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Coilover choice, help!!!

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Old 15 June 2007, 04:35 PM
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silverscoobydan
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Default Coilover choice, help!!!

Hi

I am looking to buy some coilovers. I think I have narrowed it down to the two choices below.

Does anyone have any experience, opinion or knowledge of the products?

(Impreza, wrx, my05)

Option 1: (D2 racing coilovers)

D2 Racing Coilovers Impreza 05~ Flat4online.co.uk Subaru Impreza Mitsubishi Evolution EVO Walbro Fuel Pumps Injectors Intercoolers

Option 2: (KW variant 1)

http://www.scoobyworld.co.uk/catalog...roducts_id=256

Thanks
Old 15 June 2007, 10:45 PM
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404BHP
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The d2 ones are far better and more adjustment.
Old 16 June 2007, 05:52 PM
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911
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I am very biased, but look at AST's from Powerstation as well.
Old 17 June 2007, 11:20 AM
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silverscoobydan
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Originally Posted by 404BHP
The d2 ones are far better and more adjustment.
Thanks

Are they well made and reliable? The other thing is .....I drive on the road only do I need adjustable?
Old 17 June 2007, 11:55 AM
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silverscoobydan
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Originally Posted by 911
I am very biased, but look at AST's from Powerstation as well.

I thought AST's were way out of that price range!!!
Old 17 June 2007, 12:54 PM
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charlesk
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Originally Posted by silverscoobydan
Thanks

Are they well made and reliable? The other thing is .....I drive on the road only do I need adjustable?
The spring rates quoted on D2's (8.7/5.1 kg/mm) are too stiff for a road car.
KW stuff is usually v.good quality so between the 2 I would go for the KW's. Adjustable shocks are both a blessing and a curse. If you know what you're doing then you can tailor the settings to suit your prefferences/driving style, but get it wrong and you can spoil it... AST's are a fair bit more expesive and sometimes they do suffer from reliabilty problems (both rears on mine have been replaced under warranty, shortly after they were fitted), but when setup right they work very well indeed.
One question though? Why go for coilovers on a 100% road car? A good set of shocks/springs will be more than enough... Another option to consired are the eibach coilovers (not adjustable but work well on the road). Just a few thoughts.
Old 17 June 2007, 08:40 PM
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silverscoobydan
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Originally Posted by charlesk
The spring rates quoted on D2's (8.7/5.1 kg/mm) are too stiff for a road car.
KW stuff is usually v.good quality so between the 2 I would go for the KW's. Adjustable shocks are both a blessing and a curse. If you know what you're doing then you can tailor the settings to suit your prefferences/driving style, but get it wrong and you can spoil it... AST's are a fair bit more expesive and sometimes they do suffer from reliabilty problems (both rears on mine have been replaced under warranty, shortly after they were fitted), but when setup right they work very well indeed.
One question though? Why go for coilovers on a 100% road car? A good set of shocks/springs will be more than enough... Another option to consired are the eibach coilovers (not adjustable but work well on the road). Just a few thoughts.

Thanks.

I have an MY 05 with the inverted struts and am currently suffering from a bad knock. I hoped coilovers would cure that fully. The only struts I have found for resonable money were the KYB ones but they do not make a version of my car. I will look into the Eibach coilovers. Any suggestions where to start?

Thanks again.
Old 18 June 2007, 12:52 PM
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The AST's are a bit more expensive with the single adjustment (as opposed to the demon 3 ways), but not by much.

Setting-up the damping to the spring rates is simple but you need to perservere to find the sweet spot.

Beware of springs that are too heavy for a road car!

Graham
Old 18 June 2007, 12:52 PM
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Coilovers are not the quietest form of suspension...
If it is a MY05, isn't it under warranty? If so you could get it sorted for free.
For the eibachs, I'd start with Scoobyclinic/DemonTweeks.
Charles

Last edited by charlesk; 18 June 2007 at 09:10 PM.
Old 18 June 2007, 05:31 PM
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silverscoobydan
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Originally Posted by 911
The AST's are a bit more expensive with the single adjustment (as opposed to the demon 3 ways), but not by much.

