RS*R Sports-i coilovers - install & review

[ultra]

Sorry that this is so long but I'm only going to do this whole review thing once, so might as well do it right.

These RS*R Sports-i coilovers are a key part of a bigger picture so I figure it's best to go over the objective of this 'build' and to highlight the other parts that are at play here besides the coilovers. Hard to evaulate success without context and criteria after all.





My goal was to modify my car in such a way that the handling is improved for both street AND track while maintaining practicality and keeping costs under control. I'm a pretty serious driver but car is my daily and not a dedicated hard core track/competition oriented machine so I thought I'd build it towards my actual needs. Most importantly, I wanted to enhance the car's handling without absolutely destroying Tada-san's masterpiece.

Let’s go through what you’re seeing here step by step then:




Rolling stock:

Wheels – 18 inch OZ Ultraleggeras. I chose these wheels because they’re lighter than the stock 17 inch rims (which the chassis is set up for), they fit perfectly and look great without screaming ‘aftermarket’. They’re also great quality and relatively easy to replace (unlike obscure offset, exotic JDM rims).

Tires - 225/40/18 Continental Sport Contact 2 on each corner. Yeah I could get more ultimate grip with Michelin Pilot Super Sports or Star Specs etc. but the Contis offer a nice combination of more grip, excellent feel, longevity and price.




Suspension - The original plan was to swap in springs which were tuned to work with the factory dampers but these RS*R coil overs were too good to resist. They’re a single adjustable Motonotube type damper with solid rubber top hats (no camber plates to avoid NVH and reliability issues for daily driving) and custom valving to match the relatively mild spring rates of 5k in front and 6k in the rear.





You might be familiar with this particular configuration as the 'Moto-spec' units. I felt that these were just right for my needs - better handling and comfort for both track and imperfect street surfaces.

The build quality on these things is amazing and the price falls nicely between the cheap Taiwanese dampers and higher end, more adjustable units like KWs or JRZs.




One of the fatal flaws with the 86/BRZ platform is that here’s no camber adjustability built in. None whatsoever. The stock alignment is also a little odd, with zero camber up front and quite a bit of camber in the rear.

To get the most out of the new (lower) suspension and stickier rubber we need the ability to be able to adjust the geometry, so Whiteline camber bolts and camber adjustable rear bushings are going on the front and rear of the car, respectively. Why no camber plates or adjustable rear arms? Price is one factor, but poor reliability on real world roads is the deciding factor here. Anything with pillow balls in it is, in my opinion, only a good idea on the track.





There’s also a fair amount of compliance and deflection designed into some of the OEM factory bushings so I decided to add AVO urethane front control arm and front caster bushings in the front for more steering precision and better turn in. Reviews of the AVO bushings claim no discernible increase in ride harshness and vibration with these installed but even so I’m willing to accept a bit more harshness in exchange for laser-precise steering.

Whiteline rear subframe bushings are being installed in order to lock down the rear end a bit given that the OEM subframe bushings allow quite a bit of flex and movement in the subframe under harsh acceleration and high Gs. This may well tune out some of the ‘playfulness’ at the rear of the car but the upside will hopefully be a more planted and confidence inspiring balance overall




Brakes - Hawk HP+ brake pads front & rear plus AP Racing DOT 5.1 brake fluid


People who have experience tracking the 86 seem pretty unanimous in their opinion that the stock brakes aren’t quite up to proper track use. A simple pad and fluid swap will hopefully allow me to attend the odd track day with confidence.

Note: UAE market 86s with manual gearboxes use non-ventilated rear callers from the MY 2008 Subaru WRX so take care when ordering track pads! Oddly, UAE spec cars with automatic transmissions get better rear calipers, identical to the ones on all US market 86s.


That's it for the ingredients then...on to the taste testing.

[ultra]

In the pics you can see the fitment of the coilovers (natch) as well as the orange Avo bushings on the front control arms and the Whiteline rear camber correction & subframe bushings out back. We also added Goodridge SS lines and AP Racing DOT 5 fluid in addition to the pads to round out the 'brakes' part of the deal (only later on did I come to regret running the Hawk HP+ pads on the street).

You may notice that the front shocks are actually rotated 'backwards' at the top to gain camber. Not sure if this is intended by RS*R but they fit perfectly and it seems to work. You can see the OEM crash bolts on up front too.

In the end, the alignment specs were:

Front camber: -1.2 degrees
Front toe: 0.05 degrees toe out

Rear camber: -1.5 degrees
Rear toe: 0.75 degrees toe in

Damper settings:

Height: Out of the box (Moto-P spec so roughly 36mm front & 32mm rear drop)
Front damping: 36 clicks soft (Moto-P spec)
Rear damping: 24 clicks soft (Moto-P spec)

[ultra]

The verdict -

The first thought that went through my head when I picked the car up was 'had I just spent a whole lot of time and money only to ruin the feel of the 86? '

It was a *very* long afternoon at work that day as I waited to get off so I could hit some proper windy roads.

After some 'getting used to' the new setup it became pretty apparent that the car's handling was on a whole other dynamic level than before. With the current setup the car has absolutely astounding turn in, grip and balance. It behaves less like a puppy sniffing on a leash and more like a trained doberman. The dynamics of the car when *properly* driven (i.e. braking correctly, using weight transfer and following proper lines) are much more precise and predictable - nearly flawless and on an entirely different level that the stock car. The thing just turns and turns and grips and grips seemingly forever while remaining relentlessly neutral and composed. When I'm pushing it hard on some twisty, dark road it no longer feels like it's waiting to bite me. It's much more of an ally now and less of a nemesis.

