Mk3 Cavalier Owners Club | Vauxhall Cavalier Dot Com

Hi guys have been slowly getting bits done on my cavalier but have come up against a problem with ride height!
It goes like this > bought new front and rear standard oil filed sachs shockers and was pondering springs, so looking at the car in standard suspension it did look a touch high especially at the rear! So I decided upon 35mm lesjfors as thes had a good review to be a happy medium between standard and slight modification! So fitted them and the front looked more like it was on the floor! It also looked odd so contacted suppier they sent me some awful “yellow” coloured spax 40 mm but again the front appears to be on the floor! Has anyone had similar issues is there an option anyone can recommend.
Thanks

I have spax red springs on my Cav.
30mm front and 40mm rear drop.

On my car it looks fine from the outside, but the back looks low from inside in the driver's seat.

Yours looks ok there my front springs when fitting we’re physically 2.5” shorter on both sets! I think I’m going to try a bigger drop on the rear see if it improves how it looks.

I wouldn't recommend going beyond 60mm drop on the rear.
Too many speed bumps these days.

Yeah you’re right I didn’t want to go that low. really don’t want to spoil the original factory spec of the car, just can’t understand why it appears to drop so much at the front have missed my deadline for getting it ready this year as gritters have been spotted so I think just have to persist with trial and error seriously thinking about buying new standard spec springs!

I think standard factory spec is 30mm drop.

If your springs are 2.5" shorter, that equates to a 63mm drop, so something isn't right.
Surprised you aren't already catching on speed bumps.

The springs should be of a similar rigidity, and so allowing for compression under weight and settling of the springs, I would expect them only to be 1.5" or so shorter than a standard spring.
The old ones will have shortened a bit over time.
My original springs had shortened to give a 18mm drop for that very reason.

I wouldn't let a little gritter bother you -
I once did a timing belt change in 18 inches of snow in January 2010.
Amazingly, I didn't lose sensation in my fingers.

Food for though il work it out and get it corrected!
The worry for the gritters was not for me! But the car! Couldn’t possibly drive it when there’s salt around!

Eibach Pro-Kit springs are the way to go. Top quality product, should deliver a sensible 35mm drop.

humbucker wrote:Eibach Pro-Kit springs are the way to go. Top quality product, should deliver a sensible 35mm drop.

I can attest to that.

I've got the pro-kit on my Diplomat along with some Bilstein B4 shock absorbers; highly recommended combination.
If you can afford it, Bilstein B6 or B8 shocks would be recommended improvements.

This is what the ride height looks like:

On another note I know GSI spring are shorter / lower than the standard L /GL cars but are SRI springs ? My theory being if I was to fit SRI springs to my 1.8 Motorsport basically a GL car how much drop will I get ? if any. I know that GSI rear springs don't fit

iangsi wrote:On another note I know GSI spring are shorter / lower than the standard L /GL cars but are SRI springs ? My theory being if I was to fit SRI springs to my 1.8 Motorsport basically a GL car how much drop will I get ? if any. I know that GSI rear springs don't fit

Yes I believe the SRi springs are lower than the standard springs and the GSI are lower still.
I think SRi springs are about 15-20mm lower than 2.0i CD/Diplomat springs and GSI springs are 15-20mm lower than SRi springs.

It's very confusing though as the springs were constantly tweaked. The standard springs on a 1.6 1989 L are different to those on a 1.6 1993 LS and those are different from a 1.6 1995 LS for example. They are also different depending on what engine you have.
Very difficult to keep track of. Shock absorbers are the same.
If you look up part numbers for springs or dampers you'll find 5 or 6 different parts that fit your vehicle.