[twiSTies]

Originally Posted by DragonXero13

Damn it man! I've been looking at these for a couple months. I'm debating between BC Coilovers/Powder Coating my wheels.

You definitely want these over the powder coated wheels.

[twiSTies]

Originally Posted by jutes85

Any pics of the car with these coilovers?

I'd like to see how they perform in the winter and in the deep snow.

I set them to 14" front, 13.5" out back for handling purposes. You can raise or lower them a good bit more.

personal fav pic of mine:

[jutes85]

If you change the height, do you need another alignment? This has me thinking now....raise them for the winter, slam them in the summer, plus you can change the stiffness on the spot. hmmm.

Stance looks great.

[twiSTies]

Originally Posted by jutes85

If you change the height, do you need another alignment? This has me thinking now....raise them for the winter, slam them in the summer, plus you can change the stiffness on the spot. hmmm.

Stance looks great.

Yeah, you would need another alignment, but one of the reasons I went with coilovers was to adjust the height for the winter/summer. I had Swifts before and they were a little bit too low for winter weather. These I'll raise back up to stock height in the winter and be good to go.

Thanks

[FlyinbySTi]

After reading though this I am pumped to get mine. I ordered them up this week and they should be here this upcoming week. Ahh, it's going to be so sweet to not here anymore strut clunk. I to opted for the rear extenders, I also payed a little more and got the rear camber plate option so I wont have to use the rear camber bolts.

[twiSTies]

big bump.

Took them to the Dragon last month and I think I overheated them or something because the front adjusters started slipping when I'd pull over to set them to another setting. This is not good, BUT I don't know of any autocross that would pound on them as harshly as the Dragon would. 318 turns in 11 miles means a lot of damper action creating a lot of heat. As things cooled down, they were back to normal and the adjuster still works fine, just wouldn't click firmly into place like before. They're back to clicking in place now, so I think the fluid just got a little too hot, which is surprising since they're monotubes with BIG 46mm pistons inside of them. I think this did a good job of showing the ultimate limitation of these for high performance driving. They're not designed for that though, so I'm not upset in the least. They're made for the street and sport use, so autox, HPDEs are all fine for them. You just wouldn't want to run the Petit Le Mans on them.

Import Image gave me Pete's number in case I'd like to have the front dampers replaced under warranty, but honestly other than the adjuster issue, they did a damn good job up there keeping up with everyone with relative ease. I am very happy with this purchase and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone looking to daily driver, autox, or hpde a basic set of coilovers. They're pretty damn good for the price.

The more I drive on them, the more I think the guts are Tokico or KYB. Over sharp bumps where there is a significant drop off, then ramp up, you will feel the rebound shoot you back up, even on full soft. Since this road condition is rare, it doesn't bother me. Over the highways with road separations and mini speed bumps, you can feel the compression stroke but thats all. It gets pretty muted out by the damping, and there isn't much noise in the cabin.

The plates continue to do their job, no issues with bending or bearings going bad. The hex adjustment bolts do get very minimal surface rust since they're polished mild steel. I could run to the hardware store and replace them with some SS ones, but honestly its nothing some WD-40 doesn't stop.

I get some creaking noise out of the rear of the chassis over uneven bumps, but I'm wondering if thats more of a function of the stiff springs, pillowballs, and X-Brace than anything. There has to be some give for chassis flex somewhere! Since the chassis is so stiff, I have had an issue with my friends apartment driveway and getting stuck. I have 2.1" of droop travel out back, which is pretty substantial for a JDM/CDM/TDM () coilover and would probably need another inch to clear this. No biggie, I just park on the street instead.

My ride height is set at 14" front, 13.5" rear and I haven't noticed any sagging of the springs since I set it there thousands of miles ago. I've only had to retighten the front lockrings once with the spanner wrenches. The first time I didn't tighten them much more than handtight, so over the many bumps in the road, they loosened up. No biggie, going on 3k since the spanner wrench tightening up without issue.

I recently swapped out the RE070's for Toyo Proxes 4 all seasons for winter(yes they slip in snow, but the car control is fun). The ride quality on full soft is almost luxury sedan-like (think Acura, BMW 3 series with sport package). I wish I were exaggerating there, but other than the biggest bumps where the spring rate comes into play, the car rides like a soft mattress. Its hard to believe that I'm in an STi.

I will run these throughout the rock salt infested winters up here in PA and post up a report next spring with how well they handled it. Since there is a Teflon coat on them and paint all around with rubber dust covers, I am not foreseeing any issues (maybe the camber plate bolts, but they're covered under warranty and could be replaced with SS for next to nothing).

So to summarize all of this, I would highly recommend these for daily driving/autox/sport driving/HPDE work, but would not recommend them for high intensity track days. YMMV, but so far I've found BC and Import Image to be VERY supportive and great to work with if any issues do arise. Once again, think Tokico with the damping and road feel on these. That's pretty damn good for $1k...

[wrxcelration]

Originally Posted by twiSTies

big bump.

