save,do it right, get Exe-tc and you'll never regret it.

 

i fitted ARC coilovers, they are set up like rocks now, very harsh, but i must admit i love it lol, hurts some days when i do town driving, but when u plant it, they come in to their own, its a pleasure pain thing.

 

Still doing a lot of thinking regarding this, could get BC/xyz's on the cheap and have done with it or save a tad, sounds like the KW v3's are good, but then AST sportline 2's arnt that much more! Exe=tc at £1600 is a tad too much though, £1000 on sus is kinda pushing it lol!

 

Has anyone got any experience of the AST setup that Ian Litchfield sells as an upgrade on the path to Type 20 nirvanna? I have got a pass to get a full AST and Whiteline setup in the new year.

 

Had this fitted about six weeks ago:-
ALK, front/rear 22mm adjustable ARB's, Alloy drop links (extra), AST coilovers (which are sportline 1 not 2) and a full Geo setup.

The difference really is amazing - had prodrive (Eibach) springs and prodrvie 22mm non adjustable rear ARB before.

Not a cheap suspension setup but is absolutely worth every penny in my opinion. Fitted to a GB270 wagon and is better in all respects - when set on soft (3 front and 2 rear) is as soft/comfortable as the prodrive springs.

I opted for this over BC or HSD coilovers after lots of research - every report you read of the Type 25 (different coilovers than the new type 20), the bit that testers seem to like the most is the handling setup.

EXE-TC would of been the only other choice - supposed to be at least as good as AST if not better but a bit more pricey.

I believe it is a powerstation kit (which is where I had it done) - I assume Litchfield put their cars into Powerstation but could be wrong?

Hope this helps.

 

Do the right thing and get BC's for £650, had mine on my 03sti for nearly a year now and really cannot fault them. 6/4 springs with 22mm rear whiteline arb. I can get silly grip now its so predictable over the std setup.
Spending silly money (£1000+) to me seems daft on a road car, trackday special yes but a 4 door family saloon NO.

dipster

 

yea i understand your point but it will see trackwork so need it to be comfy enough for driving on the road then hard enough for track work if you get my drift.

 

Easy then, KYB AGX'S type r springs used with 24-25mm rear bar and 22mm front.

job done.

 

Roger Clark Motorsport are one of our latest BC Racing official dealers. As youd expect, RCM will only sell a product if they consider it good enough to meet their exacting standards so the fact that they are happy to sell the units says a lot about the product itself.

Mmmm, not sure Id listen to any 'specialist' who just dismisses all types of coilovers out of hand due to ride quality and reliability. Such a huge generalisation would scare me away from the person making it. Coilovers are like chalk and cheese, both ride quality and reliability is hugely dependent on the individual product and has nothing to do with the basic product design.

I wouldnt rouch XYZs with a bargepole. They look identical to KSport/D2 Racing/GForce etc. We gave back the rights to the KSport coilovers some time ago as they just werent upto the job. Quality of build, reliability, ride quality and, hugely important, aftersales and spares back up is really bad, not to mention the cost of the replacement parts!

We stick with the brakes because parts are relatively easier to obtain, the brakes themselves are awesome for the money and we were very heavily involved in the design stage so had massive influence of the quality of the products but the coilovers?

BC Racing keep a data base of the damping rates and details of each damper unit used within a kit. All kits and dampers have a serial number. It means that when you need a replacement unit we can supply one that exactly matches the original.

Other companies are constantly adjusting their damping rates as they go along with no attempt being made to keep records of such changes. This means they dont know what damping rate to supply and will try to just pass on whatever damper is currently in production. Scary stuff when it will be completely different to the unit it replaces and the damper on the other side of the vehicle.

BC Racing dyno check every single damper that comes off their production line and kits are put together using matched sets.

Put it this way, not one of our KSport demo cars has ever run on KSport coilovers for any period of time. They are only used to showcase the brakes. Every single car ran on BC Racing coilovers despite none fo them carrying any BC Racing branding.

Says it all really.

Please please please dont put BC racing and XYZs in the same catagory. Thats an insult to the BC Racing brand and good name.

 

oh right!

 

I looked at the BC RM series for £850 quid outside of the group buy. Then looked at adding the adjustable ARB's front and rear, the anti lift/caster kit, plus fitting costs for all four and a full Geo alignment by a specialist like Powerstation - this came to about 6-8 hours labour all together. Price this all up and then compare to their stage 3-type 25 handling kit. You could fit yourself but still need a couple of hours for the full Geo alignment. Saved me a weekend of hassle, swearing and cut hands.

Seemed like a bargain to me?

each to their own though.

think there was over 50 people (last time I looked) on the last BC group buy from Bren at Apex, so they must be doing something right.

 

Im already rollbarred / drop linked up so that cost it out the window

ALK will go on at some point i suppose...cant see it making a huge difference though.

just wana get my suspension sorted, its a lot of money to make the wrong decision.

 

We currently have nearly 400 coilover kits on multiple sea shipments either in production or on their way to us. As you say, BC Racing must be doing something right

 

I would have to agree with everything said here as rcm olly clark recommended these bc coilovers to me and i have just purchased a set myself....hi bren!! will do a wee write up once they have arrived and been tested

 

Im loving the BC's too, although find them more comfortable on a 15/10 split, rather than 10/5 which is weird!

 

Teins are way too hard for the road - avoid them, they maybe good on japanese roads but not on UK ones! the EDFC gadget is just a gimmick and a waste of money.

