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

[Turkish]

Yellows are the same size as the tarmacs, just different spring rates iirc. So yes they'll work on the B8's. And unless you're going for the high end coilovers, the Bilstein shocks will be better quality wise than the inexpensive coilovers. If you need to have them adjusted, they are rebuildable. The *only* advantages a basic coilover will have would be ability for wider than *x9 wheels and possibly easier adjustability, but you'll sacrifice dependability/quality. That is my own opinion and why I chose b8's and RCE Tarmac springs over a coilover system.

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[was385]

Originally Posted by BrandonB

would you guys recommend rce yellow/ swift springs on bilstein b8? or with rce tarmac/swift spec r? why?

and what is a basic coilover that can be fitted with swift springs from the factory?

I have RCE Yellows and love them but they're designed for the stock struts/shocks, while the Tarmacs are designed to go with aftermarket such as Konis or the Bilsteins you referenced. Many people seem very happy with their swift springs but I am part of a pretty large group on here that swears by RCE so I would go with the Tarmacs. And as the poster above said, the Bilstein/Tarmac combo is going to be a much better option than an entry level coilover. In the suspension game, you generally get what you pay for.

[Captain Snooze]

Pre-amble
I track my car, I do not race, so any modification I make to it is solely to satisfy my interest/ego. I don't need any mods. Having stated this I am contemplating getting some 2-way adjustable dampers. Why? Because I won't be getting another car (unless this one gets written off) and I have never owned 2-way dampers so I guess it's a bit of a bucket list thing. Also gives me something else to play with.

Question
I would like CSG Mike's opinion on SRCs vs RS Pros. In Australia the JRZs cost about $2500 more than the SRCs. I would like to know if the JRZs are incrementally better or if they are on another level altogether. The heart says JRZs the wallet says SRCs (I won't listen to the head as it says don't bother with either).
Ta.


(I'm sorry to say that I will not be buying either from CSG as much as I would like to. By the time I pay for freight and import duty I would be paying an extra AUD$1100 or so for the SRCs if I buy them from the States.)

[BrandonB]

how is the ride of bilstein shocks/ tarmac compared stock shocks/rce yellow?

[racecarshots]

OK, I guess I will ask this, because reading through here i don't THINK I see an answer.

As much as I WANT to lower my car, my driving habit probably preclude me from doing anything more than an inch. Like this weekend I drove across a dry lake bed. I have to park in the dirt a lot at racetracks I go to (for photography) and other places when I am out taking photos. Plus 95% of my wheel time is spend driving long distances on freeways during roadtrips.

What I am wondering is what upgrades (if ANY aside from tires and wheels and maybe alignment) can I / should I make for the 5% I am running around mountain roads? 0 track time, MAYBE autocross but don't really care about being fastest, just having fun.

[gramicci101]

RCE Yellow springs combined with the OEM struts. Lowers your car about 20mm, greatly improves ride quality and handling.

[Turkish]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

RCE Yellow springs combined with the OEM struts. Lowers your car about 20mm, greatly improves ride quality and handling.

By way of comparison, I just measured my car today and the front dropped 15mm and the rear by 20mm from oem to Bilstein B8 shocks with RCE Tarmac springs.

[Turkish]

Originally Posted by racecarshots

OK, I guess I will ask this, because reading through here i don't THINK I see an answer.

As much as I WANT to lower my car, my driving habit probably preclude me from doing anything more than an inch. Like this weekend I drove across a dry lake bed. I have to park in the dirt a lot at racetracks I go to (for photography) and other places when I am out taking photos. Plus 95% of my wheel time is spend driving long distances on freeways during roadtrips.

What I am wondering is what upgrades (if ANY aside from tires and wheels and maybe alignment) can I / should I make for the 5% I am running around mountain roads? 0 track time, MAYBE autocross but don't really care about being fastest, just having fun.

If you drop your car by an inch or less, you will want to probably invest in some sort of front camber adjustment to match the additional camber you will automatically gain in the rear from the drop. I dropped 0.6" in the front and 0.8" in the rear and I have -2.0 degrees of camber in the rear, however the front won't change without modification so I am stuck currently with 0 degrees of camber in the front. This results in some egregious understeer under hard cornering.