Setting-up the damping to the spring rates is simple but you need to perservere to find the sweet spot.

Beware of springs that are too heavy for a road car!

Graham
Thanks again.

Heard mixed reviews about AST's but I suppose suspension is a very personal thing. Newbie type question = what do you mean by springs that are too heavy for a road car?

I really am at my cost limit.....I am even trying to fit them myself to save on labour!!!!
Old 18 June 2007, 05:36 PM
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Originally Posted by charlesk
Coilovers are not the quitest form of suspension...
If it is a MY05, isn't it under warranty? If so you could get it sorted for free.
For the eibachs, I'd start with Scoobyclinic/DemonTweeks.
Charles
I understand coilovers creak and crunch a little over speedbumps and pot holes. Anything else?

Yer the car is still under warranty but I want to upgrade the suspension to match the added power I now have . I just want a slightly firmer ride, reduced body roll and reduced understeer (ARB on the way for that). What do you reckon??????

Thanks for the suggestions, I will check them out.

Thanks again for your advice.
Old 18 June 2007, 06:23 PM
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911
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Then FORGET coil-overs.

Fit some Eibach springs, some Whiteline antiroll bars and an ALK to the front end also.
Take the car to a good independent alignment shop and get a proper job done.

Do not expect understeer to dissapear with roll bars. True alignment will help ease it off.

I meant by heavy road springs, springs that have too high a spring stiffness rate for good road only use of the car.

Graham.

ps:
Take a look at the PowerStation site.
Old 18 June 2007, 08:43 PM
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P1 FEK
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So what is the best fast road, maybe once a year track use, set up?
Old 18 June 2007, 09:14 PM
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charlesk
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Graham's advise is sound. New shocks, uprated springs ARB and a good geometry setup is all you need for that...
That setup will cope even with ocasional track use.

Originally Posted by silverscoobydan
I understand coilovers creak and crunch a little over speedbumps and pot holes. Anything else?

Yer the car is still under warranty but I want to upgrade the suspension to match the added power I now have . I just want a slightly firmer ride, reduced body roll and reduced understeer (ARB on the way for that). What do you reckon??????

Thanks for the suggestions, I will check them out.

Thanks again for your advice.
Old 18 June 2007, 10:29 PM
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911
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I would add some 'correct' track day tyres ie Toyo R888 and some good brake pads.
A track day will buzzz those parts for sure if left stock unless you do a hillclimb/sprint instead.
Old 20 June 2007, 06:28 AM
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charlesk
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Originally Posted by 911
I would add some 'correct' track day tyres ie Toyo R888 and some good brake pads.
A track day will buzzz those parts for sure if left stock unless you do a hillclimb/sprint instead.
A good set of brake pads for sure, esp on a WRX with stock brakes.
In terms of tyres, it depends on the track surface/conditions and driving style. Slide about everywere and you can kill a full set in under a day, drive smoothly with correct lines/inputs and even my P-Zeros have stood up to 3 days @ Cadwell and got 5mm of thread remaining...
Old 20 June 2007, 11:40 AM
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silverscoobydan
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Originally Posted by 911
Then FORGET coil-overs.

Fit some Eibach springs, some Whiteline antiroll bars and an ALK to the front end also.
Take the car to a good independent alignment shop and get a proper job done.

Do not expect understeer to dissapear with roll bars. True alignment will help ease it off.

I meant by heavy road springs, springs that have too high a spring stiffness rate for good road only use of the car.

Graham.
ps:
Take a look at the PowerStation site.
Thanks Graham

The problem is I cannot find replacement shocks for my car. I have checked most of the common internet sites and they do not seem to do any. Therefore I was heading down the coilover route. I need new shocks as the standard ones are knocking.

I already have some prodrive springs ready to go on but there was little point
fitting them until I sort out the knocking struts.

I was intending to do the rest (ALK, ARB, alignment etc) once the struts were sorted.

OK what do you guys reckon I should do? I want a well behaved road car with a drop in height that solves the knocking problem. I can spend about £750 on the struts or coilovers.

Last edited by silverscoobydan; 20 June 2007 at 12:20 PM. Reason: spelling
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