RS*R Sports-i coilovers - install & review

[dabocx]

Originally Posted by 7thgear

if you're doing this for looks only there are affordable alternatives

I do track the car a few times a year and honestly i havent heard much about lower cost options.
I just want something that can be fun around the track a few times a year and looks good. Not looking to be hellaflush/dumped but im not looking to break my local track records either.

[7thgear]

Originally Posted by dabocx

i havent heard much about lower cost options.

the forum is full of ads for BC, Megans, etc etc.

you can even do a Ground Control sleeve kit.

hell even a simple lowering spring on oem shocks is sufficient for your needs, no need to go crazy.

[ultra]

Originally Posted by 7thgear

the forum is full of ads for BC, Megans, etc etc.

you can even do a Ground Control sleeve kit.

hell even a simple lowering spring on oem shocks is sufficient for your needs, no need to go crazy.

True, there's certainly a lot of options out there for simply lowering the car.

IMO the RS*R coilovers would be a good option for somebody whose willing to pay a little extra for additional adjustability and more travel versus springs with good handling and good road manners on and off the track but who can't or doesn't feel like paying more for stuff like KW V3s or JRZs.

Where the 'sweet spot' on the spectrum is between price and performance will definitely depend on individual needs.

[ultra]

New alignment -

-1.2 camber front, 1/32 toe out
-1.7 camber rear, 0 toe

Same great front traction with just. a smidge more rotation in the rear.

Great street setup!

[Moto-P]

Very glad you are happy with the RSR Sports-i Club4AG Spec!

[ultra]

@Moto-P Thank you!

I've had these on the car for about 6 months now and still think they're great. They work very well with the other modifications I did to the car and I still feel that the ride and handling are perfect for my tastes. Haven't even bothered to fiddle with the ride height bcause the 'Moto-P' height seems to be perfect for real world use (zero clearance issues).

No desire to 'upgrade' whatsoever. No issues at all either.

The only thing I've changed from the original build is the brake pads. I didn't like the Hawk HP+ pads at all (too noisy and too rough on the pads plus less than ideal brake feel) so I switched to Ferodo DS2500s, which are excellent. Highly tecommend them.

[Mr.Jay]

@Moto-P Do another groupbuy!!!

looks great and awesome post/pics

[WWEVOX]

Ya, @Moto-P where can I get a set? Do all sportsi come preset for our cars?

[Moto-P]

Originally Posted by WWEVOX

Ya, @Moto-P where can I get a set? Do all sportsi come preset for our cars?

There's actually a Pre-Sale going on where you pay about the same price as the old group buy, $1799 and you get free gifts like hoodies and emblems. Just go to www.FRS86.com or RSRUSA directly. There's about a dozen sets for FRS/BRZ Sports-i coming on a boat, in May, and if you order before April 30th, you save a TON on shipping because they will be in-stock items. All RSR i-Shock line are usually air freighted to custom orders, but this time, there is a chance to get them pre-set with Club4AG (my spec) and ready to go, with very little shipping cost.

[WWEVOX]

Thanks @Moto-P I just put my order in. I wonder though, what my camber will end up at if I change the drop to Tada-san's recommended -20mm. Will I still need the front and rear camber kit and will toe or caster be affected with this coilover?

[Moto-P]

Originally Posted by WWEVOX

Thanks @Moto-P I just put my order in. I wonder though, what my camber will end up at if I change the drop to Tada-san's recommended -20mm. Will I still need the front and rear camber kit and will toe or caster be affected with this coilover?

The RSR Sports-i comes with a rubber bushing top for the reason of making it very streetable. Roads in LA are pretty harsh and even most of the local racetracks in California and most of USA is not made of glass like those akin to FIA certified Grand Prix courses. So equipping the Sports-i with hard ball joints were out of the question, when they asked me for my suggestions for the USA roads and tracks. As much as manufacturers want to promote the hard racing parts like ball jointed ends and uppers, I like the feel of a smooth predictable transition in corners and just keeping the chassis damages under control.

As for the camber settings at the very top, there is a flip-flop two-position plate where you can set the unit at near zero camber or 1.5 degrees positive. If you are inclined on racing the FRS on the raceway or autocross, the 1.5 position works well, and the rest of the finer tuning of alignment can be done with crash bolts at the lower mount available from Subaru. The dynamic toe and caster will remain unchanged and should be reset after installation. We're not throwing those specs out of range and factory adjustability in terms of dynamic movement range.

