ST Coilover Pics

[TeamZleep]

Guess what just showed up!!!!



Install and Alignment today.

[switchlanez]

Originally Posted by TeamZleep

Guess what just showed up!!!!



Install and Alignment today.

Awesome! Can you compare the stock front upper perch against these? Or just a close up pic of the ST perch would suffice.

[continuecrushing]

Just got my alignment today, ill post up numbers when I get the paperwork from the garage

[switchlanez]

Well, I unexpectedly received my ST coilovers today and installed them. The washer-like protrusion on their front upper perch is about half as thick as the stock "welded on" conical washer. I opted to install without adding conical washers as the instructions do not specify to use any (specifically says to discard the rubber cushion which tells me that ST might've intentionally not mentioned any conical washers).

Took it out for a spin over imperfect roads... no weird sounds so far! I've had 5 sets of lowering spring/strut combos across 4 cars. This is my first set of coilovers and I'm amazed at the improved bump travel and comfort these have (like stock). The idea of having all that while being low is foreign to me... still letting it sink in. Will be interesting to see how these hold up over time.

[TeamZleep]

Sorry I didn't get back to you with the pics, but it looks like you got yours in! Two hours after that picture they were on the car and it was on the alignment rack... lol.

These pictures are all the way down in the front (you can spin the front down past the threads a tad, but I didn't bother), and 12 threads in the rear. I raised it two threads in the rear after it settled as I like a small bit of forward rake. I'm overly-content with the ride, handling, comfort. So worth it!

[continuecrushing]

Okay, so I got my alignment done. The only suspension mod I have are the ST coilovers...

With coilovers on, but not aligned I was at:
Front Left:
-1.9 camber
-0.16 Toe
5.4 Caster

Front Right:
-1.5 camber
-0.06 Toe
5.6 Caster

Rear Left:
-2.3 camber
0.15 Toe

Rear Right:
-2.2 Camber
0.26 Toe

AFTER:
Front Left:
-1.9 camber
0.00 Toe
5.4 Caster

Front Right:
-1.4 camber
0.00 Toe
5.6 Caster

Rear Left:
-2.5 camber
0.00 Toe

Rear Right:
-2.5 Camber
0.00 Toe

Im pretty happy with the way the car handles, but later down the road I plan on picking up adjustable camber plates to get more camber(more negative) up front, and some adjustable rear arms for the back to reduce camber.

[mike the snake]

I got the same numbers from my alignment, and I plan to do as you and get some rear lower control arms to reduce the camber in the rear.

I had camber plates on my last car and they made a bunch of noise, something I got really tired of. I think noise (pops and clunks over bumps) is just part of the camber plates game.

My ST's are great, in that they are solid, and noise free, so unless I start doing lots of AX or track days, I'm going to hold off on camber plates.
I really love the ride that my ST's give. They have softer spring rates than most other aftermarket coilover kits.

[switchlanez]

Trivial factoids I stumbled across. The KW V1 Basic (listed in http://kw-suspension.com/pdf/kw_quic...sh_noprice.pdf) is the KW V1 but made of galvanized steel instead of stainless. So the ST coilover is probably a direct rebrand of KW V1 Basic.

KW's top line product seems to be KW Competition coilovers is also not made of stainless steel but galvanized (noted here http://kw-suspension.com/pdf/kw_racing_catalog.pdf and in this ad http://industry.kw-suspension.com/Cu...M-proof-v3.pdf). It's used in motorsports, some with harsh environs such as rally.

Griffon 86 is equipped with them:


You can even dare to say that ST coilovers are made of the same stuff as KW's no-BS, top tier product.

For further gloat, check out that quality:
KW Suspension Factory Tour Part 1
KW Suspension Factory Tour Part 2

[Bad Habits]

Wish I could find a competent shop in my area that I could trust with setting up coil overs. Only shops I hear good things about are several hours away from me. I found a couple of shops that were no longer in business except for working on their friends cars, a couple of fly by night places including one that said they worked on import cars that wasn't a shop. It was an old gas station with two drunk mexicans changing tires. Another shop told me they were "premier subaru specialist" but upon asking them about basic things like wheels and tire combo's and finding a good balance of daily driver, lowered stance they informed me that "we have never worked on a brz"

[chanomatik]

Are you just looking for someone to install them for you? Swapping suspension is actually easy, just time-consuming. I've got it on various WRX, STI, Forester and Imprezas (so Subies all day long). The BRZ seems to be as simple as any. It's fun stuff, too!

