Ride height adjustable lowering springs and improved shock absorbers improve the road handling of the popular Fiat 500.
Particularly with these compact and light cars there is a massive gain to be made compared to the standard suspension, often more then with the “supercars”. On the front, the 500 uses Mc-Pherson struts with a thin 22mm rod which is loaded with the braking and cornering forces. Intrax replaces this with a hollow “upside-down” strut with a hollow rod of no less then 40mm. This improves stiffness by almost a factor ten, dramatically improving both comfort and steering behaviour. The shock absorbers are replaced by units with an adjustable damping, enabling everybody to find a setting to suit him (or her).
The rear shocks are replaced by adjustable units which improve the road handling. In addition, comfort is increased thanks to a damping mechanism specifically designed for the 500 and the European roads.
The springs are shorter improving the looks and lowering the centre of gravity and roll centre. Front ride height is adjustable by winding the spring seat to the desired height, so you can choose the perfect compromise between looks, road holding and ground clearance.
Intrax is a Dutch manufacturer of high-end suspension technology with over 30 years experience at the highest levels in racing. Intrax designs and produces shock absorbers, springs and suspension packages for Formula 1 cars, road cars and everything in between. In addition to an elaborate street- and competition program, Intrax also delivers “custom-made solutions”. Please inform at us what we can mean for you.
RSA shock absorber
The RSA is an RS with externally adjustable damping. The internals are more complex then with the RS shock to give an even better damping characteristic. Different from our competitors, Intrax chooses for one single adjuster knob for both the compression and rebound adjustment. With this single knob the total damping can be adjusted over a wide range of 40 clicks from “comfortable” to “sportive/hard”. By using one knob the relationship between compression and rebound always stays correct. Also different from most of our competition, our adjuster changed not only the rebound but also the even more important low-speed and high-speed compression damping. The RSA has an internal thermostat that keeps the damping constant, avoiding the harsh ride in the cold morning, and the loss of damping in the heat of the battle. A special version of the RSA is the RSA-HDA, which features a piggyback remote reservoir. This reservoir improves the comfort and damping over big bumps, like potholes and curbstones. The RSA-HDA is manufactured in stainless steel.
Settings
We take suspension serious. Therefore we offer for most applications different settings on the spring rates, shim stacks and damping pistons:
* Fast street / occasional trackday. An upgrade to the sportive side from the OEM equipment. Daily comfort, vibration and noise levels are just as important as handling.
* Trackday / bumpy race circuit / Nordschleife. A suspension to race on both smooth and bumpy circuits. It is possible to ride to- and from the circuits. Ride height is enough to drive on public roads. Laptimes and handling are more important than comfort levels.
Intrax is a Dutch manufacturer of high-end suspension technology with over 30 years experience at the highest levels in racing. Intrax designs and produces shock absorbers, springs and suspension packages for Formula 1 cars, road cars and everything in between. In addition to an elaborate street- and competition program, Intrax also delivers “custom-made solutions”. Please inform at us what we can mean for you.
