Raceland coil overs

[Tom Brady]

I am looking into buying a mid priced pair of coil overs, I heard that raceland coilovers use to be terrible, but production and the quality has significantly improved! Are they good coil overs for the price. I plan on having these on for about a year or so, then go with something else. I don't track my car, but I do send it lol. What do you guys think, is it worth the $500? If not, link me better coilovers for under $600 please. Thank you!!

https://raceland.com/scion-frs-coilovers.html

[bobbinator]

Tein. $500 dollars.

http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/tein...l#.XSZgo_lKiUk

[Tom Brady]

Originally Posted by bobbinator

Tein. $500 dollars.

http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/tein...l#.XSZgo_lKiUk

OUUUU!

[Jesse36m3]

you never buy raceland.

[Yoshoobaroo]

You never buy raceland.

For good budget coilovers check out ST.

[Tristor]

There are no good "budget" coilovers. If you can't afford at least half-ass decent parts, don't do anything. You'll just make the suspension worse than stock both in performance and ride quality. About the cheapest decent coilovers you can buy are CSG Spec Tein Flex As, which are like $1700 shipped with an SPC rear LCA to correct camber after lowering. CSG Spec Tein Flex As are a very high quality option for the money and have shown good performance both on and off track, with a hydraulic bump stop greatly improving ride quality compared to other options. If you have a bigger budget and have a specific need for something different there are other great options in the $2200-$2500 range such as RCE Tarmac 2s.

If you want to spend less than a grand you're better off doing high quality lowering springs like RCE Yellows or Eibach Pro-Kit on your factory struts w/ a rear LCA and camber bolts to correct alignment after the drop. If you want to bump from there, look at Bilstein B12 Pro-Kit (Bilstein B8 damper + Eibach Pro-Kit springs) or get Koni Sport (Yellow) shocks w/ RCE lowering springs (blacks I think). Factory dampers are actually pretty good.

Under no circumstance should you ruin your car with garbage Chinesium parts like the stuff from D2, Raceland, BC Racing, Megan Racing, et al. Friends don't let friends put trash eBay parts on their car.

[Will BRZ]

Never tried Raceland. Never even read a review of them, but hearing what literally everyone says, I’d stay away. For budget suspension, I’d rather just get some lowering springs, camber bolts, and maybe RLCA. There are some bundling kits out there that make it cheaper for you. Also, the Tein Street Basis are great for $500. You won’t get certain features, but definitely a quality product from a reputable brand.

It really depends on what you’re doing with the car too. If it’s just a daily and want to get rid of wheel gap, springs are totally fine bro. In my honest opinion, I’d just save up the extra money and buy a decent coilover. Not saying you’re cheating out, but I can almost guarantee you’re going to regret not getting higher quality parts on your car. I have in the past and I’ve learned from my mistakes lol there are people perfectly fine with Racelands and XXRs, it’s just up to you, your wallet, and your priorities. Just my two cents. Good luck bro

[Yoshoobaroo]

Originally Posted by Tristor

There are no good "budget" coilovers. - About the cheapest decent coilovers you can buy are CSG Spec Tein Flex As, which are like $1700 shipped

This is simply not true

The ST X coilovers are literally a non-stainless (but galvanized) version of KW V1s. They’re made in the same factory with the same springs and shock internals.

All for 850 bucks. I’ve ran ST coils on 2 of my BMWs and they are a quality setup. They have to be to get TUV certified.

http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/st-s...E#.XSaNZBYpDYU

[Will BRZ]

Originally Posted by Tristor

There are no good "budget" coilovers.

Under no circumstance should you ruin your car with garbage Chinesium parts like the stuff from D2, Raceland, BC Racing, Megan Racing, et al. Friends don't let friends put trash eBay parts on their car.

I kind of agree with @Yoshoobaroo. There are some decent coilover options for around $1,000. Tein's own Flex Z's, ST, ISE etc. Haven't heard much of Megan Racing, but everyone praises BC Racing. Sure Fortune Auto, Bilstein, and RCE make top of the line coilovers for like $1,500 and up, but not everyone has that kind of money and that's where the affordable options come in. Cheaper does not always mean lower quality and more expensive does not guarantee exceptional performance. I'm not saying put garbage parts on your car, just saying that there are quality parts that get the job done without braking the bank.

[strat61caster]

I think the Taiwanese suspension manufacturer (Bor Chuann-BC Racing stateside) really upped their game a few years back, much better tolerancing and quality control means that they're getting a lot closer to the well respected brands. I rode in a Miata with Godspeeds about two or three years ago, and it was decent on the street. I have revalved Megans right now, they're setup a little too aggressive for the street but I love how they autocross and the builder has a bit of credibility in that arena. The adjusters and dampings are consistent enough that companies with more history and a good shock dyno are willing to put their name on them.

