MacDog

I'd really like to get a Citroen hydropneumatic suspension on my 7. With adjustments I could hug the ground for high speed driving, and raise it back up so speed bumps don't scrape my oil pan off.

Any thoughts on any challenges I might face trying to adapt it for my 7? Also, which model Citroen have the best suspensions or does it matter? Could I run off the alternator instead of with a belt? Where do those west coast lowriders get theirs anyway? Where can I get a reconditioned suspension on this side of the Atlantic? Did a lot of internet searching today but only found one source I liked in the UK.

Thanks

Mac

anthrax

I think you are blazing new ground here.

I am going to wager a bet most people on this board don't know what a Citroen is, let alone what suspension would best fit an FB

Good Luck,

A

JIMMY54

iTrader: (2)

Instead of going through the work of finding that suspension, why not just get an Air ride system installed? It would have basically the same affect. Either way i dont think its going to improve the rx7's handling.....

Pele

iTrader: (28)

Huh? How can you have a rotary and not know of companies such as Citroen?

http://www.monito.com/wankel/citroen.html



That aside, the only other model of Citroen I know of is the C4 with the dancing robot commercial... I don't think they sell Citroens here in the states.

Dom

Are you talking about finding one of these in a junkyard and ripping the suspension off?

Maybe you should take a look at air suspension kits.

Dom

Maybe this:

http://www.streetbeatcustoms.com/suspension.html

MacDog

Thanks for replies.

I'd read the Suspension Bible online which was also published in the UK, so maybe the limey didn't know about yankee air ride suspension kits, and hence...neither did I.

I don't know if it will generally improve the ride or not, but I'd love to mosey up to the starting line with some Honda and see the look on his face when I drop down and fill up those wheel wells. I just don't want to constantly have the harsh ride of using lowering springs. I'd hate to pick up some honey for a date in the thing and then rattle the tampon out of her on the way to dinner.

christaylor

Next thing you know we'll see "Lucas electrics on FB?".

MacDog

ok, street beat sells an air ride suspension kit for the 99-03 Protege, will that even work on a 85 RX-7?

WHY IS IT SO HARD TO FIND THINGS FOR MY 1ST GEN!!!!

Sorry, just had to vent. I actually know why, because people are stupid. That's gotta be it.

I suppose I could go to a local soup shop and have them figure all this out, but not only is money an issue, I just want the satisfaction of pulling this off. What I don't want is to spend $1500 on an air ride suspension and have it sit in the closet.

BTW, have you guys heard about the new Bose linear electromagnetic suspension? Wow. I called and that stuff is all going straight to manufacturers of luxury cars. I'm going to buy one of those cars, pull the suspension out, put it on my 7, and sell of the rest of the car for parts

GreG36

are you the kinda person who would put a white font bumper and green rear bumper/body kit on your car? do you wear your hat sideways?

anyways...you would either have to talk to a custom shop, or do it yourself...you could order the stuff yourself, but after that it would take a hell of a lot of money, time, and frustration. sorry to sound like an *******, but air ride isnt for an FB...or at least i dont think so...

DAharon

iTrader: (1)

I read an article a while back that spelled out why air suspension/"air springs" are detrimental to handling. The focus was on the fact that the pressure in the air bladder (spring) rises exponentialy with negative change in volume. If that didn't make sense: The spring rate is not just "rising rate" (eg. Eibach), its VERY VERY "rising rate."
Add to that the fact that the bladder must be small because there just isn't much room down there.

Of course my info could be wrong. I'm too lazy to work it out.

Dom

What?

You were talking about finding a French car and pulling the suspension off then fitting it in a 7!

