FTO AUSTRALIA

iced wrote:Says a lot considering I've built another Mirage that is lapping 1:16s with 1.5L non turbo on G4 coilovers.

1.16 an awesome time for a 1.5 non turbo (4G15 i presume) and thats with bc's? Any other performance mods?

koolio1234 wrote:

iced wrote:Says a lot considering I've built another Mirage that is lapping 1:16s with 1.5L non turbo on G4 coilovers.

1.16 an awesome time for a 1.5 non turbo (4G15 i presume) and thats with bc's? Any other performance mods?

The answer to your question is in the text you quoted...

iced wrote:BC Racing is the company that make coilovers for Greddy (Type-S), some for Apexi and Pedders.
I'm running BC Racing Gold on my car thats capable of a 1:11 on Wakefield Park.
I've fitted them to a Lancer in custom spring rate 6kg front 4kg rear and you couldnt tell the car had coilovers at all same deal with a customers DC5 with 10kg front 12kg rear.

They are a tonne better built, dampened than D2/Ksport/G4 coilovers.
Says a lot considering I've built another Mirage that is lapping 1:16s with 1.5L non turbo on G4 coilovers.
Now that it is a fresh set of BC Racing RM MA inverted coilovers its going to be even faster.

If you are more even more hardcore then how about external resevior tanks with independant compression and rebound settings.
For the money they are definately hard to beat.

Definately better than any lowered spring and KYB Excel-G shock combo (which I have been through, was fun on the street but abit scary once put hard through the windy roads and no way as stable on the track) which is ok for the street but for any driver who wants to push their car and even track their car coilovers has to be the way to go.

Finally.... someone who actually uses coilovers for their full potentional & knows how to set them up.

Now try & find me a street cruiser here that has the knowledge to set their spring preload, damper, or even set the ride height correctly, let alone pick a suitable spring rate!

Everyone just chucks them in, straight outta the box and because the ride instantly feels so much stiffer than the 150,000km old factory suspension they just pulled out, they then assume these new fanlged coilovers are the dogs danglies.... Unbenownst to them, there are over 32 points of adjustablity on most sets of coilovers which will never see the light of day!

My biggest gripe, as always, is safety. When you chuck in a suspension setup that is too hard for the surface they are driving on, you loose traction. Hitting bumps & ruts at speed, the shock travels up, then with the aid of a super hard spring, the assembly comes down so fast, the car has yet to completely pass over said bump. So the car bounces off the top of the bump & onto the next one - meaning the amount of time the tyre is in contact with the road is reduced. Most logical people would call that unsafe.

Its what I call 'skittling' across the road surface. The prime example is watching a bunch of boy racers in their Soapboxes & Evo's & Silvias hurtling around the RNP (Royal National Park) at pace. Something I've unfortunately been witness to a number of times. I've always just sat at the back & watched some of the worst displays of driving I've ever seen... unfortunately for most, they actually considered that they were 'drifting' around corners. Where in fact, they were sliding out of control across the top of the road surface & using power to try & correct themselves. Hence 2 Evo's ended up in the bush. No set of semi slicks were going to save them because the bloody tyres were not in contract with the road! And furthermore, just ask Delvance how he ended up with multiple cracks in his chassis....

Right, there's my annual coilover rant. Having said all that, Im all for a sporty suspension setup, I just ask that you carefully consider your choices, and for gods sake take it to a shop that knows how to set it up right! Pedders does not fall into that category.

thanks ben, ill still be choosing bc premiums but properly setup, + ill be taking note of the points you stated - i just like the option of height adjustability of coilovers, maybe make the damping suitable for street driving too..

I only played around with the dampening settings once I got my fto to make it bearable for sydney road use (potholes 24/7). Height adjustment was left at a fair high setting as I didn't see the point of lowering it any lower and losing any practical advantage I may have had (speed bumps and driveways). Camber was barely touched in the rear (-0.5), only on -1.5 on the front (didn't want to wear away my tyres by going overboard). From the perspective of a daily driver, these were the best possible settings I could use to deal with the road-going surface I would experience everyday.