That being said I'd be very careful about committing to them (whether they're raceland, black flag, gsp, Megan, Manzo, Rev9, Skunk, BC, Ksport, whatever else there is), but as a year long experiment the worst that happens is you hate them, swap back to stock and sell them to someone who just wants to go low and doesn't give a shit about ride quality, you lose out on a few hundred bucks and lesson learned.

Based on what you describe my money would be on a Koni or Bilstein + lowering spring setup, buying those parts new is a bit out of budget but odds are you'll get a ride quality as good or better than OE, and buying a set used might be right in line with $600.
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134988
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135567

[Tristor]

Originally Posted by Will BRZ

I kind of agree with @Yoshoobaroo. There are some decent coilover options for around $1,000. Tein's own Flex Z's, ST, ISE etc. Haven't heard much of Megan Racing, but everyone praises BC Racing. Sure Fortune Auto, Bilstein, and RCE make top of the line coilovers for like $1,500 and up, but not everyone has that kind of money and that's where the affordable options come in. Cheaper does not always mean lower quality and more expensive does not guarantee exceptional performance. I'm not saying put garbage parts on your car, just saying that there are quality parts that get the job done without braking the bank.

Fortune Auto isn't even in the same ballpark as either Bilstein or RCE/KW. Seeing them in the same sentence is sad and weird. Fortune Auto does do a few things correctly:

1) They are revalvable and correctly valved for the selected spring rate
2) Rebuildable
3) Option for Swift springs and radial bearing spring perches

On the flip side, though, the actual components are primarily sourced from the same Taiwanese manufacturer that makes most of the other budget brands, although they are assembled in the US. Additionally, their damping design is not application specific (shared shock cartridges), and it is 3-piece design, which is not the best design choice for performance and is focused on cost reduction above all.

Meanwhile Bilsteins and KWs are 2-piece designs (single perch) with application-specific shock cartridges, valved to match the springs they ship with (in case of Bilsteins can be purchased valved to match Eibach springs), and are manufactured and designed in Germany out of high quality components.

Flex Z's are not on the same level as the Flex As. Flex Zs are clearly a much lower tier product from Tein's lineup. Some Tein stuff is amazing (SRCs), some of it is trash (Basis Z). You pretty much get what you pay for there.

BC Racing has their own facility in Taiwan, rather than being just one more brand on top of the same coilovers ala Megan Racing, D2, KSport, Godspeed, Truhart, et al. Technically, if you want to get really nuanced about it, BC Racing products are slightly better than their Chinesium peers, but in the big scheme of things they are still utter and complete trash.

Raceland is actually even worse. It's basically the absolute bottom of the barrel. Any time I see someone buy Racelands I literally cringe. If you're going to buy into trash tier parts, at least get the top of the garbage heap and buy BC Racing.

ST coilovers are fine, but suffer the same problem you run into with KWs generally (which is why the RCE versions are better), in that they are not revalvable, so you need to be careful with spring selection, but if you pick the correct springs they work fine. This really only becomes problematic if you need to change spring weights for some specific reason, otherwise they are valved to match the springs they come with. For many users this is probably fine.

If all you care about is slamming your car with tilty rep wheels for instagram likes and fuccboi points, then you can absolutely buy the most garbage coilovers available because it doesn't matter. But if you care about performance or ride quality you are literally throwing money away by buying trash parts, as you'll end up needing to replace them anyway and the entire time you'll have a less enjoyable experience driving your car. Buying quality parts pays dividends, so instead of cheaping out try saving up. Your car does not /require/ coilovers to drive down the road, so save your pennies and then buy something that doesn't suck.

If your budget isn't flexible, as I pointed out before your experience will be better with good quality lowering springs on factory dampers or on quality aftermarket non-adjustable dampers with appropriate parts to allow for a good performance alignment (camber bolts + rear LCAs) vs buying "budget" coilovers. I would take the RCE Yellows on PP Sachs dampers w/ Whiteline camber bolts and an SPC rear LCA (about $600 altogether) over any coilover you could buy made in Taiwan for both street and track usage.


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC-RAhLDM5k"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC-RAhLDM5k[/ame]

This video covers pretty much what you need to know.

[Racecomp Engineering]

Read this thread:
https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45542

Originally Posted by ME

There are advantages to coilovers but one of the most important parts of the system is the damper itself. The quality of the valving can simply make or break the system. Whether it's height adjustable or not takes a backseat to the actual valving of the damper. It can suck in a coilover and it can suck for a fixed perch strut. If you have a crappy height adjustable shock, you still have a crappy shock, you just get to set the ride height low and look pretty. There are some really awful springs out there and there are some really awful coilovers out there, too. Both can be worse than stock in ride and handling terms.

