RS*R Moto Spec Review

[SuperDave]

anyways, i just got these coilovers, and i don't know if getting an alignment and corner balancing helps with the high speed bumps that seemingly launch you out of your seat at 78-85 mph, but my car does seem to feel much more stable now.

[retrosmiths]

Time for a 2-months-in review!

TL;DR:

• I've had @CSG_Mike damper-tune my car and it felt even better handling-wise.
• I've shaved 3 full seconds off my personal best time at AutoClub Speedway.
• I get launched off my seat whenever I go over relatively smooth bumps/dips at freeway speed.
• I was hearing a squeaking noise from the rear passenger corner which may likely not be coming from the coilovers.

Originally Posted by retrosmiths

Merging into freeways, switching lanes, turning corners, it's all even easier to do because the handling is just superb. It felt firmer, and as I was saying, more planted to the ground. Driven over minor bumps on the road and I still felt in control of the car; it did not get upset at all.

Originally Posted by SuperDave

anyways, i just got these coilovers, and i don't know if getting an alignment and corner balancing helps with the high speed bumps that seemingly launch you out of your seat at 78-85 mph, but my car does seem to feel much more stable now.

Originally Posted by jcat5150

I have driven tuned / lowered cars for almost 20 years, but this one is the roughest between 70-80 mph, which is where I live on the highway.

Originally Posted by wootwoot

I feel the same way about my iSports. There is no high speed dampening. I feel like the car is going to launch itself off the road when I hit bumps at highway speeds.

Note: @Moto-P answered these concerns in another thread.

I started noticing that on freeway speeds (60+ mph), whenever I go over a smooth bump or dip on the road, I would get rattled off my seat and would need to readjust. This wasn't happening with the stock suspension. I also noticed that this happens a lot more when I'm at full-soft settings compared to near-hard (as set by Mike). I've learned to compensate by learning where the dips are in my daily drive and slowing down/avoiding them/braking on downward dips.

On the streets, it's fine. It's not as comfortable as I expected coming from the stock suspension, but it's an improvement nonetheless.

On Mike's recommended critical damper settings, the handling would even be a lot more precise at the cost of being more "twitchy" for lack of better terms. I also started hearing a squeaking noise from the rear passenger corner, which I just ruled out to be possibly coming from the chassis when I had been rear-ended before. I inspected the coilovers and they were not leaking or anything, the bushings are fine, and the noise goes away on full-soft.

On the track, I felt a huge reduction of body roll and I got a lot more comfortable going through tight turns and sweepers at a faster speed, leading me to shaving 3 full seconds off my best time at a nearby track!

Overall, I'm still satisfied with my purchase. I highly suggest corner balance and damper tuning to be able to fully appreciate these coilovers.

[JS + BRZ]

Awesome!

[Moto-P]

Originally Posted by retrosmiths

I started noticing that on freeway speeds (60+ mph), whenever I go over a smooth bump or dip on the road, I would get rattled off my seat and would need to readjust. This wasn't happening with the stock suspension. I also noticed that this happens a lot more when I'm at full-soft settings compared to near-hard (as set by Mike). I've learned to compensate by learning where the dips are in my daily drive and slowing down/avoiding them/braking on downward dips.

On the streets, it's fine. It's not as comfortable as I expected coming from the stock suspension, but it's an improvement nonetheless.

On Mike's recommended critical damper settings, the handling would even be a lot more precise at the cost of being more "twitchy" for lack of better terms. I also started hearing a squeaking noise from the rear passenger corner, which I just ruled out to be possibly coming from the chassis when I had been rear-ended before. I inspected the coilovers and they were not leaking or anything, the bushings are fine, and the noise goes away on full-soft.

On the track, I felt a huge reduction of body roll and I got a lot more comfortable going through tight turns and sweepers at a faster speed, leading me to shaving 3 full seconds off my best time at a nearby track!

Overall, I'm still satisfied with my purchase. I highly suggest corner balance and damper tuning to be able to fully appreciate these coil-overs.

Hi, sorry I read this so late but I thought I would just follow up.

The decrease in already limited suspension travel when lowered on any coilover will bump steer the FRS sometimes noticeably on terrible US road surfaces. That is basically a nature of the suspension design and we've addressed this a bit more for those who still want to drive at more than minus 35mm drop on Sports-i,

One of the ways to cure that is to raise the car at bit above the recommended ride height on the RSR Sports-i to about minus 25mm. This will align the suspension arms better for bigger dips in the road.

We've also developed the RSR lower control arm with higher attachment points, so that the control arms and tie rods can sit more evenly while placing the hub 10mm shorter to retain the lower height.
The original goal for the RSR lower arms was to couple it with our new Sunday Motorsports Club Racer package with re-valved shocks and higher 8kg springs for those who occasionally use race compound tires, and less on the street. But the arms can be used for the purpose mentioned above as well, and is something we've built into the design to accommodate.

Also optionally, you can change the springs to 8kg/mm without adverse changes in ride comfort, and the Sports-i will adopt to those rate springs as well, if your flavor is less body roll, sharper car. We've developed the Sports-i originally with less darty experience for the street at 6/7 combination for the USA, but this is an option as well, and reduced compression will also help control the bump-steer rate as well, if you want to be riding low at minus 35mm+.

Please email me at moto@club4ag.com if you have questions more, or catch me on facebook, and link me to a public thread here if you'd like. I don't spend my time on forums much as that isn't my primary job, nor to be selling RSR prodcuts. I am a R&D consultant to them and spend my time on the road in the car, or under a car with tools. Thanks, I will be happy to point out and answer questions regarding RS-R, Winmax, and Cusco, Bride Seats, and other products as well as the FRS/86/BRZ questions too.

Thank you for the honest review. Let us customize your Sports-i if needed, as no suspension works for everyone. And it is my job to help you all tailor it from our own best setup, to your particular needs.