Fiat Linea - GC Upgrade Kit discussion

Yes the older models had an anti roll bar. A new bar was fitted and the old bar returned to me when I did the GC upgrade. In a day or two I will be reverting to the old set up. I am sick of the new GC kit. I did 26K kms on it. I have already sourced the old type struts and shocks yesterday and will be replacing the elastic pads too. The new anti roll bar can be used with the old type too. I got that confirmed with FASC.

Abdul

 

Are you saying there is no difference between both the anti-roll bars? RDC Fiat just confirmed to me that teh part number for both is the same. Then why did they change your anti roll bar during GC upgrade at all?

They have sourced four struts for me to revert to the old setup. That's all. What are elastic pads and why do we need to change them? Also, are struts and shocks different things?

I have been sick for over a year as my Car came with increased GC. I finally gathered the courage and money to fix teh issue. What challenge are you facing after the GC upgrade?

 

@relativity , That is what Tensingh told me. They changed it along with the Anti roll bar initially to make money. What else?

Struts are actually the shocks that go int the front suspension. It will have a mounting support for the spring, and shocks are a pure vanilla shock absorber which goes for the rear. Elastic pads are another component which is part of the suspension. I have done 50K kms on my old pads and recently I found that my steering is a bit hard and vague at times. It will slowly lead to a full failure ( i remember the symptoms of the first time) and to replace that entails the removal of these struts again. So I was just combining the work into one proactively.

After the GC upgrade, I was missing the plush ride that I had initially. I thought it might settle down over a period of Kms, but it has remained firm. I must admit that the bottoming and scraping went totally out of the window with the upgrade, but now i feel it was not worth the sacrifice of the ride comfort. Why I went for it initially was I thought FIAT would maintain the ride quality while upping the GC, but they did it in another manner, by stiffening the action of the shocks and hence reducing the pitching and rebound.


Abdul

 

Guys,

Would really like to know that does the GC kit for Linea is different than the GC kit for Punto 1.3? Is it possible to fit the Linea Suspensions to Punto?? just curious to know.
If they are not compatible then does anyone know whats the difference between both the suspension setup?

 

Abdul, all you may have to do is to revert to your older rear springs, they did not change the springs for my car so i still have good ride quality but higher body roll.But new stiffend s rear springs helps in good cornering ability.

 

Re: Fiat Linea GC Upgrade Kit - Now Installed!

@Sat-Chit-Ananda this weekend you can drive my car and notice the difference, its become slightly better after replacing the struts.

As far as these service center guys told me, the springs haven't changed in never models and its just +20 mm struts that are added along with anti roll bar

I guess only replacing my current suspension with older GC will clear all my doubts and I don't know if I can wait anymore to clock 15k kms.

In the end, I would say the old Suspension was indeed a lovely one complimenting to the overall nature of the car (ride and handling), sadly it isn't the same with newer models and the service center guys do acknowledge that now

Sent from my HTC Incredible S using Tapatalk 2

 

One cant really blame FIAT for this situation with the suspension. When the Punto /lineas were released in the Indian market, every one shouted over the roof that the car is bottoming and that is a main concern for those who have bought one and for those who were dithering on buying a FIAT. So fiat responded with great understanding. They ensured that you will never hit the bottom. In the meanwhile they created a section of owners of old model who were enjoying the legendary ride handling of the old suspension and such owners sharing their thoughts on the new and old suspensions and the ensuing debates of satisfaction and dissatisfaction.

The good thing is that it is only those on the forums who will get to know of this , and it will soon pass, while those who are keen to enjoy the best, will cut and paste and chop and slice, to achieve the right set up. I belong to this group . I am going back to my old set up after experiencing the new GC without satisfaction.

OT: Even though the new honda city bottoms like crazy, the brand value of the Honda simply made the customers absorb the difficulties and lived with it.


Abdul

 

This whole "bottoming out" claim is a farce. I am telling this from first hand experience. My T-Jet (Not Plus), with 195/60 R15 steel rims, with a measly 171 mm GC Edit: 165 mm as pointed out by Ramesh, bottoms out, or rather scrapes, if the following conditions are met:

I am driving with 4 adults on board, at least one of them over weight AND I encounter one of Bangalore's unscientific so called "Speed Bumps"

If FIAT really wanted to address that, they should have gone the AUDI way. I test drove the AUDI A6, when my boss was buying. The SE assured it will not bottom out, even on the worst speed breaker, in good speed, in spite of having only 168 mm GC. So, I took it over a speed bump at 40 kmph and true to his word, it did not bottom out.

Ah but then, I am dreaming.

Rajan

 

I guess FIAT heard the non-FIAT buyers and not the real FIAT users

Rajan