Review: Pro Street Coilovers from Speed By Design

[riironman]

Is there instructions online on setup. Never used coil overs before and having a tough time dialing them in. I have them set to a softness of 9 clicks from soft. I have them set as the same as height as my eibach sportlines at 1.4" drop. . Feels like I hit harder or bottom out on the rears on bumps. Not sure if I know what I am doing

[spdbydesign]

Stiffen them up.

Set them at all the way hard, then back down.

The spring rates are so soft for road use, that even at their stiffest setting....it's still a a comfortable ride.

So the rule is start all the way stiff, then back off as your drop will allow to prevent them from bottoming out on the fender liner at your preferred drop.

[riironman]

Thank you. I will try that. I just had to relock the rears again. This time I I tightened them up bending the wrench and after used a large flathead screwdriver with a hammer to snug u them up more. Hopefully that works.

[PNW FRS]

Started getting some spring wind noise again... So at the suggestion of Steve (Ishii Motors - Bellevue WA), I tightened up the springs..
went from 6 in (top edge of upper perch to top edge of lower perch) to 5.75 in. - tightened everything, and spring wind noise is gone. These springs must have softened up a bit more... not so surprising since they were designed for a better street ride....

[ericmpena]

Originally Posted by PNW FRS

Started getting some spring wind noise again... So at the suggestion of Steve (Ishii Motors - Bellevue WA), I tightened up the springs..
went from 6 in (top edge of upper perch to top edge of lower perch) to 5.75 in. - tightened everything, and spring wind noise is gone. These springs must have softened up a bit more... not so surprising since they were designed for a better street ride....

Not sure if you read my posts about the spring binding, but I resolved my spring binding by installing Fortune Auto's Radial Spring Bearing. No issues in over 6 months.

[PNW FRS]

Originally Posted by ericmpena

Not sure if you read my posts about the spring binding, but I resolved my spring binding by installing Fortune Auto's Radial Spring Bearing. No issues in over 6 months.

No... I didn't see your post. I'll do a search and try to find your post. This is driving me nutz! Did about 300 miles yesterday after the latest tweak and the spring wind is back with a vengeance.

[PNW FRS]

OK... so I've reviewed your thread and it all makes a lot of sense. And... I guess any future buyers of SPD Coilovers may benefit if their supplier changes the design to use Torrington Bearings.

Eric: At least you got yours for free (the contest).... the rest of us paid to be BETA testers for SPD's entry into the coilover market. Now, I'll need to buy the bearings and go through the hassle of taking the front units off.... do the disassemble and install of the Fortune product... and then reinstall.

Notable: absolutely no documentation came with the SPD StreetPro Coilovers... and even after repeated (and unanswered) requests for some basic documentation on the struts, I'm having to use info (Web documentation and videos) to try and figure out the basic starting point for these. Not saying having some instructions would have eliminated the spring bind/wind noise, but having a point of reference for "defaults" would have been nice.

I'm out my original installation costs... and will need to spend $$ on aftermarket fix and labor for the reinstall.

So lesson learned here is that IF SPD offers this type of product again... buyer beware.

And so as to not end on a negative note... I still like the ride the SPD C/O setup provides... their design (spec) to be "street friendly" is not off the mark... but the spring bind(wind) noise just puts a damper (pun intended) on my overall satisfaction.

Update (edit): Re-set the front pre-load to best guess of "normal" -- measurement from top of upper perch to top of lower perch is 6.125".
- Spring bind(wind) reduced... not eliminated... ordered the Torrington Bearing... and making arrangements with my wrench to do the install... oh joy... I get to spend more money... (sigh)

[ISDriven]

I like your car, looks good!

[PNW FRS]

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...2&postcount=52

This seems to be a good solution for the coil bind (wind) noise. We'll see how well it holds up over time and miles.

Update... the grinding noise from front right.... finally tracked down the issue...

Found the offending nut on the end link (at one of the adjusting ends...) that was tightened the wrong way!! Instead of being tightened down onto the shaft, it was tightened UP to the ball joint -- "grinding" against the outside of the ball joint. Fixed... and now the suspension is QUIET!!

Wow.. what a learning experience!

[Strife26]

Originally Posted by spdbydesignchris

I appreciate the compliment. There's no point in selling a customer a mis-matched product for their needs.


I'll be completely open here and tell you that when we first started working on this project, I wanted a "Cadillac" quality ride.


I wanted soft and plush, something I would want to daily drive and not come home feeling back pain from every bump in the road.


From there, we worked on spring rates and valving to meet that goal.


This car rides like a luxury car now, and you'd be amazed at the before and after....coming from stock suspension.


However, when going soft, you compromise cornering to an extent, while gaining excellent straight line traction.


These would serve great for weekend drag strip visits, where the car will squat and go.


A stiffer suspension that is more track focused would simply spin the tires from the initial shock of the launch, resulting in poor 60 ft times.


I hope this explains the design goals for this suspension and more closely targets the ideal customer for this product.

Just wanted to say I am in love with Chris after reading on 2 forums (no homo). I plan to purchase the turbo within the next couple months and he responds a lot and seems to be very honest.
I am noW a fan of spdbydesign!

EDIT: Changed my T to a W. WTH! I totally meant to say "now" lol!

[Strife26]

Originally Posted by Carlitoz3

Very good review!
Honestly if I had won it wouldn't have been this detailed with pictures

I just have a few questions about aftermarket coils:
- Will I have a clicking sound when making turns in the future?
- Some people end up with their steering wheel not lined up when installing coils. Why is that?
- Not the best with cars, 1-10, how difficult is it to put on coil? 10 being hard.

I read that an alignment is 100% recommended after springs OR coil-over installs.
I changed out struts once being a computer nerd and it was easy enough except the car was recently in a light wreck that bent the frame or forks idr but it made one of them a pita! Very doable. The hardest and scariest part was the springs, but it doesn't look like you need to touch them so I would say its super easy! Also, youtube it! There are some out there I have seen and it looks easy.

[ATL BRZ]

Originally Posted by Strife26

I am not a fan of spdbydesign!

You're not the first one to say that.