P38A Upgrading front airbags with arnott gen 3 ... ? Anybody done this

Rangie Disco Sportsman said:

It's always been fashionable to slate Britpart on forums but I think their cellular dynamics shocks are pretty good and you'd struggle with an argument for spending more I found them vastly superior to old man emu on a Disco.

The problem on the P38 with shocks is it's a trade off between ride and lateral stability where you can't quite square the circle. Most options considered superior to OE the ride is a bit too harsh particularly with poly bushes, again even the much vaunted SuperPro - changing the ones on the end to elastomer I think does improve things slightly even if you leave the rest poly. Stick OE shocks on and you get the softer ride back but the body roll through corners to match.

I think really the travesty is they never fitted ACE to their flagship model despite it being fitted to the Disco since 1998 that's what's really missing and you just can't make up for with premium airbags and firmer more expensive shocks without compromising the ride.

What I have been meaning to try, as the Konis are adjustable, is making it softer at the front where the ARB is and the radius arms face potholes and leaving it firmer at the back that lacks an ARB and has a trailing arm.

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wammers said:

The trick is don't fit poly bushes they are crap. Fit standard Boge shocks they give the best ride. Body roll is almost non existent on my P38. Mind you i don't drive as if i have stolen it.

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Rangie Disco Sportsman said:

I wouldn't personally fit poly bushes to any of mine although I don't think they matter so much on for ARBs and the like. I understand why people do due to the tapered nature of the OE radius arm bushes.
I've had one of mine on new OE shocks and dunlop bags and it's not great body roll wise it's not up to Disco 2 or certainly RRS levels but suspect it never was to start with.

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wammers said:

Mine is fitted with all standard suspension, body roll is not a noticeable problem to be honest. If you want to shit your self body roll wise you should have driven one of the early classics. Now they were crap. Almost life threatening on a twisty road at speed.

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300bhp/ton said:

P38’s do lean quite a lot. At least compared to ACE on a D2. And it does make the p38 feel a little boaty.

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wammers said:

Mine does not lean in any appreciable manner whilst being driven normally.

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wammers said:

Mine does not lean in any appreciable manner whilst being driven normally.

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300bhp/ton said:

Define normally?

The reality is they do lean.

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wammers said:

Mine doesn't in any appreciable unacceptable way.

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Grey_beard said:

Well I have new bilsteins all round with new standard bushing on "all" the wobbly bits and new drag link arms, steering arm , drop links, panhard rod arb bushes and bilstein steering damper. And it is way better than it was .. just intruiged if the gen 3 are worth it ....

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Datatek said:

Gen3's are only worth the cash is you do a lot of off road driving where the extra travel with new shocks to accommodate the extra travel and mods to the height sensors allows greater articulation.
For road use, they are a waste of money IMO.

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300bhp/ton said:

I’m sure yours is no different to any others.

They feel like they lean more than a D1/RRC with ARB’s. And as they are heavier and have the air suspension this isn’t unexpected.

And as the suspension gets softer the lower it goes. They still lean quite a bit in motorway suspension mode. And arguably ride better than in the normal ride height mode.

None of this means they are bad or unacceptable. But there is no denying they are a little boaty. Especially on initial turn in. Even when being driven normally. Most noticeable on round abouts.

The biggest shame is LR never fitted ACE to the p38. It makes a huge difference and a D2 with working ACE feels a lot more taught and arguably “sporty” than a p38 is.

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Datatek said:

Gen3's are only worth the cash is you do a lot of off road driving where the extra travel with new shocks to accommodate the extra travel and mods to the height sensors allows greater articulation.
For road use, they are a waste of money IMO.

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Rangie Disco Sportsman said:

I wouldn't personally fit poly bushes to any of mine although I don't think they matter so much on for ARBs and the like. I understand why people do due to the tapered nature of the OE radius arm bushes.
I've had one of mine on new OE shocks and dunlop bags and it's not great body roll wise it's not up to Disco 2 or certainly RRS levels but suspect it never was to start with.

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wammers said:

Mine could not in any way be described as boaty. You must have driven some really crap badly maintained examples.

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gstuart said:

hi

many of the D3 owners now fit the RRS sport arms , with them lasting longer but does give a harder ride

funny enough u mentioning about poly bushes, seen some after poly bushes being fitted of wishbones splitting , alas on a D3 and must admit after replacing my fronts struts with dunlop’s the difference is remarkable

but see many now just fit the super pro bushes

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wammers said:

Mine could not in any way be described as boaty. You must have driven some really crap badly maintained examples.

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300bhp/ton said:

Very unlikely as one of them was brand new from the factory.

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