Coilovers Bouncy/Bumpy/Harsh Ride Quality

[Lakitu]

Hello,

I've tried two different suspension setups and have the same result.

I bought $1000 BC Racing BR Coilovers, and they were bouncy. Then I bought $1800 RS*R Sports-i Coilovers, and its the same problem.

My car vibrates and bounces harshly at the nose. Every slightest of imperfection in the road is felt in the cabin. Run over slightest bumps in the road and it is not quickly absorbed and gently dismissed like one would normally expect. In my car, you continue to feel the impacts of a bump multiple times per second, even while driving even slow, and even on some smoother newer streets. It causes me a headache and takes the fun out of driving my car. It gets worse with a passenger.

I've tried so many different settings at the knobs for hardness/softness, and nothing has worked. I've been driving like this for the past 2 years and I'm just about fed up with it and might just go back to struts for a smoother ride if I can't keep the lowered stance without introducing so much ride discomfort. My car is not slammed, there is still a gap that 2 fingers can fit into above the tire. A friend has recommended stiffer springs or to go back to struts with lowering springs because they said that coilovers are not for daily driving on streets, they are strictly for performance/tracking/racing.

I would have agreed to that except that there are Camrys and such that I see each day that are more lowered than my car and they ride as smooth as butter. I have to be missing something. I'm so nauseated by the nose of my car bouncing up and down like its on hydraulics. This is not an exaggeration either. The amount of bounce is very noticeable at night as my headlights constantly flicker at street signs, and passerby cars think that I am flashing my high beams at them and start flashing me back. This cannot be normal.

I am so frustrated with this. Any suspension suggestions that allow lowering but are still smooth for daily commutes? Or am I going to need to go back to struts and drop the lowered look completely? At this point, I don't mind going back to struts where I didn't have this issue. I miss the comfort and stability it used to have.

[RayRay88]

Originally Posted by Lakitu

Hello,

I've tried two different suspension setups and have the same result.

I bought $1000 BC Racing BR Coilovers, and they were bouncy. Then I bought $1800 RS*R Sports-i Coilovers, and its the same problem.

My car vibrates and bounces harshly at the nose. Every slightest of imperfection in the road is felt in the cabin. Run over slightest bumps in the road and it is not quickly absorbed and gently dismissed like one would normally expect. In my car, you continue to feel the impacts of a bump multiple times per second, even while driving even slow, and even on some smoother newer streets. It causes me a headache and takes the fun out of driving my car. It gets worse with a passenger.

I've tried so many different settings at the knobs for hardness/softness, and nothing has worked. I've been driving like this for the past 2 years and I'm just about fed up with it and might just go back to struts for a smoother ride if I can't keep the lowered stance without introducing so much ride discomfort. My car is not slammed, there is still a gap that 2 fingers can fit into above the tire. A friend has recommended stiffer springs or to go back to struts with lowering springs because they said that coilovers are not for daily driving on streets, they are strictly for performance/tracking/racing.

I would have agreed to that except that there are Camrys and such that I see each day that are more lowered than my car and they ride as smooth as butter. I have to be missing something. I'm so nauseated by the nose of my car bouncing up and down like its on hydraulics. This is not an exaggeration either. The amount of bounce is very noticeable at night as my headlights constantly flicker at street signs, and passerby cars think that I am flashing my high beams at them and start flashing me back. This cannot be normal.

I am so frustrated with this. Any suspension suggestions that allow lowering but are still smooth for daily commutes? Or am I going to need to go back to struts and drop the lowered look completely? At this point, I don't mind going back to struts where I didn't have this issue. I miss the comfort and stability it used to have.

Go lowering springs and Bilstein shocks. Or spend the extra money and get Ohlins, RCE SS1 or KW V3's. With these cars any of the generic coil overs are junk or going to ride too stiff. Damper quality pays off in spades especially with such a stiff chassis.

[Lakitu]

BIG THANKS, buddy!!

[Lakitu]

Originally Posted by RayRay88

Go lowering springs and Bilstein shocks. Or spend the extra money and get Ohlins, RCE SS1 or KW V3's. With these cars any of the generic coil overs are junk or going to ride too stiff. Damper quality pays off in spades especially with such a stiff chassis.

In which order would you rank all four of those options in terms of best ride quality for the price paid?

[StraightOuttaCanadaEh]

My coilovers had this problem until I made the settings for front and rear the same. I.e if the coilovers have 32 clicks of adjustment, make front and rear 16 each. Also the ones you bought are 6K at the front and 7K rear. Not sure why they went with that, I would go for 6K front and rear (mine are 5K all around). In my experience tire pressures are huge as well, even 1 psi can make a noticeable difference in comfort. Especially since here in Toronto weather varies a lot, I keep a close eye on tire pressures and adjust as needed

[Vital]

Or look into Tein Flex A since they have hydraulic bump-stop it might give you the comfort you're looking for.

[norcalpb]

IMO if comfort is a bigger priority than performance (but you still want to go low) I would check out ST coilovers.
Looks like Rallysport has them on sale $300 off msrp.

https://www.rallysportdirect.com/par...RoCCdEQAvD_BwE

[Goingnowherefast]

Originally Posted by Lakitu

I've tried two different suspension setups and have the same result.

I bought $1000 BC Racing BR Coilovers, and they were bouncy. Then I bought $1800 RS*R Sports-i Coilovers, and its the same problem.

