JV

I have a 1999 Impreza with the Prodrive handling pack fitted. I can see that the shocks are marked Bilstein/Sti but not sure what else would be fitted.

The problem is whenever I go over pothole or undulation in road which is deeper than an inch or two and I'm going >30mph I get a massive bang from the front nearside suspension . It seems the wheel drops down, then as the body follows it, the wheel comes out the other side travelling upwards and compresses the spring, using up all the travel. The back wheel can follow over the same hole and cope perfectly though.

I know you're not supposed to drive over potholes, and I always take evasive action whenever possible, but it is also a big problem when braking on a bumpy road as there's even less spring travel in the front to soak up the bumps and can bottom out then too.

Does anyone else have this trouble or know how I can fix it? Would it be the damping at fault, and can these shocks be overhauled?

Cheers,
James

911

That sounds to me as if the damper (shock absober) has completely failed. The car should never bottom out is all is correct.
Fix?
Take it to a Halfords or MoT station and ask them to check it. Probably lost it's oil/gas and will bounce all over the place on their testing.

Sounds like you need to replace the lot for safety and performance.
Good luck,
911

AlanG

I had this problem with my Prodrive Bilstein handling pack(s) for my '99.

At first tried the kit (std) with the "blue" springs, but same as you, on some back roads the fronts would bottom out too easily (hitting the bumpstops).
Tried the "professional" version (with "silver" springs). This reduced the tendency to hit the bumpstops, but was still there, so moved on to other manufacturers after that cause you couldn't totally commit the car on the twisty stuff without wondering if it was gonna "crash" on to the stops.

911

Not very impressive?!
911

AlanG

Well.... the setup was okay and the quality looked good coupled with 40mm pistons etc. On the majority of roads, the suspension was fine, the only thing that marred it for me was on country roads which had some dips in it. The std UK suspension i had didn't bottom out over the same roads and it's not as if i was driving the living daylights out of the car, but it meant i had to curtail the enthusiasm everytime these type of roads were encountered which is not what it's all about, is it?

Before the Prodrive/Bilstein set up i tried Eibach springs on std shox and HKS springs. I then went on to AVO coilovers (what a joke), then on to Leda (getting better, but rattled more than my falsers), then on to the Cusco which IMO are far and away, the best i had tried to date but more suited to track than road. They were okay above approximately 35-40mph, but if you do mainly town driving, they became tiresome. Fitting lesser poundage springs on these i would imagine would improve this setup for road use.

Ironically, i'm now back on to std suspension again, albeit with other changes.

911

I race (hill climb) on AVO's. fitted these instead of the stock Stiv3 units, oh dear......
Friend has DMS 40mm and these are great. It's all in the spring/damping rate/relationship.
911

JV

Thanks all, is changing the shocks a big job? Not sure what to do now, I'm very happy with my setup on fast A roads and trundling round town, it's just bumpy country roads I seem to lose all the handling. I guess you can pick up standard shocks and fit eibachs (sp) for reasonable money?

911

Have a chat with Power Staion in Cheltenham about options.
911