STX - bang for the buck coilovers...
 

Thinking of finally commiting properly to STX, driving a '13 BRZ atm in DS with just the whiteline adj front bar.

Anyways saving the pennies and damn if there aren't a ton of coilover options out there....
I'd like to go with a brand with a reputation, but don't want to pay too much extra for that brand name.
Anyways short list is

Tarmac 2's and KW V3's

Not sure which springs to go with, many of the lots I run are pretty bumpy was thinking at least with the tarmac 2's going with the 400's

Any others in the same price point or cheaper worth considering? How about spring choice ?

Likely going to add spc adj rear control arms as well along with camber plates in the front. and thats where I will start for next season, more upgrades - tune exhaust etc as $$ allows.

:thanks:

I have the KW V3s. I chose them specifically because I put 20,000 miles on my car as a DD, and I wanted coilovers that would be, above all else, comfortable for a daily driver, but that wouldn't completely fall apart during my weekend autocross stints.

I won Chicago Region SCCA STX last year, and I've won the first two events this year so far. So they aren't going to make it impossible to do well at autocross.

Having said that, if you are serious about autocross, or don't care so much about DD comfort, then you absolutely want the Tarmac 2s. The V3s are far too soft to be a proper autocross coilover, and they will handicap your car against a properly set up twin with higher spring rates. I do the best I can to mitigate the softness by pumping up the compression and rebound during events (which only helps during quick transitions), but that's not the proper way to do it, and it only works because the surface we run on is very smooth. When I run on other, bumpier surfaces, I can't stiffen them without the car hopping and skipping around.

T2 if autocross is the goal, KW for a slightly nicer daily ride and stick to the softer rates they come with.

Spring is harder to say but lots of fast folks on 400 square, up to 500lb square, and some a little off the norm not square. I'm at 400/500 considering a switch to 450/500, someone else recently mentioned already running the latter with success. My guess is anywhere in there will be good, and I think the T2 come 400sq.

Know the SPC arms need a bushing update to be legal, a tad too much metal in the bushing as shipped. That puts you in striking distance of a RacerX or Velox STX legal LCA. Something to consider.

You could be reasonably competitive most a places either way. If you're nationals bound, the T2 as shipped likely has the edge.

C

T2 if you have any aspirations of competing at a national level. IMO the V3 valving doesn't support the spring rates you need to win given how well prepared people in the class are these days.

I found the ride really bad at the recommended settings - I use way more compression for street driving than Myles suggests and IMO it's much better. Aside from the really hard bumps you can't really tell much difference from stock. The V3s will be just about indistinguishable from the stock ride.

Keeping the drop to 1" or so will help keep you off the bump stops too which will also improve the ride.

Well either of them will do it.

I currently am on the KW Clubsport 3 way and was previously on the standard KW V3.
Both suspensions have garner trophies on the National level.

It all depends on you as the driver and then partially how you set up the car.

https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net...1f&oe=59A4E495

If you don't mind sharing, what ride height are you using on the Clubsports?

Could be the driver or coilovers, I think it's the sticker count. That's at least an extra 50hp.

It is corner balanced but roughly 625mm to the wheel arch when measured by my alignment guy.

Wow, that's pretty low. I have my Tarmac 2's at about 640mm right now and feel so lifted compared to most other STX guys. I daily drive my FRS though, so going much lower has been problematic on the crappy roads around here.

A lot of the quick cars seem that low, I'm about where you're at and I scraped at a speed bump last night like some stance kid.

:bonk:

Another option is Whiteline's LCA. Their LCA is STX legal and about the same price as the SPC LCAs.

Yeah, the Whiteline LCA's are good. I bought them specifically because the bushing was STX legal. They've been reliable and my alignment guy can always set the camber exactly where I want it.

I agree T2's are great right out of the box. I will probably go up to 500 lb/in springs in the rear. But even with the 400's square it's really good.

