Coilover recommendations

[Kulebrero1]

Hello!

Does anyone have any experience with BC Racing RAM coilovers? They come with 8K springs. I will be using it for track duty primarily.

Also, I think it comes with adjustable top hats, but if it doesn’t, I’ll add it. Will I need anything else to adjust the camber?

It’s for a 2022 Gr86

[x808drifter]

At that price point they are probably crap.
We have a sticky for these questions.

Suspension tag team.

[Racecomp Engineering]

What kind and what size tires do you run?

Do you have any other suspension mods?

How much track experience do you have?

- Andrew

[Poogchomp]

My recommendations are csg spec teins, rs-r club sports, or rce tarmac 2s. But like the last guy who made a similar post, you're probably going to ignore everyone and buy bc coils anyways.

[cmiovino]

I've driven on a few different setups on the street and autocross. I keep coming back to KW V3's / RCE Tarmac 2's. Valving is good on both (KW actually makes the Tarmac 2's for RCE). Great at absorbing smaller bumps surprisingly.


In general though, unless you're an experienced track driver, I'd be sticking with the stock suspension with good pads/fluid for safety. Upgraded tires maybe. No need to go tossing on some $2500 suspension when you don't know the limits of the car in stock form.

[Kulebrero1]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

What kind and what size tires do you run?

Do you have any other suspension mods?

How much track experience do you have?

- Andrew

17x9 wheels. 245x40x17 RS4 tires.

Car is stock.

I’ve done about 15 HPDE days and a couple of autox.

I tend to prefer a bit of a stiffer suspension.

Budget for suspension including alignment is $2-3K.

[Kulebrero1]

Originally Posted by Poogchomp

My recommendations are csg spec teins, rs-r club sports, or rce tarmac 2s. But like the last guy who made a similar post, you're probably going to ignore everyone and buy bc coils anyways.

Why would I ignore the advice/feedback I’m specifically asking for? I saw the BC racing coilovers for $1500-1900 depending on options and thought they might be in the right price range for me. Hence the question about whether they’re good or not. Sounds like there are better options in that same price range or slightly higher.

[Kulebrero1]

Originally Posted by cmiovino

I've driven on a few different setups on the street and autocross. I keep coming back to KW V3's / RCE Tarmac 2's. Valving is good on both (KW actually makes the Tarmac 2's for RCE). Great at absorbing smaller bumps surprisingly.


In general though, unless you're an experienced track driver, I'd be sticking with the stock suspension with good pads/fluid for safety. Upgraded tires maybe. No need to go tossing on some $2500 suspension when you don't know the limits of the car in stock form.

This may be an unpopular opinion but I strongly disagree.

A car with poor tires and suspension is more difficult to handle. It has less grip and balance leaving an inexperienced driver with less room for error.

Better tires, brakes, and suspension are like training wheels for a new driver. They’ll compensate for poor driving, abrupt inputs, and small mistakes. You could say it’ll make up for some of your bad habits but that’s what you have an instructor for. They’ll let you know if you’re not smooth enough or if you’re doing something you shouldn’t ,, but with loads of grip and good suspension, you’ll get away with it when you need it most. So what if you can’t wring out every drop of what those performance tires, brake, and suspension have to offer. At first they’re there to make it easier and safer to drive and learn.

I don’t have objective data to prove it, but anecdotally, I see more people spin, go off track in the novice and intermediate groups than the advanced and TT groups at the ~15 track days I’ve done. Put another way, telling someone to learn to drive as fast as possible, brake as hard as possible, and turn at the highest speed possible in a car with crappy street tires and suspension is like telling them to learn to drive on a busy, narrow track with walls right on the edge. Compared to learning in a slow car with lots of grip on a wide and open track with lots of run off areas and zero walls anywhere. You’ll feel safer, more confident. Making mistakes is harder, and the car will respond better and will buy you time.

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by Kulebrero1

I see more people spin, go off track in the novice and intermediate groups than the advanced and TT groups at the ~15 track days I’ve done.

I've always seen the opposite. Int to Adv are always pushing harder.

[Poogchomp]

Originally Posted by Kulebrero1

Why would I ignore the advice/feedback I’m specifically asking for? I saw the BC racing coilovers for $1500-1900 depending on options and thought they might be in the right price range for me. Hence the question about whether they’re good or not. Sounds like there are better options in that same price range or slightly higher.

Didn't mean to sound like an ass. The last person who asked for similar advice ended up ignoring everyone and buying BC coils anyways. Most of the time when I see someone ask about a specific thing they've already made up their mind about 90% of the way and just want to reaffirm that they made a good decision. I apologize for being an ass. That being said, my recommendations still stand. For what it's worth, the CSG teins are in the same price point as the BC coils your looking at and you'll be happier with them.