AST 4150

[Jive Turkey]

i'll post a review as i get more seat time, we just put them in and i haven't gotten the cahnce to really drive the car.

these are brought to me thanks to @AZP Installs and Michelle over at AST.

i don't have much to say except that i didn't think the car could get much better than it was on the KW v3's but boy was i wrong. The AST's are a whole 'nother world. these are AST 4150. single adjustables. according to AST they could be upgraded to double for those of you who would want by adding external reservoirs. the suspension is still settling a bit but off the ride is not as plush as the KW's but i personally like it a lot better. the rates are 6k front 7k rear. Group-N sti front top hats, GR sti rear top hats.

the dampening on full soft makes for a very nice ride, its not jarring over bumps but it feels solid. i wouldn't call it soft, but its nice. i turned it up to 7/12 and it was incredibly stiff and borderline bouncy on the streets around here (new jersey roads are horrendous right now)

here are photos, i'll update with a full review once i get the car settled/aligned/out to some Driving events.












-ivan

[Racecomp Engineering]

Looking good. No rear helpers?

- Andy

[Jive Turkey]

nope, i asked myself the same thing when i got them.

[ShoShin]

interested in hearing more about these!

[Jesse@JDLAutodesign]

Same here...looking to upgrade my v3's soon and right now leaning towards the Ohlins..

[Vinnito1]

I have been looking into Ast/MCS/Ohlins as well. I called around a few Shops around Dallas to see who could rebuild these types of shocks. The places I talked to we're not willing to rebuild the Ohlins DFV due to difficulty compared to the AST/MCS. Anyone care to comment who has first hand knowledge on this topic. I plan to keep my car for several years and this why I was asking about rebuilding. But the Ohlins are at least $500 cheaper than the other two. AST at the moment has quicker lead time than MCS.

[solidONE]

Nice! I've been jocking these since I heard about them and checked out their specs. Nice to finally read a review. Do you do track days or autocross? How do they stack up against the KW v3s when driven hard or quick pace?

I pretty sure what the answer is going to be, but I want to hear it from experienced owner of both systems as opposed to people who are associated with vendors (no offense meant to vendors that are active on this forum). Thanks!

[cdrazic93]

sooo...how would these suckers compare to the RS1's?

[Wepeel]

Very nice. I ran the TiC version of the 4100 on my GR STI. I'm surprised that the 4150s ride harsher than the KW, I would not have expected that. Definitely interested in more of your impressions.

[Krovi]

Excited to hear more about their performance, I plan on getting AST 5100s for my car.

[Jive Turkey]

so the suspension settle quite a bit over this weekend.

i took a 350mile trip to WBM, on the way there i took the merrit prkway (twisty two lane highway)

and also i've been driving my usual local route to compare them to kw's.

all i can say is wow. they feel incredible. on the long trip i wasn't beat up from the ride. while at times the ride was harsh on uneven pavement (they were redoing the road) the car wasn't bouncing around, and it wasn't jarring. its a very composed ride, but like i said before its not as "plush" as on the V3's and i knew that going into it so its really not a harsh transition.

right now i have the front set to full soft and the rear 3 click from full soft. the car drives incredible. its very planted, and feels that way. gives me a lot of confidence and honestly makes normal driving boring because its just so damn planted there's no drama, its just that good.


did a few spirited drives where i know what speed/gear to enter into the turn (i remember what i did with the kw's) and on the AST's it blows all that out of the water. corners and twisties that got my heart racing before are now mellow and it doesn't even feel like the car is working hard to get through it. its beautiful, i dont know how else to describe it. the cars limits are now so damn high its mind blowing, after this suspension i'm in love with the brz all over again.

AST recently released tophats for the BRZ so i'll be switching up tophats with in the week. for now i still have to drive it a bit more because like i said, the suspension settled a lot and i think after a few more trips it should be good to for its final alignment.

but overall my initial impressions are all positive. this is the best suspension i've yet to experience first hand and its mind blowingly good.

if anyone is local, i'd be more than happy to meet up or drop by @AZP Installs on saturdays!

-ivan

[solidONE]

How much have the springs and damper assembly sagged? Also what brand springs were included? Glad to hear you are enjoying them! So many good choices for quality coilovers now.

[Jive Turkey]

the springs are whatever AST provided, i didn't upgrade to swifts or etc.

by sagged you mean settle? maybe a 1/4 so far but i haven't really beaten on the suspension yet.

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by Wepeel

Very nice. I ran the TiC version of the 4100 on my GR STI. I'm surprised that the 4150s ride harsher than the KW, I would not have expected that. Definitely interested in more of your impressions.

I was pretty impressed with TIC's AST 4100's.

- Andy