Question for the others, how are y'all running so low with the T2's without going lower than the allowed specs from KW? Raised top hats?

Mann Engineering Type-25

They are based on AST 4150s similar to how the RCE T2s are based on the KW v3.

Racecomp may take issue with that comparison. Everything I've read says the T2's are based off the KW Clubsports.

KW US has told us that 2-way Clubsports are the same as V3's with different spring rates and camber plates. (This was a different platform, not the 86)

Not even different valving as they said it was ok to change from the progressive V3 spring to the linear rate Clubsport spring and use the same damper settings... None of the hardware to do so mated up so we never got the chance to test that out and we got the full clubsport package instead of converting the V3's over. The top of the damper interface was different to work with the camber plates instead of OE top hats, but other than that everything else was the same externally between the two dampers.

Totally different platform, and not a sleight against anybody, just what I read from KW reps over email.

:cheers:

imo what's important about the T2's is the consistently good reviews and Racecomp support.

You can do extremely well on KW V3's right out of the box. Won lots of national events on mine, and got 3rd at nats on them in 2015. The car definitely had time left in it too, I just couldn't get there. :)

Thanks!

On this platform we started with Clubsports and went from there for development, but it's basically a moot point (for V3 vs Clubsport) as ours have different valving and spring rates anyway. Clubsport is the closer comparison (and we actually named ours T2 Clubsports in this case to reflect that). But you also get our warranty! :)

For older GD Impreza platform, Clubsports weren't a thing yet when we were developing our T2s, so that made everything different. We switched to linear rear springs with helpers, different spring perches, very different valving, etc...

FWIW I do like KW V3 on these cars but they are a little soft IMO for STX.

- andrew

Are the rce t2, kw V3 and kw Cs all the same body length?

yes

I live in Wisconsin, our roads are far from good.

Megan Racing from Jeff at ProParts

:thumbsup: Agreed!

+2 on this one

Awesome feedback, thanks all

Yeah KW, Racecomp, both awesome bang for the buck coils.

Since they weren't mentioned before, Fortune Auto and Feal get a decent rep for <$2k coilovers and you can pick the spring rates you want. I think a car or two has trophied on Feal's at nationals over the years.

But I think I'd call up about those Megan's before going the FA/Feal route.

Is this Megan Racing suggestion a running joke or am I missing something?

Jeff Wong was running some custom valved Megans earlier this year and he gave everyone on the West coast a run for their money. PAX'd 8th overall at the Crow's national tour, 2nd in STX to Lugod, I wouldn't hesitate to say those coilovers could trophy nationally in his or some similarly skilled hands.

There was a thread earlier on where he talked a bit about his setup, I doubted their viability but I was certainly proven wrong.

Edit: I'm a firm believer that what matters most is not what brand the shock is but how it performs, results are there. Would I want to drive on them daily, or will they ever even be for sale, I have no idea, but he put up some very quick times against cars I know are nationally competitive.

Now that is very, very interesting. He owns propartsusa.com? Was he on the Megan Racing Track Series coilover? I see them on the website for $900 which is a steal but Idk how good the stock valving is. Who did the custom valving? I've always assumed that coilovers like these had low quality dampers with inconsistent valving and non-linear adjustments. The Track series is at 10K/10K front and rear. Makes me think the struts and shocks are pretty beefy to handle those rates and can apparently handle a +/- 2K change is spring. Wonder how they ride on the steeet though... Can't find any reviews on them for our platform.

In the end a deal came up on a set KW Clubsport 2 ways... for less than I would pay for either kw v3's or T2's..
:happyanim:

If you're serious I think the only way you'll get answers is calling proparts. I'd presume at minimum you'd want the custom valving which would likely put these on par with other $1.5k-$2k systems.

Your sentiments echo my own, but most autoxers don't seem to go posting setup guides online and play it low key (otherwise we'd have more resources than far north and scattered forum threads). Doubly so when business gets involved.