[KSM-Vtec]

Originally Posted by sudeepg

Good to hear the news! This mod does nothing to improve the handling of the car and from what I have read, you will not find any improvement in the handling if you throw it around the corners.

To be honest i am NOT expecting any improvement.

I just want to test if there is any degradation in the handling as it could be dangerous if the suspension behaves differently. Specially during some hard cornering coupled with hard braking situations.

From the feedback we have so far it looks like a safe mod, will test it for myself soon.

[condor]

Kaushik, I have been using the spacers on my Ikon for the last few thousand km, and have not seen any problems in handling. The spacers are meant to help prevent bottoming out, and they do just that.

[ptaneja]

Have contacted Darryl - he is out of country right now and will be back on 20th Sep. I would be ordering 1" for my SX4 - though scraping is minimum, I dont like the low stance of the back seat after getting the CNG kit fitment. Price quoted to me for shipping to Delhi is 2300 for rear shockers only - sounds good ??
Also, do I need it for front shockers too?

[sudeepg]

Originally Posted by ptaneja

I would be ordering 1" for my SX4 - though scraping is minimum, I dont like the low stance of the back seat after getting the CNG kit fitment. Price quoted to me for shipping to Delhi is 2300 for rear shockers only - sounds good ??
Also, do I need it for front shockers too?

low stance of the back seat? I didn't quite understand that. Why is the back seat an issue or did you mean low stance of the back side of the car? AFAIK, Sx4 has the best in class ground clearance. You really do not need this mod unless you have a problem with the car scraping the ground when loaded or the suspension is too soft.

The price quoted is good.

It is not recommended to install it on the front as it will deteriorate the handling of the car. That's just information gathered from this thread and not personal experience.

[Ninja75]

Hi Dinu, can you PM me Daryll's contact no. I want to add these adjusters to my Honda City. Feel free to offer any advise on the same.

[ptaneja]

Originally Posted by Ninja75

Hi Dinu, can you PM me Daryll's contact no. I want to add these adjusters to my Honda City. Feel free to offer any advise on the same.

Number is already present in this thread only - check the initial 1 or 2 pages.

[dinu2506]

Originally Posted by Ninja75

Hi Dinu, can you PM me Daryll's contact no. I want to add these adjusters to my Honda City. Feel free to offer any advise on the same.

Post #20 has the contact number

[Quick_Blue]

Folks, I've now had the Autorunner coil spring adjusters installed on my 2003 Old Honda City for a month, and they work just great. Thought I'd share my experience with the good people on this community.

Upon reading about the experiences of GTO and others, I decided to go in for the Autorunners. After some hesitation about whether to get a 1" pair for the back wheels only, I decided to go with the advice of Darryl Menezes (the gentleman who sells the Autorunners) and had a set of four shipped over (1.5" pair for the front, and 2" pair for the back end of the OHC).

The installation process sounded simple enough, so I resolved to attempt the job myself instead of taking the car to a mechanic. Now I'm not one of those do-it-yourself blokes, so there was definitely some trepidation going in.

Armed with liquid soap, a water pan, an old floor mat, and my 8-year old daughter as a trusty helper, I headed down to my parking spot. And hit a roadblock right away -- the rubber loops looked simply too tall for the springs and impossible to fit into the gaps in between. Uh oh... had I gotten the wrong size (too big)?

SOS call to Darryl... straightaway he asked me if I'd jacked the car up first... Aha! Once jacked up, the wheel springs were fully extended and now the gaps didn't seem that daunting. After getting the tyres off, I soaped up the first rubber coil and started putting it in. It takes quite a bit of pushing and shoving to get one end in, and then becomes progressively easier to snap the rest of the length into place.

My car's spring has three turns of coil; I inserted the rubber loop into the center gap as I wanted it to come into play under mild to full load. The rubber curves around and wraps a bit of the upper and lower turns. The coils on my car are wide enough around (i.e. coil diameter is bigger than that of the rubber loop in its natural state) so there was no overlap and I didn't have to cut any length of rubber.

Per Darryl, for best results the 'split' on the rubber loop should 'face' outward on the front wheels, and inward on the back wheels. Now I don't know if this actually makes a difference or not in terms of final compression support on the springs, but went with his input anyway and installed them accordingly.

It took me a bit of experimentation to get this alignment right while shoving the thing in. Overall, the installation was a simple enough procedure that even a novice could handle.

