Nicks Forza Ferrari - Double Adjustable Coilovers

Awesome. My 308 is currently slammed and I was going to install some rings between the lower adjustable spring collar and the springs (fronts for starters). But the shocks may be tired and the car may benefit from a new set all around. It's got a Euro front spoiler and the damned front is so low it even scrape on the freeway whenever these is a shallow dip. I like it lower than stock, but this is ridiculous. So I'm not sure what the 1" lower than stock will look like. I'll call next week to discuss.

 

I have the Forza 1 inch lower coil overs set at mid. Attaching a photo. I just got my car back with this setup. It looks great and rides great but for street driving on terrible roads it isn’t enough clearance for dips and normal street driving. Been out about 8 times driving with this setup and had some kind of bottoming out twice.
I am going to try moving them up all the way, but for driving around terrible streets in hind sight I would have gone with the stock setting. That being said if you are tracking it or auto crossing, it would be the way to go.


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Thanks for this. Yours almost looks lower in the rear or maybe an even stance. Mine leans forward but with the Euro spoiler it’s too close to the ground up front. If you are having problems, I definitely would. Not a good photo of mine below. I’ll get a better one tomorrow of the profile. What is the measurement from the highest point of the front wheel arch to the ground on yours? I’m at just under 25” in front and 26” in back.


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Here’s a profile pic. Realized the shadows don’t show the wheel coverage or grown clearance well. But you can see how low the front lip is.
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25" at the front wheel arches seems low to me. I've just reset mine to 26", down from 27", and will see how that works out.

From your photo, it looks like you have a fairly large rake, rear to front. You might start by raising the front a 1/2" or so, and reducing the rake a bit. That should help with level road grounding. Personally, I'm a fan of a .5 degree rake. Just enough to look right, but not overt.

 

It is. I was going to add ~1” to the front and see how it sits. It’s just 26+ in the rear and 25- in the front. So it should still have a little rake if I add 1 to the front.

I’ll be calling NF Monday though.


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Don't you already have aftermarket coilovers? For sure all coilovers are not created equal but if you are just trying to set the ride height they almost all have a threaded collar you turn to get whatever you want. Maybe pull a wheel and post a pic of what you have?

 

I’ll post some photos when I get back in there, probably this week. Yes they are adjustable coilovers. I believe these are Konis and have the shock housing threaded at the base. There is an adjustable collar, which as it sits seems to be at the lowest point (and it’s a bit rusty, making adjustment difficult). I’ll probably try threading them up. It’s an 80mm nut IIRC with only 4 notches so I need to make a tool. Can’t find the correct one for these. The car was tracked and I’m really not sure what I’m starting with regarding springs, etc. the springs don’t look like they were cut. If they were, it was a good job, because they sit flat on the collars.

I made spacers to sit on the lower perches. But for the effort of removing everything and rebuilding all the bushings, bearings, joints, etc. I figured I might as well install a fresh new set of springs and shocks with known provenance.


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You can get a set of spanners for $12

https://www.amazon.com/Mdvora-Coilover-Spanner-Suspension-Adjustment/dp/B0C8SDQXRS/ref=asc_df_B0C8SDQXRS/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693538603383&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17482799339192937664&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007347&hvtargid=pla-2208560573452&psc=1&mcid=7850a84e0310332ea67b804dc2ffbcac&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw0YGyBhByEiwAQmBEWnZt7qV-aS5oJKrY9umOgXj-xgOLCznC0__YliB_3AveMnhkZLNDjhoC-CwQAvD_BwE

The springs are probably marked to tell you what they are. The only reason I'm telling all this is that suspension setup is more a preference than a right/wrong thing so knowing what you have and what you like/dislike about will be a big help should you decide to buy something different....so it actually is different and not a just different brand but mostly what you already have. Koni makes very good shocks, good enough that the next step is usually put them on a shock dyno and get something custom valved to do what you think they are not doing. Adjustables like are listed here are really nice for fine tuning but the core shape of the damping curves is baked into the fixed shock valving until you get to the 4way adjustables. Best to figureout what you have I think.

 

Thanks for the link. I agree with you regarding Koni and also the subjectivity. I have the M030 option Konis on my 944 Turbo and they are excellent.

I’m not going to track this 308, though I plan to drive it aggressively in the local mountain roads. That being said, CA roads are s**t and I need a ride height that isn’t going to roll my front spoiler into a yellow hotdog under the body on the next bump I hit. [emoji23]

Also, as good as whatever I might have, I don’t know how hard they have been used or how old they are. And I only want to do this once.


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There are a lot of things in your post. Ride height is ride height, use the threaded collar to set it where you want it and go drive the car.

Spring rates determine how much travel the suspension will use and that in turn has an impact on ride and body roll.

Damping rates are mostly what you feel as ride quality. The job is to damp spring oscillation but also other body motion into and out of turns or on/off brakes, which is why they end up having about the biggest impact on ride.

Then swaybars are added to control body roll further and also tune the understeer/oversteer behavior.

