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Reduce Body Roll Without Coilovers?


brainii
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I hate how my 1.4 petrol Auris rolls in the corners. Is there any way to improve handling without installing coilovers (and without stupid lowering springs only)?

Is there like a better sway bar, or maybe performance shocks or something?

My mechanic told me that gas shocks might improve things a little over OEM shocks. (Are OEM shocks gas filled or oil filled?).

Thanks mates

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This topic has been covered a few times - the answer is a set of Eibach Pro-kit springs. Not the Sportline springs, which are pretty hardcore in terms of lowered ride height. They will reduce bodyroll in the corners (especially roundabouts) without ruining the ride quality & only a very small ride height drop.

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Buck, is there sportline springs available for Auris? Only heard about Pro-Kit so far...

Brainii, if you want better cornering, wide tyres will help. Also you'll need some new sway and strut bars. Especially front strut and rear sway will help, as there's no bars by default. If you want, you can also upgrade front sway and go for rear strut if you're willing to sacrifice your boot space.

Here are some companies that are making bars for our cars:

Wiechers-Sport

Cusco

Greddy

TRD

TOM's

C-One (discontinued, only second hand)

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Stiffer anti-roll bar, extra anti-roll bar at the top, poly ARB link bushes?

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It's my understanding that changing just the springs, even if those are the Eibach Pro-kit ones, will wear out the suspension much sooner, this is what I read online and what 2 mechanics told me.

This topic has been covered a few times - the answer is a set of Eibach Pro-kit springs. Not the Sportline springs, which are pretty hardcore in terms of lowered ride height. They will reduce bodyroll in the corners (especially roundabouts) without ruining the ride quality & only a very small ride height drop.

Spped chaser, what do you mean the Auris has no bars at all? Don't they come standard in all cars nowadays (especially the rear bar?)? Why would you sacrifice the boot to install the rear bar?

And does the front strut actually works or is it money down the drain? I also can't find it on eBay or anywhere else (except japanese sites) to buy it from.

I might end up buying KW v1 coilovers in the end, even though very pricey (1000 Euro+installation+alignment) everyone says they transform the handling of any car..

Buck, is there sportline springs available for Auris? Only heard about Pro-Kit so far...

Brainii, if you want better cornering, wide tyres will help. Also you'll need some new sway and strut bars. Especially front strut and rear sway will help, as there's no bars by default. If you want, you can also upgrade front sway and go for rear strut if you're willing to sacrifice your boot space.

Here are some companies that are making bars for our cars:

Wiechers-Sport

Cusco

Greddy

TRD

TOM's

C-One (discontinued, only second hand)

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Not sure why you would want the Sportline springs when they are stiffer & lower ? I thought you were trying to avoid going significantly lower ? It's only those ones which will wear out the other suspension items more quickly, not the Pro-kit as I've been using them for ages now. If you fit cheap, poor quality springs then they ruin the ride quality & give the suspension (inc wheels & tyres) a harder time.

If you really want coil-overs, BC Racing will do a height & damping adjustable set for approx £680.

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Brainii, which ones are you looking for in particular? I can then guide you to the right site. Regarding the springs, they can cause some wear but nothing too dramatical. Normally you will have to change the dampers maybe 8K miles sooner which seems very reasonable sacrifice to me. When in comes to stock bars for some reason there is only front sway installed from the factory. If you want stiff rear end and sporty feeling then installing rear strut in your trunk is the way to go. Like this you will tie your car even better together and make it handle better. But rear sway and front strut is a good start usually. I found the front strut to be the best one as it really tied the front end and the car felt stiffer and I could corner way faster. Also the steering became much sharper right away.

Buck, that's because me is me. I want to explore new and know about the options available. The message wasn't written by brainii even though you probably thought it was?

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BC racing 700 quid plus shipping to Cyprus probably works out the same as KW, and I'm sure KW is better quality even though damping is not adjustable. But if the Eibach springs's only difference is changing dampers at 8k (and if they do really transform the car handling) then I'll get these!

I'll pop up my hood to see if I really do have a front strut installed and then see if I'll upgrade that too.

Am a bit confused about them bars:

Rear sway bar and rear strut bar are 2 different things? (and which does the stock auris have)?

Front sway bar and front strut bar are 2 different things? (and which does the stock auris have)?

Thanks!!

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Yes with springs the car will be lower and handle better. As far as I'm aware there will be no other drawbacks with springs than the damper thing.

Sway bars are the ones that are installed under the car to tie spring plates together, left and right side. Front is front, rear is rear of course. As far as I know the only one pre-installed bar on Auris is the front sway.

Strut bars are the upper ones, front is in the engine bay, rear is in the trunk.

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One exception - the 2.2 180 auris with double wishbone rear suspension has a rear sway bar too..

Sway bar = more commonly referred to as an anti roll bar in the UK.

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'Buck, that's because me is me. I want to explore new and know about the options available. The message wasn't written by brainii even though you probably thought it was?' (Speedchaser)

Yes - slight confusion there ! My mistake, lol.

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you explained it very clearly, thanks.

so I just checked under the hood, true indeed, there is no front strut bar..

Yes with springs the car will be lower and handle better. As far as I'm aware there will be no other drawbacks with springs than the damper thing.

Sway bars are the ones that are installed under the car to tie spring plates together, left and right side. Front is front, rear is rear of course. As far as I know the only one pre-installed bar on Auris is the front sway.

Strut bars are the upper ones, front is in the engine bay, rear is in the trunk.

