.I've now done about 250 miles since I picked the car up on Saturday. I went for the "road" setup of 350f/170r springs as the car is predominantly for road use. I also had the ride height set to standard - which does make it look a little like a monster truck, particularly compared to how it used to look on rather saggy OE springs. Test roads were a good mix of A,B and C-class roads around Dorset/Wiltshire then back home to Bristol. A friend also drove part of the time so I had the chance to see how it feels in the passenger seat. After a bit of playing, I've settled for now on 10 clicks from fully soft (14 from full hard) as a good compromise. They're beautifully easy and quick to fiddle with road (or track) side so it's very easy to experiment.
Overall, it's a fantastic improvement. Slow speed ride (around town) is rather harsher as you might expect, but it really comes into its own once you get out of town and onto the interesting roads, and in town it still feels less "jiggly" than SWMBOs Octy VRS. Despite the atrocious state of many roads, it copes brilliantly well and allows the car to stay composed as well as no longer causing me to panic that I'm about to kill the sump every time it hits a compression. Dive under braking is minimal, and I'd now have the confidence to get it on track properly and see what the car is capable of.
I had a look at the old dampers that came off. TBH, it's not surprising the ride was a bit soggy. The springs weren't too bad, but the dampers appear absolutely shot with almost no damping ability left, despite outwardly looking okay.
It's hard to say that an alternative after market option wouldn't feel like a similar improvement compared to the 20y/o stuff that came off, but with limited knowledge of what makes a good setup I'm happy that this is a good match for the car and my use for it. If anyone around Bristol wants to come out for a ride and see for yourself, I'm always happy to go for a drive


