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Thoughts on Air ride / Air bag suspension on silvias ?

subzero

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Ive always liked the idea of it for everyday/weekend road use (ie not track obviously) but wondered if the performance is actually there.
I dont really need rock hard suspension for the road but at the same time dont want super soft bouncy suspension either. My suspension is getting near the end of its life, Tein HR coilovers.
Seeing pictures recently of that white s15 on fb or Instagram(not srue is the owner on here) think it is a UK car on ksport air-ride got me pondering is it time i just bit the bullet.

Having a low car all the time is painful for general road use, and like most dont want the car like a 4x4 either.

Wondering what other ppl think on the subject , and if you have it fitted to your s body would be ideal.
 
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'That white s15' is mine!

Air ride gets a lot of hate, especially on jap cars. 99% of the hate is due to people knowing nothing about air suspension. (I used to hate on air suspension and I admit I knew nothing about it).
Early air suspension kits were renowned for being boaty and basically driving like ****, but the technology has come such a long way since then, most modern air suspension setups would give coilovers a run for their money.

I had my car static on Cusco coilovers for a year before I bought air suspension, I drove it as low as possible and this made the ride horrible, it looked awesome, but I just didn't enjoy driving it.
With the air suspension I can drive it even lower (on flat roads) than I did on coilovers and it's 10x more comfortable and enjoyable to drive. And obviously the possibility to raise it up and actually be able to drive fast on country roads or get over speed bumps without destroying the underside of the car is perfect

The only downside of air suspension that I can think of (for a road car) is the cost. I only bought it because I found a second hand kit at a decent price
 

subzero

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yes i knew youd bite!!! .... if i put up a thread :) with all these fb pages and Instagram pics its hard to actually go back and find the original post.

ya the price is a bit painfull but so is been shaken to death by coil overs and blowing up fiberglass all the time... i think i just hated on air because all the VW dudes flogging it on every piece of ****.

the only two options i see are part shop max or the ksport kit .... wouldnt really be a ksport but that could just be the jdm-parts-points boy in me.
 
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Other option is lifter /air cups . Can add them to your coilovers (universal are about 1k ) and just raise it when you want


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squeral

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I was already thinking about air ride, and then last month I was reading about a time attack Scooby in America which wins it's class regularly so now I'm thinking about it even more...
I use my s14 for sprints and hillclimbs so I'm wondering if it's really good enough to be as good or better than my current coilovers?
Any advice would be appreciated.
 
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yes i knew youd bite!!! .... if i put up a thread :) with all these fb pages and Instagram pics its hard to actually go back and find the original post.

ya the price is a bit painfull but so is been shaken to death by coil overs and blowing up fiberglass all the time... i think i just hated on air because all the VW dudes flogging it on every piece of ****.

the only two options i see are part shop max or the ksport kit .... wouldnt really be a ksport but that could just be the jdm-parts-points boy in me.
Yeah I hate air ride on VAG cars when people drive them jacked up and then just air out when they park up. If you have air and still drive the car low, it's acceptable in my eyes

Just make sure you get a 4 way system with electronic management. My kit came as a 2 way system (just front and rear adjustment). This meant that air can travel between bags from one side to the other round corners which causes a tonne of body roll and scrubbing.
With 4 way management, the pressure in each bag is adjusted independently so no body roll.
I'm upgrading to Airlift V2 management (the management that all the VAG guys use), as it's one of the best and most reliable on the market. My advice would be to buy the struts, compressor and tank separately and then buy V2 management. I've no idea what the 4 way ksport or part shop max management is like in comparison, but V2 will most likely be better. (Or Airlift 3p if money is no object).
 
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I've got 4 cups on mine, but the kit could do with some fine tuning as it's a universal one so had a few fitment issues and burst a hose as you know... Cars so low am struggling to get under it to repair the fekker still.

I've read articles that Air Lift Performance are the business.
Life On Air: Cody Miles' Championship Winning STI - Speedhunters

Its a tough decision though. I think air has come a long way and I may even consider a swap out in the future, but for now i think she's sitting pretty. And the wallet will also not allow anymore

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Yep that's the Scooby I read about, either in Banzai or Japanese performance. There may well be a racing s body on air for people to talk about soon enough. :heh:
 
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With an air suspension what other adjustable arm and things like roll centre adjusters do you have to fit. I'm assuming when you change ride heights the geometries change a fair bit between high and low.....
 
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