Decent Suspension?
 

If i was to replace my Tein coilovers, what would be a good suggestion to have? I want to keep the car handling well but dont want the harshness of the coil overs.

Cheers!

Standard pink STI suspension with lowering springs is meant to be good (speak to a guy on here called 911 (name is Graeme i think)) as he's done a lot of experimenting and spending on his impreza hill climb car.

Graham will vote for AST's and I have to agree.

I hated the thought of coilovers but the reality with the AST's were they actually provided a more compliant ride than the oem with Prodrive springs.

Certainly worth a look.

After much looking and asking the AST's were the most popular choice by far....just got them the other day, awaiting the whilteline gear before I fit them:

http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/k...lCamera294.jpg

http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/k...lCamera292.jpg

http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/k...lCamera290.jpg

They look good anyway so far:thumb:

How much are AST's?

I am researching coilovers for my STi 10. Please tell me the spring rates of these AST's

Heres a link to Powerstation for prices:

AST Suspension

Not sure mate, but bet to ask Powerstation as per above link, they will be able to answer any queries you have matey:thumb:

AST's and EXE-TC seems to be the best choices for suspension setup. As to which you choose.... well that might depend on your budget. But I suspect you will be happy with either. I was also worried about going down the coilover route as they are notorious for being too hard for our british roads.... but trust me, these two companies have got it just about right.... great control yet not much harder than a normal suspenion the rest of the time.

Hope this helps !!!!

Ricky !

Was taken for a ride in a car equipped with Tein Super Stret coilovers and EDFC the other day. VERY impressive! Quite a few people seem to slate Tein products based on experience of set ups meant for the JDM market or racing, but the Super Streets use the same Spring rates as the AST set up and EDFC makes having to manually adust damper settings by hand look a bit like hard work!

Ns04

Maybe the best value for money product on the market at the moment:

https://www.scoobynet.com/group-buys...umber-3-a.html

Plenty of feedback and views on Scoobynet and NASIOC:

Sample review:

BC coilovers - NASIOC

More reviews on here:

North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club

The following is not meant to detract from the quality of the kits being offered above.

The one issue I do have with comparisons is that they often don't specify the models being compared, spring rates etc... It's not like Tein do one set of coilovers; there are numerous kits to suit different applications, same with AST. People really need to give more info when saying x is better than y etc.... or identifying "problems" with kits!

Ns04

Absolutely correct. Id rather give you links to independent opinions than me tell you how great they are though. Nothing like unbiased feedback, even if its not directly relevent when comparing like for like :)

I know that our customers want a softer set up than we currently offer so Im now working with the manufacturers to produce a much more supple road kit with longer stroke and suitable damping rates. At the other end fo the scale I also have, on my desk in front of me right now, the lastest serious track application coilovers with external reservoir and seperate rebound and compression damping adjustment that we are about to start evaluating.

They'll work better if you fit them to the car, Bren! (kinda OTT as table legs!) ;) :D

I know but they only arrived with us yesterday so Im still in 'ah, shiny' mode :D Ive got the damping curves printed out in front of me, just waiting to get some examples from other manufacturers to see how they compare.

Our manufacturers have started on the more supple coilover kit to offer a straight alternative to the soft AST and Tein Super Street type set up. Theyll run 4 and 3kg.mm spring rates with longer damper travel to prevent the units bottoming out.

Ill have the first sample set in around 5 weeks.

Bren, please tell me the standard spring rates for a 2006 2.5 STi with 114pcd wheels. I can't find 'em anywhere. Peter

Sorry, I just dont know :(

If it means anything then our R33 GTST (rear wheel drive) Skyline drift car came third at the 4th round at Santa Pod last week, we swapped the tyres, and the car was trailed straight out to Germany from the Pod (I drove through the night). I did four hot laps in total and managed a 7.57 in traffic with a passenger (so 80+ kilo of ballast). Thats on Apex coilovers so it gives some idea of their versitility. Absolutely zero chassis, damping or alignment adjustments, nothing. We changed the wheels, fitted number plates, bolted the original bootlid on and went. 3rd in drifting, sub 8 minute round ring, in traffic! Vid to follow if anyones interested.

Smokey Skyline from 4th EDC round at Santa Pod on Saturday

Then straight to Nurburgring and out on Sunday

Sorry, but to do a sub 8 minute lap around the Ring with a car that has not been set up properly, with a unknown driver, with traffic, sounds like bollocks.

There are a lot of very fast cars and drivers that will struggle to do that. I just do not believe that with an old rear wheel drive Skyline. Even measuring bridge to gantry sounds a bit iffy.

I know you want to sell your shox but please don't start to spout nonsense.

