which dampers for a little lower?

[Daniel]

Hi
I recently fitted lowering springs to my 1993 900 SE (158K). The ride and look is great. During this fitting the garage told me I need new dampers. Apparently the car is very springy on all corners. Is this an accurate way to tell?
Also, if I was to fit new dampers now, which would be best considering the new ride height? I wouldn't mind if the car dropped a little more, maybe a few cms, but no more.
Are standard dampers as effective with shorter springs??
Thanks in advance...

[trackside]

I assume you are refering to the classic shaped 900 and not the newer GM model? If the dampers are original and you have 158k miles on the car - trust me - you need new ones. Even at 1/2 this mileage I would change them. Dampers should not have any effect on the ride height but in reality they do - new dampers have quite a strong upward force which will contibute to the ride height. You cheapest reasonable option would be Sachs-Boge which were original fitment. Don't be tempted to fit anything cheaper than this. Improvements to this are Bilsteins and Koni's etc - better but much more costly. The difference between stock and lowering springs on C900 cars is not huge - you don't need special short shocks. In a perfect world you really should have shocks and springs matched - the shocks have to be kind of 'in tune' with the spring rate and springs and shocks are often sold together as a package. If they are infact perfectly matched I'm not sure?

[d_ames117]

Yes, it is an accurate way to tell. If you push down on a corner of the car and it bounces more than once before coming to rest, you need new shocks. Shocks resist the motion of the car to keep the car from bouncing off the road.

Dustin

[trackside]

Actualy the corner bounce test will only tell you if the shocks are not working at all - i.e they are completeley shot. Shocks that are well past being effective will still pass the bounce test - the general handling of the car will give you the best indication of the state of your shocks.

[Oliver]

My car's still on the original shocks after 270k km's. The last year with my driving habits really finished them off. Handling is all over the place now

[Daniel]

Thanks for your input guys. That's helped. Yes it is a classic 900. I reckon I deffo need them. The car springs 2-3 times untill rest and it really bounces whilst driving when coming out of dips in the road. As far as I cen tell from the history, they are the original ones. Would the Sachs-Boge type actualy push the car back up again do you think?
Also, if I wanted a further slight drop from that offered by the springs, what could I go for?
Cheers

[trackside]

New shocks will push it up slightly as it sounds like yours are completely shot. I would get these done ASAP as the braking and cornering ability of the car will be severley compromised. If you lower it too much you will have problems with ground clearance and the front suspension will ride on the bumpstops rather than the springs. German and Swedish do Sachs-Boge shocks - go for the ones for 'Sports suspension' rather than the stock turbo ones.

[Daniel]

Thanks a lot trackside, they're pretty reasonable. Now I just need to see if i can take on the fitting!
Dan