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Coilovers, which ones?


Adriank

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Hi Guys, I'm looking for a set of coilovers currently, Max spend £1k, and im after a track (focus) set with spring rates of 10Kg/mm and higher, preferably with adjustible damping but not essential.

 

Lots of options availble in the states, Stance, K-Sport Drift, Megan Track etc.. but none seem to be available in the UK? I have heard that BC's can be ordered with different rate springs, but am unsure if this is the case, and also if they are any good!

 

Be great to hear peoples (and traders) opinions on this.

 

Cheers

 

Adrian

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BC just hit the market and have hit it big time with marketing and dealer incentives, they have some good reports, not sure about longterm testing and quality of parts from those that I have talked too.

 

KW varients, RSR, TEIN, Nolen, Bilstein, HKS, Cusco have all been tried on the UK cars and have been tested for some time, dont remember seeing many issues..

 

But most of these probably havnt been used on the track!! You may be worth talking to the likes of Alex, MrLizard etc that stick their cars on the track for their opinions and expetise!

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So when are you going on track then Adrian? :teeth:

 

BC seem very good for the cost and get very good reviews all round. KW are the defacto choice but you will have less adjustment in that price braket than the BC will offer purely as you are paying more for the name. I'd say get some KW, but if they are too expensive then get the BCs.

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Phil always recommended the KW Variant 3's.

Tend to be a bit over budget on the £1k limit, I think they are about £1200 atm. Might be worth the stretch if you can though Ad! The KW v2s come in on budget, but dont offer the adjustability of the BCs for the price point, however will likely be better made? Just a guess.

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I think BC's are the cheaper more cheerful end of the market to be honest, more for the people who want the joy of adjustment but are purely just looking for the asthetics. Reports i have read have said people like HKS, CUSCO, Tein, Bilstein, Eibach, KW's are specialists and thus make the best options.

 

If it was my money I'd be looking at these.

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Just to add my experience to this, I'm running Bilstein b14's on the zed and even at the lowest settings they are beautifully smooth. I had a play with Jon's Teins, as bought from ZMANAlex and was blown away by the quality of these bits of kit. And run FK's which were (Sh!t3) on a previous car and swapped them out to bilsteins.

 

I think its another case and point of .... you get what you pay for :teeth:

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i use KW's and would recommend them, they perform really well, CS supplied them for me quite a while ago now.

 

Ive not had any experience of any others in the zed but do drive on the track a lot and dont ever use the TC on or off track in dry or wet weather and never any issues, or anything that couldnt be corrected.

 

Im sure there are others out there that are as good, this is just my opinion.

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The BC seem popular at the moment, we are a dealer for these and they will happily do custom jobs.

 

The standard specs are:

 

Front Spring Rate : 10kg/mm (558.7lbs/in)

Rear Spring Rate : 8kg/mm (446.9lbs/in)

 

£619 they are retail but don't forget the summer discount ;):)

 

Regards,

 

Gaz

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The BC seem popular at the moment, we are a dealer for these and they will happily do custom jobs.

 

The standard specs are:

 

Front Spring Rate : 10kg/mm (558.7lbs/in)

Rear Spring Rate : 8kg/mm (446.9lbs/in)

 

£619 they are retail but don't forget the summer discount ;):)

 

Regards,

 

Gaz

 

Hey Gaz,

 

So can you get them with different spring rates?

 

Id be very interested if 10/10 or 12/12 were available aswell. Would you be able to order them at these rates with the discount applied?

 

Adrian

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Well just got off the phone with BC, and they say if specified when ordering, you can have almost any spring rates, then they will custom valve the shocks for that spring rate at no extra cost.

 

Sounds pretty good to me, you still get the damping adjustment, just with the base damping lvl set to match the springs.

 

So question is what spring rates would people go for? Im thinking something along the lines of 12F/12R?

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You'll need to speak to Alex or Adam about spring rates, not sure anyone around here has played with spring rates tbh. Why do you think you need to change them from what the manufacturer has chosen?

 

Will have to come for a ride if you get the BCs as I fancy a set too at some point.

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Well BC choose stiffer front than rear, which it seems is a way to keep the rear end more easily in check...

 

The more developed track coilovers such as HKS Hipermax 3 sports etc.. use matched spring rates front / rear removing some of the cars understeer.

 

I'm betting that 12/12 is a sweet spot for the Z, and higher and it might be just that bit too stiff.

 

Also at the price they are selling for, im doubting that 'BC' have put much R&D into the spring/damping rates as std!

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Hey Gaz,

 

So can you get them with different spring rates?

 

Id be very interested if 10/10 or 12/12 were available aswell. Would you be able to order them at these rates with the discount applied?

 

Adrian

 

Yep, they are made to order and air-freighted over so you can have anything you like :)

 

Gaz

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  • 2 weeks later...

if you do a lil background reading guys.. bc have been producing coilovers for megan racing and apexi, so to say they havent done any rnd is a bit un true. i think its a case of quality product without the huge brand. given another few years the price of these could probably go up!! also the fact they have been tuv stamped should put your mind at ease?? ive personally only heard good things about bc and they do offer a higher end coilover ER series at £1175... so if your want the price tag then go for them instead :D

 

ps: sorry i dont mean this to sound harsh to anyone.

 

-ho

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