Ok guys the time has come, ive said and said i would do a review on the suspension once i had it on the car but it took some time and im finally getting around to it.
To put things in perspective, i have done quite a few mods to the car all at once but that said while doing some troubleshooting i pulled everything off but the suspension and got a good feel for it. Ill list the mods below then get on to the meat and potatoes.
Mods:
NST Pullies
Stillen 25 row Oil cooler
AEM CAI
ARK Cat back exhaust
Mishimoto Hoses
Whiteline sway bars
40th Ed Akebono Sport Brakes with Hawk HPS pads and Stop Tech Rotors
SPL Rear Camber Arms
Amuse Titan R1 Brace Bar
BC ERs with 12k/10k Swift Springs and custom RA Valving.
Forgestar 18" Wheels
AMS Short Shifter
So first off i just want to say thanks, i had to jump through a number of hoops to get this project done for my R&R and a lot of companies in this community helped out tremendously. Big thanks to Mike at Non Stop Tuning, Pete and Mike at BC Racing, Scott at Fontana Nissan, Paul at Baker Tuning, and Scott at Relentless Autosports.
Initial Impressions: (
with all the mods above)
Huge difference, the car looked better, sat lower, the growl of the AEM CAI could be heard when getting pushed a little and the Ark exhaust was loud over 4k rpms but quiet under, making it tasteful and clean without screaming
"hey look at me, i have a bag of rice!" The body roll was brought under control by the whiteline sways (which i had set only the the middle setting) and the ride (although a little rougher) was much better thanks to the BC ERs with Swift Springs and RA valving.
Now lets get down to business! The BC ERs come stock with a 8k 6k set up i believe but i wanted something that would perform a little better on entry level track stuff so i turned to Scott at Relentless Autosports.
Scott worked up a set of BC ERs with Swift springs in a 12k 10k set up and then re-valved the suspension with his own valving to match the new spring rates.
All told, from order to delivery at my door it took only 18 days including re-valving.
Initial impression of the suspension is very good. Im not knocking ARK here but prime example of what not to look for in suspension is their new coilovers. Unlike ARK, BC has taken a much better approach to building coilovers and they are all one piece. Everything on them is well done, and the bright side is if you have any issues, all you have to do is pick up the phone and call.
Here is where the problems start...and stop. After installing the BC ERs in the front, which was very easy since Scott had already set the preload of 5mm there, i, and the NST Garage Tech Jonas, were having issues getting the rear spring onto the perches for it and then closing the whole thing up. We could do it, but in the process of closing the whole thing up and putting the bolts back in we were forcing almost 2 inches of compression on the spring, which would lead to early spring fatigue, possible spring binding, and eventually failure. Part of this was because we had left the rubber hat on the bottom of the suspension, in order to prevent metal on metal contact. (Later BC told us to take that out as well as the spring will, after initial load, lock that lower metal collar in and it wont move at all)
So a quick call to BC Racing put me in contact with Pete and Mike over there who immediately got in touch with Swift and reconfirmed spring sizes and then determined i was supposed to have a 200mm spring instead of the 220mm ones i had. So as it was a Friday that we were doing this and it was already fairly late we had to wait until Monday for new springs to arrive, which they did at no shipping expense to me, either way, thanks to BC Racing!
So, new springs go in, everything is installed, and its time to play with the car. Although i havent had the chance, thanks to some troubleshooting a rattle coming from the hubs, to put her on an AutoX course, or take her on the track. I did take her out the the farm we have west of Houston and throw her around a few of the roads and corners we have there. After a few runs i quickly decided up up the stiffness in the front to 20 and the rear is now at 18, may change, im still new to tweaking suspension.
Only other bad note i have is it is impossible to install the adjustment extenders provided with the BC ERs without cutting the top of the interior that covers the rear struts. Ive tried to put them on, then route them around to where pannels join in the back but the top of the interior pannel is only 1/2 an inch off the top of the adjustment valve so unless i cut an opening on the top (which i plan to do) the interior panel will pinch the extenders, preventing them from moving.
All in all i love the suspension. The 12k/10k spring rates improve the cars feel without making it too rough to drive on the street and its easily adjustable with over 30 stiffness settings available. The suspension is well made and BC Racing, and Relentless Autosports are both upfront and easy to work with in the event of a problem. Ill have some more pics and a little better idea of what the issue is with the rattle once i can get the car back from Secret Service Auto in Houston.
Sorry if this review rambled a bit, first time posting something like this up. Hope it helps!