And now you want a ready made for 1st gen 7 kit???


j/k

kenn_chan

i know this is a strange area to pull data from (not my ******* either ) but Mountain bikes have been useing air forks, and air shocks (frame mounts) for a while, and the air suspensions riseing rate is a fact of life, on the bike its great cause the spring rate ramps up rather quickly which helps to avoid bottoming, not sure about what it would do on a car though might actually make it less prone to bottm in hard cornering (just like a bike, but your dampers have to be set pretty stiff to avoid the pogo effect.

kenn

Oh and buy the way forgot who posted but a citroen is also called a **** train where i live, cause they are high speed low dragg garbage there air shocks air constanly leaking and are expensive to fix why you would want to make a 20+ year old car even more of a pain than it is to work on is beyond me.

mortenf

Ok, i live in Europe and Citroens are common over here. First of all,space would be a problem. The hydraulic system from a Citroen doesnt just require more space under the wheel wells, it also has tubing, hoses, pipes and a hell of a lot of vacuum tanks and so on.. I know, my dad had a SM in the old days, (for those of you who dont know what a SM is, its basically a Citroen but with a Maserati engine) and it took 2 mechanics several hours to change the battery, neatly located under the suspension system.. He then sold it!

Citroen still makes cars with the type of suspension you are looking for, for instance the Xantia, XM and C5.

Now for my opinion! Dont do it! The 7 is a sports car for crying out loud. It deserves to be driven like one and not to be rebuilt as a lowrider of some sort.
Ask yourself this question, have you ever seen a race car with air suspension? No, you havent. The reason is that it is for comfort, not high speed cornering! I know that Need For Speed underground, lets you mount this kind of suspension on a RX, but its just a game, damn it!

kenn_chan

OFF topic!!! RANT


Tell it like it is Morten! enough of the granturismo tuners around here!

i get tired of grown idiots telling me **** like this" well in granturismo it lets me boost to 1.8 without the blah de blah de blah. seems like about 40% of the 16~28 year old crowd grew up on the various versins of Gran Turismo or some other crap and can't seperate fact from fiction.

Sorry i return your forum to you more or less intact flamers, have at it.

kenn_chan

Oh and Citroens stands for **** TRAIN for a reason!

end rant

MacDog

In case I didn't make it clear (though I know I did), what I like about the air suspension is that it is adjustable. I laugh at these fools who take their pick ups and drop them to an inch of the ground, and over all but the slickest, straightest roads they have to drive at 15 mph or risk shatterring their cheap fiberglass air dam. If I put lowering springs on my 7, the speed bumps in the parking lot would kill it. I also know that the air suspension is for comfort and not handling, so sue me for wanting to be comfortable. I had a freakin' infarction in leg, with muscles death and nerve damage. Guess where? My right calf! My gas pedal muscle. I'm lucky I can drive at all, and still deal with pain even after a few short hops. I'm also not 16-28, don't really play video games and was just looking for thoughts and advice, not ya'll's ingenious social commentary. Isn't that what this website is supposed to be for? Advice? But ya'll gotta be like "flame on", probably into your rex to hide other inadequacies I attributed to Saab drivers.

tff, you ain't nuthin

Yark79

I saw something on the Speed Channel that showed where people had put on air ride suspensions and improved the handling of their cars. Most of them were old hot rods and muscle cars, so their stock suspensions kind of sucked anyways, but it was a step up. I'm not sure, but I think there are ways that you can make the air ride suspension stiff so it may be very tunable.

kenn_chan

My rant was aimed at the general population, not you in particular, self deleted rant>>>> PS I am listed as 45% disabled by the US governement deleted rant >>>>>>>>>>>> when something doesn't go my way I nuckle down and fix whatever it is I want to do.

follow the advice of some of the other people, they advised you to get an aftermarket set and modify it, reasons being are multiple

a.) aftermarket access to a wider variety of parts
b.) and as i was inferring quality (citroen sucks *** in the QC department)
c. ) rebuild parts are avilable for them locally or via mail order
d.) local area fabricators are more willing to work with new parts that haven't got 10 or 20 years with of built up rust/welds/rewelds/crap and dirt on them

lastly: learn to realize when people are poking fun at you. If I blew up like you do over pissy little things like that i would have lost my job a long time ago, learn to cope with it and quit whining.

Kenn