Swift BRZ spec lowering springs reveiw

[Dihudaxia]

Originally Posted by solidONE

I concur with everything he said. How much is one of these things in Singapore anyway? Your GT86 I mean.

Hahaha, you don't wanna know...

Give or take some forex movements, the Base Grade is approx US$125,000

[solidONE]

Originally Posted by Dihudaxia

Hahaha, you don't wanna know...

Give or take some forex movements, the Base Grade is approx US$125,000

That's GTR, 911 money over here. lol

[Dihudaxia]

Originally Posted by solidONE

That's GTR, 911 money over here. lol

Yeah... Unfortunately...
I wish i was in America... I'd take my 911 in Guards Red pls...

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by solidONE

That's GTR, 911 money over here. lol

I had a base BMW 5 Series (520i) in S'pore in '95-'97. Total cost to put it on the street was $140,000 US. While cars are convenient on the island, taxis are very reasonable and the cost and reliability of public transportation is outstanding. Total guess, but I can see today's 520i costing north of $200,000 US, and depending upon COE, maybe by a lot.

[solidONE]

You crazy Singaporean auto enthusiasts.

[Kami Speed]

Originally Posted by Dihudaxia

I figured I should contribute to this thread since so many of your reviews has helped in my purchase decision.

Purchased a set of Swift Sport Mach lowering spring (FR-S Spec) from Kamispeed. Great service and good price!

Had it installed with a slight negative camber (-1.5 front, -2 rears) and have been driving around for about a week now. Aside from cutting the bottom rung off my stock bumpstops, all other suspension components are stock.

So far I have had quite a fair bit of experience with coilovers, both cheap and branded. My biggest annoyance is always ride comfort. Having tried so many coilovers, I was quite surprised that a simple set of springs can easily outperform a cheap rubbishy TW made coilovers.

So does it live up to my high expectations? Here is my honest feedback..
In a word; No
Will it recommend it; maybe


Wondering why? Read on….

Aesthetics & Quality:
Seems like the advertised drop in ride height is conservative. To my eyes, it seems more than advertised. However, I did not really measure it. Too low for my liking anyways. So far I have not experienced any squeaking or creaking noises yet.

Very good!


Ride Quality:

The Low Speed Ride (10km/h – 30km/h): Over all kinds of road conditions, be it smooth, uneven or bumpy, there is pretty much no discernable difference between my stock setup and these springs. Strangely though on some really rough surfaces, I think these spring may even be more comfortable.

Weird but I Like! Very good!

At Cruising Speeds (40km/h – 80km/h): This is where everything begins to go downhill. I won’t describe smooth road conditions cos at whatever speed, if the road is smooth to slightly uneven, everything is good. But once it gets bumpy (poorly repaired roads, potholes etc), this is where the combination of stiffer springs and stock dampers is somewhat lacking. Each sharp bump sends a shudder into the cabin and make it feel crashy and uncomfortable esp if you end up on a patch where it strings multiple bumps and seriously uneven surfaces into one long torturous strip of rubbish tarmac.

Bad!

At High Speeds (100km/h and above): Oddly once up to speed, the same bump does not feel all that bad, the bouncy sensation is still there, but oddly, less so. But then again, I don’t go travelling down such a bumpy road that fast, I ain’t crazy. Highway cruising is slightly bouncier than stock, but no serious complaints.

Acceptable...


Handling:
Improved if only marginally, the floaty feeling is lesser, turn in is about the same as stock

Cornering on the limit is a hit & miss, I like the slightly oversteery feel of the stock setup, this does minimize it. Makes it feel more controlled thru most corners.

When hitting a bump mid-corner at speeds, again, not pleasant. Deflection is the result but fortunately its not serious enough... Not very different from stock, just abit worse.


Body Roll:
Minimised. But still present.

How is it like on the track you say?
No idea, not tested. Next track day is in Oct, will provide an update then.

Summary on the handling?
Meets my expectations


In closing, I reckon for the money, if it is this or cheap coilovers, get this. Simply because it still performs better than most of the crap-fest coilovers out there. Its cheap, it improves handling to a small degree, and unless you travel over really bumpy roads, for the most part it feels almost like stock. I am not entirely happy with it cos I am a snob when it comes to ride comfort. It always has to be smooth.

Can’t really blame the springs entirely, I think the dampers are just not perfectly matched or it does not control the stiffer spring movements as well as I had hoped. And also, I suspect my car is too low and all the larger bumps start activating the bumpstops even though I sliced off about 1’ from it.

I will keep the springs for now, do more extensive testing… Am tempted to upgrade to Bilstein B8’s, hopefully that will provide better controlled damping for the springs.

Thanks for the in depth review!! Thanks for the order

[Dihudaxia]

Originally Posted by solidONE

You crazy Singaporean auto enthusiasts.

Indeed we are.
Its a real shame cos there are so many of us, yet no one can afford a car here.

[Dihudaxia]

Originally Posted by Kami Speed

Thanks for the in depth review!! Thanks for the order

No no, thanks to you guys! Shout out to Billy, faultless support and fantastic experience!! Keep it up guys!!

[Darkparadox911]

So it's totally ok to get springs without shocks and struts?

[solidONE]

Originally Posted by Darkparadox911

So it's totally ok to get springs without shocks and struts?

Yes, if your stock dampers are not worn out already. works perfectly fine with stock shocks.

[neilvosko]

great post!
by choosing "(3.8k f/4.5k r)" = less of a difference between front and rear = less oversteer? ???

[solidONE]

Originally Posted by neilvosko

great post!
by choosing "(3.8k f/4.5k r)" = less of a difference between front and rear = less oversteer? ???

It understeers a tad more the stock MY13 FRS, I can tell you that. If you dont want that, you can opt for the FRS spec springs which have slightly lower front rates IIRC