[One1whaoo.]

Browsing for possible shock upgrades, I came across this on JCWhitney: Bilstein Sports that are "In Stock" for the Bolt front suspension.
https://www.jcwhitney.com/details/Bilstein/Shock_Absorber_and_Strut_Assembly/BIL24104050.html
They also list a number of other vendors' shocks for the Bolt: https://www.jcwhitney.com/chevrolet/bolt-ev/shock-absorber-and-strut-assembly

Curiously, the Bilstein web site does not list anything for the Bolt, so this might be a false alarm.

I'm guessing that the Bolt front suspension shares shock absorbers with some other Chevy small car, and some of the vendors have noticed. Anyone care to figure out which G/M partno it is?

Now if I could get Koni to notice and offer their FSDs, I'd be one of the first to buy, for tighter handling and a better ride. If we knew the GM part numbers, perhaps the Koni FSD might substitute after all.

 

[raitchison]

Good info.

Though I'm more interested in a minor (~1") drop for now. I'm aware that you're supposed to replace the shocks with lowering springs I figure I can get away with it for 1"

One other thing, I'm not so sure how accurate JCWhitney (aka Warshawsky) is for finding parts for the Bolt. After all they list motor oil and a fuel tank as being compatible.

 

[One1whaoo.]

Understood - I've seen non-existent parts listed at JCW in the past. They want you to call...

 

[One1whaoo.]

I didn't call them, but chatted online. They finally admitted that they sell no shocks for the Bolt, in spite of the web page.

 

[pdpromodraw]

I've been using a vendor in El Cajon for years (Shocks.com) for my Evo and he's always been able to get me shocks that otherwise wouldn't be available. So I've asked him to look into finding me some bilstein's shocks and vogtland coils for the bolt as it looks like the Opel ampera already has aftermarket shocks and springs available.

Wish me luck. If I end up getting good part numbers I'll be sure to post them here.

 

[One1whaoo.]

That would be excellent, but I'm skeptical, as the shipments for the Ampera are less than 10% of that for the Bolt! I suspect those links are just like the ones I found on JCW.

 

[raitchison]

I've been using a vendor in El Cajon for years (Shocks.com) for my Evo and he's always been able to get me shocks that otherwise wouldn't be available. So I've asked him to look into finding me some bilstein's shocks and vogtland coils for the bolt as it looks like the Opel ampera already has aftermarket shocks and springs available.

Wish me luck. If I end up getting good part numbers I'll be sure to post them here.

Isn't the Open Ampera the same as the Volt?

 

[shotel]

Reading through the few Ampera-E Forums, the only "performance" part I found was:

"Chip" your Bolt

...and it's probably not going to happen with the cancellation of the Ampera-E in the EU

Edit:

...oh, and this:

PedalBox for EV's.

Literally a "box" placed under the acceleration pedal that intercepts the electronic signal and "tunes" it. Interesting as it may be a poor mans (Bolt owners) Ludicrous Launch control - allowing a high-torque EV to accelerate smoothly and as fast as possible - yet avoiding slipping of the drive wheels. Ya' know, For when you're not drag racing from street light to street light.

 

[One1whaoo.]

Same thing is available on many ICE cars. It doesn't "tune" anything, just changes the sensitivity curve of the go-pedal, and it has no clue whether or not the wheels are slipping.

It's the same thing that S mode does on the Bolt, only we get it built-in.

 

[shotel]

Isn't it somehow customization via adjustment?

Example; If I could memorize the correct amount of travel velocity and had the ability to control my right foot, I should be able to apply enough pressure at the right moments to allow a perfect amount of drive wheel rotation just shy of tire slippage (burning rubber) and maintain a near-perfect tire friction with the road. So a device like this one can "tune" to adjust for the many variables such as tire type, road surface, road condition, and such.

I take it traction control does this. But not like a Tesla. When I race my Bolt against my neighbors P100D, even in ludicrous mode, his wheels almost never slip and lose traction. He just mashes the go-pedal and he's off. In traction control, I mash the go-pedal and always wheel slippage. Traction Control off, go-pedal mashed, and the Bolt will burn rubber for 100 feet or more. Even during go-pedal mashing, when wanting to accelerate from a constant 30MPH to merge, the tires most often slip/burn rubber.

If this product isn't, what can be a possible solution?

BTW, in a rolling start at 20MPH, My Bolt kicks my neighbors Tesla butt to 32 MPH! He's gotta drag that extra 1800 lbs. Unfortunately, that's just about the moment he makes the jump to light speed and vanishes from my observable universe.

 

[One1whaoo.]

