Bilstein B8s, Swift Spec R springs, Raceseng camber plates
 

Shoutout to i8ur911 for doing most of the install labor last Saturday. Thanks Jason!

Very pleased with Bilstein B8 dampers! Smoother than stock PP Sachs on the street, less harsh high-speed damping :) At the same time low-speed damping feels sufficient for the Swift Spec R springs which are about 55%F/68%R stiffer than stock at 4.4 kg/mm front and 5.3 kg/mm rear. Looking forward to the track :)

Install notes: I cut the B8 internal bumpstops in half, down to ~32mm from ~64mm because of paranoia over bump travel! Used 6mm spacers on top of front springs below upper spring perch as with previous setup to correct front ride height with the Raceseng camber plates. Using the stock rear bumpstops, stock upper mount.

Ride height is now just under 13" from hub to fender lip, just under 25" from ground to fender lip, front and rear, on 245/40-17 Cont ECS

Alignment with maximized camber and minimized caster:
front toe: 0.00/0.00, 0 total
front camber: -3.34L/-3.39R
front caster: 6.43L/6.36R
rear toe: 0.03L/0.04R, +0.07 total
rear camber: -2.73L/-2.93R

Oh yeah, previous setup was stock PP/Sachs dampers, Swift BRZ Sport springs, Raceseng plates for track, stock upper mounts after track season.

That setup with the Raceseng plates was severely lacking in bump travel, the smallest bumps on the street would bottom the fronts :( At the track I'd also get mid-corner understeer as the outside front would be on the bump stop. Mind you this was after addressing the front travel issue with 6mm spacers for the front spring regaining front ride height lost with the camber plates, and cutting the front bumpstops down to 20mm (from 60mm)


With the stock front upper mounts, it was no problem on the street fwiw...

So, B8's seem to have way more bump travel than the stock PP/Sachs dampers :) I had to *try* to find the bottom which I did by hitting a speed bump at ~30mph. Normal usage is super-smooove over bumps. Yay!

Did you measure bump travel and/or total travel with the dampers off the car?

- Andrew

I, um, did not... That woulda been a good idea...

Lol no worries. I've done the same when I'm really excited to install something.

- Andrew

Yup! When I ordered them I had it in my head that they had more bump travel, but then found some info suggesting there was zero additional bump travel, only reduced droop travel. Which is why I cut down the internal front bump stops. I'm actually a little (barely) concerned that I'm gonna go from being more front-bumpstop-active at the track to more rear-bumpstop-active, might become oversteery and/or overwhelm the stock Torsen by unloading the inside rear. We shall see!

Dan what were you running for rear camber before?

Seems like it was a little less, on the order of -2.5 I think? But couldn't be by a whole lot as ride height is pretty much the same and nothing else changed that should alter rear camber...

I've driven a Swift R equipped BRZ on factory worn shocks. Smooth was not a word I would describe the ride. Glad the Bilsteins match up well. Good luck!

Sorry to bring this back. With your original setup (PP Sachs/Swift R), what was the reason why you went with the camber plates instead of bolts? Limited camber adjustment with bolts? I think you are also running some 17x9 +35, was there not enough inner wheel clearance for bolts?


Thanks.

Exactly, I needed more camber than camber bolts would provide, given 17x9 wheels and stock-diameter springs. Even without camber bolts, I have to run 3mm spacers with 17x9 +40 wheels with 225/40-17 Hoosiers. 17x9 +35 wheels with 245/40-17 Conti ECS fit without spacers with ~6mm clearance.
So yeah, camber bolts wouldn't buy me anything.

Oh yeah, the new setup worked great at Palmer Motorsports Park a couple of weekends ago :D

Definitely a lot less midcorner-understeery, and probably now more rear bumpstop-active vs. front so more oversteer but not a problem at all. I'm not planning to add back in any front bump-stop length, or to take away any from the back. If anything, I might get some rear subframe inserts to keep the rear end from squishing around which it feels like it is doing a bit in left/right transitions.

Thanks for the reply. With 6mm clearance, I wonder how much camber can you run safely. That is going to be TIGHT.

I never tried camber bolts as I knew it was a no-go. Actually that had been my plan but friend and competitor told me to forget about it, get plates. He was right... Running -3.3/-3.4 with camber plates :)