Suspension Review: Hotchkis Sport Springs
 

Product: Hotchkis Sport Suspension Sport Springs
Front: 1.0" (rate: 3.3kg/mm)
Rear: 1.0" (rate: 4.7kg/mm)
Part No: 19445
MSRP: $220.95

http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/6...ubarubrzsp.jpg

Driving Impressions:
Been test driving Hotchkis Sport Springs for over 1000 miles with awesome results. The ride quality is excellent. Harshness is slightly increased due to spring rate increase, but it is hardly noticeable. I do not feel the need to avoid bumps in the road or slow down for railroad tracks. I have confidence knowing that I have plenty of suspension travel.

From driving in stock suspension configuration, I've noticed that the FR-S is fairly highly sprung to begin with given it's light weight and low center of gravity. Coupled with limited grip stock primacy tires made for easy oversteer when provoked. With the Hotchkis springs, the car feels more neutral and stable at higher cornering speeds.

Steering response has improved noticeably. You are able to change directions faster for quick transitions. I've been on the track and autocrossed with the springs and I am very happy with the results. You will start to feel the limit of the tires much quicker, which brings the need for stickier tires for competition. However, the stock tires are fine on the road with these springs. The spring rates feel great with the OE damping, so stock shocks work well with the Hotchkis springs. :thumbsup:

I've driven a stock BRZ and really liked how stable it felt compared to the FR-S. With the Hotchkis springs, my FR-S feels closer to the BRZ as far as balance goes.

Here is some of the suspension behavior I noticed with the Hotchkis Coils:
- Steady state cornering shows neutral handling.
- Steady state cornering leading into decreasing turning radius (sudden increase in steering input while in a corner with same amount of throttle input) shows slight understeer.
- Steady state cornering leading into off throttle deceleration shows neutral handling
- Steady state cornering leading into braking deceleration shows neutral handling
- Sudden steering input while mashing on the throttle shows controllable power oversteer.
- Sudden steering input with sudden off-throttle shows slight oversteer

Before:
http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/8948/img2834yt.jpg

After:
http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/846/img7474e.jpg

http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/9760/img7480m.jpg

Hotchkis makes some very nice products.

Car looks good :thumbup:

Hotchkis is awesome! (plus I know people who work there lol), too bad I'm helping ground control develop their sleeve kit, otherwise I'd be all over these!

Great topic, thank you! I linked this from the Suspension Options List.

Great review. Short, succinct, to the point.

so are these available for shipping now?

Who did your turn signals? Any wrinkles in them? Sorry to go off topic... Looks good.

Production coils come in Thursday the 6th.:party0030:

Thanks Memphis. They are painted, not film. Candy yellow paint followed up with PPG clear coat.

Hotchkis coils are now shipping.:thumbup:

i know. i got my confirmation....:)

Do you have measurements before and after the drop?

(Before) Stock:
Front: 14-9/16" (14.563")
Rear: 14-3/4" (14.750")

(After) Hotchkis:
Front: 13-5/8" (13.625")
Rear: 13-3/4" (13.750")

:thumbsup:

curious how a brz owner may feel about these

The guys at Forged Performance will be installing these for me next week along with their FP stainless clutch line and a brand new set of Michelin PSS. look for photos and info on the FP Blog.

Awesome!

:w00t:

Attachment 16381
Attachment 16382

Trying out some 17x8 SSR GT7.

That looks great, tint the windows, black out the headlight housings, and do smoked overlays instead of they yellow. Oh and black out the emblems too.

not too bad so far. definitely picked up cornering understeer but i also got a set of PSS tires. i'll see how much i can fix with an alignment.

springs are comfortable for daily driving. haven't scraped any more than usual. and have not bottomed out.

drop looks good, would almost think it's a stock drop as the gap is pretty even.

Thanks! I'm kinda not a big fan of the blacked out headlights for some reason. I so wanted to do it before the car was even out, but after seeing it in person, I might try something else. My old 2005 MINI coopers had yellow headlights, so I might go that route. The blacked out emblems might be a possibility...