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So in my mind, the most important out of the two (sway or strut) is clearly the sway bar.

Are there options for upgrading the front one and installing a rear one on the Auris (and will it make a huge difference)?

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Yeah sway bars come first, but there's not much point in upgrading the front one first as you allready have there original bar. So it's better to install something there where you don't have bars at all, eg. rear sway and front strut. I did like that on mine and I'm very happy. I decided that I'd install the front sway later if I wanted to but don't feel like I need it now.

You will definitely get the best results by installing the front strut and rear sway. The only company making rear sway is Cusco as far as I know. Front strut you can find from Cusco, TOM's, Greddy and Wiechers-Sport. I've got Cusco and Wiechers combo and I can confirm that they fit no problem. The Cusco front strut may not fit if you have LHD car because it may be bent so that it will clear brake fluid reservoir which is on different side if you compare LHD and RHD car. Cusco is making bars for Japanese cars which are RHD so it is not gueranteed they will fit on a LHD cars. Same thing with TOM's. Greddy will fit too as it's straight without any bends at all but nobody seems to know the part number :D

Cusco part numbers:

Front Strut Brace = 942 540 A
Front Sway Bar = 925 311 A30
Rear Sway Bar = 942 311 B16

Wiechers part numbers:

Front strut bar aluminum polished = 472015
Front strut bar aluminum polished racingline adjustable = 477015
Front strut bar aluminum racingline adjustable with carbon coating = 477015C
Rear strut bar steel red varnished = 475007
Rear strut bar aluminum polished = 476007
Rear strut bar aluminum polished racingline adjustable = 478007
Rear strut bar aluminum racingline adjustable with carbon coating = 478007C

Many companies that are selling car parts will be able to get these for you, especially Cusco. Just give them the part number. For Wiechers-Sport it can be handy to contact Wiechers directly as they ship them directly from Germany and the prices are reasonable.

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thanks, I think I will first get the KW variant 1 suspension, and if not satisfied, the rear sway bar (or the other way round)!

I found the rsb online for 220 Euro (but it ships from Japan, never ordered anything from there directly), is that a good price you think?

is there a uk (or any european) site to get it from?

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I think you will be satisfied, but not for too long :D At first you will be happy, but then get used to it and want more. It's very serious addiction and it just sucks you in really! But yeah that's definitely the way to go, order just one bit at a time and you'll get the best pleasure out of every addition.

220 isn't that bad, but you'll need to get them to send it as a gift or fixed under warranty in order to not to pay the tax for it. Otherwise it will be too expensive, and even if you won't pay tax the price can get high depending on their shipping rates. So it's not necessarily worth the hassle.

Like I said, in Europe almost every car tuning shop can get these for you but the prices may vary. Just ask around to find the companies who are offering cheapest prices ATM. It may be best to try and find some local dealer for Cusco parts in order to save some money on shipping costs.

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  • 2 months later...

Well, I finally did it.

I ordered KW coilover V1 Inox for my Auris despite of the cost (1115 Euro) and now have them.

Will install them on Monday and report on ride differences, I hope they will be extreme (for the better).

I will probably need an alignment after the installation right?

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It really depends on how low you go, as a small drop makes very little difference to the geometry. Anything more than a 30mm drop will definitely require a check & possible adjustment of the alignment :) You'll love the handling, but w/out damping adjustment you might find it a little harsh. That's why I chose the BC's which had excellent body control & ride comfort on a previous car.

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Yeah alignment and balancing preferably. You should also check that your driving lights are adjusted correctly.

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Well I just came back from the mechanic. There are 2 issues:

1) The back has lowered a lot more than the front
(back lowered approximately 8.5cm! while front 3.5cm, measurements
taken from the ground to the wheel arch). The back is not allowed to be
this low, but we did everything that the KW instructions said and
still..

The reason why the back is so low is that the back
springs are too short and the provided expandable spacer (u turn it and
it shortens/lengthens) even at the tallest setting is too low. The
springs move around freely (but don't fall off) when the car is up in
the air on the jack. For this reason, we will order some custom bushes
for the back and will equalize the lowering both to front and back.

2) The ride is too stiff and the front tyres bounce around, I can hear the wheels spinning while turning which means they are not touching the road as they should.

Now,
the front shocks have one adjustment that u can turn
clockwise/anticlockwise, I don't know what this is for, but factory
setting seems to be slightly above the middle of the height of the
shock, maybe if I adjust this and also after I install the custom rear bushes, and after alignment also, the ride will become a bit softer and level out competely????

I'm very worried about the bouncing effect, anyone care to comment?

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so, updating my own post here, maybe others will find it useful and avoid KW as a company in the future.

After numerous emails from myself to KW Europe and KW USA and even KW Canada,
only KW Europe replied and said I should contact KW Europe!

Anyhow, at the same time I contacted the local KW representative/dealer in Cyprus, who has forwarded my emails.

We've sent them photos proving with no doubt how ridiculously low is the rear of the car compared to the front. I've also sent them the warranty card which includes all part numbers and measurements.

The local dealer said that they told him that they made a mistake and
they've sent the wrong rear springs and will ship the right ones today.

German (IN)efficiency at it's best..

I just hope that when the new springs come here they will be the right size/fit and that the front bouncy bounce will go away.

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  • 4 weeks later...

KW finally pulled through and sent the correct part. Installed today, everything ok so far, now I can finally adjust the car height where I want it!

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About time ! Hope everything is as it should be now & you can enjoy it at last :)

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  • 7 months later...

so how are the kw coilovers coming along brainii?

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