[Bad Habits]

Originally Posted by chanomatik

Are you just looking for someone to install them for you? Swapping suspension is actually easy, just time-consuming. I've got it on various WRX, STI, Forester and Imprezas (so Subies all day long). The BRZ seems to be as simple as any. It's fun stuff, too!

Someone to advise on a proper set up as from wheels/tires to coilovers. Its great to go thru the gallery on here, check out the build logs of some of the crazy nice cars but there is only so much looking at pictures will do. I don't want to invest money in a set of wheels and tires I like to find out later on the coilovers I bought will make the car not look right and ride like poo. And someone to install the coilovers, properly align everything and provide potential service after the sale. Say I bought entry level co's like the ST's but had issues with tire wear or weird handling, someone I could go back to and they could diagnose the issue vs me spending four days online trying to describe the issue to people 800 miles away lol.

By the looks of it my options are to trailer my car 4+ hours away to get the above. If I wanted to build an old pos cop car, lift it like a jeep wrangler and put 24's on it with some kool aid graphics on the sides I would be good to go.

[chanomatik]

Originally Posted by Bad Habits

Someone to advise on a proper set up as from wheels/tires to coilovers. Its great to go thru the gallery on here, check out the build logs of some of the crazy nice cars but there is only so much looking at pictures will do. I don't want to invest money in a set of wheels and tires I like to find out later on the coilovers I bought will make the car not look right and ride like poo. And someone to install the coilovers, properly align everything and provide potential service after the sale. Say I bought entry level co's like the ST's but had issues with tire wear or weird handling, someone I could go back to and they could diagnose the issue vs me spending four days online trying to describe the issue to people 800 miles away lol.

By the looks of it my options are to trailer my car 4+ hours away to get the above. If I wanted to build an old pos cop car, lift it like a jeep wrangler and put 24's on it with some kool aid graphics on the sides I would be good to go.

lol I love this reply.

Yeah, I guess I'll count my blessings with what we have in Alaska then. The tuner scene has exploded and there are several reputable performance shops that are familiar with these things. The BRZ is still kind of rare, though, so it's tough finding anyone that knows a lot about them. I'm pretty much the guinea pig around here.

Even before finding a shop it's still always advised that you research a crap load before moving forward with a project. In the end you're the one that has to live with your car, so you should know better about what will and won't fit. Unless you want some fairly rare wheels, most likely someone around the world has already fit whatever wheel and tire combo you're looking for. Coilovers just helped fit wider wheels underneath with the aid of narrower tires.

[lgunnz]

Originally Posted by Bad Habits

Someone to advise on a proper set up as from wheels/tires to coilovers. Its great to go thru the gallery on here, check out the build logs of some of the crazy nice cars but there is only so much looking at pictures will do. I don't want to invest money in a set of wheels and tires I like to find out later on the coilovers I bought will make the car not look right and ride like poo. And someone to install the coilovers, properly align everything and provide potential service after the sale. Say I bought entry level co's like the ST's but had issues with tire wear or weird handling, someone I could go back to and they could diagnose the issue vs me spending four days online trying to describe the issue to people 800 miles away lol.

By the looks of it my options are to trailer my car 4+ hours away to get the above. If I wanted to build an old pos cop car, lift it like a jeep wrangler and put 24's on it with some kool aid graphics on the sides I would be good to go.

Have you considered asking some of the guys on the site that professionally track their cars? Lots of them post regularly in the suspension and wheel sections. Shooting them a PM usually gets a response. Not to mention doing quick google searches can help a lot with installs, setups, and troubleshooting. I haven't installed anything on this car without first looking for help. It all turned out to be easy but having a refrence helped make me more confident. Of course after having 15 imports in various states of tune over the last 10 years helped too.

[switchlanez]

For those questioning the trade-off between ST coilovers (galvanized steel) vs KW V1 (stainless steel) which are mechanically identical minus the type of steel used, it seems galvanized steel is stronger albeit less rust-proof according to KW:

"What makes the 2-way race shock different from the V3?
The 2-way race shocks are developed exclusively for track use and are built to handle the extra stresses that they are exposed to. The 2-way race shocks are built from galvanized steel for added strength, where as the V3’s are built from INOX Stainless Steel, to deal with being exposed to harsh weather, and to fight corrosion."

If ST coilovers are indeed galvanized steel, it seems they would be mechanically stronger than the KW INOX line V1, V2, and V3. Just like the galvanized KW Clubsport and Competition (used in the Griffon 86 as I posted earlier) lines.