Coiled for action!

The new Cobra Suspension kit from Performance Wheels went onto our TotallyMotor Alfa Romeo 146 nice and easy – you can see our suspension-fettling inspiration in Part 1 and our fitting guide in Part 2.

Now, the idea behind the new bounce-battling kit wasn’t to floor the Alfa with a heavyweight punch of overly-aggressive lowering, it was more to flatten out her stance, stiffen up the ride a touch, and fill the wheels more snugly into the arches using 5mm (front) and 7mm (rear) wheel spacers. 

Our cheap ‘n’ cheerful, 140bhp Alfa 146 1.8-litre TS project car; originally purchased from Veloces of London for the not too princely sum of £1500, with 58,000 miles on the clock, will always be employed as a reliable run around – and so far she’s not even skipped a beat – driving us around the UK to sample and shoot new and used cars and motor shows, bringing all that juicy auto-news and views to our wonderful readers. So we have to keep her real-world rather than far-out.

The Cobra kit lowers the 146 by 35mm all-round which I initially thought was quite a fair whack, and what I didn’t want was an every day car that was defeated by driveway inclines and scared of the slightest speedbump thanks to too low suspension. But a good chat to Ben at Performance Wheels put my mind at ease with knowledge and experience, and the purchase was made. And I’m cat-cream-happy with the results. 

The Alfa now sits lower and body-rolls less but without exhibiting the ground clearance and compliance of a skateboard – a useable compromise indeed. 

While I now regard our stance-enhanced Italian’s boat-floating new look with even more fondness, it’s on the road where the pleasure really builds.

She’s nearly as flat as a pancake through the bends and while the new springs are, of course, a little stiffer, they don’t crash and bash like more racetrack-focused suspension can. There’s still more road-testing to be done and apparently the new springs will ‘settle’ a tiny bit more towards the floor, but so far so very good with all my suspension-tweaking wish-list boxes well and truly ticked. 

However, when you change a car’s ride height it’s always wise to get the tracking (wheel alignment) checked by experts, so the next stop for the 146 is my local ATS Euromaster service station for a laser-guided wheel alignment and tyre check. Then she’ll be ready for some serious apex action. Cheap ‘n’ cheerful life is good! 
 

Before…


… after


Before…


… after. Yes, the difference in stance is quite subtle but she definitely sits a little lower and flatter, and much lower than this would've made mortal enemies of speedbumps, and there's no use for that on an every day car. It's through the corners that the stiffer Cobra kit really sings, and so far I'm seriously satisfied with my reasonably-priced suspension upgrade. Bring on the bends! 


By Daniel Anslow

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