[Mk2] [Turbo] Which Coilovers?

[adaz]

My suspension have seen better days and I've decided to get a set of coilovers.

I'm currently looking at these:
http://www.bc-racing.co.uk/applications ... 12323.html

Has anyone used these? Any other recommendations?

[Donato]

I've just fitted a set of BC coilovers to a friends car. Well impressed by them. Build quility and ride quality are really good. I've got MeisterR coilovers myself and rate them just as well as the BC's.

If your stuck have a look here;

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=174959

[Race Idiot]

I dont think it matters, there all made in the same factory in taiwan anyway, unless you want to spend actual money on suspension.

[bolton]

Tein super streets!!

[Donato]

I dont think it matters, there all made in the same factory in taiwan anyway, unless you want to spend actual money on suspension.

No they're not

[adaz]

Thanks guys!

I think I'll go for BC. Do I need to buy anything else in order to fit them? Like drop links?

[Race Idiot]

I dont think it matters, there all made in the same factory in taiwan anyway, unless you want to spend actual money on suspension.

No they're not

Ok china, taiwan and possibly korea in the case of hsd.

Meister R, BC, HSD, fortune, k-sport etc i'd love to see what they said if you asked them for an actual shock dyno report for each damper from the factory.

But I guess the car will look wikked innit, slammed to the ground with crap damping, no corner weighting and rollcentre out of wack

[C35Rob]

I dont think it matters, there all made in the same factory in taiwan anyway, unless you want to spend actual money on suspension.

No they're not

Ok china, taiwan and possibly korea in the case of hsd.

Meister R, BC, HSD, fortune, k-sport etc i'd love to see what they said if you asked them for an actual shock dyno report for each damper from the factory.

But I guess the car will look wikked innit, slammed to the ground with crap damping, no corner weighting and rollcentre out of wack

True,

HSD, BC and meister R (among a few others) are made in the same factory, in Taiwan by "taiwan bor-chuann (BC Racing)"

http://www.bcec.com.tw/history/company.html

all exactly the same product, different colours, different stickers.. I do laugh when I read people slagging off one brand then buying the same brand in a different box like "k sports are awful, my BC's are awesome"

saying that I've had HSD's before on a different car and been happy with them, just not under the illusion they are top drawer stuff

[Race Idiot]

True,

HSD, BC and meister R (among a few others) are made in the same factory, in Taiwan by "taiwan bor-chuann (BC Racing)"

http://www.bcec.com.tw/history/company.html

all exactly the same product, different colours, different stickers.. I do laugh when I read people slagging off one brand then buying the same brand in a different box like "k sports are awful, my BC's are awesome"

saying that I've had HSD's before on a different car and been happy with them, just not under the illusion they are top drawer stuff

Exactly

You have to wonder how much actual r&d goes into these products. Think about a company like billstein, who had a hand in designing the oe shocks for the tubby. Do you think BC or whoever did any actual testing, or did they just slap some parts together vaugely in spec of other coilovers into a compatible strut casing?

I mean I can see the appeal, seeing as a set of whole coliovers is cheaper than buying a decent set of dampers/springs/topmounts.

But in my opinion 99% of the adjustability offered isnt needed and just adds more complexity. How often are you messing with rideheight and damper levels? Also seeing as hardly anyone mentions getting the coilovers setup correctly with cornerweighting, so again whats the point in having all the adjustability?

Sure if your going to the track loads, or racing I can see the point but for a mainly street driven car it seems pointless to me.

I've used a load of different setups on my cars, from stock uk, ohlins, koni, billstein, bc, apexi etc.

By far the worst one was bcs on an otherwise completely standard rev3 tubby, felt horribly stiff but the car still had a tonne of roll. The best was my old car with trd springs/topmounts/arbs, koni sports, full pollybush adjustable caster arms and rollcentre adjusters. The car cornered nice and flat, had great ride quality coping with crappy london roads and bumpy b roads. Did about 60,000 daily miles with that setup and it only got bad when the dampers wore out and the ride got considerably worse.

Also here is a good article about shocks
http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets6.html

[C35Rob]

according to BC's own website they are dyno tested, if you choose to believe that yourself is up to you.

obviously they aren't ohlins etc but then they aren't £2k.. for the money they are good enough, there's plenty of serious time attack cars etc running on Taiwan spec coilovers.

