Hey there to all you Magna afficianados!

I own a 2002 Magna TJ II Sports and am thinking of a suspension upgrade - lowered by 30-40mm.

Can anyone of you good people recommend which springs will give me decent performance as well as maintain the same wheel arch height from the wheel center for front and rear. I've tried King Springs on my previous KF Verada and found them to be pretty average. Also, what shocks are out there that would match the spring upgrade.

I like a firm but not harsh ride that doesn't bottom out too easily.

(Question: The Magnas/Veradas all seem to have a higher front end in proportion to the rear. Is that because it's front-wheel driven?)

Thanks guys, looking forward to the advice.

You'll find that the additional weight of the Verada will affect the ride, against the Sports. Kings or Lovells, with KYB struts, will do fairly well.

Your only real options if you want equal front and rear heights are coilovers, or custom springs.

Can anyone of you good people recommend which springs will give me decent performance as well as maintain the same wheel arch height from the wheel center for front and rear.

If you go for a set of King Springs, you can get low (~45mm) springs in the back and superlows (~60mm) in the front. This way, the wheels appear about even in the guard. It's lower than what you've suggested, but unless it's for legality (ie insurance), I'd go the extra lowering. It looks hot yet is suprisingly practical.

In what way were your previous springs "average"? The King range as well as Lovells are the two most popular springs for Magnas. The consensus I've reached is that the Lovells ride softer, although I would have assumed that this would mean at least some sort of trade-off with handling. If you weren't happy with your Kings, I imagine you'd be better off doing what veradabeast said and going for custom springs or coilovers.

Like veradabeast said, King Springs with KYB shocks are a common combo. I've got them on my VR-X (King Lows all round though) and am extremely happy with them.

If you go for a set of King Springs, you can get low (~45mm) springs in the back and superlows (~60mm) in the front. This way, the wheels appear about even in the guard. It's lower than what you've suggested, but unless it's for legality (ie insurance), I'd go the extra lowering. It looks hot yet is suprisingly practical.



Also a good way to mess up the handling. Forget Superlows (whether its all round or just at the front), they are simply crap for handling. Too big a reduction in travel without enough increase in rate to compensate.

King Lows or Lovells Lows with KYB Excel-Gs are a popular budget setup, and fairly good for the money. Will handle noticeably better than factory, but not overly harsh for the street.

If you are willing to spend more on dampers, koni yellows are a great buy, and the off-the-shelf valving is a good match to the rate of Kings Lows (180lbs/inch at the front). If you like to push the car, the konis are much better than the KYBs.

I'm not sure what rates the Lovells are, but I can comment the Kings are a good compromise for daily driving and sharper-feeling handling. I suspect the Lovells are a bit softer than the Kings.

Also you might wanto check out what Whiteline offer, I think they have a spring package for our magnas they claim to work well as a compromise between street ride comfort and a bit more control.

King Lows or Lovells Lows with KYB Excel-Gs are a popular budget setup, and fairly good for the money. Will handle noticeably better than factory, but not overly harsh for the street.

How much would that be do you think?

I paid $1200 for King Lows and KYBs installed, but you could definitely get it done cheaper in a capital city (maybe $900?) - I got it done in the sticks :(. Worth every cent IMO.


Also a good way to mess up the handling. Forget Superlows (whether its all round or just at the front), they are simply crap for handling. Too big a reduction in travel without enough increase in rate to compensate.

True, but the OP said that he wanted the guards to sit the same height all round. I can't think of an easier way other than going custom. Plus most forum goers with the Superlow/Low combo seem pretty content with their handling.

To be honest, I'm happy with Lows all round. I went for Lows all round to keep the insurance company happy, but if that wasn't a factor I think I'd go for Lows all round again. The even height makes the back sit very "squat" (something I like) - depending on the angle you're looking at, the Magna's bodyline rises up towards the back, so having the front lower wouldn't help at all. Plus, I'm confident that the height difference between Lows and Superlows would be the difference between rarely scraping the front bumper and scraping it often (although I do have the VR-X kit).

i just put King lows all round, and new KYB's and bumpstops in my KJ verada.. i like the way it sits actually.. the rear looks a little lower than the front.. giving it that little squat look.. i hate cars that look like they are nose dipped.. reminds me of a LH SLR5000 torana.. *quivers*

i wrote down my hub to gaurd but can't find them.. i'll mesure it up on the weekend and post it up.. keep in mind my wheels are 20's and they are overall a little bigger than the stocko's so it gives more of a gaurd filling appearance..