The new Hotchkis springs definitely demand more from your tires. This may give the impression of more understeer under certain cornering situations (i.e. overloading the front tires). Stickier rubber and different alignment specs can change the balance to your liking I'm sure.

I'm glad you like the ride quality!

-Aaron

i wouldn't want to get any stickier than PSS on a daily. and i do feel it's more alignment right now than anything else as it's a push on cornering. i may be able to toe out a bit and add a degree of neg camber in the front to catch up to where i want it.

i'll get the bolts, add a degree and then go track. might be able to hit Barber the first wknd in Nov. Missed on out Road Atlanta this wknd, but that's probably a good thing with me not completely confident in the changes yet.

just ordered these, lets see how they are

looks like the car settled a bit more with the second set of photos, or is it the ssr's?

using the oe subaru bolts i picked up enough front neg to correct the push. car handles well. i will say it feels stock, yet slightly more composed. it's not a world changing mod, but it's a drop on pretty good rates.

2 questions :

Do you think the stock shocks will resist to this springs?

And do you oversteer more compared to the stock setup?

Thanks!

no additional oversteer, but i do run faster and harder through corners now. the car just doesn't break away if you pay attention to it. when you go a little too far you can get in trouble, but if you have any type of driving feel you won't have any issue. i'm currently waiting on a full bushing solution for next season to add a bit of snap to the steering and handling. the car is really good at teaching you things as long as you don't try to get more out of it than you are capable. i've personally spun the car 3 times and lost the rear another 2 but only when i was pushing it very hard. my shakedown with the hotchkis springs went well. very confidence inspiring, to the effect that i spun in the exit of a skidpad section of the track.

do you have any pics?

Has any brz owners install these?

One question for the Hotchkis rep. What is the warranty on your products?

At the end of their install instructions...

http://www.hotchkis.net/_uploaded_fi...ns5218file.pdf

Just installed these on Saturday. Barely notice a difference in ride quality.

I second wondering how they feel on a BRZ? I'm between these and the Racecomp yellows...

Still a comfy ride on my BRZ. Oh I also cut the bump stop in the front even lower for more travel, but the rears are what is recommended by the instructions. The front OEM shocks still do not bottom out

http://i1272.photobucket.com/albums/...psd85f2f80.jpg

http://i1272.photobucket.com/albums/...ps77c7b0d4.jpg

Any camber adjustments when installing these? Basically, do I need to order camber bolts too?

There's nothing specific about Hotchkis springs, they're like any other spring with a 1" drop. Lots of info/discussion/debate on it in the forum. In a nutshell, yeah get the camber bolts, they're inexpensive and allow you to dial in some negative camber in the front (good for handling). Dial in as much negative camber as the bolts will allow. The lowering springs will give you an ok amount of negative camber in the rear at a 1" drop - you can get by fine with just that.

FYI, factory alignment specs are notoriously 'loose' on these cars, and if you want perfect alignment specs you may need camber adjustability on front and rear. If you want to really do it right, you get a pair of SPC adjustable lower control arms for the rear (add $250-$300) so you can set your rear camber where you want it.

Im trying to buy the hotchkis lowering spring directly from hotchkis.com.. However when i am at the order page i get the following message:

This Part doesn't fit your 2015 Subaru BRZ Series.Blue

Any reason why this part wouldn't fit my 2015 series blue?

no reason it wont! Probably just haven't added it to the "approved fitment" list.

maybe try here...and use the code in my sig...

Do u have spacers?

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I just installed my springs this afternoon..
driving with no front sway endlinks as the bolts were seized an had to cut them off..have to order on monday.
Driving home it didn't feel much different. Though it was fairly strsight ride home no twistys. Will see how it rides on my 40 mile hwy commute to work tomorrow. Planning to drive slower and take precautions just in case.has anyone ever run into this problem?

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