[gramicci101]

Go get some Subaru crash bolts for the front. They're about $15. They'll give you some adjustability, although Whiteline or SPL camber bolts will give you more.

[Turkish]

I am not sure if I would trust a bolt that doesn't completely fill the slot when one of the uses for the car is autocross, the stresses that that puts on to the struts is quite a lot. I am saving up for the raceseng top hats and just live with the understeer for the time being. Additional wear on the stock rubber is something I will just have to deal with in the meantime.

[was385]

Originally Posted by Turkish

I am not sure if I would trust a bolt that doesn't completely fill the slot when one of the uses for the car is autocross, the stresses that that puts on to the struts is quite a lot. I am saving up for the raceseng top hats and just live with the understeer for the time being. Additional wear on the stock rubber is something I will just have to deal with in the meantime.

The shop I took my car to for an alignment is very heavy into motorsports and very experienced with performance applications. Essentially what they told me is that they would not do any work with aftermarket bolts, but had no problem working with the OEM ones from Subaru because they haven't had any issues with them. As long as they're torqued correctly and checked from time to time, there shouldn't be any issues. I just have the shop retorque them when I go in for an alignment and have had no issues through a season and a half of autox and 20k miles of daily driving. I've seen pillowball camber plates fail too so it's not like one or the other is totally and completely without risk, but I think it's pretty minimal for both.

[FRSGT86]

So I'm 95% sure I'm going to go with KW V3s, looking to do a drop of no more than 1 1/2 inches. Now the question, besides the coilovers what else do I need to get? Crash bolts, adjustable top hats, something else I'm missing?

Just to add a little more info, I'm running 18x8.5 +44/235 40 fronts and 18x9.5 +38/255 35 rears

[fooddude]

Here's a different kinda question, maybe good, maybe not, idk lol:

What makes KW so good and unique, as a company and a quality product?

Before I got on these forums, I've been totally absent/uninformed of car knowledge/research/scene since 2001'ish; so I wasn't aware of the KW brand till recently joining these forums...I was only aware of the jdm brands (tein, hks, rsr, tanabe, greddy, etc., etc) that have been around forever, and also the german and other mainstream stuff (bilstein, koni, kyb, etc.)

Yes, I now know they are highly regarded and good quality..but mainly from this website and from acclaimed reviews. That, and knowing that they are German built (heck, anything made by Japan and Germany is the best stuff, right? hehe), is pretty much the only thing I know about them.

Just wanting to know how quality they really are, and how they stack up to...compared to the more known super high quality brands...like Bilstein, oem brands (Showa, Sachs), etc. ..and, also, the lower quality (but still good lol) aftermarket stuff, like Tein, HKS, Tanabe, RSR).

Just trying to gauge them, and want to know how high of quality their products/materials/r&d/qc/etc. really are and where they stack/rank up against the best...since I honestly and admittedly have no idea really.

Maybe in easier words: Which is higher quality? KW or Bilstein(good german company)? KW or Tein/Cusco/RSR/HKS(good gauge for japanese quality)?

I'm not asking for performance primarily (since this can be super subjective)....just asking about quality in general and overall - materials used, R&D, QC, reliability, OEM'ness, etc.

Maybe links to nice videos, advertisements, links, etc?


.

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by Captain Snooze

Pre-amble
I track my car, I do not race, so any modification I make to it is solely to satisfy my interest/ego. I don't need any mods. Having stated this I am contemplating getting some 2-way adjustable dampers. Why? Because I won't be getting another car (unless this one gets written off) and I have never owned 2-way dampers so I guess it's a bit of a bucket list thing. Also gives me something else to play with.

Question
I would like CSG Mike's opinion on SRCs vs RS Pros. In Australia the JRZs cost about $2500 more than the SRCs. I would like to know if the JRZs are incrementally better or if they are on another level altogether. The heart says JRZs the wallet says SRCs (I won't listen to the head as it says don't bother with either).
Ta.


(I'm sorry to say that I will not be buying either from CSG as much as I would like to. By the time I pay for freight and import duty I would be paying an extra AUD$1100 or so for the SRCs if I buy them from the States.)

Get the JRZ's. You'll be able to get local support for those.