From a track-driving perspective, I'm sure there would be plenty more tweaking to be done, but it never got to that stage to take it that seriously.

i cant wait to put my new pedders shocks in with apexi springs!
Yes apexi!!

or apex

Nope, they're Apexi.

silverGPX wrote:i cant wait to put my new pedders shocks in with apexi springs!
Yes apexi!!

if you take nothing else from bens rants .. at least let it be "DO NOT get anything from Pedders"... seriously 2nd rate stuff

you're in toowoomba, i'd be bringing your car down to brissy & go to fulcrum suspension (you won't find anywhere better) http://www.fulcrumsuspensions.com.au/overview.html

Pedders shocks are made in belgium..

my point exactly

lol at least its not china or japan

just go with the kyb's.. arent they cheaper ?

Gholdwayne wrote:just go with the kyb's.. arent they cheaper ?

yup, kyb or koni adjustables are fine.. and cheaper too

never really knew much about konis, but putting the word adjustable next to it made me take interest

I have bilstein coilover. they're ridiculously firm and no good for normal driving, but f*ing awesome on the track.

moral of the story: work out how much you'll drive on the road vs how much you'll drive on the track. unless it's greater than 50% of the time on track (psssh I highly doubt it) then stick with Bennoz's suggestion and go for well tuned springs!

silverGPX wrote:lol at least its not china or japan

Japan make great parts its not like 20 years ago and I dare say china with the way the are going will be great products in about 20 years from now.

PEDDERS ARE sh*t, just do a search on here and you will see all the compliants from parts missing, to replacing parts that didnt even need to be replaced and everything in between.

nicholas wrote:I have bilstein coilover. they're ridiculously firm and no good for normal driving, but f*ing awesome on the track.

moral of the story: work out how much you'll drive on the road vs how much you'll drive on the track. unless it's greater than 50% of the time on track (psssh I highly doubt it) then stick with Bennoz's suggestion and go for well tuned springs!

theres also been reviews that the bc premiums are great on the streets, better than track duties, but not bad at all for track, must come down to the highly adjustable damper settings that its capable of.

I8A4RE wrote:

silverGPX wrote:lol at least its not china or japan

Japan make great parts its not like 20 years ago and I dare say china with the way the are going will be great products in about 20 years from now.

PEDDERS ARE sh*t, just do a search on here and you will see all the compliants from parts missing, to replacing parts that didnt even need to be replaced and everything in between.

He is not going to Pedders to get any suspension parts fitted. They are second hand shock absorbers which I have sold to him, having previously used them without any issues. For the price that he got them for, the springs and shocks will no doubt be a huge upgrade over his factory gear.

Bennoz wrote: Now try & find me a street cruiser here that has the knowledge to set their spring preload, damper, or even set the ride height correctly, let alone pick a suitable spring rate!

Everyone just chucks them in, straight outta the box and because the ride instantly feels so much stiffer than the 150,000km old factory suspension they just pulled out, they then assume these new fanlged coilovers are the dogs danglies.... Unbenownst to them, there are over 32 points of adjustablity on most sets of coilovers which will never see the light of day!

My biggest gripe, as always, is safety. When you chuck in a suspension setup that is too hard for the surface they are driving on, you loose traction. Hitting bumps & ruts at speed, the shock travels up, then with the aid of a super hard spring, the assembly comes down so fast, the car has yet to completely pass over said bump. So the car bounces off the top of the bump & onto the next one - meaning the amount of time the tyre is in contact with the road is reduced. Most logical people would call that unsafe.

Ben, by going on your generalised rants and using terms like 'everyone' you are insulting quite a few members on this forum, myself included.

I did not replace aging factory suspension components with my set of coilovers and instantly think my car was race ready due to the added stiffness. I was running a set of well branded springs and decent shocks before I decided to go for the BCs. I also took the time to adjust both the ride height and damper settings to levels that suited my daily driving environment. The statement about ultra hard springs on 'cheap' coilover sets creating an unsafe ride also does not apply to me. I find the suspension I am running now, with the damper level I have selected, gives greatly enhanced stability over bumps and around corners on some of the rougher roads around here.

You seem to have had a bad experience or two with some incorrectly set up coilovers that has biased you against them and caused you to look down on the people who choose to run them in their cars. I'm happy with the decision I have made and firmly believe that the money I've spent has improved the handling capabilities of my FTO.