Ground Control questions
 

Hi all, first post and apologies if I missed a post about this, I've been searching for the past few days and can't find the answers that my overthinking head is looking for.

First of all, the same ground control kit will work on stock dampers, konis, bilsteins, basically any damper made for the BRZ, correct?

Secondly, I've heard some hit or miss things about eibach springs in general, does anyone with this kit notice anything? Has anyone swapped the "stock" GC spring with, say, a swift spring or anything?

Thanks in advance.

Well, what ground control kit are you talking about?

If it's the basic kit then yes it does work with existing oem hardware. My quick goog-fu says only known issues was with knoi dampers, but it's fixable.

Many people have swapped out springs in their kits to custom order their springs. A simple phone call or google-fu can get you all the answers you are looking for.

Mr.ac thanks for the info, I appreciate it.

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There's definitely nothing "hit or miss" with eibach's race springs. Some of their lowering springs might be a little too low, but that is a completely different product line.

Generally, any aftermarket replacement shock/strut will have the same upper threads and spring perch shoulder as stock, since they have to work with the stock tops and springs and perches. Occasionally the thread pitch will be different, but they should come with new nuts if that's the case.

ground control konis are different. They are built/custom valved to their specs so there are 0 issues.

to OP: I run the complete ground control coilover system on my BRZ. i absolutely love it. If you can't afford ohlins or JRZs, Ground Control is your best cheaper option. Ive driven them through the rain for a few years and shows no signs of rust and has seen multiple track events over the years with a 440in/lb spring rate at all 4 corners and it's phenomenal.

Thanks @jamal and @pgranberg11, I only found out about GC like last week and I've been trying to narrow down the fine details.

But Jamal, you're saying GC's spec springs from eibach are consistent in force and everything?

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Eibach race springs, linear rate, are industry standard, some of the best quality money can buy.

Based on these two posts, that is what you will be getting with the Eibach kit, the pictures look a bit odd, seems like they do some varying diameter springs to get the travel/stiffness they're looking for, but ground control has a good reputation, you should be ok.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26890
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20539

Are you looking at the full coilover kit or the conversion kit?

As above, Eibach lowering springs can be too low for anything other than looks, the mild lowering option they offer usually works ok.

I'm looking at the conversion kit, I'm a sucker for being able to customize more things on a car (illusion of choice) so being able to choose and change my dampers is very appealing to me.

And I've read about the lower eibach springs and settled for the more mild drop eibachs or Swift's, the wanted coilovers for ride height adjustment, then I found GC. I'm always an overthinker.

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I've got the set that are posted in the two links above. Can't go wrong with them. I think you are over thinking it. I can promise you, you will be very happy with their complete coilover system as opposed to the conversion. It won't ride like some bouncy ass POS like other coilovers do.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure their conversion kit will do just fine, but I want to let you know the complete coilover system is amazing. GC is the go to for MANY spec E36 and BMW racecars.

If you don't plan on racing it, I'd say you could probably go with a lower spring rate than what I have and maybe do an upper 300ish in/lb spring rate. You should definitely give them a call and they can help you dial in your setup and what your goals are and give you better recommendations. :w00t:

Can you also swap dampers out on the complete kit? If so then I'd be considering that. My main thing is that I have experience working on/revalving my motorcycle suspension and I've been reading a lot about how easy it is to rebuild bilsteins, even with Nascar level parts with some modification.

Also, my car is about to get replaced by my motorcycle as a daily, so it will be more of a weekend warrior/HPDE/time attack car. And a last resort for really rainy days lol.

I appreciate the words of wisdom though.

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technically, you can swap the damper, but you lose the ability to adjust the height since the colors are built into the damper... I wouldn't recommend doing that. If you're more concerned with rebuilding/revalving dampers then I would just go with their conversion kit so you can put whatever damper you want, but again you won't have the ability to adjust ride height. In all honesty, I wouldn't be worried about needing to revalve anything from GC. Like I said, I've sent mine through rain storms (no shock sleeve either), many track days, so it's seen it's fair share of abuse. Just no salt/winter. For HPDE I think I would suggest something similar to mine. Last time I talked with them when I ordered my kit they had 400 or 440 in/lb spring rates, but they have more since it's been a couple of years.