On lowering springs now and a final dilemma, suspension gurus reply please..
 

Situation:

On Eibach Pro Springs now, with stock struts.

Ride overall is good, in comparison to stock only one thing has stood out and I think mainly due to my roads and terrain in general. When driving on most of my highways (beat to death by winters) and hitting waves of sort the car becomes almost nervous and abit concerning with an osicllation effect to be honest sometimes. When hitting unknown deep dips it almost is to the point of (HOLY FAK), :eyebulge:I have sometimes stepped out of the car to see if I bent a wheel or still have a strut left? :iono: LOL

Is that my roads, or just fact of having a spring that is on a strut not designed for it? Honestly I am not sure...? Common sense tells me its likely the way it is going to be with a strut not designed for this spring height, rates etc... damping calculated etc..

So there goes my mind spinning!!!, spent loads of time here reading, PM ing' people and going round and round on what to do...

Many things are pointing towards "do it right" go coil overs, but then you have what seems to be a consitent (rougher ride) comments coming from many of the latest offerings.

My goals are to retain what I have now for comfort, I do not autocross or time attack, however there is an organization within an hour with excellent track and so on... that is getting to be really interesting to me and well it's there and it's good.

I have been back and fourth on Tarmac Zeros, to RSRis, KWV3s and so on and so on....

Then I read of RCE just now coming out with the Tarmac Zero springs, interestingly enough some chatter about possibilities of Bilstein coming out with a strut for our car that could be used with lowering spring options.

If done right with springs and upgraded struts like Konis is that more comfortable and a better ride then coil overs to be honest? I am kinda getting that from a fair bit of members here to in viewing what seems to be endless threads and discussions and here is one more sorry about that! However it doesen't seem I have a firm answer.

If I went coils I would set to where I am now, which is approx 1 inch lower then stock, no real interest in going to low, again cause of my roads I need to be practical here.

So what the hell to do?

1.) Take off Eibach pros and suit up a different spring like Swift, Hotchkis, RCE Yellows etc.... and Koni strut combo and call it a day?

2.) Keep Eibach Pro springs and replace stock struts with Koni struts as that will cure what I speak of and offer great longevity?

3) Invest into a quality known coil over and call it a day and live with whatever is to come?

4.) Live with what I have for now as we are all certain by spring 2014 there will be more suited and tested options for "comfort" & performance seeking fellows like myself?

Which is best option above?.... This is not a money problem rather make the right decision problem.

Shitty thing about any new platform like the FR-S / BRZ is that they are in fact so new that things still need to happen and time has to pass, I understand this and should not be in a rush, but currently I feel like I am heading to a blown strut or more myself given some of the recent road trips I've been on. So yea, I am abit concerned for sure...

Thanks if anyone is in this same boat, been in it and has any convincing known feedback. And to folks here that I have been asking questions to both users and the vendors I really appreciate all the time and patience you have with folks such as myself!

:thanks:

Well first off, Koni and Eibach are known to have work together since ages..

I would probably run a koni shock on the eibach Spring.. Like i use to run on other car, and sold many of this set up with out having any kind of complaint.

How big a bump are we talking about here? Sometimes hitting a massive pothole/bump/deadanimal is just gonna hurt, no matter your set-up. Short of doing a custom rally ohlins/reiger/proflex/rs&sp set-up where you can go flatout and your codriver won't spill their coffee while reading off pacenotes...it's just gonna be a bad time.

Now it's a bit worse with springs on stock struts. Eibach prokit are not bad with a medium drop with replacement bumpstops, so it's okay for most people, but it sounds like you have pretty bad roads.

Konis would help a bit with better valving...but the issue may be more of a bump travel thing where you would remain the same. Bilsteins IMO generally handle large bumps better than Konis, but you're still travel limited.

Our RCE Yellow springs may help a little with a firmer front spring and less of a drop to keep it off the bumpstops, but may not be enough. Perhaps in the future with Bilsteins it would be.

I wouldn't recommend our upcoming RCE Tarmac lowering springs...a little more rate and a tiny bit more drop won't help.

Single height adjustable coilovers (ones where you adjust height with the spring perch only) will give you gobs of bump travel if you set them to a mild drop. These would be KW V3, RCE T0, RCE T2 clubsports, AST if they're ever available, etc.

I'd stick with the RCE T0 since you're not adding a ton of spring rate. Or, wait for some more options. I would not go with a dual height ajdustalbe coilover (most of hte JDM, taiwanese, and chinese stuff) because they generally will have much less bump travel than a single at mild/medium drops.

- Andy

I know "rough roads" are perception and differences amongst people, so it's hard to say. But from all my driving experience when in USA I am confident to say much worse then most roads folks deal with there for sure!

I appreciate your time and Myles time to you guys have been extremely help full throughout my owning this car process you make some good points that I shall surely chew on. ;)

It sounds like you mainly use your car as a daily driver. You have a couple of options:

1.Set of struts to go alongside those springs( the guys have given great brands )

2.Set over entry level coils if you DD, I would suggest either Tein Basis to ST coilovers

3.Save your money for some KW3s if you plan to track as well.

I myself have a set of Eibach pros and the ride quality is not bad, but I do know what you are talking about feeling a certain floatyness at times, I have ordered the ST coilovers and they should be here by Monday or earl next week and I will write up a review after sometime with them.

Is blisten gona offer shocks to the frs soon?
I ahd them on my civic years ago and I loved them.

Yes, eventually. But they take their time.

- Andy