I don't, however, believe that they are specifically tailored to each application. The clever adjustable bottom mount that is their main selling point (change ride height independent of spring pre-load) also means you can have a selection of different lengths of damper body and screw a different top and bottom mount onto them and hey presto you can have them fit hundreds of different cars.

but really.. for what most people use them for which is road use and maybe the occasional track day they will be a huge improvement over tired standard stuff as long as the rest of the suspension is "right" and they are set up properly.

[Race Idiot]

according to BC's own website they are dyno tested, if you choose to believe that yourself is up to you.

obviously they aren't ohlins etc but then they aren't £2k.. for the money they are good enough, there's plenty of serious time attack cars etc running on Taiwan spec coilovers.

I don't, however, believe that they are specifically tailored to each application. The clever adjustable bottom mount that is their main selling point (change ride height independent of spring pre-load) also means you can have a selection of different lengths of damper body and screw a different top and bottom mount onto them and hey presto you can have them fit hundreds of different cars.

but really.. for what most people use them for which is road use and maybe the occasional track day they will be a huge improvement over tired standard stuff as long as the rest of the suspension is "right" and they are set up properly.

I bet most of the time attack boys arent just using a complete off the shelf kit though. I wouldnt be suprised if they had custom valving and springs to suit.

Also thats the thing, so many people seem to think just slapping some coilovers on will fix everything when it clearly wont. My current tubby was pretty much that when I bought it.

[Odin_S]

Well all I can give is my experience. I've had a number of setups both on NA and Turbo

Black Bilstein normal ride height
Yellow Bilstein both oem and on lowered springs with tein topmounts
Tein HA coilovers.

I can say that BC is the best ride quality out of all the setups I've had. I was one of the first if not the first to have BC when they came out for SW20 in '09 and they are still going well as you would expect.

All this is road used. Just as long as you have the car setup once you install them there is no reason they shouldn't offer better handling.

Rogue motorsport I think still use them in their racing, so I think it's BS to say they don't offer good road holding.

As with anything on Internet forums there is a lot of hersay about products I say proof is in the pudding

[RST]

I can chip in though really it should be in the coilover thread...


Stock springs, wheels and tyres:

Despite changing most parts there's really nothing wrong with new parts, they perform very good.

Lowering springs, stock wheels and tyres:

Forget it -I bought good springs and uprated shocks, but I have never liked the feel of lowering springs on any car yet. I don't like lowering springs / uprated shocks period.

Superstreets:

Could not fault the handling on these on aftermarket wheels, ride comfort varied to about softer then stock to hard as bricks in the arches. On a mild drop (circa 20mm) I just loved superstreets though I heard the top adjusters can bind over time. I kept mine a little softer on the front and a couple of clicks up on the rear.

HSD's:

I had a tubby with these -the front top mounts were spurious but I thought they were horrid. Way too harsh,no feel to them on average roads. To be fair the car came with 18's and stretched tyres, but I still felt the suspension itself lacking.

BC:

Had these on my MK3 -brilliant, OEM like feel but with the benefits, felt tighter, more confident etc on a very mild drop. Very good choice. Quality was good out the box.

Other cars:

BC -JZS147: Superb and easy fit, very happy with ride comfort, much more positive in corners. No harsher than original -but improved road handling on 17" alloys.

KW -VW: Fitted these as I was lowering the car (previous person did a rear axle flip). Coilovers allowed more adjustment for drop, they were reasonably priced but they were CHEAP for what they were. They were quite harsh on a very mild drop. Not sure I would trust the quality after 3 years+

TRD springs -ST205: Renewed ALL my suspension on my GT4, went for the recommended TRD springs -waste of money, same as my first shot with an SW20, should have gone coilovers.

....I can't comment on the SW20 exactly these days as I've not got one now but if I were to hedge my bets, for the money I'd happily go BC again. They seem a decent enough quality for the price. I can't remember where I got my last set from, they were discounted -some smart alec will always come along got them cheaper anyway LoL.

[adaz]

Cheers guys, I went for BC in the end.

Fair price, good reviews and the quality doesn't seem bad as some people say. Having said that the brake line brackets were bent on the front dampers but BC said they'll sort it out for me lol

[Torero]

How did you get on with them?

I didn't comment previously but I've had mine on for 6 months now (mainly road use) and I absolutely love them. I listened to a lot but mainly from SW20 owners and it seemed the right way to go. Like Odin says "the proof is in the pudding".

Let us know how you're doing with them.