[200q20v] Suspension- again

[Edward J Kellock]

Hiya,

You need Bilstein HD's unless you also install lowering springs.
The 91 200q20v's did have a _slightly_ lowered susp from the
factory, but not enough to need Sports.  I think the factory 
"lowering" was only a half inch or less.  Lowering springs are
more like an inch or inch.5.

Having said that, Graydon Stuckey used Sports with stock
springs on his V8 and reported good results.  Not sure if they're
stiffer or not, I believe so...

Be forewarned though... HD's with stock springs will raise the
car a little bit.  They are high-pressure gas, blah, blah, blah.  I'm
not going to get into a big debate over this.  I have BTDT with
three vehicles with both Bilstein HD's and Boge TurboGas.
I was not pleased with this aspect on my '83 GTI.  I was looking
for it and intending it on my CGT with it's rear-end sag.  Fixed, 
and nicely I might add.  On the V8?  Well, it was only enough to
be noticeable to my eye, probably no one else would pick it out
unless side by side with another stock-suspended V8.  Anyway,
here in Colorado with snow, etc. and with my penchant for exploring
unpaved roads, the extra heighth is welcome.

There may be a bit of logic in getting the Sports now if you do intend
to get lowering springs later.  It seems Graydon had no problem with
Sports and stock springs, but you may not be so lucky with HD's
and lowering springs.  

My HD's were put in using the through-the-top method.  No extra
parts were replaced.  I was disappointed to later find that my shock
boots which I new were torn beforehand were not replaced.  I'll
probably tear down the front suspension at some point and renew
everything myself.  Should have done that to begin with.  Unfortunately
I was going on a trip and decided the shocks just had to be in there
and took it to the shop.  

hth
Ed
Colorado Springs, CO

On Sun, 15 Oct 2000 14:00:32 -0400 (EDT) Chris Covington
<malth at umich.edu> writes:
> I'm still a little confused by the subject myself.  If you had, say, 
> a
> '91 100q and you wanted to use Bilsteins, it's pretty obvious that 
> you'd
> get the same Bilstein HDs in question.  However, our 200qs are 
> lowered a
> certain amount (I forgot which) from the factory compared to the 
> 100q
> and/or any other previous Type 44 tq.  But the list consensus seems 
> to be
> that this doesn't "count" and that you should get the HDs anyway, 
> despite
> the factory lowering.  
> 
> Is anyone using the Sports on a non-lowered 200q20v?
> 
> Chris
> '91 2cq
> 
> 
> On Sun, 15 Oct 2000, -J J- wrote:
> 
> > Hey all,
> >   I have been doing some research for suspension upgrades for a 
> while and I 
> > think I am going to go with bilstein shocks and stock springs for 
> now. I 
> > want to maintain the current ride height, since i do a lot of 
> driving in the 
> > snow in the winter, but i also want better handling, and i think 
> bilsteins 
> > seem to be the most liked. The question i have is whether I need 
> HDs or 
> > Sports shocks. All of the emails in the archives confused me.. I 
> think that 
> > HDs are for stock springs and Sports are for lowered cars. Is this 
> correct? 
> > Also, if and when i do replace the shocks should i replace the 
> bushings too? 
> > What else? Sorry I am repeating so many of the questions that were 
> already 
> > asked on this list, but I am very confused.
> > 
> >                  thanks,
> >                         John
> > 
>
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