Damper settings can be adjusted on AST coilovers really easily from dials on the top of them from above the rear seats on stalks and under the bonnet - with 12 settings. They are no harder than STI suspension. I use them on the road with no issues and sometimes adjust them for fun. On the road if you harden the dampers up the ride becomes bouncy and taught not that pleasant.
On the track i dial them up firm and the car becomes super stiff.
You get the best of both worlds with them although they do cost over a grand.


but i believe that the damper settings can be adjusted on KYB shocks too?? and not just certain coilovers.... but not totally sure

 

hmmm 12 settings compared to a lot of others which have 30 doesnt sound the best? i duno, i only really want the camber adjustment and height adjustment of coilys the only time il dial the dampening in is on track

 

ok, just don't buy Teins

 

exe-tc

Supple for normal everyday use and firm/controllable for track. Been running the fast road kit on mine for the past 2+ years and they are still awesome exactly as they were out of the box. (with the pillow ball front top mounts)

 

Tein's EDFC is anything but a waste of money. I know so many people with coilovers featuring manual adjustment who never adjust them. In these instances it's simply not worth having an adjustable set up, you may as well stick with standard shocks and springs and have what the manufacturer recommends. With the EDFC set up you can configure the car for different environments and switch in seconds from the driver's seat.

Before you get coilovers I STRONGLY suggest that you have a ride in a car with them equipped. You simply CANNOT go on what other people say suspension is a very subjective thing. E.G My Teins have been described as too soft by some and rock hard by others. The only way I knew that I'd get on with them is by going for a ride in a car equipped with them.

What I will say is that I've heard nightmare stories about coilover reliability from ALL makes including the venerable Exe-tcs. I've also heard coilovers reknowned for being supple as being described as too hard (e.g. BCs) so you do need to do your homework properly as if you get the suspension wrong it'll ruin your enjoyment of the car.

I'm increasingly of the opinion that most coilovers are overkill for cars that spend most of their time on the road and that some kits are plain wrong for the road.....(tried a Spax kit the other day....you think Teins are hard.....).

Ns04

 

I totally agree with NS_04 on that one. My BC's are a very good setup, but the amount of time it spends on a track means they are not really suitable for my needs, so I'm going to go back to a std sti setup with uprated roll bars instead.

 

With all due respect mate, earlier this year you were ranting raving about how great your Teins were on the road. if i remembeer correctly you even wrote an article about how amazing they were on the road. Some 6 months later you trying to sell them. Whats changed?

Teins are made in Japan and should stay in Japan.

But as you say, it is subjective.

 

I still maintain that the Teins are very good coilovers! I'm not selling em cause I don't like em, I'm selling them as I just don't exploit them! They would be better suited to someone who wanted a more focused set up, but with the option of knocking it back a bit.

My apologies for name dropping but when having my car mapped by Bob Rawle (Who has been in his share of Imprezas), he wanted to know what ARBs I had fitted, to which I replied: standard, he raised an eyebrow and said "this set up is alright" Bob's "alright" is equivalent to most people's "bloody marvellous" Yet, some people such as yourself have said they're horrid!

Most people simply don't need adjustable coil-overs. I'll put my hand up and say that with the benefit of hindsight, I'm one of em! DJ has done the same with the BCs

If people are gonna go for coilovers, I would say careful of the quality. I can vouch for Tein in this respect; they're a1 and can be serviced in the UK with a quick turnaround, some other kits have known issues with quality and are a pain to get fixed.

Ns04

 

Teins are good quality, and i made the same mistake as you. bought 'em and then soon after sold 'em as they were 'overkill'.

 

Yep, to be honest, you hear about the stories of handling and grip improvements and you think: the adjustable coilover route is for me; anything else is half measures. Indeed they do improve body control and grip on the less bumpy stuff no end. BUT exerperience suggests that for cars predominantly used on the road (assuming the std springs and shocks are still in good order) making smaller refinements e.g. beefier anti roll bars would be better.

Ns04

 

I have yet to see someone that hasn't been amazed by the ride of them from a comfort point of view and by an ultimate road holding point of view on bumpy aswell as smooth roads. (and not just in my car which is still a completely driveable everyday car and used just this weekend to drive to newcastle and back in the same day - some 450 mile round trip)

Never seen any reliability issues (in 40,000+ miles for me on them and not heard of anyone else having issues either) - perhaps you could share as you seen to be professing to be a suspension guru here

 

I have the full Litchfeild type 20 chasis package... whiteline ARB'S, ALK, + AST coils n geo setup. I also have whiteline strut braces front n back,,, overkill again i suppose, but they all came with the car and the car is as stiff as a board - lol

 

You have PM!

 

LOL I'm not professing to be a guru but I am speaking from the perspective of someone who had thought that the way to get the best handling out of their Subaru was to go the adjustable coilover route and that anything else would be half measures. In actuality, given my use of the car, I would have been better off with something simplier and with more of the std set up's compliance.

I think that's the position quite a few people are in on here. Suspension is a black art there is a danger people will part with money for something they don't need (adjustable damping) if they don't track the car, or which will mean that they're just never quite happy with the settings! For some people.... and I'm one of them, letting the manufacturer figure out what works best, is the way forward.

If you take the car on track, I've little doubt that adjustable coilovers will pay dividens, if not.......well, I'm less convinced they're as desirable. I'll let you know soon, I'm getting the Eibach non-adjutable kit on mine at the end of the week.

 

iv used eibach stuff before its comfy