Q: Best single adjustable coils with great ride AND handling?

[ultra]

Currently running RSR Sports-I 'Moto Spec' cool overs. I've had them on the car for almost 2 years and they're a great all around daily and track coilover. I normally run them at full soft on both street and track. They do work very well that way.

I recently got a job that's going to involve a very long 1 hour (each way) highway commute so I'm looking at coilover options to get an even better ride with as little (or no) sacrifice in terms of handling as possible.

Yes, a dedicated highway car would be nice but I can't do a two car garage. My 86 is all paid off so I'd rather just keep using it and not sell it in order to buy a better or different car.

I do 18s and a BBK but due to the BBK's size swapping down to 17 inch wheels and higher profile rubber won't work for me. 17s don't fit.

So I'm looking at coilover options.

My criteria:
- Single adjustable. I track but I'm no suspension guru. I'm happy tuning alignments, tire pressures and adding a few clicks of damping here or there but setting up 2 or 3 way dampers properly is just out of my skill range.

- No spherical bearing upper mounts if possible. I find that hard upper mounts eventually clunk and rattle and I have other ways to get negative camber.

- Best ride possible. Lots of driving to do and I need to rock up at work fresh faced and ready to rock. NVH is the enemy.

- Best handling possible. I track maybe 3-8 times per year. I've been tracking cars for more than 10 years now so these 'unicorn dampers' must be track worthy. If it takes a few clicks of adjustment to move from a street to track setup that's fine. If they handle like crap that's just no good.

- I don't run R compound rubber ever so I don't need spring rates to handle that much grip. I do run Michelin PS2s as my fave all around tire, Hankook RS3s if I'm feeling competitive.

- Cost no objet. I know my requirements are tough to meet (contradictory even) so I'm willing to pay for something that does the job. No BS Taiwanese 26 click adjustable BS coilovers.

Like I said I have RSR sports-i installed already and they're pretty dang good, just looking for something even better.

So, any ideas? Recommendations welcome. Recommendations from folks who've driven various coilover setups (ideally including the RSRs) most welcome.

[DAEMANO]

Trouble is you're in a very narrow category here.

I am running RS-R Sports-i right now. Tough thing is to get a better ride and equal or better performance it's likely you're going to have to step up considerably in cost. You could step down in cost and get ST coilovers which are very softly sprung and quite comfortable, but offer a lower performance envelope.

Many people mention Ohlins R&T as being comfortable and also very capable. I've heard though that my car (on RSRs) rides very similarly on the highway to an Ohlin's R&T equipped FR-S. I'm sure on the track the Ohlin's offer a higher performance envelope. Price about $2800 -$3100.

User @DougW was initially working on integrating Bilstein Damptronic for our platform. Later he moved on to working towards DSC Sports electronic damper offerings. That project looks to have stalled with no updates from Doug in a while. This would have probably been the ultimate setup for comfort and performance. http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77604

There are a couple of other companies offering electronically adjustable damping (Tein EDFC Pro on the low end and AST on the higher end). I don't know much about the AST offering.

Tein also offers a "Touring" version of their MonoSport damper but I have a feeling that these would be less comfortable than the RSR's you already have due to their higher spring rate and similar price point $1650.

Sorry if that didn't help much. All I can say is that I did the same research for a looong time and ended up at RS-R Sports-i as the answer that suited me best. There's simply not a lot of options out there, unless you're willing to custom spring and valve your own setup. Maybe one of the vendors here can assist. @CSG David @CSG Mike @Racecomp Engineering , @Moto-P

[Sleepless]

Must be a nasty highway if you need a better ride. On a decent highway, you shouldn't need much in the way of comfort (I drive my car from the track on the highway at full stiff!).

[Kotu100]

Love my Black-i's in terms of ride and handling.
Earlier this year i drove 5800 miles on them in just 10 days with a friend of mine riding shotgun the whole time. Neither of us had any complaints, even having driven on virtually every different type of road possible.

Unfortunately i don't have any experience with other suspension other than stock, but i'm curious as to what contenders will rise up to the challenge.

