Eibach MultiPro R2 Coilover Track Review

[RAWR BRZ]

Since @donutfilling beat me to a review for the Eibach R2 review I will review it for track.
You can see his review here:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33913
I agree with him 100% for street driving.

Attention: This is more of initial impression. My coilover is currently ghetto set up at the moment.

You can skip this part if you dont like to read
I ordered the R2 from Counter Space Garage through @CSG Mike. I wanted to test the R2 at Button Willow so I decided to drive to Eibach in Corona,CA to pick them up. Unfortunately I was stuck in traffic so I called Eibach and talked to Mark. He was nice enough to meet me at a Starbucks Every shop I called were booked or not open on Saturday so I ended up going to a shop my friend recommended. After the coil overs were installed I drove it around to see if the springs would settle and I am glad I did before the alignment because it did settle. I told them to raise it up by half an inch. I left with my friend to work on his car and we lost track of time. When we came back my car settled again! It was literally slammed!! and for some reason I could only get max of 1.9 camber in the front and 2.2 and 2.6 at the rear. Why is it different at the rear I am guessing I need to loosen the subframe and align it.

Here is where the track review for you impatient guys.
Button Willow CW13 is a demanding track and benchmark for pretty much every track in Socal. If you are fast here, you should be fast everywhere.

My car currently has the listed mods below:
Eibach MultiPro R2 Default spring setup of 275lb front and 350lb rear
Dunlop Star Spec Z1 in 215/40/17 with 90% tread for $250 installed!! on stock wheels (got these in a rush because my stock Michelins were chunking)
Spiegler Stainless Steel Brake Lines
Carbotech XP10 Brake Pads
HKS Drop in Air Filter

First few sessions I was very frustrated because I was riding the bump spot everywhere although I beat my previous time by 4 seconds (stock car with just XP10). that time is attainable with just tires so I knew my R2 were not properly set up. I decided to add camber bolts to the front and interestingly my right side seems to have more camber than the left... It helped bumped my time down 1 more sec but I was still struggling to keep the car balanced as it would jerk and slide around after hitting the bump stop. I had the rebound set to 3 clicks of 6 max and compression set to 5 clicks of 10 max. That was when I decided to raise the car up after talking to Jeff @03Z33. I discovered my preload was set only 4 threads from the bottom... we raised it up to 14 threads from the bottom up front and 13 at the rear. Now at this point I had less camber at the rear than the front and the car's alignment is completely a mess. But it made a world of a difference. Even though my alignment was not set properly the car felt so much more predictable and I ended up with a time 6 seconds better than stock with XP10s. I did not get a clean lap as it was during my last session and someone ran out of gas on the track... I believe with a proper alignment I would run at least 2 sec faster

Now the more technical part
R2 set at 4 clicks rebound and 7 click compression front and rear
Offramp is now much smoother, I had less body roll than stock and can properly power out of it earlier without sliding around.
Cotton corners transition was much faster and smoother
Bus stop is much more manageable at higher speeds using the berm on the left to make the line straighter
Riverside felt much much more planted with enough slip angle to rocket me out without spinning out.
Phill Hill felt very neutral. I did not feel that much "lift" as I used to feel and coming down the car felt much more eager to go where I point it towards.
Sweeper can be taken at much faster speeds as the R2 reduces the roll and introduces controllable slip angles.
Esses I felt much less body roll and the rebound is amazing compared to stock here

Overall these were my current impression. Although my car isn't perfectly set up as of now I expect great things from them at the track. I will be testing them out the coming Saturday at Big Willow and hopefully I have my suspension set up correctly. I will be running 400lb front and 500lb rear then.

Pictures and videos will be posted ASAP when I get the R2 set up!

I will be updating this thread's first post as I gather more information so feel free to subscribe.

Update 4/21/2013

Big Willow yesterday 4/20/2013 was a so-so day for me. I got my alignment and corner balance done at @robispec. I ended up getting his fully adjustable lower control arm since I wasnt able to get enough camber in the front and some white line bushings for camber in the rear. Robi set my car for a 2 inch drop I believe and suspension travel for the rear right now is about half an inch. I will get Robi's extra suspension travel solution for the rear after I get my car fixed. I have some aero mod right now thanks to a truck (some of you might know what I mean if you saw me at the track ) It also seems like Eibach designed the strut too tall so suspension travel is lacking in the rear according to Robi.

After I had the car almost dialed in I picked up 3 mph at corner two and over 10 mph at corner 8! It was bouncing like hell before adjustments and I thought it was due to the bump stop but after I made adjustments I believe the 400/500 springs helped with hitting the bump stop less hard. I was literally getting lifted out of my seat during corner 8 bumps, I had to pull myself down. Currently dialed in at up 3 rebound from soft and up 2 compression from soft.