Took them to the Dragon last month and I think I overheated them or something because the front adjusters started slipping when I'd pull over to set them to another setting. This is not good, BUT I don't know of any autocross that would pound on them as harshly as the Dragon would. 318 turns in 11 miles means a lot of damper action creating a lot of heat. As things cooled down, they were back to normal and the adjuster still works fine, just wouldn't click firmly into place like before. They're back to clicking in place now, so I think the fluid just got a little too hot, which is surprising since they're monotubes with BIG 46mm pistons inside of them. I think this did a good job of showing the ultimate limitation of these for high performance driving. They're not designed for that though, so I'm not upset in the least. They're made for the street and sport use, so autox, HPDEs are all fine for them. You just wouldn't want to run the Petit Le Mans on them.

Import Image gave me Pete's number in case I'd like to have the front dampers replaced under warranty, but honestly other than the adjuster issue, they did a damn good job up there keeping up with everyone with relative ease. I am very happy with this purchase and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone looking to daily driver, autox, or hpde a basic set of coilovers. They're pretty damn good for the price.

The more I drive on them, the more I think the guts are Tokico or KYB. Over sharp bumps where there is a significant drop off, then ramp up, you will feel the rebound shoot you back up, even on full soft. Since this road condition is rare, it doesn't bother me. Over the highways with road separations and mini speed bumps, you can feel the compression stroke but thats all. It gets pretty muted out by the damping, and there isn't much noise in the cabin.

The plates continue to do their job, no issues with bending or bearings going bad. The hex adjustment bolts do get very minimal surface rust since they're polished mild steel. I could run to the hardware store and replace them with some SS ones, but honestly its nothing some WD-40 doesn't stop.

I get some creaking noise out of the rear of the chassis over uneven bumps, but I'm wondering if thats more of a function of the stiff springs, pillowballs, and X-Brace than anything. There has to be some give for chassis flex somewhere! Since the chassis is so stiff, I have had an issue with my friends apartment driveway and getting stuck. I have 2.1" of droop travel out back, which is pretty substantial for a JDM/CDM/TDM () coilover and would probably need another inch to clear this. No biggie, I just park on the street instead.

My ride height is set at 14" front, 13.5" rear and I haven't noticed any sagging of the springs since I set it there thousands of miles ago. I've only had to retighten the front lockrings once with the spanner wrenches. The first time I didn't tighten them much more than handtight, so over the many bumps in the road, they loosened up. No biggie, going on 3k since the spanner wrench tightening up without issue.

I recently swapped out the RE070's for Toyo Proxes 4 all seasons for winter(yes they slip in snow, but the car control is fun). The ride quality on full soft is almost luxury sedan-like (think Acura, BMW 3 series with sport package). I wish I were exaggerating there, but other than the biggest bumps where the spring rate comes into play, the car rides like a soft mattress. Its hard to believe that I'm in an STi.

I will run these throughout the rock salt infested winters up here in PA and post up a report next spring with how well they handled it. Since there is a Teflon coat on them and paint all around with rubber dust covers, I am not foreseeing any issues (maybe the camber plate bolts, but they're covered under warranty and could be replaced with SS for next to nothing).

So to summarize all of this, I would highly recommend these for daily driving/autox/sport driving/HPDE work, but would not recommend them for high intensity track days. YMMV, but so far I've found BC and Import Image to be VERY supportive and great to work with if any issues do arise. Once again, think Tokico with the damping and road feel on these. That's pretty damn good for $1k...

Twisties, I live in the Allentown area myself and you are probably the other silver sti i see driving on 145 all the time. If theres more than you and I, Im stage 2 w Invidia exhaust. I am interested in these c/o and was wondering if it would be possible to get a ride in your car to see how I would like the feel. Thanks
-Matt

[twiSTies]

Originally Posted by wrxcelration

Twisties, I live in the Allentown area myself and you are probably the other silver sti i see driving on 145 all the time. If theres more than you and I, Im stage 2 w Invidia exhaust. I am interested in these c/o and was wondering if it would be possible to get a ride in your car to see how I would like the feel. Thanks
-Matt

cool, yeah my friend sees you around and keeps asking me if it was me driving

just send me a PM so we can set something up

[FlyinbySTi]

I creeeeeek noise in the back when I go over a bump slow at an angle or something. I have narrowed it down to either the top of the back seat making noise in the little hook that holds it in or my rear cusco sturt bar. I am going to pull the center bar out this winter for my snowboard so we I'll see what happens then. Maybe I'll pull the seat back to and see if that makes a difference at all.

[twiSTies]

Originally Posted by FlyinbySTi

I creeeeeek noise in the back when I go over a bump slow at an angle or something. I have narrowed it down to either the top of the back seat making noise in the little hook that holds it in or my rear cusco sturt bar. I am going to pull the center bar out this winter for my snowboard so we I'll see what happens then. Maybe I'll pull the seat back to and see if that makes a difference at all.

Yup, that sounds exactly like the creak I have too. I bet its from the bracing.

[wrxcelration]

sent you a pm twisties

[300hp owen]

awesome truthful informative write up!

[whitej34]

Thanks for the review here Twisties. I think I am going to go for these coilovers now. Do you have any other suspension work?

[whitej34]

Apparently I just learned how to read English and didn't see your signature. Thanks for the thread again!

[IMPORTIMAGE]

we used to have a cusco v-brace on my sti in the back...WOW was it squeaky/noisy, every once in a while you'll hear the rear setup with my whiteline rear sway bar...nothing crazy. as always, willing to help out on all bc sales