Buddy Club Racing Spec Coilovers - SpeedFactory Style - Good Photos and Video.

[empower-auto]

9/7 ??

sum ting wong

[Eau Rouge]

Originally Posted by empower-auto

9/7 ??

sum ting wong

+1 on this sentiment. OEM is just below 3/4 (151 lb/in front and 193 lb/in rear, if memory serves) and I would expect any upgrades to follow a similar ratio (unless your trying to create inherent understeer for some reason).

[empower-auto]

Originally Posted by Eau Rouge

+1 on this sentiment. OEM is just below 3/4 (151 lb/in front and 193 lb/in rear, if memory serves) and I would expect any upgrades to follow a similar ratio (unless your trying to create inherent understeer for some reason).

Agree... I wonder if Buddy Club forgot that the rear is double wishbone.

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by Eau Rouge

+1 on this sentiment. OEM is just below 3/4 (151 lb/in front and 193 lb/in rear, if memory serves) and I would expect any upgrades to follow a similar ratio (unless your trying to create inherent understeer for some reason).

While I agree that 9/7 isn't something I would recommend, following the same exact ratio as OEM isn't something I recommend either.

- Andrew

[empower-auto]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

While I agree that 9/7 isn't something I would recommend, following the same exact ratio as OEM isn't something I recommend either.

- Andrew

Ratio doesn't need to be consistent but it's almost like they switched the bitch!

If I decided tomorrow to go 14/18 on my Soarer... i'd spin around a lot

[Eau Rouge]

All good points. I was just using the OEM spec as the starting point to show that the higher spring rate is actually at the rear. If my understanding of the math holds, the wheel rates, after accounting for leverage multipliers, works out to be very close to the same at both ends...

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by Eau Rouge

All good points. I was just using the OEM spec as the starting point to show that the higher spring rate is actually at the rear. If my understanding of the math holds, the wheel rates, after accounting for leverage multipliers, works out to be very close to the same at both ends...

Correct. See this thread I made:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9936

Sorry for taking this thread off topic!!

- drew

[Eau Rouge]

Thanks Drew and, yes, I did read your excellent thread on the subject. I also have a background in mechanical engineering so those are the sorts of things I tend to pay attention to.

Now, getting back to this particular topic, does anyone know if the spring rates from Buddy Club are correct? I'm wondering if it was reversed or if they meant to set their coil overs up that way. If the latter, I would like to understand what their objective was in doing so. That way I can make a fully informed buying decision, Buddy Club or otherwise.

Anybody know?

[Pete156]

Originally Posted by Eau Rouge

Thanks Drew and, yes, I did read your excellent thread on the subject. I also have a background in mechanical engineering so those are the sorts of things I tend to pay attention to.

Now, getting back to this particular topic, does anyone know if the spring rates from Buddy Club are correct? I'm wondering if it was reversed or if they meant to set their coil overs up that way. If the latter, I would like to understand what their objective was in doing so. That way I can make a fully informed buying decision, Buddy Club or otherwise.

Anybody know?

Yes, the spring rates are indeed 9/7. I am impressed with their performance so far.

[FT-86 SpeedFactory]

That's right, the spring rates were not a mistake. There are many people that are running higher rate springs in the front than in the rear. Just because the factory has a higher sprung rear than front from the factory doesn't mean that is the only way you can setup the car.

What it really comes down to is making the car fit your driving style. Some people like the front to feel planted and have lots of turn-in feel with a rear end that is a bit more tame, while others like the rear to be a bit more playful and steer with the throttle.

Lots of SCCA autocrossers are swapping front and rear springs on their KW setup for a more biased front, I remember Sam Strano also running a higher rate up front, and the gentleman in the link below surely likes this exact coilover.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...ght=buddy+club

Cheers!
-Yo

[FT-86 SpeedFactory]

With the spring thaw upon us here in Iowa, we are ramping things up for the builds on both cars. STX is the target auto-x class for our Firestorm car, we got a huge chunk of goodies installed that will get us in a competitive state.

First up, suspension. Just a simple bolt on of Buddy Club Racing Spec coilovers for the first round of suspension bits. We are waiting on sway bars from Whiteline to show up on Tuesday.

Already a huge improvement in turn-in and grip from these coils. Steering feel is much heavier over stock and the feedback is still there, just perfect in my opinion. We will see how they perform on track this coming Friday when our local road course opens up for the first open lapping day of the season.

My initial reaction is the ride is quite firm on these. I do have it only 2 clicks from full-stiff, but I am not sure full soft will make it change dramatically. Every bump, crack, and undulation in the road can be felt with this setup. I guess you can say, these are not for the faint of heart.

Today, I went back and adjusted the dampeners. This time I went all the way to 2 clicks from full soft. I can say that the ride dramatically improved. Instead of being shaken to death, the suspension actually eats up some of the bumps and cracks in the road. It is definitely liveable, but barely! People that are more hardcore than myself would be perfectly fine and tell me I am a sissy, I'm sure

More to come on the suspension after our track day For now, here are some pics

[SmsAlSuwaidi]

Originally Posted by FT-86 SpeedFactory

With the spring thaw upon us here in Iowa, we are ramping things up for the builds on both cars. STX is the target auto-x class for our Firestorm car, we got a huge chunk of goodies installed that will get us in a competitive state.

First up, suspension. Just a simple bolt on of Buddy Club Racing Spec coilovers for the first round of suspension bits. We are waiting on sway bars from Whiteline to show up on Tuesday.

Already a huge improvement in turn-in and grip from these coils. Steering feel is much heavier over stock and the feedback is still there, just perfect in my opinion. We will see how they perform on track this coming Friday when our local road course opens up for the first open lapping day of the season.

My initial reaction is the ride is quite firm on these. I do have it only 2 clicks from full-stiff, but I am not sure full soft will make it change dramatically. Every bump, crack, and undulation in the road can be felt with this setup. I guess you can say, these are not for the faint of heart.

Today, I went back and adjusted the dampeners. This time I went all the way to 2 clicks from full soft. I can say that the ride dramatically improved. Instead of being shaken to death, the suspension actually eats up some of the bumps and cracks in the road. It is definitely liveable, but barely! People that are more hardcore than myself would be perfectly fine and tell me I am a sissy, I'm sure

Cant wait for the results !
may i ask how hard is a coil over install in general, and is it something doable with jacks on the weekend ?

[FT-86 SpeedFactory]

Originally Posted by SmsAlSuwaidi

Cant wait for the results !
may i ask how hard is a coil over install in general, and is it something doable with jacks on the weekend ?

Yes, these are a very simply install. Should take you a few hours with simple hand tools, floor jack, and jack stands.

Pull the spring and strut assemblies off as one piece and install the coilovers as one piece. Adjust the ride height, eyeball alignment, drop her back on the ground, take her to get an alignment, and call it good.

A little more involved than that, but that is basically it

Cheers!
-Yo

[coachzizi]

im thinking about tein flex coilovers, do you recommend these over teins for a daily driver looking for comfort and handling if i need it?