It's certainly possible to hit a wall of initial understeer if you overcook a corner but when doing things properly behind the wheel the car 'flows' much better than the original. It's still a huge joy to manage the weight transfer in order too point the chassis and absolutely slice corners to bits without end but now it's easier to do and you're going faster while doing it. It's easy to tease the tail of the car into play as well but it's less sudden and more finely controllable and catchable than before. You DO lose a good bit of the OEM on-centre steering feel but it's a good trade, since it's exactly the same sort of fun to drive fast as the OEM setup except more composed, more confidence inspiring and, yes, even MORE fun!

The tires, alignment and bushings probably have a lot to do with the car's added grip and sharper cornering behaviour but where I think I can see the quality of the RS*R shocks (in my opinion) is in the way in which they maintain the ability of the front and rear end of the car to play together in complete harmony despite the greater body control, higher cornering speeds and higher grip levels. You'd expect reduced body roll and firmer damping with any set coilovers on the market but in this case I'm happy (and relieved) to say that the car has retained it's fundamental good balance and fun-to-drive character intact, with a nice added drop of confidence inspiring control and without any drawbacks over stock as far as I can tell. It drives a lot like a Porsche now, come to think of it.

One thing I did get one thing very wrong - the brake pads. The Hawk HP+ pads did provide more stopping power and braking endurance but at the cost of tons of dusting, squeaking and rapid rotor wear. I managed to make them fade and smoke pretty easily during a couple of my backroad blasts yet they were also horribly grabby on the street when not up to temp. The complete lack of progressiveness and histrionics made the car more irritating to drive that it should have been at anything less than 8/10ths or more so I'm back on OEM pads for the street now and much happier - if anything the progressiveness of the OEM brakes adds the last bit of honey to an already pretty sweet setup, even if the stock pads do lack bite.

In conclusion:

Does this setup meet my own goal of higher performance for both street and track without sacrificing comfort or compromising the car's character in any way? Having drivin the car for a week now in a variety of conditions I can say Yes. Absolutely. Worth every dime, and I'm liking it more and more as the days go by.


I'd like to thank @Moto-P for the hookup on the RS*Rs!

[FRS-HHH]

nice whats the price for these beauties ?

[Captain Insano]

Great review and info. Thanks!!

[ultra]

Thank you

They were 1700 bucks plus shipping as part of the Moto-P group buy...I think you can order them from RS*R in the same spec for 1900 bucks plus shipping.

I didn't want to cheap out on coilivers that might ruin the car but at the same time I didn't want to worry about setting up a double adjustable shock like a KW V3.

I'd never really heard of RS*R but It seemed like Moto-P and RS*R put in a good effort setting these up for our cars specifically so I decided to try then out as opposed to going Tein etc.

So far I'm not disappointed one bit - they behave exactly as Moto-P described them.

[ultra]

Update: thinking of tweaking the alignment a bit & looking for input.

Idea in my head is:
-2.0 camber front + zero toe
-1.5 camber rear + zero toe

Alternatively I might be interested to see what just zeroing the toe on my current setup might do, i.e.:
-1.2 camber front + zero toe
-1.5 camber rear + zero toe

Looking to increase front grip and loosen up the rear a hair.

Again, this would be a daily driven + occasional weekend track hero setup.

Thoughts?

Also open to brake pad recommendations.

[dabocx]

How much lower can you go from where you are? Id want something that can go a tad lower than that.

[ultra]

I can go 10mm lower in front and 7mm lower in the rear according to RS*R, from a 'good handling' perspective. Mechanically it might be possible to go even lower.

We noticed during the install that the geometry of the car changes a LOT when you lower it ...not just the camber but also the angles of the arms and driveshafts - roll centers and stuff. If you go lower you'd probably be wise to look at camber plates and adjustable arms in the rear if you're not willing to accept weird camber.

My car actually looks lower IRL than it does in the pics. It's not terribly aggressive - almost looks OEM. Might try lower some day but I'm liking where it's at at the moment both looks & handling wise. No issues with speed bumps and stuff at this height either.

Also noticed that my wheels are tucking in a bit due to the added camber, so it'd be possible to run lower offset and/or wider rims as well if you're after an aggressive look.

[frsguy707]

I installed mine a few weeks back and I must say they are great. You did a very nice write up thanks.

[ultra]

Originally Posted by frsguy707

I installed mine a few weeks back and I must say they are great. You did a very nice write up thanks.

Thanks man.

What kind of damper settings, ride height & camber are you running with yours?

[dabocx]

Really looking into these now, im looking for a nice flush look on some 18s. Nothing super hella flush just a nice stance. Luckly i dont encounter dips and speedbumps in my area

[7thgear]

Originally Posted by dabocx

Really looking into these now, im looking for a nice flush look on some 18s. Nothing super hella flush just a nice stance. Luckly i dont encounter dips and speedbumps in my area

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

[frsguy707]

Originally Posted by ultra

Thanks man.

What kind of damper settings, ride height & camber are you running with yours?

Well height wise I stuck with motos setup, as for the damper settings I stuck with 12 in the back and 18 in the front a nice balanced ride lol. And not to stiff