[Hanakuso]

Thanks for the review! Did you end up buying Eibach springs? If so where did you buy them from and what sizes are they? If I don't like the default springs I might move the rear springs to the front and I might buy higher rated springs in the rear.

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by Hanakuso

Thanks for the review! Did you end up buying Eibach springs? If so where did you buy them from and what sizes are they? If I don't like the default springs I might move the rear springs to the front and I might buy higher rated springs in the rear.

Spring lengths are different by an inch, so depending on desired ride height you may not be able to do that (IIRC the rears are 7" and fronts are 6" but I'd have to check to be sure).

Any 2.5" standard coil will work. Swift, HyperCo and Eibach ERS would be my suggestions.

If you go mega high rates you can probably shorten the springs, or remove the helpers.

[Hanakuso]

Originally Posted by Dave-ROR

Spring lengths are different by an inch, so depending on desired ride height you may not be able to do that (IIRC the rears are 7" and fronts are 6" but I'd have to check to be sure).

Any 2.5" standard coil will work. Swift, HyperCo and Eibach ERS would be my suggestions.

If you go mega high rates you can probably shorten the springs, or remove the helpers.

Damn, there goes my idea of reusing the 350lb springs in the front. As of right now I might go Hyperco since they are suppose to be lighter and cheaper. At least from what i'm seeing online but not many shops advertise 2.5" standard springs. I'll probably stick to the default springs for awhile tho.

I did notice hyperco sells perches that look cool but i'm guessing they aren't needed, but I do see some very high end coilovers using those hyperco perches.

[swift996]

Just want to verify (waiting for my order to come in!)

Fronts:
Compression adjustment - On top of strut
Rebound adjustment - via the reservoir

Rears:
Compression adjustment - ?
Rebound adjustment - via the reservoir

[RAWR BRZ]

Originally Posted by Hanakuso

Thanks for the review! Did you end up buying Eibach springs? If so where did you buy them from and what sizes are they? If I don't like the default springs I might move the rear springs to the front and I might buy higher rated springs in the rear.

I bought 2 extra sets of Eibach springs from Counter Space Garage.
The front and rear springs have different part numbers.
I got 400/500 and 500/650 waiting to be tested. I will be testing the 400/500 at Big Willow this Saturday.

Originally Posted by swift996

Just want to verify (waiting for my order to come in!)

Fronts:
Compression adjustment - On top of strut
Rebound adjustment - via the reservoir

Rears:
Compression adjustment - ?
Rebound adjustment - via the reservoir

Corrections

Fronts:
Compression adjustment - Via the External Reservoir in the engine bay (Big red knob)
Rebound adjustment - On top of strut

Rears:
Compression adjustment - Under the car next to the brake disk towards the rear (Big red knob)
Rebound adjustment - On the top in the trunk

[RAWR BRZ]

Originally Posted by Hanakuso

Damn, there goes my idea of reusing the 350lb springs in the front. As of right now I might go Hyperco since they are suppose to be lighter and cheaper. At least from what i'm seeing online but not many shops advertise 2.5" standard springs. I'll probably stick to the default springs for awhile tho.

I did notice hyperco sells perches that look cool but i'm guessing they aren't needed, but I do see some very high end coilovers using those hyperco perches.

I will ask Eibach reps on Friday for you if you can reuse the springs. Keep in mind the way you lower with this coilover isnt by loosening up a locking ring and turning the coilover for it to go up or down, it is heigh adjustable via preload.

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by RAWR BRZ

I will ask Eibach reps on Friday for you if you can reuse the springs. Keep in mind the way you lower with this coilover isnt by loosening up a locking ring and turning the coilover for it to go up or down, it is heigh adjustable via preload.

This will be their answer:

Originally Posted by Dave-ROR

Spring lengths are different by an inch, so depending on desired ride height you may not be able to do that (IIRC the rears are 7" and fronts are 6" but I'd have to check to be sure).

Any 2.5" standard coil will work. Swift, HyperCo and Eibach ERS would be my suggestions.

If you go mega high rates you can probably shorten the springs, or remove the helpers.

The reason for the different part numbers is because of the length difference (and the rate of course). The part numbers follow this format: LGTH.DIA.RATE.

So the standard front spring is 0600.250.0275, while the standard rear spring is 0700.250.0350. Swapping them at a given collar height will result in the front going up an inch, and the rear going down an inch, so depending on the desired ride height you may not be successful in swapping them from one end to another. If you are at a specific height, you could lower the collar 1" in the front (plus/minus whatever threads to get the same end height due to the change in spring rate) and raise the rear 1" (plus/minus again).

