CSG and RCE tag-team suspension Q&A thread! Ask us anything!

[Racecomp Engineering]

Bilstein HD with RCE Yellow. Easy button. Nothing to mess with.

If you want to go lower or those tires don't fit, KW V1 or Bilstein PSS.

- Andy

[cdrazic93]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

Bilstein HD with RCE Yellow. Easy button. Nothing to mess with.

If you want to go lower or those tires don't fit, KW V1 or Bilstein PSS.

- Andy

im guessing the Pilot SS are fat ass tires.

[7thgear]

Originally Posted by cdrazic93

In short; i simply have no fucking idea what im doing lol

Thank you for your honesty.

Originally Posted by cdrazic93

-My roads are bumpy, but not like LA bumpy.

Is LA that bad?

Originally Posted by cdrazic93

-I want new coilovers that dampen harder and are stiffer, but nothing like a KW CS coilover.

that makes no sense. Stiff =/= better/fast. A properly setup suspension system should actually feel comfortable, and the most immediate adjective that comes to mind when driving on a properly setup ride is "firm," not "stiff."

Originally Posted by cdrazic93

-I will be running Pilot SS 255/35/18 on some RPF1 18x9.5.

This then screams that you're after looks. There is no functionality with running such large wheels. So if you're after looks and comfort, you should accept that and focus on that.

Originally Posted by cdrazic93

-As for balance, I would like something in the neutral zone, that allows for as much understeer as oversteer..

stock is REAAALLYYY good for that.

Originally Posted by cdrazic93

-I havent figured out my swaybar options yet ..

Swaybars are for small adjustents for specific conditions after you've figured out the majority of your balance issues using the springs/dampers.

Originally Posted by cdrazic93

Im still in the stage of just figuring out which coils are right for me. My last car had some lowering springs on it, some progressive Eibachs around 3.6k up front and 3k in the back. I could go stiffer, but i would like to not jar out my teeth ..

again, do not, ever, associate "teeth jarring" with "high performance",


I also suggest that you take your car to some autocross or HPDE days and drive the car as it is, talk to other people, ride with them, so how their rides feel.

the car is ridicoulsly capable in stock trim, if you don't know what you want then avoid buying stuff until you can answer for yourself what you need.

cuz if you feel like just throwing money around i'll take a check for a few bills

[cdrazic93]

Originally Posted by 7thgear

This then screams that you're after looks. There is no functionality with running such large wheels. So if you're after looks and comfort, you should accept that and focus on that.

again, do not, ever, associate "teeth jarring" with "high performance",

I also suggest that you take your car to some autocross or HPDE days and drive the car as it is, talk to other people, ride with them, so how their rides feel.

Been to LA a few times. i needed dental work.

The rims havent been bought yet, I am completely willing to get away from the whole huge wheel small profile tire, as long as the car still looks good and performes to my expectations, best of both worlds...

Its cheaper to get 17x9 anyway

As a newbie to suspension i had no idea firm and stiff werent interchangable. Duely noted.

Still trying to find people in my area who have an aftermarket suspension on their 86 to ride.

So basically a proper suspension should be comfortable in everyday driving conditions, but with emergency sudden handling or a flick of the throttle, turns into a porsche car like feeling firmness and control. Am i getting this right?

Honestly i feel like i have been blind folded then spun around and asked to pin the tail on the jackass lol

Interestingly enough I was planning on doing some autocross and HPDE days to get the feel of the car at its absolute limit.

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by cdrazic93

Been to LA a few times. i needed dental work.

The rims havent been bought yet, I am completely willing to get away from the whole huge wheel small profile tire, as long as the car still looks good and performes to my expectations, best of both worlds...

Its cheaper to get 17x9 anyway

As a newbie to suspension i had no idea firm and stiff werent interchangable. Duely noted.

Still trying to find people in my area who have an aftermarket suspension on their 86 to ride.

