So my family has had this 1996 850 Turbo wagon for a while now. Currently has 143,000 kms on it. We've had it for 11 years and onyl half the mileage was put on by us. The original owners must have done a lot of driving. It's a decent shape overall, but needs some work. It hasn't been driven much in the past couple of years, usually it sits until someone needs to borrow it to move something big. We're looking to put some money into it to keep it in top shape as the car is sort of a classic and we plan to hold onto it indefinitely. If it was a sedan it would be long gone.

Maintaining the car and picking parts for it have been left in my hands. The car passed emissions and safety with flying colors recently. It's received regular simple maintenance, but I'm slowly going to do a stage zero over the next few years.

I looked on IPD and browsed through the forums but had some questions I was hoping people here could help me with.

How do I tell if the car has Nivomat? Does it even matter if I'm replacing the full suspension. I'm looking right now at IPD springs and Bilstein TCs. I read somewhere that the HDs actually make the car higher. Is this the case with the TCs? How about the Koni FSDs? or yellows. I definitely want to get rid of the wheel gap. I know eibach and H&R make springs too. I want to keep the cost down because is probably only going to be driven 1000 kms per year. All the mounts and bushings are going to be replaced. Will anything rub? The tires are stock sized 205/50/16 Toyo P4s. The suspension is original and completely shot.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks!

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Interesting color. Not many around. Nivomats have rubber boots on the ends

 

Aubergine pearl metallic (420), I just found out. I just checked under the car, no Nivomat, thanks!