Upgrade options for Scorpio's suspension ?

mooza · 18th April 2010, 15:34

Hi AarEmm, sorry for the delayed response ! I will PM you the details.

I have run around 2000 kms so far with the Bilsteins, no problems so far, the handling is good

.

Ranga · 14th May 2010, 22:25

@ Mooza

Thanks for the updates . The issue is that your car is the right candidate for a upgrade for Bilsteins .

What we all have is the upgrades coil springs with MHawk engine . Is it worth spending 30K + for a upgrade ?

I still feel that Scorpio in low speeds can act better in cities and certainly does not give u confidence in turning around 80-90 Kms at high speeds .

Is cornering improved through the new suspension setup ?

mooza · 15th May 2010, 09:59

Hi Ranga, as you rightly saw from my previous posts, my leaf sprung Scorp was the right canditate for this mod, since I used to experience a lot of secondary / unsettled oscillations in the vertical and roll directions, which has been taken care to an extent of 30 to 40% by the Bilsteins. Me and my family now find the ride tolerable, by SUV standards !

I have not tried cornering at 80 - 90 kmph, since many of the TBHP experts have warned not to try this on tall SUVs. This is a very good piece of advice, as my cousin did this on his Qualis on NH 48 in 2005, his vehicle rolled over thrice, and he came out with a dislocated shoulder. He still shudders from the trauma ! He now drives a low slung Accent Viva to meet his need for cornering at high speeds

.

I could feel some 20 % reduction in body roll while cornering at 60 kmph, and better responses to steering inputs. These are my subjective views (for exact measurable figures, as we know, the beast should have been put through the Slalom and Elk Tests before and after the mod, which were beyond my scope!)

When I bought my Scorpio, the ride quality was quite poor. Before even thinking of the Bilsteins, I tried lowering the rear tyre pressures by 1 to 2 psi, it resulted in a 10 % improvement. Have you tried this out first, particularly for the rear wheels while driving alone ? If not, this should be tried first.

Coming to the cost, my overall economics was in favour of the Bilsteins, since I had spent only Rs. 4.25 lakhs on my used beast purchase, and I had already kept aside 70 to 80 k for suspension improvements, seating mods and audio system. So, the Bilstein's cost of 38k fitted into my budget quite well.

Coming to the new Scorpios, frankly I have not driven one, so I suggest we meet up sometime, exchange our beasts and drive through varied surfaces, before I can offer my views ! You can PM me any time, if needed.

But, going by what I have seen while following some new Scorpios with the coil springs, they seem to have less vertical / pitching oscillations, but some amount of horizontal oscillations at the rear end, suggesting a need to stiffen one of the multilink dampers, if there is one. Again, I may be wrong.

If you could elaborate the exact nature of your ride, it would be useful.

Cheers

Ranga · 15th May 2010, 16:43

@Mooza
As we both stay in Bangalore ,we can test both of our cars and check whats good , bad and ugly ( which we need to live with)

I recently took my car for a 1200Kms + Tamil Nadu trip and went all till Velangini . What i felt was in straight roads , the new Scorpio behaves well . But in bad patches , if ur speed is less then 30Kms , there is lot of undulations and this needs to get rectified .

When in high speeds u can't turn @ 60KMPH + and surely needs better rubber & suspensions .

We also need to understand what type of tyres u have on the Scorpio ..

mooza · 17th May 2010, 21:38

Hello, Ranga, I am using Bridgestone Dueller 235/75R15 105S radial tyres. I keep the front tyre pressure at 28 psi instead of the 29 psi recommended in the manuals of the 2004 Scorpio when driving alone (or with a maximum of 3 people), and the rear tyre pressure at 29 psi instead of the recommended 31 psi.

I increase the tyre pressures to the recommended 29 psi (front) and 31 psi (rear) at full load on long trips.

A combination of these tyre pressures along with the Bilsteins give the best results for my Scorpio in terms of ride comfort

King413 · 8th July 2010, 21:29

Does anybody know the length of the 2009 Automatic Scorpio rear Shock absorbers. I want to try other brand Gas Shocks on my friends Vehicle...

Speed-Gladiator · 13th July 2010, 11:06

H Mooza,

How is the ride now, now you might have done some kms with the new suspension, can you please post some pics of that ?

mooza · 13th July 2010, 21:36

Hi Speed-Gladiator, the Bilsteined suspension feels just as good, with 5000 kms of running so far. The vehicle is still handling firm and good. I entered a deep pothole last week by mistake, but the vehicle settled back pretty quick when it came out.

