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Alucard7002
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Re: Hi All, new member here

Post by Alucard7002 » Wed Oct 25, 2017 8:32 pm

The front suspension on an 800 is its achilles heel as it is its brilliance.

Being co-developed with Honda in the early 80's the Japanese wanted the long low bonnet and insisted upon double wishbones up front to achieve it. (or so the summary of the story goes)

The downside is that the standard 800 only has ~50mm of bump travel on the front but lots of rebound travel - fine on the silky smooth japanese roads but a nightmare over here.

Part of the crashy-ness is the stiffer springs and ARBs but it's also the near lack of bump stops as they are prone to getting smashed to bits on an 800 in short order. (most 800s ride ~10mm from the "soft" bump stops from the factory) I put new ones on when I put the KYB dampers on but still no luck in getting the perfect combination of smooth ride and handling.

Since having my LS430 it's clear how much better a well-engineered suspension is. It's suberbly smooth and comfortable yet when you lean on it the car sticks and behaves like a "slightly" obese go kart!
It's near as makes no odds 2 tons yet the only indication you're cornering hard is the fact you start to fall out of the seat from the roll - however if you turn off the traction/stability and go have a play on an airfield it behaves remarkably well if needing a little more preventative oppy lock earlier than you'd expect to counter the inertia of all that weight moving.

Back to 800s though, put standard springs on it with new bump stops and that'll be as good as you'll get. As I said to you over the phone it isn't going to compare to the BX in the slightest and will always feel harsh compared to the BX. Get it on a motorway though and it's golden!
Dušan - head lunatic @ Four Paw Racing

'66 Ford Country Sedan
'89 Mazda MX5 1.6
'98 Mitsubishi Evo 4 GSR
'07 Subaru Legacy Spec B

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Alucard7002
Now with more then 1000 posts!
Posts: 1265
Joined: Mon May 18, 2009 8:09 pm
Location: Cambridgeshire
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Re: Hi All, new member here

Post by Alucard7002 » Wed Oct 25, 2017 8:39 pm

TomSaintJames wrote:
Wed Oct 25, 2017 11:49 am
The engine is nice, especially on petrol. On LPG though it's not particularly smooth and seems to kangaroo quite easily at low revs, no problem at above 2000rpm though. It does sound great when the second cam starts working, you can hear the difference in exhaust note!
On this note regarding the LPG I found the exact same thing when driving it as I said to you - I got into the knack/habit easily of not letting it drop below 2k and driving the car "digitally" either accelerating or braking. Once on the motorway sat at 70 it purrs along nicely.

Part of the Kangaroo business is the HUGE engine bay with a teensy little 4 pot in it sat on large engine mounts. That with unequal length driveshafts means that even from the factory the 800 (especially the 820) has a lot of driveline shunt/windup.

Holiday was good thanks, got some time to relax and spend with the family - was good! :D
Dušan - head lunatic @ Four Paw Racing

'66 Ford Country Sedan
'89 Mazda MX5 1.6
'98 Mitsubishi Evo 4 GSR
'07 Subaru Legacy Spec B

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scoobyh123
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Re: Hi All, new member here

Post by scoobyh123 » Wed Oct 25, 2017 9:29 pm

Alucard7002 wrote:
Wed Oct 25, 2017 8:39 pm

Part of the Kangaroo business is the HUGE engine bay with a teensy little 4 pot in it sat on large engine mounts. That with unequal length driveshafts means that even from the factory the 800 (especially the 820) has a lot of driveline shunt/windup.
A little more on that line of thought - Honda wanted a big enough engine bay for the V6 to fit with equal length driveshafts which does tend to eliminate the wind up and "kangaroo" action.
However because of the points Dusan has made about the front suspension design, the 800s always feel a tad jumpy at low speed - get them up to motorway speeds and they really settle down and smooth the bumps out a lot!

That's when you start to get the "wafting along feeling", not quite the magic carpet ride of something with hydraulic or pneumatic suspension but close. Apparently the (much) later Legends have a different suspension set-up and the latest ones with SHAWD (Superb Handling All Wheel Drive) not only handle and ride very well but are apparently one of the best handling and roadholding cars around.

Sadly thanks to BMW, we never got anything like it!
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


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'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

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