Fancy fitting Hydragas to an R8?

Use this board for any non-technical club car related topic including motorsport, trivia, insurance matters etc.
Post Reply
User avatar
GTiJohn
Club Chairman
Posts: 7190
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2010 7:01 pm
Location: Midlands

Fancy fitting Hydragas to an R8?

Post by GTiJohn »

This an interesting article on AROnline - https://www.aronline.co.uk/opinion/last ... -hydragas/ - ending with the 'invitation' to see how good Hydragas would be if fitted to a suitable medium-sized car, say an R8.

I'll have to give this some thought to see how it might work and what the situation would be regarding legality of the car once converted.

I don't suppose anyone has already done this before...
I like Twin Cams.... and Single Cams...and now Turbos
StubbornPatriot
Club Member
Posts: 804
Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:30 pm
Location: Northampton

Re: Fancy fitting Hydragas to an R8?

Post by StubbornPatriot »

From my previous experience in a very early 1750SS Allegro, I would have to say, "Please don't".
1989 216GSI + 1990 216GSI + 1997 416 Tourer + ? + Triumph T160V
scoubix
Club Member
Posts: 48
Joined: Thu Sep 26, 2019 8:50 pm
Location: Normandy, France
Contact:

Re: Fancy fitting Hydragas to an R8?

Post by scoubix »

Considering that new spheres for Hydragas can't be sourced anymore, one would have to use refurbished ones, and although these are available from prime experts Ian and Dawn Kennedy, there's still the uncertainty that they wouldn't perform as good as new ones, thus casting a shadow on the end-result : if disappointed with the results, would it be down to the Hydragas nature of the suspension, or because refurb spheres were used?
And this is even before you start contemplating whether the thing can be done at all...
'93 Rover 216 Gsi / '93 Rover 827 SC / '99 Rover 75 2.5 V6 / '04 MG ZT-T 260
President of the French Rover Club
MatthewL
Club Member
Posts: 219
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2021 9:08 am
Location: Leeds

Re: Fancy fitting Hydragas to an R8?

Post by MatthewL »

I have a friend with a beige Ambassador 1.7 he’s had for a few years. He had his displacers refurbed by the Kennedy’s after the ride became unbearable and gassing it up wasn’t working. The result is a car with a ride which is indescribably better than my 1990 S-Class W126 Mercedes and incredibly which corners ok as well - not sporty but flatter than you’d think. I think if maintained correctly or refurbed by the Kennedy’s then Hydragas is incredible and excellent automotive witchcraft. No idea how you’d retro fit though. Interesting challenge I’d love to see.
Post Reply