A discussion on improving ride quality

[Kostamojen]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

custom Bilstein B6 and RCE Yellows, whatever floats your boat.

- Andy

Hmm... B6's not B8's?

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by Kostamojen

Hmm... B6's not B8's?

If they're going to be custom valved, then yes.

- Andy

[cdrazic93]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

They're simply not a shock designed for dude's going grocery shopping.

- Andy

Even if im shopping for car parts....

[cdrazic93]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

I guess what I'm getting at is...if I had unlimited dollars to spend on suspension for a daily driver and occasional track day BRZ...would I get 4 way motorsports JRZs?

Well yeah maybe . Because racecar, squirrels, and bragging.

BUT the smarter thing to do would be something like Bilstein PSS10, Ohlins R&T, RCE Tarmac 2. At a lower cost, RCE T0, custom Bilstein B6 and RCE Yellows, whatever floats your boat.

- Andy

There is no way I would spend more than what the RS1 are worth for suspension. I havent lived long enough to be able to test the difference between some nice setups, so that'd be good enough for me. Sure if I had the downforce to keep a truck on the road and the ground clearance of a pencil, yes id get the 1431's or Penske 4 ways.

As far as I remember, didn't the Penske engineer say there's some 7500 series 2 ways that can be made for this platform? that'd be right in the ballpark of the Ohlins R&T.

[wired]

Hey!

thread I've been trying to find a decent discussion about this for a while.

Unfortunately, even after 14 pages (well, less, there was that banned user incident that messed things up) I'm still not 100% sure what I need to do to solve what is basically my only problem with my 2015 FR-S right now:

It feels as if the front does not want to stay on the road properly. It's subtle, but there's a consistent up/down jerkiness on most roads - unfortunately roads in California suck. The worst thing is, since I noticed it, I can't... un-notice it. It annoys the hell out of me.

I used to drive an RX-8 and I never had this issue. I don't care about potholes or big bumps, I usually try to avoid them anyway. It's the slightly uneven road causing the front of the car to move up and down that I can't stand.

I really need to fix this, but I don't want to mess up the car's handling. This is a sports car, I want it to handle like a sports car, but I'm pretty sure it should be able to provide a decent DD ride as well.

People in this thread seem to have tried a lot of stuff to improve this.

What do you guys think would be the most straightforward solution? Strut bar? Springs?
I'd rather not change wheels or spend 6k for this, btw

Thanks!

[Sellout]

I'd rather not change wheels or spend 6k for this

In that case, I think the best ride quality you can get is going to come from a set of Koni yellows adjusted to a pretty soft level. I ran then with Eibach Pro-Kit springs and enjoyed the ride quite a bit.

[donoman]

Originally Posted by wired

Hey!

thread I've been trying to find a decent discussion about this for a while.

Unfortunately, even after 14 pages (well, less, there was that banned user incident that messed things up) I'm still not 100% sure what I need to do to solve what is basically my only problem with my 2015 FR-S right now:

It feels as if the front does not want to stay on the road properly. It's subtle, but there's a consistent up/down jerkiness on most roads - unfortunately roads in California suck. The worst thing is, since I noticed it, I can't... un-notice it. It annoys the hell out of me.

I used to drive an RX-8 and I never had this issue. I don't care about potholes or big bumps, I usually try to avoid them anyway. It's the slightly uneven road causing the front of the car to move up and down that I can't stand.

I really need to fix this, but I don't want to mess up the car's handling. This is a sports car, I want it to handle like a sports car, but I'm pretty sure it should be able to provide a decent DD ride as well.

People in this thread seem to have tried a lot of stuff to improve this.

What do you guys think would be the most straightforward solution? Strut bar? Springs?
I'd rather not change wheels or spend 6k for this, btw

Thanks!

Best thing for you to do is to test drive a BRZ and see if you fee better. If so pick up a set of BRZ suspension for $200 used and swap it in. Unfortunately the next choice is going to cost you quite a bit more money. You can also test drive an older '86 to see if you like that suspension better but your 2015 is supposed to have improved ride quality already...

[wired]

Originally Posted by Sellout

In that case, I think the best ride quality you can get is going to come from a set of Koni yellows adjusted to a pretty soft level. I ran then with Eibach Pro-Kit springs and enjoyed the ride quite a bit.

That's probably going to be my second attempt to fix this.

First I'm gonna try GrimmSpeed's Strut Tower Brace, ordered one today.
I read a few reviews / impressions from fellow forum members.
This one was really promising: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...3&postcount=40

I have a feeling it may solve my problem.

Originally Posted by donoman

Best thing for you to do is to test drive a BRZ and see if you fee better. If so pick up a set of BRZ suspension for $200 used and swap it in. Unfortunately the next choice is going to cost you quite a bit more money. You can also test drive an older '86 to see if you like that suspension better but your 2015 is supposed to have improved ride quality already...

Test-driving the BRZ would give me additional insight on things, so I may try that at some point, thanks I'd also be interested in riding in the passenger seat of an FR-S with custom suspension parts to see how it feels.

I'll follow up with more comments when I get the Strut Tower Brace.

[KoolBRZ]

Originally Posted by wired

Hey!

thread I've been trying to find a decent discussion about this for a while.

Unfortunately, even after 14 pages (well, less, there was that banned user incident that messed things up) I'm still not 100% sure what I need to do to solve what is basically my only problem with my 2015 FR-S right now:

It feels as if the front does not want to stay on the road properly. It's subtle, but there's a consistent up/down jerkiness on most roads - unfortunately roads in California suck. The worst thing is, since I noticed it, I can't... un-notice it. It annoys the hell out of me.

I used to drive an RX-8 and I never had this issue. I don't care about potholes or big bumps, I usually try to avoid them anyway. It's the slightly uneven road causing the front of the car to move up and down that I can't stand.

I really need to fix this, but I don't want to mess up the car's handling. This is a sports car, I want it to handle like a sports car, but I'm pretty sure it should be able to provide a decent DD ride as well.

People in this thread seem to have tried a lot of stuff to improve this.

What do you guys think would be the most straightforward solution? Strut bar? Springs?
I'd rather not change wheels or spend 6k for this, btw

Thanks!

This fix is free!
Before you jump to conclusions try this out; jack up your car on jackstands and completely remove the front anti-sway bar and end links. You'll still have some anti-sway from the rear bar, but you won't have anymore cross-talk from the front sway bar. I removed mine yesterday and installed stiffer springs with Bilstein HD struts that I had previously found "intolerable". The ride should have been much worse, but instead is definitely better. There is a hollow 16mm front sway bar sold as a replacement that is 19% softer. I'm not getting much leaning yet so I'm not going to worry. I will remove the rear sway bar as well to see what that adds to the mix. The problem isn't the struts or springs, it's the sway bars. They're too stiff for the street, and too soft for the track.

[EAGLE5]

You mean they're a compromise?

[xxBrun0xx]

Wanted to bump this thread because there is a lot of good info there for those of us concerned with ride quality. Even though I've started AutoX, I still want a comfortable DD. Currently have a 14 BRZ with TRD springs on stock struts. Would upgrading struts without replacing the TRD's improve ride quality? The issue I have is that since replacing stock springs, the headrests are pretty much unuseable, but the ride isn't jarring or even harsh. I'm thinking this is a damping issue, but not really sure.

[chaoskaze]

^ If you go with bilstein b8 it should improve overall feel. B8 is design to work with lowering springs. I'm no expert on this, can someone else elaborate for me ?. XD

*I feel stock damper is actually very nice for a non-adjustable OEM unit. It's just that it only workes very well in this small specific range.