Front-wheel drive cars are simply not as fast on the drag strip as rear-wheel drive, because the second you start to accelerate, the car rocks back and takes pressure off the front (driven) wheels, so they lose traction.
You won't beat your friends Tesla, no matter what you do with the go-pedal, unless you drive backward to direct the weight transfer to the driven wheels.
6^)

 

[calmarkmcdougal]

Front-wheel drive cars are simply not as fast on the drag strip as rear-wheel drive, because the second you start to accelerate, the car rocks back and takes pressure off the front (driven) wheels, so they lose traction.
You won't beat your friends Tesla, no matter what you do with the go-pedal, unless you drive backward to direct the weight transfer to the driven wheels.
6^)

That's interesting, never thought of that....

 

[One1whaoo.]

There's a youtube video of some guy doing a backward drag run.

 

[One1whaoo.]

I just did some searching and found this: https://www.bilstein.com/us/en/prod...d=4564947374234823022&ItemNumber=183633&cid=1

I based the search on the EV-MODS web site, where they offer Koni yellows for the Bolt Rear. Unfortunately, the adjustable feature would not be very useful, as there is no way to get at the top adjuster if installed in a Bolt.

However, the Koni shock offered fits the 2015 Cruze or earlier, so I was able to locate the Bilstein equivalent, which appears to fit the same cars. The Bilstein is listed as an OEM replacement, so it's probably little if at all different from the OEM Chevy part, and thus not much of a performance upgrade. Sigh.

Anyone willing to invest $112 to try out this theory?

 

[rlhammon]

I just did some searching and found this: https://www.bilstein.com/us/en/prod...d=4564947374234823022&ItemNumber=183633&cid=1

I based the search on the EV-MODS web site, where they offer Koni yellows for the Bolt Rear. Unfortunately, the adjustable feature would not be very useful, as there is no way to get at the top adjuster if installed in a Bolt.

However, the Koni shock offered fits the 2015 Cruze or earlier, so I was able to locate the Bilstein equivalent, which appears to fit the same cars. The Bilstein is listed as an OEM replacement, so it's probably little if at all different from the OEM Chevy part, and thus not much of a performance upgrade. Sigh.

Anyone willing to invest $112 to try out this theory?

EV-MODS has stated that the rears he is using come from the Cruze. He also said that spacers (washers) are required on either side of the bottom mount to provide proper fitment. Bilstein has a few options for the Cruze rear setup:

There is a B4 (OE replacement) as well, and here is the full catalog for the Cruze. I have no personal knowledge these work, only that EV-MODS has said the rears from 1st gen Cruze work... buyer beware when looking at front replacements not indicated to fit on the Bolt.

http://www.bilstein-shop.com/chevrolet/chevrolet-cruze-c-1_120_133.html

B6 (HD)
OEM Replacement:
Rear: 24-171687


B8(Sport)
For Lowering Springs:
Rear: 24-171717

 

[One1whaoo.]

Great find! Curiously, searching the Bilstein web site for the Cruze does not find any products, while the part-number (taken from your links) search does.
I'm very interested in the B6 version, to tighten up turn-in and corner exit.
Available on Amazon: [ame]https://www.amazon.com/Bilstein-24-171687-Performance-Shock-Absorber/dp/B00APXSQGC[/ame]

 

[rlhammon]

Great find! Curiously, searching the Bilstein web site for the Cruze does not find any products, while the part-number (taken from your links) search does.
I'm very interested in the B6 version, to tighten up turn-in and corner exit.
Available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Bilstein-24-171687-Performance-Shock-Absorber/dp/B00APXSQGC

Yeah... I can't say that I've found Bilstein's online catalogs to be up to date... they are, afterall, just the PDF of the printed catalogs they have available. They remain rather static, but the website can find part numbers if you know them.

Looks like with a small modification the fronts for the Cruze will work on a Bolt as well. I need to order in a set of the fronts for a Cruze and see what the difference is in person and propose a path. I have an idea on what could be done to make it easy, just have to have parts in hand to see if it works like it does in my head.

 

[Evolt]

What about the Sonic suspension parts? Does Sonic use similar parts to the Cruze or is it different?


BC coilovers also have a coilover kit available for the Sonic. Comes with 6kg ( 336 lbs/in) front spring rate and 3kg(168 lbs/in) rear spring rate. The springs can be upgraded and they can match the valving to the springs.

 

[One1whaoo.]

I'm going to put the Bilstein B6 (HD - street performance) rears on my 2019. Got Madness Motorworks in Beaverton working on acquiring a set to install for me.

 

[dasto]

I'm going to put the Bilstein B6 (HD - street performance) rears on my 2019. Got Madness Motorworks in Beaverton working on acquiring a set to install for me.

Update please.