So basically a proper suspension should be comfortable in everyday driving conditions, but with emergency sudden handling or a flick of the throttle, turns into a porsche car like feeling firmness and control. Am i getting this right?

Honestly i feel like i have been blind folded then spun around and asked to pin the tail on the jackass lol

Interestingly enough I was planning on doing some autocross and HPDE days to get the feel of the car at its absolute limit.

100% correct, but you will not achieve that on the $1500 or $2000 budget that everyone is hell bent on staying under.

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by cdrazic93

im guessing the Pilot SS are fat ass tires.

Well it's not specifically the tire, it's the wheel and tire combo. 18x9.5 with 255s is pretty big. I'm not a fitment guru, but I'd resist the temptation to go that big anyway.

Originally Posted by cdrazic93

Been to LA a few times. i needed dental work.

The rims havent been bought yet, I am completely willing to get away from the whole huge wheel small profile tire, as long as the car still looks good and performes to my expectations, best of both worlds...

Its cheaper to get 17x9 anyway

As a newbie to suspension i had no idea firm and stiff werent interchangable. Duely noted.

Still trying to find people in my area who have an aftermarket suspension on their 86 to ride.

So basically a proper suspension should be comfortable in everyday driving conditions, but with emergency sudden handling or a flick of the throttle, turns into a porsche car like feeling firmness and control. Am i getting this right?

Honestly i feel like i have been blind folded then spun around and asked to pin the tail on the jackass lol

Interestingly enough I was planning on doing some autocross and HPDE days to get the feel of the car at its absolute limit.

Go for some rides and do an auto-x.

- Andy

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by CSG Mike

100% correct, but you will not achieve that on the $1500 or $2000 budget that everyone is hell bent on staying under.

It's arguable IMO, but either way you CAN improve on stock for under 2000 bucks...both ride quality and handling. I think we'll both agree that you just can't do it with crappy dampers.

- Andy

[cdrazic93]

I need a money growing tree.

[Malt]

Originally Posted by cdrazic93

I need a money growing tree.

At least you came to the right place and asked for help BEFORE throwing money away. That money saved means you are even closer to a solution that fits your needs.

[Racecomp Engineering]

A proper street car suspension should ride well, whether it has sporting intentions or not. It can be firm without being harsh, and to do so it needs quality dampers.

A race car's focus is not comfort obviously, but it should be able to soak up bumps without launching the car off the line. That certainly helps with ride quality on the street. This can be difficult to do with very firm spring rates and shorter travel compared to a long travel, soft spring set up. Meanwhile, the race car shock needs to generate a lot of low piston speed damping force in body roll. Doing that with many shocks means you're stuck with a ton of high piston speed damping, meaning bumps will be harsh. So you need a good shock that is not linear, but rather digressive (especially in bump/compression). Good race shocks can do this...and you get the great handling with the ability to soak up bumps. And they cost money.

HOWEVER, this does not mean that all "good" race shocks ride like a dream. They may not have a lot of travel and they use firm spring rates. Valving is part of the equation, but not all of it. Race shocks can soak up mid-corner bumps on the track and even let you use the kerbing without upsetting the car. They can hit small and medium bumps on the street and you'll be amazed. And yes, they have a lot of low speed but depending on where the knee is...also a lot of mid speed damping. This can be felt on the street. It's not "harsh" like tons of high speed damping is but it can be noticeable.

Another note: there are reviews of coilovers out there that are absolute trash, and yet the reviewer claims they ride like stock. Well, they ride like stock on the perfectly smooth roads where they happen to live. That's not hard to do. Riding like stock in Baltimore City while still increasing performance IS hard to do.

I've been on JRZ, Moton, high end KW Competition, AST, whatever...and yes they can ride well. Really shockingly well (no pun intended). Better than stock in some cases. But there are limitations. I've been in many track cars with "good" suspensions that eat-up big bumps like they're nothing, but are a little choppy on roads that are just a little less than smooth. Some of this is fine-tuning, but some of it is reality. On car-swallowing potholes in the city, nothing is going to be great.

