[Little Mick]

Small tale of the reasoning behind the subject name.
Now having just past its fourth birthday last week our turbo diesel GD hatch front struts are over 165,000km and showing their age. Basically they have almost eaten a set of front tyres in 25,000km (15,500 mile)
Hyundai has told me $465.oo AUD per side for front struts with strut and shock cartridge only. No top or spring.
After a few calls found some Monroe's could be had at $168.oo AUD per side . . .  a vastly different price considering the quality of the product in question.
Now with that sorted I rang King springs again and refreshed their memory about wanting my custom springs and was told since the diesel is slightly heavier than the petrol would I have a different spring rate in mind. Honestly I was not considering it and was only planning on going for a coil 1mm - 2mm thicker.
Is it worth going for a stiffer spring rate on top of the thicker spring or trading one for the other?
Now has anyone actually done much in the way of testing what rates work best with the diesels or petrol's for that matter?

I have done several track cars before but never a FWD or something this heavy, ha ha ha.
Any help or advice is more than appreciated, cheers.

[Surferdude]

I would reckon if you can find the right person in King Springs,  they would have the experience to be able to make an educated guess as to what to make.
I'm not aware of anyone on here who has done this.
Maybe @CraigB

[Phil №❶]

I think you should be guided by your current experience with the existing struts. If you feel they are too soft then stiffen the springs, remembering that ride quality will be altered as well.

[CraigB]

Springs when ordered will take into account what engine  (diesel -petrol) is used and the front springs will be different between the two fuel types for the extra weight of the diesel .

The spring rate itself will vary depending on how low a spring you're going to use, if only 20mm drop then I'd say standard shocks would be fine, new Monroes are more sport capable anyway and will work fine also.

If you're lowering 30 to 40mm standard shocks wont cope with the spring rebound and you'll need dedicated performance shocks, I'm not sure if Monroe do a higher performance level to suit   Bilsteins or similar brands would do something for sure.

As Surferdude mentioned Kingsprings do a spring for the Korean models I'm fairly sure and they are better and lighter than Lovells or Pedders, Eibach also do a spring and shock (Bilstein) kit though it's more expensive.

[CraigB]

After having a search it doesn't look like Kings do the GD i30's, I did find the Eibach springs though http://web2.carparts-cat.com1

[Little Mick]

Sorry for late reply, we have been travelling.
Kings will do a custom spring for me at $330 delivered as they only offer a lowered off the shelf.
As for spring rate Hyundai, Pedders and King (plus another I do not remember) all  have a shared listing for springs for the petrol and diesel.
So I have also contacted Kings again and spoke to an design engineer they have at head office and he understood my want for a slightly stiffer front corners. He has advised they have the std height on record so they can make any height and any spring rate I wish for.

[CraigB]

Very good