizmo to keep the Skyhook light off the dash with their FD coilover’s. Can imagine its alot cheaper if you know how.

So my maths arrives somewhere around the £4.5K mark (incl VAT@ 20%) for a set of "FD" badged KWs and an error delete kit from Larini Systems, and that is without delivery..?
 

Zep

Moderator
Messages
9,110
Me and Zep were very fortunate when we swapped out the bearings on my GS. Less than an hour each side from start to finish, but Zep knew what he was doing, so probably would have been even quicker without the buffoon he was showing. (Me)

Given that you did all the work and I just pointed at things I don’t think you are being fair on yourself there!
 

MrJoshua

Member
Messages
175
I had thought about changing the springs during lockdown as they were looking a bit tatty. Obviously I didn't but the good news for you is that if you do change them you will find I went round and freed off the front & rear tie rods so getting it tracked shouldn't be a major issue.

Good man, thank you!

(ps Just had an oil service, oil pressure sender and non return valve replaced )
 

Twinspark

Member
Messages
460
So my maths arrives somewhere around the £4.5K mark (incl VAT@ 20%) for a set of "FD" badged KWs and an error delete kit from Larini Systems, and that is without delivery..?
The kit retails for $3,800 and $550 for the cancelers so total in £ is £4k vat inclusive. Shipping would be another 200 I guess. They do hold an annual 20% discount for Christmas I believe which would cancel out the VAT.

Overall still not cost effective, admittedly their kit looks way more posh and OEM like.
 

FIFTY

Member
Messages
3,100
Cheers - so with the CC system can you disable the sport (suspension) separately with the SD3 or does it stop the faster shifts as well? I assume not? In fact just being able to do this would probably be an improvement on our crappy roads!

For some reason beyond me my car was sold to me with the settings like this. It is a manual car with the dash ECU set up like this the Sports button was not responsive

While that does not sound too positive for a CC car retaining its sports shifts - I am guessing it might be possible because KW sell these on the provision that you can turn off skyhook specifically on the dash ECU. Might be worth consulting a tech who knows about these things.

I have asked around on how my car ended up with an inactive sports mode, best guess is a previous keeper was running it on a failing battery which can cause random settings changes
 

Twinspark

Member
Messages
460
KW claims that their kit comes with an error cancelling guide, maybe @TimR can fill you in on that.

Worst case scenario you just take the plunge and spend the £500 on FDs error canceller.
 

TimR

Member
Messages
2,654
KW advice is switch it off in the software...
As the CC box is linked to Skyhook with a shared Sport button, I cant see how this is a satisfactory solution for cars with a CC set up....
IIRC, @Navcorr once indicated that KW used to sell an error delete solution not unlike the the plug in kit.
That said, non Skyhook cars (like the OPs) has a Power button to switch up CC box settings in the absence of Skyhook, so it must be possible.
Likely, as suggested, it will require SD3 and some know how....

At the risk of repeating myself, although I got as far as acquiring the plugs and measuring the resistance of a damper, the advice that this might fail by way of heating up and burning out. the notion that said error would result in 200 miles round trip to a specialist and then pay for a software reset to remove the error anyway , I opted for @£50, half hour, software tweek that switches off Skyhook, cos I could...!


As was noted earlier in the thread, no one has tried to emulate a skyhook damper's solenoid with the use of a resistor at each corner. Until we know otherwise, we can speculate, or accept FD's claim that the delete kit is significantly more sophisticated than a fi'dollar plug...! I might have asked the KW rep about their kit too but info was scace as it was NLA

Sorry if you are still confused. I have tried to include the necessary detail for you understand whats required, how I proceeded, and how a cars configuration makes it more, or less suitable to the removal of Skyhook...
At the end of the day, anything is possible with enough money...! lol
:welcome1:
 
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Navcorr

Member
Messages
3,839
KW advice is switch it off in the software...
IIRC, @Navcorr once indicated that KW used to sell an error delete solution not unlike the the plug in kit.
Indeed, re: 4200/GS they did - although when I last contacted KW a few years ago they denied ever having done so.
This despite still offering a cancellation plug for other models. When this was mentioned it was met with stony silence.
 

Mr S

Member
Messages
821
So i contacted Larini last night, and just had a response.
Coilovers are £3232.94 net
FD Skyhook Cancellers are £424.68 net
Delivery is £25
Total inc VAT is £4419.14
 

TimR

Member
Messages
2,654
Does the 4200 normally come with 4 pots all around?

In that case if they were interchangeable it seems like the 6 pots were installed while the OEM 4 pots were moved to the back in my car.
I’ve just come across some notes I made when doing the brakes..
I’ve recorded front calipers pot sizing 38mm/46mm
rear calipers piston sizes 30mm/34mm
 

philgarner

Member
Messages
226
I've said this in the last coilovers thread we had - I just swapped out mine for KW v3 and had no dash error at all. Sport mode still works for exhaust and faster shifts. As to why this is, I have no idea. Paying £500 for a cancelling kit - no way, I'd at least attempt to lash something up with a resistor first.
 

Mr S

Member
Messages
821
How are you finding the kit compared to the Skyhook? Have you gone for the Sport mode firmness with the edge knocked off?
 

philgarner

Member
Messages
226
Well I think my skyhook was broken the ride was so bad, so a huge improvement. I still need to adjust the ride height at the rear, and learn how to set them up properly. Handles great but I'd like some more compliance over bad roads.