Hi guys -

Wondering if anyone can give me some advice on what shocks they would recommend to match a set of King superlows I've got for my EBII?

I'm interested purely in handling here, not comfort, so the harder the better

I dropped by Repco and Pedders to get some quick quotes on what they recommened, but the Repco guy also said the stuff he was recommending wasn't really suitable for superlows.

The Pedders guy recommended:
9934 GSR Sealed Strut (for rear)
GSR9080 Gas Sports Ryder (for front)
and a couple of bump stops (what are those exactly?)

Any help appreciated!

Shock rates should complement your spring rates.

Shocks that are too stiff will reduce your handling just like shocks that are too soft will reduce your handling.

If you're after handling, then I assume you've gone and got variable rate springs and not single rate?

bump stops are luittle blocks of rubber which stop the suspension from moving far enuf for the tire to rub on the guard.. having lowered suspension inevitably destroys them,, but its all good.. dont bother replacing them.. theyll get wrecked again in 2months

Actually, bump stops are there to stop the shock bottoming out. And DO REPLACE THEM! Last thing you want, and I know everyone here THINKS differently, is for your new investment of $500 in shocks to be totally destroyed cause you've barreled into a corner and smashed up all the vavles inside the shocks.

If you lower your car, it's probably best to get a pregressive bump stop. That said, if you go stupid with the lowering and are destroying bump stops every 2 weeks, you've probably got bugger all suspension travel in which case you car will actually handle worse than with standard suspension, and if you're serious about handling, it's time for a coil over strut.

Got a great little story here:

A mate of mine told me how he had a friend who was really into his VP commodore (this was in 1995). Spent $1000's had 17 wheels and lowered it right down, V8 supercharger, it was a 12 sec car down the quarter and he just loved it. He thought it was his own race car and thought nothing, not a ferrari or anything would touch it.
My mate interested in this car since he develops a small rally car and knows a bit about tuning and setting them up had a drive of this car. He said it was the worst thing he has ever driven hard suspension with no compliance, bump stops basically taking all the load. The other guy wouldn't believe him that his car was crap so my mate challenged him to a race around Wanaroo (a race track in perth). Him in his 12 sec commodore and my mate in a standard V6 auto rent-a-car. And damn it if he didn't beat that 12sec car.

So it goes to show, even if you spend $10,000 on mods it doesn't mean that your car is any 'better' than even standard if you do it wrong.

So if you want to know about handling go to www.whiteline.com.au and find the FAQ section and read all about spring rates and shocks, and swaybars and motion ratios.

Basically you want as much suspension compliance as possible (that's softer, taller springs to prevent bumps from upsetting the attitude of the car). The shocks also absorb the energy from bumps. Overall ride height is also controlled by springs but that affects your camber angles and roll centers.
Use roll bars to control absolute body roll and shocks to control the rate of transition into different motions. eg rate of roll and rate of pitch when cornering and braking. And of course each part affects the others, which is why car manufactures spend millions developing the ride/handling of their cars.

Whew, Long post.

long post but well said would have been great to see your mate race