Coilovers have gotten a reputation for riding rough in some part because more people buy cheaper (usually poorly damped) coilovers than more expensive coilovers that have excellent valving. A coilover with proper valving can be ride well even with stiff springs.

Stock is an okay option for many people depending on their goals...AS LONG AS they're in good condition. There are other options now that are valved better than a few coilovers. You don't get the advantages listed above, but again, the damper itself is a huge part of the equation and it doesn't care if it's in a height adjustable coilover body or not.

The damper itself is the most important part of the system. Coilover sometimes have really crappy dampers that are worse than stock and certainly worse than a Koni Yellow or Bilstein B6.

- Andrew

[ayoshioka1]

OP, please do not buy racelands lol but hey, your money your car...

[WC-BRZ]

Originally Posted by Tristor

Fortune Auto isn't even in the same ballpark as either Bilstein or RCE/KW. Seeing them in the same sentence is sad and weird. Fortune Auto does do a few things correctly:

1) They are revalvable and correctly valved for the selected spring rate
2) Rebuildable
3) Option for Swift springs and radial bearing spring perches

On the flip side, though, the actual components are primarily sourced from the same Taiwanese manufacturer that makes most of the other budget brands, although they are assembled in the US. Additionally, their damping design is not application specific (shared shock cartridges), and it is 3-piece design, which is not the best design choice for performance and is focused on cost reduction above all.

Meanwhile Bilsteins and KWs are 2-piece designs (single perch) with application-specific shock cartridges, valved to match the springs they ship with (in case of Bilsteins can be purchased valved to match Eibach springs), and are manufactured and designed in Germany out of high quality components.

Flex Z's are not on the same level as the Flex As. Flex Zs are clearly a much lower tier product from Tein's lineup. Some Tein stuff is amazing (SRCs), some of it is trash (Basis Z). You pretty much get what you pay for there.

BC Racing has their own facility in Taiwan, rather than being just one more brand on top of the same coilovers ala Megan Racing, D2, KSport, Godspeed, Truhart, et al. Technically, if you want to get really nuanced about it, BC Racing products are slightly better than their Chinesium peers, but in the big scheme of things they are still utter and complete trash.

Raceland is actually even worse. It's basically the absolute bottom of the barrel. Any time I see someone buy Racelands I literally cringe. If you're going to buy into trash tier parts, at least get the top of the garbage heap and buy BC Racing.

ST coilovers are fine, but suffer the same problem you run into with KWs generally (which is why the RCE versions are better), in that they are not revalvable, so you need to be careful with spring selection, but if you pick the correct springs they work fine. This really only becomes problematic if you need to change spring weights for some specific reason, otherwise they are valved to match the springs they come with. For many users this is probably fine.

If all you care about is slamming your car with tilty rep wheels for instagram likes and fuccboi points, then you can absolutely buy the most garbage coilovers available because it doesn't matter. But if you care about performance or ride quality you are literally throwing money away by buying trash parts, as you'll end up needing to replace them anyway and the entire time you'll have a less enjoyable experience driving your car. Buying quality parts pays dividends, so instead of cheaping out try saving up. Your car does not /require/ coilovers to drive down the road, so save your pennies and then buy something that doesn't suck.

If your budget isn't flexible, as I pointed out before your experience will be better with good quality lowering springs on factory dampers or on quality aftermarket non-adjustable dampers with appropriate parts to allow for a good performance alignment (camber bolts + rear LCAs) vs buying "budget" coilovers. I would take the RCE Yellows on PP Sachs dampers w/ Whiteline camber bolts and an SPC rear LCA (about $600 altogether) over any coilover you could buy made in Taiwan for both street and track usage.

This video covers pretty much what you need to know.

Since you're definitely the loudest person in this thread, I figured we'd get your thoughts on twin tube vs.
a monotube design?

You seem to be riding the RCE and CSG FLA train pretty hard - almost to a point of insane fandom? All of this based on what? A three-piece design vs. two-piece and the rambling regarding shock cartridges?

Are you able to provide more in depth details as to how a two-piece vs. three-piece is superior to the other? Are you able to also provide any data or any type of quantitative and conclusive data as to why/how a shock cartridge from KW is better than the ones from, let's say, fortune auto?

I'm not sure saying "well, one manufacturer has a bespoke design per application so it's actually better than the other universal part". We already got that part - just looking for some sort of conclusive data that can drive these points home so to speak.