[aus_taz]

I have had 3 different setups in the car now so I'll post up comparison, all were on RE070's. I drive 25 miles each way to work so comfort is important but have also gotten hooked on auto-x this year so performance is getting to be a higher priority. City/Highway driving was fast but not on the limits.

Stock
Daily Driver II = RCE Springs, Group N tops (F/R), WhiteLine Sways 27F/24R, Kartboy Endlinks. Alignment -0.8F, -1.5R.
Track II Comfort = Tarmac2's 500/400 springs, comfort setting, RCE Lowering Camber Plates, + above. Alignment -2.1F, -1.5R.
Track II = As per 3 but track settings on the Tarmac2's

Stock
Highway cruising - bouncy, bouncy.
Highway pot holes and joints - I would call this acceptable, never really felt the car vibrate or bang on joints.
Sweeping corners - Initially I was amazed when first drove the car but as I got used to it I could feel the body roll and some squirm/loose feeling from both the front and rear.
Rotarys - tended to body roll going through and understeer coming out.
Backstreets - were pretty fun but body roll was noticable. Car absorbed most road patches etc without feeling them inside the cabin.
Auto-x - N/A

Daily Driver II
Highway cruising - was better with a lot of the bouncing gone but long 3 hours trips I would start to get a little sore.
Highway pot holes and joints - really bad, I could feel these vibrate the entire car. So much so that I would cringe, but remember these a MA holes which class as canyons in other places I have driven.
Sweeping corners - great, the car felt really planted and did not squirm or roll at all. On a exit ramp on the way to work I could hold 75 where stock was about 65.
Rotarys - great as well, the grip was amazing.
Backstreets - was a lot better, the car would understeer slightly but then neutral with a little power. Remember this is not at the limit. On the downside I could feel most road patches or imperfections in the cabin, enough to make me cringe on some I drove over each day.
Auto-x - slaloms were really stable with a slight tendancy towards understeed but really easy to control. Chicanes or chicargo boxes (why are they called this?) were easy to flick the car through with very neutral handling. Tight corners would tend to have the car understeering on the exit, extra power would spin the fronts making this worse, of course if I was really brutal I could get the back out but only by upsetting the car first.


Track II Comfort
Highway cruising - amazing, feels just as good as stock, a tiny bit of the bounce is back but I'll play with the dampening.
Highway pot holes and joints - this is interesting, you know you drove over them as the car goes up or down and you can feel the stiff springs but there is not harsh clunk, bang etc. No more cringing when I see them coming, and I do the same drive each day to work so it was an easy comparison.
Sweeping corners - the car feels even more composed than the setup 2, it just turns, no fuss. Was not really quicker around the test corner but felt more settled into the road than riding on it.
Rotarys - pretty much the same as setup 2.
Backstreets - close to the performance of setup 2 but with no understeer on initial turn in. The road patches etc, don't even feel them anymore. I can feel the stiff springs as the car will go up over the patch etc but there is no harshness.
Auto-x - this weekend.

Track II
This weekend.

[twiSTies]

nice review, thanks for the comparison

[Drag-On]

Good comparison. I look forward to your track review as I might be looking to upgrade to the RCE T2 in the future.

[IGoFast1589]

Nice review buddy i'm glad you did this because i'm in the market for a DD car's suspension. I was leaning towards the DD2 setup but now I kind of want to do more research. Coilovers would be great but the question I have to ask myself are they REALLY worth the $$?

[SWortham]

I agree with your opinion of the stock suspension vs the daily driver II suspension from my experience with very similar setups. Nice reviews.

[RaceComp Engineering]

Nice review! It's tough to contend with those potholes in the Northeast but I'm glad the T2's are getting the job done. Our springs work well for most people but our upcoming RCE Blacks (regular guy springs) are meant for people who drive on your kind of roads.

-Dan

[H4N]

Glad to see someone in Boston saying the 500/400 Tarmac 2's are good for DD. I'm definitiely going pick 500/400 on my tarmac 2's now.

[TheHammer]

Ah MA holes are def nasty.

LOL

NIce Review.

[aus_taz]

Don't get me wrong the RCE springs were good, I loved the performance but the holes around here are really bad.

[H4N]

Originally Posted by aus_taz

Don't get me wrong the RCE springs were good, I loved the performance but the holes around here are really bad.

they sure are, Thanks for the review!

edited: how are the tarmac 2's over city street potholes? also what mounts do you have for the rear?

[aus_taz]

Street city pot holes have been good so far. I haven't hit a really bad one yet but have to drive over a few every day and they are much better than the springs. Before the car used to vibrate when going over a set of small holes or patches, not it bounces a bit but no vibration on bang. Larger gaps etc you still feel the car dip into the hole and out but again no bang etc.


Rears are the modified Group-N ones, I noticed the proper group-n coilover mounts on sale for $90 somewhere and this would have been better option.

If your around Boston pm me and I'll give you a ride one day.

[Stephisto47]

This is a great review, however, has anyone used the RCE springs on Florida roads? I hear about these reviews on terrible roads, but I don't think our roads here are all that bad.

[H4N]

Originally Posted by aus_taz

Street city pot holes have been good so far. I haven't hit a really bad one yet but have to drive over a few every day and they are much better than the springs. Before the car used to vibrate when going over a set of small holes or patches, not it bounces a bit but no vibration on bang. Larger gaps etc you still feel the car dip into the hole and out but again no bang etc.


Rears are the modified Group-N ones, I noticed the proper group-n coilover mounts on sale for $90 somewhere and this would have been better option.

If your around Boston pm me and I'll give you a ride one day.

nice!, And I sure will! thanks

[aus_taz]

So I got the run the Bumpy track settings at 2 events this weekend. Sunday was a planned Auto-x and saturday I jumped in on a BMW ADSS school (skid pan, braking + a small auto-x), since it gave me a chance to try out the suspension before the auto-x sunday.

On the skid pan the car was very neutral, very slight understeer at the limit, could not get the back end to come around under power but on a figure 8 setup it would drift/power very nice on the exit. With a lot of pressure in the rear tires (hot day, skid pan, forgot to check the pressure) I had very fun power off or trail brake rotation.

In some double lane change exercises the instructors comments were " doesn't this car know there are laws of physics?" The car was like a go-kart.

On the auto-x sunday it was very cold and the car would tend to push a little in the corners but was amazingly flat and well controlled on transitions.

Track II Bumpy Track Settings
Highway cruising - fine, almost like the comfort settings.
Highway pot holes and joints - pretty similar to the RCE springs on stock struts. A little less bang over bit bumps but I'll be changing back to comfort for the week days.
Sweeping corners - this is fun, so much grip and the negative camber really helps.
Rotarys - again very composed, especially on the exit when you are switching the steering direction.
Backstreets - didn't really push it.
Auto-x - very good. Flat and very neutral, I'm guessing they took a second or more off my times when I compare my times to other's. It really felt like the limit ont he car was the RE070's and that the suspension could take a lot more grip without a problem. On some corners the car would understeer a little and others the back end would just start to come around under trail braking but never anything that a small steering adjustment would not take care off. I took a few friends that were also running their STi's out and they all commented on how flat and go-kart like the car was.

[twiSTies]

nice review man...