BRZ lowered on RaceComp Engineering springs!

[Racecomp Engineering]

Hey guys this is Myles. I can tell you that this car is very awesome. The handling STOCK is amazing. I have listened to and watched threads and people talk about theory this and blah blah blah but I can tell you that VERY little is needed on this car to be an "off the charts" handler.

The difference that the springs made was subtle at first but when pushed its AMAZING. The car is much flatter but was super FLAT stock. I strongly feel that TIRE choice will be one the key factors in this cars handling.

For my car I have Whiteline ball joints planned and RCE plates with our lowering springs and our sway bars. Yes we have already started working on GTWORX/BILSTEINS for this car as we have already developed shocks for the WRX, STI and LEGACY co-branded with Bilstein.

One thing is for certain, those who lower it alot......will have an intimate relationship with the bump stops ! This car has LESS travel than an Impreza ! More than ever FUNCTION will be the focus as many will do mods to this car that HURT handling.

Stock shocks handle the new springs very well. I cant say more because of the dates involved and I am still under an embargo for dates.

I will post a review shortly. I posted a lot of pics on our facebook page already.

Myles Williams
Racecomp Engineering / GTWORX

[Racecomp Engineering]

Oh and Whiteline camber bolts ( smaller ones) will allow for a good amount of front camber changes.

Bump travel sucks but droop is good. Responsive shocks will be the key here.

Mw

[OrbitalEllipses]

Does the embargo/NDA preclude you from saying anything about when it will be lifted?

[2fast4you]

Originally Posted by OrbitalEllipses

Does the embargo/NDA preclude you from saying anything about when it will be lifted?

[poormans_LFA]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

One thing is for certain, those who lower it alot......will have an intimate relationship with the bump stops ! This car has LESS travel than an Impreza ! More than ever FUNCTION will be the focus as many will do mods to this car that HURT handling.

Stock shocks handle the new springs very well. I cant say more because of the dates involved and I am still under an embargo for dates.

so with just Racecomp camber plates and springs the car should be fine for everday use? That's exactly what I have in mind.

[RaceR]

Hi Myles,

Thanks for your great review of the BRZ.

Suspension setup on the BRZ should in theory have more understeer compared to GT86. Seems several car reviews agree although differences are most likely to be subtle.
What are your toughs on the stock balance?
What are your toughts on your current setup with the lowering springs, balance wise?

Would you aim for the same balance, or remove some understeer and make it easier to get sideways with your lowering springs?

Due to the cars suspension geometry it seems like camber plates are a must if lowering it?? Will that be your main/your customers way to adjust balance if wanting to do so? Adding some extra camber on the front compared to what gets added to the rear if wanting less understeer?

Ofcouse we could take dampers, swaybars etc into the equation, but lets keep it as simple and as stock as possible.

Thanks

[Guff]

Damn, this sounds great! Can't wait to get some of these parts when I pick up my BRZ!

[skeeler]

Originally Posted by Turbowned

This is apparently without jack & tools, but usually manufacturer's listed weight is dry weight, so 2762 for a Premium and ~ 2780 for a Limited (before fluids?), and this is showing 2714 with full fluids and no jack/tools (13 gals of fuel weighs about 65lbs, for reference).

In the US, manufacturers---no apostrophe---quote curb weight, which includes fuel and all other fluids.

[skeeler]

Originally Posted by OrbitalEllipses

Are stock class SCCA autocross rules that you can now change the rear OR front swaybar? Bumping up to a stock STI bar may be a very cheap and effective upgrade for that crowd, as previously stated. Hm, I need to research autocross clubs around my area...

As of 2012, yes, you remove or replace the front OR rear ARB, but not both. The STI rear bar is quite a bit stiffer than the FR-S/BRZ bar is, so it may push the car too far into oversteer. (Of course, I'm running an RX-8 bar on my STR-prepped NC Miata, so I'm not saying the SRI rear ARB won't work out.)

Keep in mind that a lot of clubs use their own rules, rather than the SCCA's.

[S2kphile]

Sweet I'm looking forward to see a shocks/springs combo that improves handling while lowering to flush status & having enough rebound travel with a passenger & couple of bags in back ie no rubbing or feeling harsh bumps.

[skeeler]

Originally Posted by Draco-REX

Many people do quite well in MacPherson strut cars. Subaru likes to use long control arms, so camber loss is minimized. If you consider the range of motion you're likely to encounter, especially in modded form with higher corner rates, the loss of negative camber will not be that great.

Originally Posted by 7thgear

the only thing MacPherson struts are going to do in place of a double wishbone is change the way you approach car setup.

Originally Posted by old greg

With MacPherson Struts the roll center will always move more than the CG. A well designed multilink/SLA suspension can completely eliminate roll center migration, and anything halfway decent will at least be a lot better than struts in this regard. The concern that I would have is that any sort of drop will increase the front roll moment but not really affect the rear, which will lead to a change in lateral load transfer distribution. With a mild drop this should have about the same effect as installing a slightly wimpier front sway bar which may or may not be a good thing depending on how you feel about the stock setup. Either way, a slightly stiffer front sway bar would probably suffice and may be a better option than extended lower ball joints (which might cause a tendency to lift the inside rear tire mid-corner if used on a car with nearly stock ride height). You'd also probably want a bit more total roll stiffness and/or a bit more static negative camber up front, to counteract the slight compromise you'd be making to your front camber gradient.

Thanks for your feedback on the Mac struts. I must admit that I dont have any experience with setting up strut cars for competitive driving, and it sounds like setup is more complicated for strut cars.

[CSOCSO]

very safe drop. needs waaay more than that.

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by CSOCSO

very safe drop. needs waaay more than that.

Needs? for looks? Or for performance?

It doesn't need to be lower than that for performance IMO.

[Alfie]

40mill- 40mill- 40mill !!!