Just trying to temper some expectations. A good track car setup is not necessarily a good street car setup .

- Andy

[cdrazic93]

Originally Posted by Malt

At least you came to the right place and asked for help BEFORE throwing money away. That money saved means you are even closer to a solution that fits your needs.

True, then again this is not my area of expertise, that would have to be engine dynamics and forced induction

[cdrazic93]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

I've been on JRZ, Moton, high end KW Competition, AST, whatever...and yes they can ride well. Really shockingly well (no pun intended). Better than stock in some cases. But there are limitations. I've been in many track cars with "good" suspensions that eat-up big bumps like they're nothing, but are a little choppy on roads that are just a little less than smooth. Some of this is fine-tuning, but some of it is reality. On car-swallowing potholes in the city, nothing is going to be great.

Everyone enjoys a good pun in the morning!

I have no idea on price as I am unaware on what some of these multi adjustable coilovers can do but my revised requirements in a nutshell would be...

Comfortable on the road with small to medium pot holes (around where I live, few car swallowers but I have already mapped around them & comfortable taken with a grain of salt)
Performance oriented
Stainless Steel
Firm but not race car firm becausenotracecar....yet...


Tryin to get an idea of where this would land me in terms of pricing, so I know where to begin to look after these autox days.

There inlies another problem...I was looking at single adjustment coilovers, assuming those would have been the end all be all goals for my needs. With these multi adjustable suspensions I'm way out of my comfort zone any suggestions on good reads is much appriciated always yernin for a learnin!

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by cdrazic93

Everyone enjoys a good pun in the morning!

I have no idea on price as I am unaware on what some of these multi adjustable coilovers can do but my requirements in a nutshell would be...

Comfortable on the road with small to medium pot holes (around where I live, few car swallowers but I have already mapped around them & comfortable taken with a grain of salt)
Performance oriented
Stainless Steel
Firm but not race car firm becausenotracecar....yet...


Tryin to get an idea of where this would land me in terms of pricing, so I know where to begin to look after these autox days.

There inlies another problem...I was looking at single adjustment coilovers, assuming those would have been the end all be all goals for my needs. With these multi adjustable suspensions I'm way out of my comfort zone :(

And that's okay...a great coilover that's poorly set-up with two adjustment knobs is much worse than a coilover with zero knobs. You can make it easier on yourself by not worrying about that. Though if you go through a good shop (cough RCE or CSG come to mind cough) they can help you set up whatever you have. Then you learn and move on to a 4 way damper with adjustable gas pressure and hydraulic bumpstops in the future.

Going for rides and autocrossing the car stock will help you figure out what you want the car to be able to do. It's also fun.

You can have a fast, fun, comfortable, durable set-up for under 1500 bucks. Bilstein struts + RCE springs comes to mind, use the rest of the money on alignment parts and entry fees or bushings or a steak dinner for your significant other. Or if you want to be more competitive, then spend more money on a coilover but to do well and have fun regionally you usually don't need to spend $texas.

EDIT: also for autox in STX, don't run 18x9.5 wheels. first of all you can't, second it'll be slower.

- Andy

[cdrazic93]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

Though if you go through a good shop (cough RCE or CSG come to mind cough) they can help you set up whatever you have. Then you learn and move on to a 4 way damper with adjustable gas pressure and hydraulic bumpstops in the future

I see what you did there...sneaky sneaky!!
I would love to understand what the multi adjustable systems do when you adjust them and what not. Holy hell 4 way adjustments? How many things can you adjust in a fricken tube?!

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

You can have a fast, fun, comfortable, durable set-up for under 1500 bucks. Bilstein struts + RCE springs comes to mind, use the rest of the money on alignment parts and entry fees or bushings or a steak dinner for your significant other.

Music to my ears

EDIT: I now understand the error of my ways with the 18x9.5 size...I wonder what a 17x9 magnesium wheel would weigh i wonder what they would cost