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Thoughts on making a softer ride

Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 2:37 pm
by bass_twitch
Hi

I was chatting to a mate, and he is using BC coilovers in his tegra.
He said, as it was adjustable he had it running smoother than stock. (softer).

I have heard that with adjustable coilovers you can both adjust the height and the stiffness of the ride. I would be looking to slightly lower the car (not by much though), and to make the ride softer for everyday use (I realise this would take away from cornering..). But as they are adjustable, if I wanted I could then tighten the suspension back up if I wanted to run with better cornering, eg. on a FTO cruise, or if I wanted to take in onto a track day?

Thoughts, opinions, should I even bother or will it do what I want?

My mate suggested these:
http://justjap.com/store/product.php?pr ... t=0&page=1

Re: Thoughts on making a softer ride

Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 10:16 pm
by vipfto
basically they will make it stiffer as i have them ;)

put it this way even if you have on softest settings it will still be rock hard unless you re-do spring rates to softer than factory spec

Re: Thoughts on making a softer ride

Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 10:31 pm
by bass_twitch
haha.. awesome.

Darn.. I kinda wanted to soften it up, with the ability to then harden if I liked.

Oh well, maybe I'll do my heater core then..

So are they any good (the BC coilovers?)

Re: Thoughts on making a softer ride

Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 11:21 pm
by evoman
I wanted to have a play around with coilovers so I purchased a set of these a few weeks ago.

I ordered them with custom spring rates of 4kg front /3kg rear. On the lower damper settings, these are quite comfortable even on 35 profile rubber. On the harder settings they are really nice and responsive but stupidly bouncy and very skittish over rough roads - I would say almost to the extent of being dangerous if you pushed them too far on such surfaces. There are a few things I want to check and play around with before I make a call on what they are definitely like though.

In all, as you are only talking about lowering them a little bit and moderate performance improvements, based on my experience so far I would suggest saving some coin and just getting a good spring shock setup.

Re: Thoughts on making a softer ride

Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 11:23 pm
by bass_twitch
Sounds good to me, suggestions? haha (I can see I am very quickly going to be directed to the massive suspension thread.. )

Re: Thoughts on making a softer ride

Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 4:39 am
by SG
If you want soft as evoman said you can get springs from even a quality brand like tein or what ever is available, some of these even have a narrowing coil at one or both ends to reduce small bumps as well as the large ones (coilover dont have those). And then buy an adjustable damper to go in and tune the shock absorbers. They give youthe little knob to turn at the top like coilovers, and you can buy adj camber tops seperately.

I think they would do ok on a track day but tyres make a big difference too...

Re: Thoughts on making a softer ride

Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 10:02 am
by koolio1234
I would personally stay away from coilovers if I was you unless you plan to track your fto regularly, I've had them and while their awesome around the bends, their not ideal for everyday if your after a comfy ride.

If you want to keep it comfy for daily usage try going king springs and kyb excel g shocks. Seems to be a good combo and still gives you an improved handling over stock.

my 2c

Re: Thoughts on making a softer ride

Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 11:34 am
by bass_twitch
Sweet thanks guys :)
I'll keep doing my research, but at least now I am heading in the right direction now.

It'll probably be cheaper too, any recommendations on what stores are good (I am in Schofields, Western Sydney)

Re: Thoughts on making a softer ride

Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 12:46 pm
by koolio1234
bass_twitch wrote:Sweet thanks guys :)
I'll keep doing my research, but at least now I am heading in the right direction now.

It'll probably be cheaper too, any recommendations on what stores are good (I am in Schofields, Western Sydney)
Check out Rally Equip in pendle hill, they work on lots of Mitsubishi's including heaps of evo's and do suspension, brakes, servicing, etc. They should be able to give you an idea.

513 Great Western Hwy
Pendle Hill, NSW 2145
Workshop located corner of intersection/traffic lights
Tel: 02 9636 6666

Re: Thoughts on making a softer ride

Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 12:51 pm
by bass_twitch
:thumright: Legend :) I'll give them a call in a few weeks once I get paid.

Any ideas on what I should be looking to pay for this kind of setup?

Re: Thoughts on making a softer ride

Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 1:02 pm
by evoman
For sale section on here is also a good place to visit mate lol

Re: Thoughts on making a softer ride

Posted: Thu Sep 09, 2010 1:59 pm
by koolio1234
bass_twitch wrote::thumright: Legend :) I'll give them a call in a few weeks once I get paid.

Any ideas on what I should be looking to pay for this kind of setup?
Last I checked

coilovers $1200-1400 (for the D4's, G4s, BCs, etc)

king springs/kyb shocks about $800-900 fitted

You'll have to get quotes off them, prices might have changed since I last checked.

Re: Thoughts on making a softer ride

Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 12:50 pm
by Gholdwayne
Both the bc premium and the springs+shocks are good depending on what you want them for.

I chose the bc as it was already a good package. I do admit, i should have picked a softer spring rate, but oh well. And i also wanted the lowness that the bc's could offer, just as low as i want them to make the car look good in conjunction with good offset.

Re: Thoughts on making a softer ride

Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 2:01 pm
by bass_twitch
so what kind of spring rate will make it softer than stock? (and or what do the numbers mean? haha)

Re: Thoughts on making a softer ride

Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 2:31 pm
by Bennoz
Im guessing you've got stock shocks that have done, oh I dunno, 160,000 odd kms yeah? Thats why they're hard, they're fucked. Seizing up.

Just go buy a set of KYB gas.

Re: Thoughts on making a softer ride

Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 3:08 pm
by bass_twitch
Bennoz wrote:Im guessing you've got stock shocks that have done, oh I dunno, 160,000 odd kms yeah? Thats why they're hard, they're fucked. Seizing up.

Just go buy a set of KYB gas.
Yep about 160000 and I'm pretty sure I need to redo my droplinks too..

KYB GAS, they are sounding good (just googled them..) Wouldn't be too much to buy and replace would they? (I really need to make some phone calls hey? haha, next week then.

Re: Thoughts on making a softer ride

Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 3:10 pm
by Bennoz
Yeah, they're about $500 for a full set of 4.

I'll swap 'em out for 2 cases of beer.

Re: Thoughts on making a softer ride

Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 5:48 pm
by Sweep
Bennoz wrote:Yeah, they're about $500 for a full set of 4.

I'll swap 'em out for 2 cases of beer.
Are you sure you dont want to move to Qld? :D

Re: Thoughts on making a softer ride

Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 6:24 pm
by Kustom
Sweep wrote:
Bennoz wrote:Yeah, they're about $500 for a full set of 4.

I'll swap 'em out for 2 cases of beer.
Are you sure you dont want to move to Qld? :D
I keep trying to convince him but no cookie....... yet

Re: Thoughts on making a softer ride

Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 6:51 pm
by Gholdwayne
This Bennoz is here to stay...

You have Simon :lol: