P38A Arnott gen 3 air spring too stiff

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Montyjohn

Montyjohn

Well-Known Member
Posts
241
Location
UK
When I bought my car it came with Arnott gen 3 springs which I figured was great.
The handling is really good. Hardly any body roll.
The only downside is they seem really harsh. Going over a speed bump feels like I'm in a bucking bronco.
Not having a standard car to compare to, is this down to the springs? Would I be happier with Dunlops?

Does anyone have experience with both. It could be that a harsh ride is just normal in a P38 but sounds odd to me.
 
From what i read about the gen3 bags is they are the opposite to standard , on the original bags the ride get harder the higher the height setting and on the gen3 they designed it so it was harder at low settings and got softer for the high off road, all to do with the shape of the alloy part inside.
 
I've got the terrafirmas on mine, great on the long runs but a little trashy in town. You check your Tyre pressures as well. I run 2.4psi front and rear with doesn't help with the
trashy-ness but it suits my environment. What pressure are you running?
 
Mark Piercy said:
I've got the terrafirmas on mine, great on the long runs but a little trashy in town. You check your Tyre pressures as well. I run 2.4psi front and rear with doesn't help with the
trashy-ness but it suits my environment. What pressure are you running?
Click to expand...
2.4 psi sounds like a flat tyre to me. Don't you mean 2.4bar
 
brianp38dse said:
From what i read about the gen3 bags is they are the opposite to standard , on the original bags the ride get harder the higher the height setting and on the gen3 they designed it so it was harder at low settings and got softer for the high off road, all to do with the shape of the alloy part inside.
Click to expand...

Yep, this is what I read which all sounded wonderful.
But is harsher than I'd like.
It would prevent me fitting them to another car. U less someone can confirm that's not much noticeable difference in which case it might just be the P38 that has a harsh ride in general.
 
Montyjohn said:
Black ones.
No obvious markings and as far as I can tell no way to know.
Click to expand...
I would still say the problem is the shocks, Gen II Arnott's are in effect rising rate, Gen III's beyond a certain point are supposedly not rising rate. I have Gen II's on one P38 and Dunlops on the other, the Arnotts give a marginally softer more compliant ride, I would expect the Gen III's to be similar.
Still If you want to take them off and post them to me, I'll send my set of nearly new Dunlops to you in return.;)
 
Last edited:
Montyjohn said:
When I bought my car it came with Arnott gen 3 springs which I figured was great.
The handling is really good. Hardly any body roll.
The only downside is they seem really harsh. Going over a speed bump feels like I'm in a bucking bronco.
Not having a standard car to compare to, is this down to the springs? Would I be happier with Dunlops?

Does anyone have experience with both. It could be that a harsh ride is just normal in a P38 but sounds odd to me.
Click to expand...

U now have gen 3 and previously had Dunlop. The gen 3 are better, IMO.

As above, check the shocks. Terrafirma do some longer ones although I had some sort of Terrafirma on the back of mine when I got it and I thought they were a bit harsh. I went original OEM and they were much better. Don't go Britpart - I had some of those and one snapped!
 
Montyjohn said:
When I bought my car it came with Arnott gen 3 springs which I figured was great.
The handling is really good. Hardly any body roll.
The only downside is they seem really harsh. Going over a speed bump feels like I'm in a bucking bronco.
Not having a standard car to compare to, is this down to the springs? Would I be happier with Dunlops?

Does anyone have experience with both. It could be that a harsh ride is just normal in a P38 but sounds odd to me.
Click to expand...
What ride height are you using?

The Gen 3 should be harder in the lower modes and softer in the higher modes. This is opposite to the standard air springs, but should make handling tauter and ride better off road.

If there is no clonking, you should be able to assume the bushes are ok. New shocks might be worthwhile, although your choice might be limited. As standard ones are tuned for soft road springs, not the stiffer Gen 3's. Terrafirma offer some +2's with adjustable damping, which might prove to be useful. But you'll need longer brake lines with the +2 shocks. Might be worth seeing if anyone else offers standard height adjustable damping shocks. I'd be tempted to drop Arnott a line and see if they can make any recommendations.
 
I normally just drive round at standard height but might start using off road height as often as it will allow.
Bushes all soon good. All rubber with clunks.
I'll look around for damper options and see what I can find.
 
Montyjohn said:
I normally just drive round at standard height but might start using off road height as often as it will allow.
Bushes all soon good. All rubber with clunks.
I'll look around for damper options and see what I can find.
Click to expand...
Off road height cancels above a certain speed. Motorway height is more comfortable for road use.
 
Datatek said:
Off road height cancels above a certain speed. Motorway height is more comfortable for road use.
Click to expand...

With gen 3's it feels rock solid at motorway level. I tried it for a while before leaving it at standard height which is softer.
Remember the gen 3's are opposite to any other bag. Higher is softer.
 
Montyjohn said:
With gen 3's it feels rock solid at motorway level. I tried it for a while before leaving it at standard height which is softer.
Remember the gen 3's are opposite to any other bag. Higher is softer.
Click to expand...
I agree that the displacer stops the spring getting harder under compression but I struggle to get my head round the idea that less pressure in the bag at motorway height can be harder. I still think it's down to the shocks.
 
Datatek said:
I agree that the displacer stops the spring getting harder under compression but I struggle to get my head round the idea that less pressure in the bag at motorway height can be harder. I still think it's down to the shocks.
Click to expand...

I don't fully get how they work, but I don't believe a higher setting results in a higher pressure.
Forcing air into a tank that can't expand or something stretchy like a balloon will increase pressure with more air.
But the suspension air bags are free to enlarge without creating any more pressure.
Assuming the bags aren't over inflated then the only source of load to create the pressure is from the weight of the car which is constant.

I think that's right anyway.
 
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