Do PM me in case you need to TD my vehicle. I assume your Scorpio is leaf sprung too ?

I feel there is nothing much that can be gathered from pictures, it's just the set of 4 shock absorbers that are changed. The leaf springs, shackles, U bolts are the same, no change there. Anyway, let me try to post some pics when I get underneath the beast

kodava · 16th July 2010, 12:03

Hi Mooza, please could you let me know the bilstein part numbers of your shocks? Front and rear. Thanks in advance.

K

mooza · 16th July 2010, 12:25

@kodava, I have mailed you the details. Hope this helps. I assume this is for your Bolero ?

kodava · 13th September 2010, 00:33

Thanks for the details, Murli. Yes they are for my 4x4 bolero. I finally ordered them from the US and it cost me 28K for four. Fantastic performance :-)

Kodava

mooza · 13th September 2010, 12:41

Hey Kodava, that's really great ! Maybe we should meet sometime for a quick test drive, to share our experiences. Could you please post your first impressions on the ride quality? And how long did it take to ship the shocks from the U.S. ?

Congrats again on the good bargain

kodava · 13th September 2010, 13:58

Murli, the ride quality is extremely good. There is a huge improvement over the OEM shocks. No more tail bouncing and the overall handling is superb. My spine no longer hurts on bad roads :-)

Wondering now whether I should also switch to CFL at the rear. Not sure if it will make a lot of difference.

The shipping to India took a week. The shocks came in with other outdoor equipment which I needed.

Cheers
Bopanna

mooza · 13th September 2010, 19:27

^^ Hi Bopanna, great to know that your ride quality has improved with the Bilsteins. Maybe we could do the quick meet after your CFL installation. All the best

Randhawa · 13th September 2010, 19:30

Did Scorpio ever came with front leaf suspension?

18th April 2010, 15:34	#16
mooza Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,096 Thanked: 368 Times	Hi AarEmm, sorry for the delayed response ! I will PM you the details. I have run around 2000 kms so far with the Bilsteins, no problems so far, the handling is good .
	() Thanks

14th May 2010, 22:25	#17
Ranga BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 340 Thanked: 83 Times	@ Mooza Thanks for the updates . The issue is that your car is the right candidate for a upgrade for Bilsteins . What we all have is the upgrades coil springs with MHawk engine . Is it worth spending 30K + for a upgrade ? I still feel that Scorpio in low speeds can act better in cities and certainly does not give u confidence in turning around 80-90 Kms at high speeds . Is cornering improved through the new suspension setup ?
	() Thanks

15th May 2010, 09:59	#18
mooza Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,096 Thanked: 368 Times	Hi Ranga, as you rightly saw from my previous posts, my leaf sprung Scorp was the right canditate for this mod, since I used to experience a lot of secondary / unsettled oscillations in the vertical and roll directions, which has been taken care to an extent of 30 to 40% by the Bilsteins. Me and my family now find the ride tolerable, by SUV standards ! I have not tried cornering at 80 - 90 kmph, since many of the TBHP experts have warned not to try this on tall SUVs. This is a very good piece of advice, as my cousin did this on his Qualis on NH 48 in 2005, his vehicle rolled over thrice, and he came out with a dislocated shoulder. He still shudders from the trauma ! He now drives a low slung Accent Viva to meet his need for cornering at high speeds . I could feel some 20 % reduction in body roll while cornering at 60 kmph, and better responses to steering inputs. These are my subjective views (for exact measurable figures, as we know, the beast should have been put through the Slalom and Elk Tests before and after the mod, which were beyond my scope!) When I bought my Scorpio, the ride quality was quite poor. Before even thinking of the Bilsteins, I tried lowering the rear tyre pressures by 1 to 2 psi, it resulted in a 10 % improvement. Have you tried this out first, particularly for the rear wheels while driving alone ? If not, this should be tried first. Coming to the cost, my overall economics was in favour of the Bilsteins, since I had spent only Rs. 4.25 lakhs on my used beast purchase, and I had already kept aside 70 to 80 k for suspension improvements, seating mods and audio system. So, the Bilstein's cost of 38k fitted into my budget quite well. Coming to the new Scorpios, frankly I have not driven one, so I suggest we meet up sometime, exchange our beasts and drive through varied surfaces, before I can offer my views ! You can PM me any time, if needed. But, going by what I have seen while following some new Scorpios with the coil springs, they seem to have less vertical / pitching oscillations, but some amount of horizontal oscillations at the rear end, suggesting a need to stiffen one of the multilink dampers, if there is one. Again, I may be wrong. If you could elaborate the exact nature of your ride, it would be useful. Cheers
	() Thanks

