Good experience - Westfield suspension

[David Hansen]

Shock and suspension choice topics can get a bit religious but I wanted to give you some feedback on my recent experience with SPAX.

 

Given I own a Westfield I also belong to the very active Westfield Sports Car Club forum over in the UK.

 

They have a frequent contributor over there DamperMan who is an engineer over at SPAX that owns an 2000's era Westfield and took a bit of care designing a set of shocks for this application.  If you are a WSCC member (and you should be if you own a Westfield) he gives you 35% discount off retail rates which is pretty generous.  

 

I had a number of back and forth discussions about what I was trying to accomplish and I ended up with straight rate springs up front and a set of progressive wound springs in the rear.  I ordered them up and they appeared at my door from England in about 14 days as I was in no particular rush so chose a cheaper shipping option.  No VAT or taxes levied on the US customs side meant I was out the door for 617 GBP  / $817 USD delivered to my door (4 shocks / 4 springs + assembly).  You could easily use your current springs and deal with the assembly but I ended up changing the rates I wanted to use and this just seemed easier as springs are relatively inexpensive.

 

The SPAX folks pre-assembled them at no extra charge for me and all I had to do was install them and adjust the ride height to set the proper rake.

 

My old shocks were 30 years + old and tired as you would imagine.  Technology has changed more than a bit as far as materials used and these new units are a far cry from the original ones fitted back in the day.  Gas pressure and 28 clicks of adjustment and modern seal materials mean you should have years of enjoyment.  Having a shock engineer willing to take the time to discuss your desired outcome was also a huge plus for the gang over at SPAX.

 

It has made a huge difference in how my car rides and has breathed new life into the handling of the car.  

 

I plan on driving it a bit to allow for any break in sag and then corner weight and get a proper alignment but my initial impressions are that this is a good and reasonably priced upgrade if you are not looking for a 10/10ths race application and wanting to spend $$.

 

Having a philosophical conversation with a wrenching buddy (who was mostly supervising and drinking my beer) that doing suspension upgrades are so much more rewarding than a water pump or alternator etc.  The former you can go out and experience some (hopefully) positive and exciting change while the latter is just the car doing its job.  

 

 

 

 

[7Westfield]

+1 for Damperman + company

 

I don't know if it was him I dealt with, but 8-9 years ago I needed shocks for my pre-lit, which I had just bought back. Called a US dealer and was told "those part numbers aren't on my list". So, I got up early on Monday morning and called Spax direct. Whoever I talked to said -we have one pair in stock, take about 7-10 days to get the other pair made up.  I said fine, send 'em when you can.   I got them Thursday....and saved about $300 from US pricing