Are FactionFab F-Spec Coilovers any good?

[Brad275]

I don't know much about these, but I'll try to make a pro/con list based off of what I've seen. Most of the info that I've found relates to the FR-Specs which are basically a more expensive version of these, and not what I'm looking for.

PROS:

-Affordable

-Doesn't reuse the factory tophats unlike other entry coils such as Tein Streetbasis z

-Has dampening adjustment

CONS:

-Maximum drop is 2.4" front, 2" rear (I only want to drop 1" to 1.5" so not a big deal)

-No camber adjustment (the 1-1.5" drop probably won't affect the camber too much)

If anyone has these or is able to give me some insight about these, I would really appreciate it. Are there any other negatives I should know about?

[norcalpb]

Well a big negative imo is that these are cheap coil overs and you’ll eventually switch to something else in due time, wasting money on these in the process.

When it comes to suspension you need to buy nice or you will buy twice.

[churchx]

I'd also reconsider how much you want to drop. 1.5" is a lot (OEM there is ~ 2.5" bump travel including bumpstops), as there is not much on twins to begin with. If you are looking for as cheap as possible coilovers, i guess your budget is limited. Thus i suggest to keep lowering within 1", to not need extra parts to fix issues from overlowering, like roll center adjusting kit, diff risers. One thing, how much specific coilovers spec they allow to lower, other - how much it makes sense to do, to not fsck up geometry, not get increased wear of CV joints, make ride unbearably harsh and car with problems clearing speedbumps and driveways.

[Captain Snooze]

Originally Posted by Brad275

I don't know much about these, but I'll try to make a pro/con list based off of what I've seen. Most of the info that I've found relates to the FR-Specs which are basically a more expensive version of these, and not what I'm looking for.

PROS:

-Affordable [1]

-Doesn't reuse the factory tophats unlike other entry coils such as Tein Streetbasis z

-Has dampening adjustment [2]

CONS:

-Maximum drop is 2.4" front, 2" rear (I only want to drop 1" to 1.5" so not a big deal)

-No camber adjustment (the 1-1.5" drop probably won't affect the camber too much) [3]

If anyone has these or is able to give me some insight about these, I would really appreciate it. Are there any other negatives I should know about?

Welcome to the forums.


1/ A totally meaningless term. I'm guessing you mean they are within your budget.
2/ Lots of clicks are often a marketing pitch: 32 clicks is more than 24 clicks therefore the most clicks win.
KW V3 12 clicks rebound and 12 clicks compression. Tein SRC 16 clicks comp and 16 rebound. AST 5200 11 clicks comp 12 rebound.
If you can't tell the difference between one click adjustment there is no point.
3/ Really?
If you want a decent ride with short suspension travel you are going to have to pay for it. As @churchx said above, the car doesn't have much rear travel to begin with. Yeah, you can drop the car on a budget but don't expect much in the way of comfort or damping.


Have a read of this:
How to screw up your cars handling and ride - step by step!

[Tristor]

Looks like you’ve already got some accurate responses. Find my huge post in the FB group for details, but long story short, the cheapest and best way to drop an inch is to get the RCE combo kit and find someone’s used PP Sachs dampers. None of the “budget” coilovers are good, they’re universally absolute trash. Anyone who says otherwise doesn’t know wtf they are talking about. You’re looking at a minimum entry price of $1500 for acceptable coil overs on this platform and good ones start above $2k.

Lowering a street car can be done comfortably with good dampers and springs. Our factory suspension is technically already a coilover, it’s just non-adjustable. If you don’t know what you’re going to use adjustments for and have no plan there, having adjustments just introduces another variable to mess up. If you want something better than the PP dampers, get Bilstein B8s and the matching Eibach springs, you can buy them together as the Bilstein B12 Pro-kit for $1100.

Cheap suspension rides like shit and doesn’t perform either. If you’re going to slam it to the ground it doesn’t matter because you’re ruining the car anyway, but if you care about quality at all don’t buy garbage parts for your car. Save to do the right thing the first time.

[Brad275]

Originally Posted by Captain Snooze

Welcome to the forums.


1/ A totally meaningless term. I'm guessing you mean they are within your budget.
2/ Lots of clicks are often a marketing pitch: 32 clicks is more than 24 clicks therefore the most clicks win.
KW V3 12 clicks rebound and 12 clicks compression. Tein SRC 16 clicks comp and 16 rebound. AST 5200 11 clicks comp 12 rebound.
If you can't tell the difference between one click adjustment there is no point.
3/ Really?
If you want a decent ride with short suspension travel you are going to have to pay for it. As @churchx said above, the car doesn't have much rear travel to begin with. Yeah, you can drop the car on a budget but don't expect much in the way of comfort or damping.


Have a read of this:
How to screw up your cars handling and ride - step by step!

It's not that they are within my budget, I'm just looking for affordable options. I'm 100% willing to spend more if I have to for reliability's sake. These were recommended in an FT86SpeedFactory video, but I'm learning that they don't seem to be the most reliable source. I don't know much about coilovers, and I just started looking in to them so that I could run wider wheels. Also thanks for linking that post too, it was helpful. I guess I'll rethink getting big ass 18x9.5s too!

[Brad275]

Originally Posted by Tristor

Looks like you’ve already got some accurate responses. Find my huge post in the FB group for details, but long story short, the cheapest and best way to drop an inch is to get the RCE combo kit and find someone’s used PP Sachs dampers. None of the “budget” coilovers are good, they’re universally absolute trash. Anyone who says otherwise doesn’t know wtf they are talking about. You’re looking at a minimum entry price of $1500 for acceptable coil overs on this platform and good ones start above $2k.