After approximately 30 mins of sweat to get all four pieces fully installed, we were ready to roll.

The car looked noticeably taller than before in its normal stance. Had an opportunity to 'stress test' right away -- five hefty adults averaging over 80 kilos each, plus a full complement of luggage in the boot, on a 15-km drive from CV Raman Nagar to Whitefield. As Bangaloreans familiar with this route will know, there are some badly potholed patches along the way as well as several massive "axle breaker" speed bumps.

For someone who'd become resigned to carefully 'angling' over each mountainous hump at a snail's pace, this drive was a revelation -- the new Autorunners allowed me to literally sail over all comers at a goodly speed despite the fully loaded vehicle! What a difference the right equipment can make!

The first few days, I found myself constantly checking to see if the Autorunners had popped off. But no worries, these puppies were safely locked in place, and soaked up every nasty pothole or speed bump I threw at them. In terms of vehicle handling, there is not much of a difference.

Initially the car does 'feel' higher off the ground when you're in the driver's seat, but you get used to it quickly. Since all four ends are raised, the car doesn't slew around lopsidedly, and the handling doesn't change under hard braking either. The ride seems a tad stiffer, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.

Now, a full month later, I am a very happy man and consider every rupee supremely well spent. I can brave any reasonably motorable sideroad instead of cringing at every speed bump like I used to. At INR 4300 for the set of four spacers, this is easily the best investment I've made on my OHC since the day I bought it 9.5 years ago. Bravo, Darryl!

I heartily recommed the Autorunners to all OHC owners, indeed to anyone who drives a relatively low-slung car and is sick & tired of scraping over sundry road bumps.

Cheers,
Nani
PS: I've attached a couple of grainy 'before and after' pics. Apologies for the poor image quality.

[dinu2506]

My, this looks raised way too high. Also, even without the adjusters, the car looks much taller than a normal OHC. Have you done any mods to raise the suspension?
Am I seeing things or do others also feel the same?
In my Civic, there has been no perceptible increase in ride height that can be seen visually.
BTW, I too like in CV Raman Nagar

[ptaneja]

Originally Posted by dinu2506

My, this looks raised way too high. Also, even without the adjusters, the car looks much taller than a normal OHC. Have you done any mods to raise the suspension?
Am I seeing things or do others also feel the same?
In my Civic, there has been no perceptible increase in ride height that can be seen visually.
BTW, I too like in CV Raman Nagar

You stole my word ....even without autorunners the ride looks much taller. I believe 1" would have been enough.

[lancer_rit]

One query I have for those who have already used the coil spring adjusters - Does it reduce 'bobbing' up and down of soft rear suspension cars, when going at speed over undulating road surfaces ?
I know handling doesn't improve (no reason why it should either), but could it provide a more planted steady ride over up and down road surfaces that are frequent on our highways ?

[dinu2506]

Originally Posted by ptaneja

You stole my word ....even without autorunners the ride looks much taller. I believe 1" would have been enough.

I think the pics were taken (before and after) while the car was still jacked up

[Quick_Blue]

Nope, no mods... just the factory original setup. Now that you mention it, the pics do make it seem like its rather high but perhaps only because I took them "looking up" so the coil/spacers could be seen. Doesn't seem too odd (atleast to me!) when standing next to the vehicle.

In any case, pre spacers, the rear would just squat down even under moderate load. That problem is now solved, so I'm quite pleased.

About the 1" spacers, I feel they might pop out under stress, certainly on the rear end of my car where the center gap on the coil measured a trifle over 1.2" sitting normally (i.e. without jacks).

Handling isn't quote unquote 'better', but I did get a comment from a family member that on bad roads the back seat doesn't feel like a small boat on a choppy sea anymore! Must be the spacers, since my driving certainly isn't getting any better.

Cheers,
Nani

[rosh_aveo1.4]

Originally Posted by dinu2506

My, this looks raised way too high. Also, even without the adjusters, the car looks much taller than a normal OHC. Have you done any mods to raise the suspension?
Am I seeing things or do others also feel the same?
In my Civic, there has been no perceptible increase in ride height that can be seen visually.
BTW, I too like in CV Raman Nagar

Are you sure this is installed right? I mean it looks too raised and way akward for a City (takes away the original log slung look of the car).

[sgiitk]

Was unable to contact Darryl. Got a sms from his number he will be back on November 2. So potential buyers please wait or may be there are alternates.