Suspension and brakes

[witsend]

Has anyone changed their suspension on a like for like basis? (ie not lowering, stiffening etc)
My beat feels a bit 'flabby' especially at the back, an I'm wondering if a strut change will help?

Also, my brakes need a bit of work. The pistons are pitted and we're stuck prior to its mot, plus discs are lipped.
Anyone swapped discs for slotted of ones?

[Steve_M]

Standard rear dampers are still available, thou there is no stock in Europe and they are £245.95 for the R/H and £155.03 for L/H.

[witsend]

Different prices?? How come?

[Steve_M]

Different prices?? How come?

supply and demand I would think.

L/H side of a RHD car normally suffers more due to edge of the road, so number ordered could reduce price.

As for brakes, Id just stick some Pagid or EBC standard discs on, I found a Beat over braked a bit and the deciding factor was front tyre quality.

As the standard front tyre size is the same as a Metro there really only seemed to be budget tyres available here in the UK, it was not until I got some decent tyre (Uniroyals) that the fronts did not just lock-up.

Eurocarparts or EBCdirect or Ebay are a good source of discs/pads.

[witsend]

You are a star (and guru) as always Steve!

[maiku]

If you have parts readily available and an innovative mechanic, you can do a civic brake swap.

I have front calipers + vented rotors from EP3 civic and rear rotors + shaved pads from an integra.

[TADO]

I've been meaning to look into it further for ours, but a lot of folk on minkara seem to be using jazz / fit calipers on the front. Not sure if its a straight swap but might be an easy and relatively cheap upgrade?

[Bruce]

New calipers have been discontinued, so I sent all 4 calipers off to BigRedd to be refurbed. They gave it new seals, new custom pistons and a polymer coating, for £240 or so. Can't complain, particularly as they initially quoted me about £320, so I'm not sure if they made a mistake. I also got a set of EBC discs and pads for all 4 corners for £153 from someone else. Pretty good.

I haven't tried hammering the brakes yet, as they're still bedding in, but am hoping (pessimistically) that it will have fixed the perennial problem I've had where the front locks up very prematurely in the rain and snow. Better the fronts than the rears in those conditions obviously, but still, compared to my old Civic, I have been pretty horrified by how poor the retardation is in those conditions up to the point of that premature front lock up. Tried to investigate having the brake circuit modded with some kind of brake balance adjuster, but never had the guts to follow through with it.

Over the years I've run Uniroyals and Continental Eco 3's mixed with their older EPs. But currently I am rocking Goodyear Ultragrip 8.... erm... Winter tyres. With a good quality design suited to a massively wide range of car sizes, they are .... amazing, especially in snow obviously, where they literally have more than double the grip of summer tyres. They are better than summer tyres even in the dry if it's colder than 7C. But even in summer they grip extremely well, presumably because they have such a soft compound.

But I don't drive it much, and if I did, in these temperatures, they'd degrade *extremely* fast. So I think you could try their Vector4Seasons all weather tyre instead. Also, I think both types involve adding 5% to the tyre's profile, so 155/70/R13 and 165/65/R14 instead of the standard sizes. They perfectly fit the standard wheels and the wheelarches, but effectively it means the car is heightened by about 3-4mm. So combined with the fantastic grip, more tyre sidewall flex and higher CoG, the car rolls more. But it doesn't really matter much, as tyres this narrow don't lose much grip at large roll angles. And in the snow, it's an absolute hoot. Basically, there's Suburas, Land Rovers, and then me. Sadly though, winter tyres are only about 5% better than summers on sheet ice, so don't get lulled into a false sense of security on the snow.

Oh, and Steve M, you have been a legend now for over 10 years on this forum. Thanks for all your help, even when it's been directed to others, it's been very useful to me too.

[maiku]

The only problem I had with the front caliper was that the rotor needed to be spaced out from inside to fit.

It also helps to run much wider tires in the front. I have 195 width all around.

Winter is a scary time though, as I have 155 in the front and they will lock very easily.

In any case, the Beat is very light so any type of hard braking will force the wheels to lock pretty easily.

[Moriniman]

In any case, the Beat is very light so any type of hard braking will force the wheels to lock pretty easily.

From my X1/9 years I know braking technique is very important. Most people are not progressive enough on the brakes. Particularly in a mid engined car you need to brake to transfer weight forward (increasing the grip available) before braking hard.

You can have suspension units rebuilt. Moisture gradually gets past the seals and degrades the damping oil and on serviceable types a simple oil change can give good results. Sealed units need to be un-swaged and re-swaged, or converted to a serviceable end cap and gas filled types need to be repressurised. There may be a suitable standard sealed cartridge that could be dropped into a stock strut.