There is a lot....best to jack your car up and see what springs it has, use your new $12 spsnner to set the rided height where you want it and go drive. Then if you're not happy give Nick's (or whoever your shock dealer of choice is) a call and tell them what you have, what it's doing and what you're trying to fix. That's how you know you'll only buy stuff once.

 

Yes, ride height is ride height. My consistent question (in another post) has been what are people who lower their 308s with euro front spoilers setting their ride height to in order to avoid collisions with asphalt. Even the pinch-welds have taken a beating. Best way to measure seems to be from apex of fender arches to the ground. I'm sure other points are fine as well, but I'm just using the same points others have used here in the forums and it seems to be a fine measurement point and keeps it consistent with past posts/info.

I already pulled off the wheels and took a good look in there. Best I can say at this point without pulling everything off is that the springs are black. The Koni's are rusting and pitting lightly around the threads making adjustment a PITA and will need to be cleaned up on the bench. The shock bushings are cracked, dry and disintegrating. If I'm lucky, there is a stamp or spring-rate paint mark on them that someone will recognize (once I remove them). The sway bars are with adjustable drop-links and solid bushings. The car was set up for track racing. I have a photo from an old magazine with this car's front right wheel off the ground in a hard corner. That was from some 20 plus years ago. So a refresh with new known provenance parts and non-rotted out bushings (A-arm bushings, shock bushings, etc., are all disintegrating), ball-joints, etc., isn't a bad thing. I have a lot of work ahead of me in the front end. Whatever part moves, squishes, turns or compresses, I'm probably replacing it. My only dilemma is determining if I want a stock ride height or 1" lowered. I don't know what an actual 'stock ride height' is, and there seems to be lot of inconsistencies in what people report. I'm not going to try to keep this car stock or strictly original, because it isn't. I love Konis and have a lot of trust (and time) in/on them. I'll post some photos back on my original thread on this when I start tearing in there.

Cheers!

 

There is no real right/wrong ride height. Stock is 5.3 under the chassis, 4 is about it for street use but care is required, 3.5 with a lot of care. The stiffer the springs the less you have to worry about bottoming, but even stock isn't care-free. Lower looks nice and many make it work, but the factory set it where they did for a reason. I was only suggesting messing with the only stuff because its a labor only way to play with options before buying new. My front end sounds just like yours with the only difference being I know what spring and damping rates I have. Lots of people have bought QA1s and are happy, I'm sure the stuff Nick sells are good, I have Ohlins and love them, a bubby has wilbers and is also happy. Lots of options. 400/250 springs rates or there about are a popular place to start, mine are 800/500 and I'm pretty happy, there is a 308 setup on ebay I could just make out the front spring PN in the photo at 900lb/in which is about as high as I would go. Stock is around 180 or 200 on both ends I think.

I know you wanted a simple answer...but it sadly it doesn't really work like that.....changing parts is re-engineering the car

 

Thanks. Those are the kind of numbers I was looking for. So I’m almost exactly 3” between the pinch weld (near the front) and hard earth. Maybe add 3/8 to 1/2” elsewhere. That validates my experience. What is yours?


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I think I posted this on the other thread, but I asked on a sort of racing forum and 3" was the lowest anyone thought was okish while other thought they couldn't run their track cars that low. So basically nobody can make that work. I was asking as I was picking new springs and have setup at 4" and it seems fine but I don't have many miles on it as I struggle with engine issues (of my own making). I need to be careful pulling into my driveway as there is a hill and I think I posted this, I have a (replica) GTO valance that I don't think sticks out as far as a euro 308, and for sure is almost a full inch higher than the frame. My old setup was 400/250 spring and about 4.5" under the frame, I drove it like that for maybe 15k miles with no real issue, hit a ground hog once but no real damage as it went under.

When you buy a new setup with non-rusted shocks the ride height will be adjustable. I can get my car as low as about 3.25" or as high as about 6". I picked 4" as my new starting point and haven't driven enough to find any reason to change it. I have a 308 buddy who runs like 600/375 spring who runs 3.5" and says its ok mostly ...but with a US valance I think? I might drop it 1/2" next outing and see how it goes but I'm not going any lower than that ever.

 

Golden. Thank you. Sorry if I missed that on the other post. I’ll be posting lots of pics once I’m in there again. I do have some photos from the last time I can post. But I took them focusing on different issues.



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OK, in order not to muddy Nick Forza’s post, and because I’m a little OCD, I’ll post the rest of my findings and photos back on this thread.

Wayne, I’ll send you info we discussed on the phone sometime tomorrow or the day after, depending on how crazy things are at the office.

Lowering a 308 with original Koni shocks
https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/index.php?threads/Lowering-a-308-with-original-Koni-shocks.360494/


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I meant to say “the thread below.”


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fyi
Nicks coil overs are made by Alden Eagle. You can buy directly from them. I did years ago and after some initial hassle they really turned out well and Alden Eagle proved to me they do know what they are talking about. Additional benefit is the weight. The shocks are considerably lighter than the stock ones.