[ajc209]

JRZ1 with softish springs. AST5100 with soft springs or maybe the upcoming penskes with soft springs. All those will need to be valved for soft springs to perform the best.

[ajc209]

With stock top mounts

[ultra]

@DAEMANO I have a creeping feeling that Ohlins might be the only other game in (my imaginary) town as well. Trouble is that I have no clue whether they'd be that much better.
@ajc209 I've seen the threads on the upcoming Penskes...Raceseng mentioned that they'd be doing a single adjustable but it doesn't seem they're out yet.

I've had @CSGMike suggest that their CSG Teins can be set up to ride extremely well even with stiff springs but I'm nowhere near their level of setup genius.

Problem with our highways is that we get do get some pretty weird surfaces due to repairs and reconstruction and stuff. Huge PITA when you crash over those areas. Some rough areas too where the whole car vibrates on stiff springs.

That commute is going to be a PITA but work's work. Damp tropic or Magnaeide shocks like the Corvette has would have been awesome but hey. I'd hate to sell off the 86 for a highway yacht. Let's see.

Anyone tried both the Ohlins and the RSRs?

[CSG Mike]

I'd recommend JRZ RS with lower spring rates, maybe 7k/8k.

*edit*

I totally brain farted and missed the single adjustable. RS1 would be my recommendation as well.

[Racecomp Engineering]

JRZ RS1. Still one of the best riding set-ups I've ever driven for this car. And we could spec a set that was even comfier still. Dig around for my write-up on them from way back. We ran them with stock top mounts too.

- Andrew

[wootwoot]

What's the warranty lik on the JRZ's? How much are rebuilds?

[ultra]

Huge thanks guys! I'll look into these JRZ RS1s.

$4k coilovers actually make sense in my warped little world because I own my 86 outright, so if I can make my car work on the highway I don't need another car, which saves me another car loan (and losing all my fun).

Edit: what are the out of the box spring rates on the RS1s for our application? Searching but thought I'd ask.

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by ultra

Huge thanks guys! I'll look into these JRZ RS1s.

$4k coilovers actually make sense in my warped little world because I own my 86 outright, so if I can make my car work on the highway I don't need another car, which saves me another car loan (and losing all my fun).

Edit: what are the out of the box spring rates on the RS1s for our application? Searching but thought I'd ask.

They're all made to order; they can be customed to you based on your application and goal.

Have you considered a 2 way? You'll get better comfort out of the RS than RS1, given identical spring rates.

[ultra]

Originally Posted by CSG Mike

They're all made to order; they can be customed to you based on your application and goal.

Have you considered a 2 way? You'll get better comfort out of the RS than RS1, given identical spring rates.

I haven't really considered a 2 way because I have no clue how to set them up optimally. I'd literally be copy/pasting settings off the net and hoping for the best, like I did with the KWV3s on my Evo.

I could learn sure - maybe. I'm just not into that whole 'track day > datalog > analyze > research > alignment/tire shop > track day' weekly loop any more.

Instead I like to show up at a track day every now and then, twiddle some knobs between sessions maybe, enjoy and then disappear back onto the streets for a few weeks or a month.

Well aware that there is no magic unicorn here, just trying to problem solve.

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by ultra

I haven't really considered a 2 way because I have no clue how to set them up optimally. I'd literally be copy/pasting settings off the net and hoping for the best, like I did with the KWV3s on my Evo.

I could learn sure - maybe. I'm just not into that whole 'track day > datalog > analyze > research > alignment/tire shop > track day' weekly loop any more.

Instead I like to show up at a track day every now and then, twiddle some knobs between sessions maybe, enjoy and then disappear back onto the streets for a few weeks or a month.

Well aware that there is no magic unicorn here, just trying to problem solve.

If yuo're willing to dedicate a few hours to adjusting and dialing in the coilovers on the street when it's completely empty, I can walk you through the process.

There is no "one size fits all", unfortunately, when the coilovers are made specific to each application.