If you are willing to spend more on dampers, koni yellows are a geat buy, and the off-the-shelf valving is a good match to the rate of Kings Lows (180lbs/inch at the front). If you like to push the car, the konis are much better than the KYBs.


That's what I have. Kings Lows and Koni yellows (externally adjustable on the front). Suspension control and firmness feels very much like my Dad's 4 litre M5 - firm but supple all at once.

got a part number for us bruss? :)

I have king lows and superlows with koni's and i'm really happy with it. There is only one driveway I need to watch out for, and it "looks" like it's level.

That's what I have. Kings Lows and Koni yellows (externally adjustable on the front). Suspension control and firmness feels very much like my Dad's 4 litre M5 - firm but supple all at once.


Same here, minus Dad and M5 part.

got a part number for us bruss? :)
I just pulled the invoice out of bunch of records and it doesn't give part numbers for the Konis. But cost was 540 for front Konis, 454 for rears, 130 for front Kings, 130 for rears, 80 for bumpstop kit, 340 labour. The second batch of work was Whiteline strut brace 200, camber kit 120, labour 160. Hope this helps :)

Thanks for all the input. It's great knowing I can get lotsa feedback from all the boffins here on the forum.

When I mentioned that the King Springs were 'average' I was referring to the how 'soft' it felt and how easily it bottomed out. Taking into account that the Verada's dampers are somewhat more supple, that could well be why.

I'm actually surprised to hear that the Lovell's are softer than the Kings.

I do like the sound of the Koni/Kings setup but will have to see if the budget can stretch that far.

Thanks Matty C for the pics of the silver Verada, nice one. Incidentally, did you have to roll the guards back? Also, what size tyres do you have on those rims? Is the ride overly firm?

Thanks Schnell for the pricing breakdown.

"Soft" Kings

I understand your comment.
At the moment I have Kings Lows all round on an AWD Sports.
Still has the standard shockers that have done 83,000Kms.

The car bottoms out a bit too easily around the awfull bumps and dips on what pass for roads in Sydney.

The real reason for your comment, is that when you fit higher rate, i.e. harder springs then the shock absorbers have more force to control. Add worn shocks into the equation then the control side of the equation is a bit lacking.
Talking to a couple of suspension places they have told me that the Normal springs are 120lb/in rate and Kings Lows are 180lb/in rate.
This shows just how lightly sprung the original springs are.
It would be interesting to see what the spring rates are on the 380 sports variants. I suspect that good higher rate for a Magna would be around 220lb/in.
May be worth someone calling Lovells, Aurora and Dobinsons and finding out what their spring rates are.

I have a pair of new Koni Sport adjustable shocks in the garage that are waiting for Philcom to send me the matching fronts. It will probably be a couple of weeks before they are fitted and I can report.
Also doing the front castor bushes at the same time.

All this is in readiness for the massive power and control boost when I finally get the manual gearbox in!

Gerry

Let us know how you go Spud. Cheers.:D

WYLCaRD - nope.. stock gaurds and all, there 225 wide.. i just had to cut away a few inches of the inner gaurd plastic on the front.. thats all.. :)

Dad's 4 litre M5BMW don't do 4.0L M5s.

BMW don't do 4.0L M5s.

Yeah they are either 5L (latest ones), 4.9L or 3.5L.

maybe they just did a 4.0L SOHC EB falcon engine conversion?? i mean that motor is such a wonderful piece of technological advancement, completely demonstrating the full capability of the aussie domestic market in terms of refinement and economy..

My bad. It is a 5.0. Won't matter for much longer anyway as he has signed up for an AMG E63 - crikey, can any road car really need over 500hp from the factory.....?

Nevermind...