I’ve just bought a set of dampers. Not an ordinary ‘OE’ (original equipment) set of dampers fitted by the manufacturer. No, these are Bilstein monotube dampers. This probably isn’t a surprise, as we develop and sell kits using these parts. So why do I mention it? Well, because of the price…….
VHS Ltd is now the proud owner of an early MGF VVC. We have a few ideas that need development and testing on an ‘F’, so it made sense to purchase our own car. All we needed was a cheap and cheerful example, roadworthy and fit for testing. Our friend Chris at Retro Sports Cars Ltd found just that. He kindly fitted new track rod ends, tweaked ride heights and adjusted the front and rear tracking to nominal (after releasing a stubborn left-hand rear link adjuster); making life much easier for us at VHS.
So, what about the damper price? You may know of ‘Top Gear’ presenter Chris Harris. I met him in the days of MG Rover press launches when he was a scribe at ‘Autocar’ magazine. He loves cars and more importantly (for me) the way a car rides and handles. I was reminded of a quote in one of his columns:
‘’You know you’ve lost your grip on reality when you take out a loan and spend £7673 on dampers’’.
To put this in context, they were for a Porsche 911, but it was written in May 2007. That is a lot of money in my opinion.
I’ve just bought a set of dampers for our MGF. They cost more than I paid for the car! I haven’t tuned them to my requirements yet, so the outlay will be at least twice the price of the car, even with all fitting and assessment work done free of charge (by me).
Will it be worth it? I’m with Chris Harris on this. Of course!