The old adage "You get what you pay for" is more true for suspension than almost anything else. There's no freebies in the suspension world. Cheap two piece coilovers (like the two you've tried) have some inherent flaws that usually lead to poor performance and ride quality. The main factor is that these companies are using the same shock cartridge for almost all their applications. This is the cheap and easy way to do it, but this almost always leads to a very poor amount of shock travel compared to legitimate one piece coilovers like MCS, Ohlins, 949 Xidas, JRZ, KW/ST, and even Bilsteins.

Do you track your car? If not, I'd recommend some of the quality one piece options that have a road centered spring rate. The two best (for price) in this category are the Ohlins R&T and the Bilstein B16 coilovers. If it is a roadcar, I'd recommend keeping the OE rubber top mounts as they have much better NVH characteristics than aftermarket top hats/camber plates.

[Lakitu]

Originally Posted by Goingnowherefast

The old adage "You get what you pay for" is more true for suspension than almost anything else. There's no freebies in the suspension world. Cheap two piece coilovers (like the two you've tried) have some inherent flaws that usually lead to poor performance and ride quality. The main factor is that these companies are using the same shock cartridge for almost all their applications. This is the cheap and easy way to do it, but this almost always leads to a very poor amount of shock travel compared to legitimate one piece coilovers like MCS, Ohlins, 949 Xidas, JRZ, KW/ST, and even Bilsteins.

Do you track your car? If not, I'd recommend some of the quality one piece options that have a road centered spring rate. The two best (for price) in this category are the Ohlins R&T and the Bilstein B16 coilovers. If it is a roadcar, I'd recommend keeping the OE rubber top mounts as they have much better NVH characteristics than aftermarket top hats/camber plates.

Thank you so much for your insights. I do not track the car currently. I will look into these options.

[Lakitu]

Originally Posted by norcalpb

IMO if comfort is a bigger priority than performance (but you still want to go low) I would check out ST coilovers.
Looks like Rallysport has them on sale $300 off msrp.

https://www.rallysportdirect.com/par...RoCCdEQAvD_BwE

These look interesting from a price perspective, but the price is also what concerns me - it seems too low. If what I've spent thus far was more expensive and yet what I have is pretty bad, how can these compare? Is it the KW technology they are using that will allow these ST coilovers to provide better street driving comfort?

Thanks!

[RayRay88]

Originally Posted by Lakitu

In which order would you rank all four of those options in terms of best ride quality for the price paid?

Hard to say as each of them are slightly different with varying price points but all are worth considering for a less busy ride. They are all known to be superior dampers to any of the BC/Fortune Auto type coilover systems.

The Ohlins and KW's will ride very well for daily drivers from other peoples opinions. I will be installing my Ohlins soon can give you my own feed back in terms of comfort, but there are a ton of threads that exist that offer peoples reviews.

[strat61caster]

Settings I've found to help ride quality

-Zero to a few turns of pre-load on the springs, they should be captured at droop maximizing bump travel
-Reasonable bump stops, OEM bump stops are nice and progressive, aftermarket provided might be a little harsh.
-Damper settings from 0 (full soft) to 16, this will depend on specific damper settings and spring rates, I can't feel 1 click, but like going to the eye doctor try 0 then 16, which is better, which is worse, then try the better one vs 8 clicks then cut it in half again between the better two to 4 or 12. I'd try a setting and drive to work, get to work, change it, drive home, repeat until I was happy. Right now I drive around full soft on my Megans

What are your spring rates? Sounds like you'd be happier with a setup with <6k springs that's more road oriented, KW, ST, Bilstein B14/16, maybe the newer Ohlins kit (although the old 6k Ohlins setup I rode in wasn't comfortable at all, but owner may not have been on comfort damping). Putting on softer springs may work out ok but it's a lot of man hours for what will likely be a minor improvement if you've already fiddled with the above and can't find something reasonable.

[norcalpb]

Originally Posted by Lakitu

These look interesting from a price perspective, but the price is also what concerns me - it seems too low. If what I've spent thus far was more expensive and yet what I have is pretty bad, how can these compare? Is it the KW technology they are using that will allow these ST coilovers to provide better street driving comfort?

Thanks!

The price completely threw me off too. It's just a not a super popular coilover as it's never really advertised which must be the reason they are discounted so deeply. If you look for these coilovers on different sites, they are still showing the MSRP of roughly $900.

These will feel night and day more comfortable than the other 2 options you've already tried. These have KW twin tube technology which means they will be comfortable but responsive. The progressive spring means that if you hit big bump you won't feel them nearly as much as the 2 coils you've had. These coils also require you to reuse your OEM top hats which do add comfort over the metal camber plates I'm sure you're previous coils came with.

Companies like BC, Stance, RSR, Feal, Fortune Auto etc. all use the Bor Chun coilover bodies as described by the other user above. BC coils you buy for a WRX most likely have the same damping as they do for the BRZ/FRS. A lot of companies buy the Bor Chun "shells", give them a pretty color scheme, slap their logo on it and sell it for $700 more than BC to support their company. HOWEVER, some of these companies do quality test all the Bor Chun shells they receive so that you don't get any defective units.

The link I listed are the base ST coilovers (X model). They have an XT model (X with top hats) and the XTA model (x with top hats and adjustable shock).

The main difference between KW and ST is that KW bodies are made with Stainless steel, whereas ST have zinc plated steel bodies.

[AngelGT86Racer]

Originally Posted by Goingnowherefast

leads to a very poor amount of shock travel compared to legitimate one piece coilovers like MCS, Ohlins, 949 Xidas, JRZ, KW/ST, and even Bilsteins.

AFAIK Ohlins only make a two-piece shock design for this platform - at least that's all I've been able to find from the shops that sell customized versions of them.