Suspension / Chassis To A Pre-face Lift 5 Door

[dvw]

Used to own a first generation CTS 3 door. Loved it but it had to go for various reasons. Several years later and I am back, this time with a 5 door pre-face lift. It appears much has changed. Since the face lift it appears that Mr. T has modified many things. I need honest and objective opinions only please as I really can't afford to throw any money away.

1) Lowering springs. When they say -30mm does that mean over the standard Rolla (eg T2) or CTS =45mm lower than standard Rolla as CTS is lowered by 15mm anyway?

2) Front strur brace. Does it make any difference?

3) Rear strut brace. Never even heard of these before now?

Assuming I didn't foolishly squander my hard earned on food and heating and investied instead in the CTS, will I really enjoy any benfits?

Also, gear change action still drives me nuts! Does the TTE short throw kit improve things much?

Many thanks for all your help and OOOH YES. THE LIFT IS BACK!!

DVW

[mark_r_333]

Used to own a first generation CTS 3 door. Loved it but it had to go for various reasons. Several years later and I am back, this time with a 5 door pre-face lift. It appears much has changed. Since the face lift it appears that Mr. T has modified many things. I need honest and objective opinions only please as I really can't afford to throw any money away.

1) Lowering springs. When they say -30mm does that mean over the standard Rolla (eg T2) or CTS =45mm lower than standard Rolla as CTS is lowered by 15mm anyway?

2) Front strur brace. Does it make any difference?

3) Rear strut brace. Never even heard of these before now?

Assuming I didn't foolishly squander my hard earned on food and heating and investied instead in the CTS, will I really enjoy any benfits?

Also, gear change action still drives me nuts! Does the TTE short throw kit improve things much?

Many thanks for all your help and OOOH YES. THE LIFT IS BACK!!

DVW

Hi mate, I have a set of -30mm Eibach springs for sale, brand new in box.

They are £185 brand new from fensport including VAT, I am selling for £150 delivered.

Mark

[MarcTS]

1) Lowering springs. When they say -30mm does that mean over the standard Rolla (eg T2) or CTS =45mm lower than standard Rolla as CTS is lowered by 15mm anyway?

I have a pre-facelift (03) 5 door cts and I have 30mm lowering springs (Eibach ones which cost me about £135 - I'll try and find the website if you want) and they are 30mm lower than the springs you get in the pre-facelift cts (I would imagine it is equivalent to a 15mm drop in the facelift (54 onwards) and 5mm lowering if you decided to put them on the compressor (for whatever reason). These have definitely made a difference to the handling of my car.

2) Front strur brace. Does it make any difference?

Yes. I have the Cusco one fitted and it cost me just over £100 (from eBay in Australia). So it was a significant saving over the tte one (they are in the region of £250)

3) Rear strut brace. Never even heard of these before now?

You don't realise you need one of these until you get a front strut fitted. Now that the front one on mine has tidied things up a bit, you can feel the lack of a rear strut brace. I am currently trying to find one of these but not having much luck as I think the TRD one goes across where the parcel shelf fits and I want one that goes across the floor of the boot near the back of the rear seats.

Also, gear change action still drives me nuts! Does the TTE short throw kit improve things much?

I have to agree here. Changing gears in reverse was a struggle and changing up from 1st, 2nd and into 3rd often caused issues aswell. I have recently fitted the TRD short shifter (sourced from Nengun.com in Japan and costing ~ £115 delivered with no tax payable). This shifter provides a huge improvement in the shift action. It is much shorter for a start, but when you engage a gear it feels satifyingly solid and doesn't catch like the original shifter does. It's also a very easy change to make yourself. It took me about 40 minutes to do but really it should only be a 20 minute job if you know what you are doing.

EDIT: OK found the website I bought them from and either my memory is bad or they have increased the prices since I bought them. They are listed here for £146

[dvw]

Thanks for all the info. I knew this was the best place to come to find out.