Air Suspension Discussion Thread - Let's Get Nerdy

[protpibe]

Originally Posted by pvwrbrz

Still haven't had a chance to put it on a alignment rack, or lift I can see the suspension compressed. But on the preset adjustments I can fit a small stack of papers between the front tire and bag aired out.

I plan on doing 5mm spacers and studs all the way around.

I had a couple small leaks I had to take care of but other than that The kit is great, it can fit my 245/40R17 and I can now go pssssshhhhhhhh.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You should be fine if it clears aired out.

I actually popped an air spring becuase of tire contact, but I was running 265's on a +33.

[JDsThatGuy]

what a great thread! I love the aggressive look of a slammed car but had trying to drive around in the streets with such a low car, really just not practical. I'm not building a race car but building something that I love and I'm thinking this is exactly what I want, might pick this up instead of a SC and just do that later.

I'd love to see some more feedback from folks who have this installed and the how it compared to either springs or coilovers that they had on before related to street driving. I dont street race but do like to get on it and hit a curvy on ramp or mountains once in a while

[protpibe]

Originally Posted by JDsThatGuy

what a great thread! I love the aggressive look of a slammed car but had trying to drive around in the streets with such a low car, really just not practical. I'm not building a race car but building something that I love and I'm thinking this is exactly what I want, might pick this up instead of a SC and just do that later.

I'd love to see some more feedback from folks who have this installed and the how it compared to either springs or coilovers that they had on before related to street driving. I dont street race but do like to get on it and hit a curvy on ramp or mountains once in a while

I've had lowering springs, coilovers, and now air suspension on my BRZ over the past year and a half. i was actually thinking of making a "real world" comparison thread.

Anyways, I'll give you coles notes impressions:

Lowering springs (hotchkis - moderate drop)
-Softer than coils over sharp bumps most likely due to the progressive rate, but more choppy over constant "little" bumps. The bounciness could be curbed by aftermarket dampers I'm sure. Girlfriend test: "It's so bouncy" - Very bouncy without a matched damper, and the drop is very mild from a visual perspective

Coilovers (HKS Hipermax GT - used mainly at about 12/30 damper setting)
-Much harsher over sharp bumps, but they seemed to handle everything else better, most likely due to the damper being matched to the spring. The sharpness over larger bumps most likely comes from the non-progressive spring. The HKS setup has some of the softest spring rates you can get for a BRZ/FRS, and is positioned as a daily driver setup, and even still it will compromise ride quality. The ride height is also adjustable independent of spring preload, so the ride is consistent at least. Girlfriend test: "It makes loud bangs over railroad tracks and it's sometimes bouncy" - Harsh over sharp bumps, but you can make your car look bad ass

Air ride (Air lift performance struts set to about 12/30 stiffness damper)
-Wow. Absolute magic. Not only can you raise or lower your car at will, but the ride quality is fantastic. It's VERY close to OEM feel. The harshness over sharp bumps is completely gone, and the bounciness can be handled by decreasing or increasing PSI. The car seems to be a touch more squirmy when pushed, but I'm guessing that has something to do with the shocks static height being set where it is. Once aired up a little more, the squirm seems to go away. Girlfriend test: "I actually enjoy driving in your car again. it's so much nicer. It's not bumpy at all, and there's no loud bangs" - The best of all worlds. Great ride, ability to hard park and look bad ass but drive home without ripping your front lip off

To sum it up, the air ride setup is the best ride quality by a fairly decent margin.

Negatives to air ride vs the others:
-Cost
-Install is much more in depth, and much more challenging
-You will either lose your spare or trunk space
-Chance of airline failure (I used DOT fittings from an airbrake shop. Much higher quailty than the plastic shiz)
-Compressors running will be loud, no matter what you do
-Mechanical height setting is a pain in the ass for Air Ride fronts. You need to detach it from the knuckle
-The cost

Postiives to air ride vs the others:
-Ride quailty!
-Ability to drive at a decent height then hard park at your destination
-The sky is the limit for install and configuration options (tanks, compressors, management setup, etc)

I hope this helps!

[wtfrs]

Just installed the airlift kit, do any of you guys know what to set the end links at in the front?

[protpibe]

Originally Posted by wtfrs

Just installed the airlift kit, do any of you guys know what to set the end links at in the front?

The "out of the box" setting is fine

[dito]

Does anyone know if my wheel specs 225/35 18x9.5 +34 will fit without rubbing the bags and full air up and airred out function properly? And btw does stock wheel and tires work also? Planning to get 15mm spacer to fit wheels but in the meantime run stocks. Thanks

[frs_94]

i was looking at the raceland endlinks and they look very similar to the ones from airlift.
Can anyone confirm if they are the same?
http://raceland.com/scion-frs-end-links.html