:D :D :D

Hope your hats big, youve got some munching to do! :D

One thing to know about me, I do NOT lie, I do NOT exaggerate, I do NOT bend the truth ;)

As I said, vid to follow. Better start preparing that pie, plenty of humble if you please.

Did it cross your mind that Apex actually knows something about setting up high performance cars? And that our products do what it says on the tin? We arent just a box shifter, we are a pretty well informed box shifter. Our demo cars arent a lot of use if they arent impressive.

Yah, nuts, dont have the tapes here. The Skyline was at Snetterton the day after landing back in the Uk after the Ring and the camcorder case only has the footage from Snett in it. Ill have to get the Ring footage sorted for this evening. Gives you time to marinade your trilby, I recommend garlic with a dash of black pepper and a hint of lemon ;)

Errm, I don't want to get involved in the spitting contest but I guess there are £5 Apex Coilvers and £50 coilovers - how much (approx) will a set of "8mins round the 'Ring" coilovers cost for my STi10? they need to be good enough for me to drive there in one stint as well, ha ha. But seriously, there must be Bladdy Cheap => Budget => Better => Very Good => Flippin Expensive => Holy Cow That Much! in the range?? You can mail me offline.

What times were you doing 'round Snet?

I wasn't talking about whether Apex knows anything about setting up cars. I was taliking about lap times. The normal times for the Skylines is about 8.20-8.40, Bridge to Gantry. Proper laptimes a bit slower than that.

Judging by the group of 20 odd Skylines from Britain that were there the other day most are quite a bit slower. (and left oil on the track and behaved like c*cks, giving the Brits a bad name)

But hats off to you if you really did a sub 8 min. full lap (not bridge to gantry)

I've got these fitted to my FSTi(6kg front,5kg rear for over 2k miles now) and have been quietly impressed by the ride quality and handling.
The adjustability is noticeable,especially at The 'Ring(11th-13th July) when it was wet on the Saturday,backed them off a couple of clicks and you could feel the difference.
On the Sunday, when it was dry,I added a couple of clicks more.The only problem I had was cooking the tyres(Continental Sport Contact,Michelin Pilot Sports going on for my next trip,4th August-11th August) after 3back to back laps(did over 20 laps in total).
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend these to anyone,Bren and his staff are very helpful and don't come across as "a lets move as many we can crowd".
Even on the ****ty Belguim m/way they didn't crash,bang,run out of travel.
Bren's time was done on a TF,so BTG.

Pete

It was bridge to gantry. In traffic, starting the acceleration from the bridge, not from the car park exit. Dont forget, we arent talking a normal lardy arse Skyline, we are talking a stripped out full on race car with a no lag 480lb/ft, 531bhp small block Chevy V8 race engine.

Nothing brilliant round Snett, 1.20. The cars set quite soft for drifting which worked suprisingly well round the Ring but was way too soft for Snett. I only got two very short session at Snetterton as it bucketed it down all morning and early afternoon and the Skylines appauling in the wet, no fun at all.

The R888s would only allow 4 laps before going off. Theres 5-7 seconds to be found in the car with a decent day to set up the car and get to know the track properly.

Id put money on it doing a 7.2X bridge to gantry with set up time, better tyres and a proper driver.

Ah, sorry, I thought it was a normal Skyline, not a hybrid.

If you want to find some more time, try the Michelin PS2 Cups. Worked extremely well on my Impreza and my current German BierMitWurst. Around the ring probably over 20 seconds faster........ And don't overheat like the 888

I seem to remember, many years ago, that Nissan with their test driver did a very high 7 or very low 8 around the Ring with a supposedly 'standard' R33. It looked more like 400 hp rather than 280ish.

Uhmmm, I still want to know the rates of the stock springs. This is what I think, in lbs/inch: Stock STi 257/217 which at 56 lb/in = 1 kg/mm means 4.6 and 3.9 so I don't want to go harder. Bugeye WRX (which I had and loved) 163/119 = 2.9/2.1 and P1 215/195 = 3.8/3.5. Some Tein's go up to 392/280 Mono Flex = holy cow. So the guys are right - there are coilovers and there are coilovers. I will buy from the one who can give me the ride I want. BTW some guys complain of knocking - maybe the coilovers bottom when the dampers are set low. That's not good. I want to set my dampers to low for cruising and harder if I get to some nice stuff, so I would like EDC as well. Peter

How about a poll: who likes:
Apex
Tein
EXE-TC
Cusco
AST
KW
KYB
Moton
Whiteline
...
...

After doing some research into it and taking some advice from people who know a lot more than me....

KW Variant 3's are due to be fitted. These will be matched to the Noltec top mounts front and rear.