As with any suspension where the ride height is altered, we do recommend getting a good alignment job after install, and while camber is only adjustable to a limit of the arms, the FRS handling is actually really nice at 20~40mm drop where rears naturally camber out to about 2.0~2.5 degrees and beyond. For those who want the pitching oversteer similar to how the FRS comes out of the box, you can drop the front about 5~7 mm and leave the rear that much higher without making changes, to make the weight bias a bit more to the front, and see that come right back.

Don't worry, my intention and focus on the design of these dampers (Sports-i) was to preserve the handling manners that is so fun about the FR-S, and not worry too much about chasing after trophies as much as having the car perform for the joy of driving, and to lower the car a bit to achieve the proper balance that was designed into the FT86 platform by conceptual design.

I chose RS-R as a choice of manufacturer to create the Club4AG spec, as they were always focused less on mass market volume appeal, and using quality in-house design and manufacturing at reasonable price-point of sub-$2500, where they can match the design and function of systems that cost $4000+ using monotubes that are custom-calibrated for each platform, and R&D'ed by qualified engineers from Japan Rally to GT500.

[Moto-P]

I've gotten a lot of comments/questions on the comparative reason to choose this or KW's V3. Here's my take on that.

The KW-V3 is very effective for people deeply into racing the car, and the double adjust will cater to a huge range of racing use and preparing the FRS for pin-point handling characteristics that people in those category want. However, with very little resources and knowledge, dealing with double-adjust can be a little daunting and is easy to end up with wrong settings. So for the guys who know what they are doing and want to CHANGE how the FRS handles to a greater extent needed for specific type of racing or regulations, by all means I think they work great.

For the RS-R we preferred to make the damper rebound and compression balance curve ideal for the purpose of mild track and street use. The ranges of this single adjustment retain a progressive curve and preset change to keep things simple for the user. It is designed specifically for the FRS/BRZ so there shouldn't be a need to throw it out of this balance unless there is a specific need like for the people who use the KW-V3, who can use it effectively in very specific motorsports use.
Keep in mind, that the V3's work fine in the street, but due to the twin-tube design, the damping is a bit more linear, and track setting might be a bit jittery for street use in places like USA where the roads are really bumpy, but I'm supposing these individuals can keep setting the dials on the V3 to make it work to their needs each time. It does work fine and I did that for years on my AE86 with which I was actually chasing trophies and became less of a street car each time I had to ascend to another level of tune.

One thing about the V3 though that I hesitate is the fact that the height adjustment is performed only at the spring perch. While the range of adjustment on the piston/shell is big due to the twin-tube design, we can't really play with preloads on the spring against the body, and therefore there is a limit on where the shock needs to be in relation to the springs. (So in reality, there isn't a huge height adjustability at all if you need shocks and travel to be ideally operational as designed.)

In contrast, the RSR is a double-tapped unit, and the spring perch and preload adjustment is independent of the stroke range with bottom bracket adjustable against the shock body position. So the shock positions remain ideally positioned to the spring and body and height change will not alter the spring preload, which is actually pretty important on a system like for FRS where the rear shocks are so short to start. The advantage of having this type of adjustment is simple. We get to play with ride height for handling as well as simply for visual sake for body kits or wheels and styling tastes without having to worry about changing the basic parameter of the suspension much. I felt this WAS very important to most of us who love to play with ride height on our street cars.

So I think there is a very specific place where the KW's higher end units are really effective and it may be something I might use on a car that has a bit more of a specific role in certain stage of motorsports or in making a race car. The Sports-i by RS-R is really then, is simply made to be a least hassle and preserving the best part of the car as a road car for the every day use.

The focus on MY part in making the Club4AG spec, was not to cater then specifically for the motorsports scene and chasing trophies, but to cater to the 90% of the FRS owners who would want the FRS intact in feel, and more doing the things that wasn't feasible by the designers, with the $25,000 ceiling price-tag constraints with the car. I wanted the RS-R suspension to go beyond that and enable the untapped capacities of the great chassis as a sports car, by giving it a nice set of shocks that Porsche and BMW can equip on the $50,000 cars, and unleashing the comfort levels, precision, predictability and the resulting confidence, that was not available at $25,000 constraint.

[Moto-P]

Awesome guys! Hope others will like the way I set this system up!

[Figo]

SO RSR coilover does not come with camber plate?