15th May 2010, 16:43	#19
Ranga BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 340 Thanked: 83 Times	@Mooza As we both stay in Bangalore ,we can test both of our cars and check whats good , bad and ugly ( which we need to live with) I recently took my car for a 1200Kms + Tamil Nadu trip and went all till Velangini . What i felt was in straight roads , the new Scorpio behaves well . But in bad patches , if ur speed is less then 30Kms , there is lot of undulations and this needs to get rectified . When in high speeds u can't turn @ 60KMPH + and surely needs better rubber & suspensions . We also need to understand what type of tyres u have on the Scorpio ..
	() Thanks

17th May 2010, 21:38	#20
mooza Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,096 Thanked: 368 Times	Hello, Ranga, I am using Bridgestone Dueller 235/75R15 105S radial tyres. I keep the front tyre pressure at 28 psi instead of the 29 psi recommended in the manuals of the 2004 Scorpio when driving alone (or with a maximum of 3 people), and the rear tyre pressure at 29 psi instead of the recommended 31 psi. I increase the tyre pressures to the recommended 29 psi (front) and 31 psi (rear) at full load on long trips. A combination of these tyre pressures along with the Bilsteins give the best results for my Scorpio in terms of ride comfort
	() Thanks

8th July 2010, 21:29	#21
King413 BHPian Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Bangalore Posts: 91 Thanked: 39 Times	Does anybody know the length of the 2009 Automatic Scorpio rear Shock absorbers. I want to try other brand Gas Shocks on my friends Vehicle...
	() Thanks

13th July 2010, 11:06	#22
Speed-Gladiator BHPian Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Bangalore, Tiruvalla Posts: 81 Thanked: 12 Times View My Garage	H Mooza, How is the ride now, now you might have done some kms with the new suspension, can you please post some pics of that ?
	() Thanks

13th July 2010, 21:36	#23
mooza Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,096 Thanked: 368 Times	Hi Speed-Gladiator, the Bilsteined suspension feels just as good, with 5000 kms of running so far. The vehicle is still handling firm and good. I entered a deep pothole last week by mistake, but the vehicle settled back pretty quick when it came out. Do PM me in case you need to TD my vehicle. I assume your Scorpio is leaf sprung too ? I feel there is nothing much that can be gathered from pictures, it's just the set of 4 shock absorbers that are changed. The leaf springs, shackles, U bolts are the same, no change there. Anyway, let me try to post some pics when I get underneath the beast
	() Thanks

16th July 2010, 12:03	#24
kodava Newbie Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Coorg Posts: 21 Thanked: 3 Times	Hi Mooza, please could you let me know the bilstein part numbers of your shocks? Front and rear. Thanks in advance. K
	() Thanks

16th July 2010, 12:25	#25
mooza Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,096 Thanked: 368 Times	@kodava, I have mailed you the details. Hope this helps. I assume this is for your Bolero ?
	() Thanks

13th September 2010, 00:33	#26
kodava Newbie Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Coorg Posts: 21 Thanked: 3 Times	Thanks for the details, Murli. Yes they are for my 4x4 bolero. I finally ordered them from the US and it cost me 28K for four. Fantastic performance :-) Kodava
	() Thanks

13th September 2010, 12:41	#27
mooza Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,096 Thanked: 368 Times	Hey Kodava, that's really great ! Maybe we should meet sometime for a quick test drive, to share our experiences. Could you please post your first impressions on the ride quality? And how long did it take to ship the shocks from the U.S. ? Congrats again on the good bargain
	() Thanks

13th September 2010, 13:58	#28
kodava Newbie Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Coorg Posts: 21 Thanked: 3 Times	Murli, the ride quality is extremely good. There is a huge improvement over the OEM shocks. No more tail bouncing and the overall handling is superb. My spine no longer hurts on bad roads :-) Wondering now whether I should also switch to CFL at the rear. Not sure if it will make a lot of difference. The shipping to India took a week. The shocks came in with other outdoor equipment which I needed. Cheers Bopanna
	() Thanks

13th September 2010, 19:27	#29
mooza Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,096 Thanked: 368 Times	^^ Hi Bopanna, great to know that your ride quality has improved with the Bilsteins. Maybe we could do the quick meet after your CFL installation. All the best
	() Thanks

13th September 2010, 19:30	#30
Randhawa Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Brighton Posts: 1,193 Thanked: 355 Times	Did Scorpio ever came with front leaf suspension?
	() Thanks