Lowering a street car can be done comfortably with good dampers and springs. Our factory suspension is technically already a coilover, it’s just non-adjustable. If you don’t know what you’re going to use adjustments for and have no plan there, having adjustments just introduces another variable to mess up. If you want something better than the PP dampers, get Bilstein B8s and the matching Eibach springs, you can buy them together as the Bilstein B12 Pro-kit for $1100.

Cheap suspension rides like shit and doesn’t perform either. If you’re going to slam it to the ground it doesn’t matter because you’re ruining the car anyway, but if you care about quality at all don’t buy garbage parts for your car. Save to do the right thing the first time.

I actually already have the sachs dampers. Is the combo kit the ~$400 one that comes with the springs, camber bolts, etc? I thought that lowering springs were looked down upon, but I guess its different with the upgraded pp shocks.
Also, I've seen multiple people recommend the Tein Flex Zs as the best budget coilovers, and they run around $850. Do you think it would still be better to run the rce kit instead?

I'm pretty new to suspension stuff, so I'm not really aware of the cost, but I do care about ride quality and I'll spend more if I have to. Thanks for the help

[strat61caster]

People who sell parts always have the very best parts in stock.

[churchx]

I'd first rethink what and why and if you want to change.
Rethink your goals, better word them in questions, do own homework of gathering info without rush, stick around in forum reading sections and threads about similar themes you think about to reduce cases of reinventing bicycle, ask more specific questions to clarify some details, and only then, if at all, shell out money and mod anything.
From info of your post there is too much guesswork left to us of what you want (at most from lists of what you consider good or bad in coilovers).
For answer to question if some cheap specific coilovers are "any good", people already answered - in most cases no, most cheap are crap, with rare exceptions. But even better then average exceptions .. they do specific changes to car. But will those changes be what you yourself want (and haven't stated)? Back to suggestion to well think through what/why/if you want to change and what are your goals.

[Brad275]

Originally Posted by churchx

I'd first rethink what and why and if you want to change.
Rethink your goals, better word them in questions, do own homework of gathering info without rush, stick around in forum reading sections and threads about similar themes you think about to reduce cases of reinventing bicycle, ask more specific questions to clarify some details, and only then, if at all, shell out money and mod anything.
From info of your post there is too much guesswork left to us of what you want (at most from lists of what you consider good or bad in coilovers).
For answer to question if some cheap specific coilovers are "any good", people already answered - in most cases no, most cheap are crap, with rare exceptions. But even better then average exceptions .. they do specific changes to car. But will those changes be what you yourself want (and haven't stated)? Back to suggestion to well think through what/why/if you want to change and what are your goals.

All I want to do is drop the car about an inch. I'm looking for the most affordable way to do so that is still reliable won't make ride quality much worse. I don't know much about coilovers, but I saw those on FT86SpeedFactory, and I couldn't find much info on them, so I wanted to hear what people had to say about them. I now know that they are really cheap as far as coilovers go and probably not a good option. I'm really just looking for the best affordable coilovers that are still comfortable and reliable.

[strat61caster]

Get lowering springs, Eibach, RCE, Swift, rsr, whatever. If ride is bouncy grab a set of Koni or Bilstein dampers, still cheaper than bad coilovers.

[Lincoln Logs]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

Get lowering springs, Eibach, RCE, Swift, rsr, whatever. If ride is bouncy grab a set of Koni or Bilstein dampers, still cheaper than bad coilovers.

Everyone has already said what I'd want to say. You have a great set of factory shocks with the Performance Pack. Get the RCE and call it a day, they have the best off the shelf lowering springs.

If you can wait and have the budget, Xida coilovers with the touring spring pack are the answer.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by Lincoln Logs

Everyone has already said what I'd want to say. You have a great set of factory shocks with the Performance Pack. Get the RCE and call it a day, they have the best off the shelf lowering springs.

If you can wait and have the budget, Xida coilovers with the touring spring pack are the answer.

You forgot to mention that he already has coilovers, he just didn't know it!

*The more you know*

[Tristor]

Originally Posted by Brad275

I actually already have the sachs dampers. Is the combo kit the ~$400 one that comes with the springs, camber bolts, etc? I thought that lowering springs were looked down upon, but I guess its different with the upgraded pp shocks.
Also, I've seen multiple people recommend the Tein Flex Zs as the best budget coilovers, and they run around $850. Do you think it would still be better to run the rce kit instead?

I'm pretty new to suspension stuff, so I'm not really aware of the cost, but I do care about ride quality and I'll spend more if I have to. Thanks for the help

I don't know what you mean by "lowering springs were looked down upon"? Yeah, there's a lot of bad quality lowering spring kits too. General rule of thumb, don't buy parts off Wish, eBay, or AliExpress manufactured in China and you're already on a good path to avoid a lot of the bad stuff (but not all of it).

Given you already have PP, you can just get the RCE Yellow kit. It has upgraded bump stops that work with the lowered ride height, which is an important consideration. The combo kit from RCE also comes with rear LCAs and front camber bolts to allow for you to get a proper alignment after lowering. Find a decent alignment shop local to you so you can get a good alignment, don't go to a chain tire store as most will just "toe n go" your car.

Based on your goals and budget, and the fact you have a PP car, you should go for RCE Yellows.

As others have mentioned though, by all means please do as much research on your own as you can before buying stuff.