General Seicento suspension

[mpjansen]

Hi guys,

Been away for a period, busy with other things but the Sei. But i'm back on it again. having plans to do the suspension. I have a few questions about it.

-I want powerflex suspension bushes all round the car. Now they do have the cinquecento, but are all the cinquecento suspension bushes the same as the seicento?

-I read a post here of a guy mounting bilstein 35mm lowering dampers and springs. But all I can find from bilstein for the sei are the B6 sport dampers which are not suited for lowering.

-Does anyone know how good the Weitec lowering springs are?

-Does anyone know how good the spax spx kit is for a sei?

-Is there anyone with experience with eibach and H&R lowering springs? because they lower the sporting models only with 10 and 15mm I am wondering how good the handling of these cars are, and how your sei looks with these springs.

-how good is the apex sportkit? because its so cheap.

Hoping to get some good answers

 

[mpjansen]

Well, i've been to my local carparts shop, and they showed me that the ordernumbers for the cinquecento and seicento front suspension bushes are the same. So they are the same parts, also from superflex then. From the rears he couldnt see.

 

[Hansen_DK]

I'd say stay away from the Apex springs. I have them on mine (a so-called 40/40 kit) and the front has been lowered ~30mm, which is fine. The original springs may have been a bit "tired".
The rear springs have lowered the car ~50mm, which not only makes the car look at little odd (20mm lower in the rear), but also it sits too low. I will change the springs back to the original ones.

On another note, the car sits a little lower in the left, rear side. It appears to be the apex springs, as this was not an issue with the original ones.

 

[mpjansen]

Okay,

thanks for that one, no Apex sportkit for me then. I was wondering how the spax spx and weitec sportkits are performing under seicento's Anyone experience with them?

 

[mpjansen]

Well people,

I've been gathering some information around and come up with the following options for my new suspension:

1: Spax SPX kit for Seicento 30mm.

2: Spax Sprint dampers 30mm with 30mm lowering springs of Apex/Jamex/OMP

3: Weitec 40mm kit for cinquecento, should fit the Sei with no problems.

All other options I hear too many bad news about, are to expensive, or are not specifically for the sporting so dont lower my car enough.

What are your views on this? And I'm particularly interested in the OMP springs, does anyone have experience with them?

 

[Hansen_DK]

Weitec generally make good products, but I have no hands-on experience with them. It's only what I've heard.

I'd go for at set of springs and dampers - preferably height-adjustable coilovers, as they will let you experiment with more rims and so forth to suit your needs.
But changing everything at least lets you rest assured, everything's in good condition.

 

[mpjansen]

Thats right, I am going to change dampers and springs anycase, whether its going to be a complete set, or two seperate products. I know coilovers can be interesting, but for my use it wont be necesary so I'll just go for the sportkits. I'm really interested in the Spax one, but because they are more expensive then the Weitec, I first would like to know from some people with experience how they both feel and look before I make my decision.

Besides that, using only the spax adjustable sprintdampers with other springs is a bit cheaper, and if those springs are good, it could be a good alternative.

Therefore my question about the OMP springs. I found on a website that they make them, but I havent found anything on this forum yet about the OMP springs, so I was wondering how they are. In general I thought OMP has quality products right?

 

[mpjansen]

Well,

I've just read about everything there is to be read on this forum about the strutbraces available for the seicento. But i'm not convinced.

I have a 1999 SPI Seicento, still fully standard, waiting to be modified on the suspension. I just had a look under the hood, and if I'm not mistaken, non of the strutbraces will ever fit around my engine ECU and fusebox. The bracket that holds the watertank for my windscreen sprayers can be slightly changed to make the strutbrace fit properly to the body of the car, but on the other side, the fusebox and ECU unit is going to be a serious problem I think. Or some people here can tell me the oposite. If I can, I will post some pictures of how the layout of the ECU, fusebox and watertank bracket now is in my car.

 

[mpjansen]

Here are the pictures. I hope its clear for you all what I mean

As you can see, I can probably cut away some material from the watertank bracket, so that the bracket can fit over the strutbrace, and the tube of the strutbrace itself can pass through the two bolts that are closest together on the spring bulb.

On the other side, O dont know how I can move the ECU and fusebox so the strutbrace can pass there. Anyone got ideas?

 

[mpjansen]

No one with a usefull answer??

 

[custard]

why dont you think it will fit?
its an spi as per the cinqs as well.
it may not fit with the K&N and you may have to push the battery back a wee bit but they fit





plenty of other pics about

 

[mpjansen]

Well, like a said I cant see how it will fit around the ECU and the black fusebox. When I look at pictures of people who have a strutbrace on, they seem to have moved their ECU and fusebox, or they have a different one. Can that ne true? Or will it fit without any major problems.

 

[custard]

ECU is still in its position.that little fuse cover could easily be modded if needed but mine wasnt

 

[mpjansen]

Okay, thanks very much for that.

Bye the way, is that an OMP strutbrace you have? because that will probably be the one to go for me. Because if I look at your pictures, it seems like the strutbrace will pass right in between the fusebox and the ECU. So if thats also the case with the OMP one, that would be nice.

 

[custard]

nah twas a novitec(though merkur (sp) seems the same) one

 

[mpjansen]

Okay, thanks for the quick response mate!

Here in holland I can't seem to find a Novitec strutbrace, the Dutch importer probably doesn't sell it. anyway, I will be fine mounting the OMP one now.

I also found a brand on the net called "wiechers" from germany. I never heard of it before, but they seem to have upper and lower front strutbraces for the seicento. And they have a sellingpoint here in Holland. Does anyone have experience with those? Could maybe also be an interesting option!