JOM Review + Link to Fitting Guide
I've had the JOM's on a couple of weeks now so figured its time for a quick
review etc.
Firstly, without wheel spacers on the fronts (probably 10mm, perhaps less depending on your off-set - I've got a set of ET35's and a set of ET38's) it will only drop approx 3cm on my car. The issue is that the tyres will scrub against the adjuster rings. At the moment, mine is set to a position dictated by the proximity of the tyre to the adjusters and I have perhaps 1cm gap at most between the tyre and rings. I can just about get my fingers into the gap, but its tight.
Then, because the front now sits at a particular height, the rear had to be adjusted to match. The rears can be adjusted on the car with the wheels raised, but its tough and slow. In fact, the rear comes apart so easily that you may as well take it all off again and do large adjustments very quickly without the spring in place. I've got it down to approx 45 mins!! Again, I think I now have the car sitting pretty flat, although around the car there is probably about 5mm in ride height differences. When I can be bothered, I migght even it out, but having people in the car or carry anything in it would probably give this level of difference easily anyway so I am figuring, why bother!
The car doesn't look much different than the earlier initial pics post fitting other than the rear sitting about 1.5cm higher than it did and a lot more even.
So how do they perform ??? I have to admit that initially I was wondering why I'd bothered at all. OK, so I didn't expect miracles from £169 worth of coilovers, but it all felt a bit OEM. But that was in a straight line, and immediately after fitting and adjusting heights. On the straight ahead the ride is hardly any different. A little less rebound can be felt through the suspension, its not too crashy - a bit more than OEM firm but not harsh, and no knocking or clonking. Then you get to the twisty stuff........ the steering is immediately more direct, probably as a result of the massively reduced body roll. The car digs in deep, and remains neutral in balance - preferring to drift evenly with a slight preference for understeer. The rear end is much better reigned in without the nervousness that it had before and it manages to soak up mid corner bumps well without being skittish. The car feels well planted, but still pliant over the road surface. Its a lot better than OEM for fast road uses and twisty stuff.
It remains to be seen how successfully this will translate to a track day - I suspect not so well compared to more expensive kit. My feeling is that the more expensive and higher quality set-ups out there are more tailored to the track and not compromised so much for the road, where the JOM's are more about aesthetics and only really provide increase stiffness to counter balance the lower ride height and reduced suspension travel. What I have yet to test though is the effect of dropping the car another inch. I suspect this will stiffen the springs up all the more and better suit it to the track days but until I have some spacers on it, I can't really test this - and I'll need to change the drop links at that point to avoid any knocking which at the current height has not been an issue at all.
Overall - for £169 these coilovers are an absolute bargain. You have to appreciate that to some degree you get what you pay for but in this instance, that equates to excellent value, and improvement to the car that would suit a majority of people without having to spend the £700+ on the top notch stuff, and without making the suspension harsh (at least not at the height mine are set at currently). I am not saying these are better or even comparable than KW Variants or set ups of that quality, but what I am saying is that for the money you can't really go far wrong over standard springs and shocks. They certainly feel a better solution than the Eibach Sportlline shocks and springs I had on the Leon - but then that was a TDi with a different balance and a lot more weight over the front axle so perhaps not the ideal comparison to a petrol Tolly with fat arse!!!
I am impressed at the moment, but perhaps not one for the no-compromise purists out there (and I am not knocking purists so please don't read that wrong. If I had a LCR with 265bhp+ in immaculate condition I would be more of a purist but I haven't, so I'm not!!)
I did say I'd produce a fitting
guide, but I did find a pretty good one in the end :-
http://noahlh.com/car/coilover_howto/
I did buy the spring compressors and a 16mm socket to fit my cheap-as-chips (there is a theme developing here isn't there
) impact wrench from Machine Mart that runs off the fag lighter (£20 ish). It undid the top mount from under the bonnet without the need to have anything to stop the shock shaft spinning, although I did use a spark plug socket and an allen key when doing it all back up and when releasing the nut that holds the rubber top mount in place. I didn't renew the top mounts as they were in excellent condition on my car. You will need a hub spreader too. I used a 1/4 drive hex key from a cheap screw driver/socket set thing that had to be lightly tapped with a hammer into the lower part of the "gap" and then turned 1/4 of a turn to release the pressure. Lastly, when doing the rears, have the whole rear end up in the air so you can get the springs out easily with all pressure and weight taken off the rear axle. Secure the car well on axle stands, chock the front wheels and do not be tempted to do the work with it on jacks - you will have your head under the car and it will sway around if not properly secured and most likely end up on top of you. I used the OEM jack to raise the rear so that I could get my axle stands underneath - trolley jack was too large and got in the way of where I needed the stands to go. Please take your time securing the car on its stands - you want to see the end results of your efforts after all!!! See my earlier posts for additional guidance :-
http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showpost.php?p=3666031&postcount=64
http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showpost.php?p=3666326&postcount=65
http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showpost.php?p=3666326&postcount=66
i have done this on the rear, but i need to know the wheel aint gonna fall off