Your car must have been slammed initially! I'm planning on (more or less) lowering my car as close to 0" as possible.

Mark's a great guy, another ITR friend He believes I shouldn't have to lower the car at all but I'll probably lower it half an inch or so. We'll see.

Did you keep the factory rake? I plan to initially.. need to measure it before install.

[RAWR BRZ]

Originally Posted by Dave-ROR

This will be their answer:


The reason for the different part numbers is because of the length difference (and the rate of course). The part numbers follow this format: LGTH.DIA.RATE.

So the standard front spring is 0600.250.0275, while the standard rear spring is 0700.250.0350. Swapping them at a given collar height will result in the front going up an inch, and the rear going down an inch, so depending on the desired ride height you may not be successful in swapping them from one end to another. If you are at a specific height, you could lower the collar 1" in the front (plus/minus whatever threads to get the same end height due to the change in spring rate) and raise the rear 1" (plus/minus again).

Your car must have been slammed initially! I'm planning on (more or less) lowering my car as close to 0" as possible.

Mark's a great guy, another ITR friend He believes I shouldn't have to lower the car at all but I'll probably lower it half an inch or so. We'll see.

Did you keep the factory rake? I plan to initially.. need to measure it before install.

That makes a lot of sense and I agree with you on that. Perhaps there are less adjustments in height in the rear so they use the "0700" springs there. My car was stupid slammed. If you mean factory rake as in even balance of lowering the car as in 1 in front and rear, I have no idea. We just moved it up 10 more threads on the preload to raise the car up so it wasnt slammed. I am getting my car redone Friday to make sure everything is good to go. I would prefer which ever that is more beneficial. Shouldnt of rushed the install

[ayau]

Originally Posted by Dave-ROR

This will be their answer:


The reason for the different part numbers is because of the length difference (and the rate of course). The part numbers follow this format: LGTH.DIA.RATE.

So the standard front spring is 0600.250.0275, while the standard rear spring is 0700.250.0350. Swapping them at a given collar height will result in the front going up an inch, and the rear going down an inch, so depending on the desired ride height you may not be successful in swapping them from one end to another. If you are at a specific height, you could lower the collar 1" in the front (plus/minus whatever threads to get the same end height due to the change in spring rate) and raise the rear 1" (plus/minus again).

Your car must have been slammed initially! I'm planning on (more or less) lowering my car as close to 0" as possible.

Mark's a great guy, another ITR friend He believes I shouldn't have to lower the car at all but I'll probably lower it half an inch or so. We'll see.

Did you keep the factory rake? I plan to initially.. need to measure it before install.

So can we confirm that the fronts should take 6'' and the rears should take 7''? No matter what rates we choose to go with?

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by ayau

So can we confirm that the fronts should take 6'' and the rears should take 7''? No matter what rates we choose to go with?

At high enough rates you could eliminate the helpers, or run shorter springs, but at 500/600 I'm not there yet....

[ayau]

Originally Posted by Dave-ROR

At high enough rates you could eliminate the helpers, or run shorter springs, but at 500/600 I'm not there yet....

How could you eliminate the helper springs?

Let's say we have spring A and spring B.

Spring A:
6'' in length at 250 lbs/inches

Spring B:
6'' in length at 1000 lbs/inches

Aren't both springs 6'' in length at rest/uncompressed? Wouldn't the spring be floppingn around in the coilover without the helper springs?

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by ayau

How could you eliminate the helper springs?

Let's say we have spring A and spring B.

Spring A:
6'' in length at 250 lbs/inches

Spring B:
6'' in length at 1000 lbs/inches

Aren't both springs 6'' in length at rest/uncompressed? Wouldn't the spring be floppingn around in the coilover without the helper springs?

You could raise the collar on the 1000lb/in spring as it won't compress as much when lowered to the ground. If normal compression was, say, 1", it would compress 1/4" all else being equal. If you aren't lowering much you might find the helpers mostly compressed anyways with the wheel in the air, so that difference could eliminate the need.

[RAWR BRZ]

Originally Posted by Dave-ROR

You could raise the collar on the 1000lb/in spring as it won't compress as much when lowered to the ground. If normal compression was, say, 1", it would compress 1/4" all else being equal. If you aren't lowering much you might find the helpers mostly compressed anyways with the wheel in the air, so that difference could eliminate the need.

My helper spring is currently completely compress with the car down. I believe it is more than 2 inch drop at the moment.