[bloke]

Hey lads. This is my first post here, just came across the site. Anyway, bought a '00 reg st200 about 6 months ago. Some days I love it and some days I don't. The latter days are when I drive "down the country" (I live in Ireland) onto our somewhat less than pristine secondary roads and the over-stiff suspension is a real pain in the bum. Point to point over a bad road I'd be out-raced by a nissan micra, simply because I have to slow down so much or get my fillings shaken out. I also carry my baby daughter in the car and it wakes her up and stuff, plus I had my mother in law in it another day and she hasn't stopped complaining about it since. -Another fault surfaced last week when, for pretty much the first time ever, I had two adult passengers in the back, and on a bumpy road, at low to moderate speeds i.e. 30 to 40 mph, the rear tyres were rubbing off the wheel arches. The guy who had the car before me DID lower the car a little bit, but not massively so. But the rear was squatting excessively with the weight in the back. Also, the right hand (driver) side rear seemed to be riding noticeably lower.

So, my questions are:
-DO all st's have a harsh ride like this?
-Do you think my shocks are past their best?
-And has anyone done any suspension work on their st to soften the ride/raise the ride height?

Also, what's the original tyre size for the st200? Mine has aftermarket alloys (for some reason the previous owner dumped the oem st ones) and is running on 215/45's (Bridgestone turanza's at the moment)

 

[st24cossie]

This seem one of the common complaints with ST200s, the suspension is toooooo harsh.
Lowering it obviously makes it worse.
For a more compliant, smoother but still good road holding and far stiffer than a standard mondeo, ST24 suspension (shocks and springs), would be my answer to the problem.
Your car would still be sharper than std ST24 due to your 17 inch wheels.

 

[mykeyi]

My misses hates the car because of its harsh ride but your paying the extra money for stiffer handling so there you go.
On the down side my ST200 failed its first M.O.T. with leaking rear shocks and it had only done 28000 miles and mine is also a 00 reg.

-------------------------------------
ST200 Hatchback,
lexus smoked rear lights,
clear side repeaters,
DeCat pipe,K&N panel filter,

 

[Puzzle]

The std wheels will never get anywhere near the arches, seems the offset of the replacements is a little 'odd'

I would just fit std 200 springs and bin the lowering ones. No one I have found actually do 200 lowering springs. Most use those for the 24 etc, but the 200 struts are different and it all goes a bit Pete Tong. As you now know.

My hatch had 128k and the struts were fine, sprins were getting a little soft tho....

The estate has stiffer suspension!!!!!!