Yellow Speed Racing coilovers

[Mr nanotech]

What I find odd is that BC V1/VA series is virtually the same price as the BR series which is their premium model... And a lot of forum sponsors only seem to stock the V1's now... Which sucks.
So without having to import and pay around $1300, the YSR top model with the heavier springs clocks in just over a grand... So it makes me wonder where the better value is. I can't see any comparisons online though because nobody seems to own the YSR ones. Maybe they just aren't established yet so they're cheaper?
Thats the only thing I can think of because everything seems to indicate that the top YSR are better than the BC BR series coilovers.

[Bauer]

I don't know that you will find a lot of comparison reviews. Some will have BC, some will have YSR. Considering they are aimed at the budget end of the market, I doubt anyone would swap from BC to YSR or vice-versa.

I would imagine both are very similar and as a YSR owner, im glad i saved the $$$$ (and grabbed them from a forum sponsor). Now the set I bought didn't have the sleeve height adjustment in the rear and I didn't see it as an issue then. Now the new YSR's have this sleeve I can only see them as direct competition to the BR's and had I waited, I wouldn't hesitate to grab the YSR's

[bretauto]

I have a set of BR bc's, I think they are good value for the price you pay, I purchased at the budget end of the market as I was not shore what combination ( spring rate /valving I wanted). I am changing spring rates how, so I had the shocks dynoed to see if they would suit the new springs. I was very suprised, and happy to find that the valving on all four shocks, was fine and they all graphed at the same rates. ( I think alot of people would be very suprised at how inconsistent some high end shocks sets are). Performance wise not to bad, the nose rates were a little low on the soft settings, which is very common for a shim stack type valve, and I have only seen "Penske", able to address this issue ( mega bucks). Even though the adjuster is said to be Comp/ rebound adjuster,it mainly changes the rebound with very little change in comp ( which is excatly what you want ).
The only faults I see with these shocks and any other brands with the height adjusters ( not the preload ) is to achive this function the shock body is shortened, which reduces the stroke of the shock. So my BC's have 90mm of front travel and the rears 60mm of travel, I don't consider the rears to have nearly enough. I would preferr F 120, R100mm out of a performance shock, so I have now increased my spring rates, to reduce the suspenion travel I will need.
So if I had to buy some budget coilovers now, I would go for the YSR , and try and get the old ones with out the rear height adjusters.
P.S my car is mainly used on the track, and the lower wish bones sit level at ride height , approx 1'' lower front and 1 1/2'' rear from std.
Brett

[and1]

Has anyone dynoed the YSR coilies? If they return similar dyno results to the BC BR series then they will be an exceptional alternative to the BCs.

[Haydos]

Hey guys,
I've had these in my NA for a while now and am really enjoying how great the car handles, but i am getting pretty sick of bottoming out on the bumpy Adelaide Hills roads. The front is height adjustable but the rears can only adjust the spring, is that an acceptable way to adjust the height of the car? or is this going to cause problems.

[Bauer]

Hey guys,
I've had these in my NA for a while now and am really enjoying how great the car handles, but i am getting pretty sick of bottoming out on the bumpy Adelaide Hills roads. The front is height adjustable but the rears can only adjust the spring, is that an acceptable way to adjust the height of the car? or is this going to cause problems.

Hey Haydos

I called Mania, who were very helpful, to see how they set theirs and they gave me the below info. I was getting some bottoming out in the rear, especially over 1 small little bump on my way to work. I felt it every day

At about 135 mm up from the base they will start to compress the spring, That is ok, I wound 1 up to 145mm up from the base today and the car was about 10mm lower than standard then. Every 10 mm you wind the rings up they will raise the car up approx 15mm. On the front you will have to wined the shock shaft anti clockwise which will raise the car.

From memory I only went up about 5mm from where I was and the bottoming out stopped.

[rossint]

Finally got to the track today for the first time since installing the yellow speeds, very impressed with them, I went just over half a second a lap quicker today. As has been said they perform better on the harder settings, I ended up running 29clicks on the front and 27 on the rear at the track and would normally run 24 front and 22 rear on the street. I really noticed how much better these kept the tyres in contact with the track compared to my last setup.

[Haydos]

When i tried to raise the ride height of the rear, i was unable to fit my spring compressors onto the coil and therefore wasnt able to raise it. Is there some way of doing it without compressing the coil? Or are there spring compressors that will fit on these springs.

[Bauer]

I just screwed up the spring using the tools. Never crossed my mind to compress the springs.

[egads]

how are the coilovers doing now guys, any issues? interested in getting a set over the bc's due to price. perhaps a groupbuy if mx5mania is willing.

[Mr nanotech]

how are the coilovers doing now guys, any issues? interested in getting a set over the bc's due to price. perhaps a groupbuy if mx5mania is willing.

Give me about 2 weeks and I'll tell you lol. I did a lot of thinking and I reckon I'll get the YSR- Premium Competition Series over BC- BR series. At the end of the day they're both at the lower end of the budget, both a monotube coilover with high dampening rates and lower locking collars for height. Basically the same setup but one is cheaper. I did some research and can tell you that all the Australian logo's and stuff on their website are a load of crap. They're Japanese engineered and manufactured in Taiwan. Australia doesn't seem to have anything to do with it par for maybe testing or rough design elements.
That said, BC is Bor Chuan which is also Taiwanese as well. They'd be about the same build quality, which is ok because BC are neat. I've heard a lot of people are impressed with the YSR range as well.
Another thing to note are the spring rates, I know the higher end YSR coilovers are heavier than the BC BR series by a few kg's. So it seems they'd be a stiffer setup, however after more research I found that BC actually under rate their springs by about a kilo so they're once again roughly the same as the Yellow Speeds top model. So you wonder why the YSR are a good $200 cheaper. Albeit it's not a lot of money less but when you factor in the apparent performance, they should be more. Personally I think it comes down to propriety name. YSR seem to be aimed at one car (us from what I can tell) and as such have a slightly more limited market to other suspension manufacturers such as BC who have a wide range for a number of different vehicles.
So that said, it doesn't sound like I'm in favor or against haha. But that's exactly where I'd like to stand, my opinion on the YSR would only be speculation based on brief research. I've actually had a ride with BC's so I know exactly what to expect so I feel that YSR is an unknown quantity.

But that said, there are swings and roundabouts with everything. I said this at the start, I'm hopefully going to buy a set of the Premium Comp YSR coils in the next two weeks. There is a warranty on them etc so I don't really think you can go wrong. I think what swung me was the fact that it doesn't matter if they don't ride the same as the bc's, I'm running on what could only be referred to as 'busted' shockers at a ridiculous height so any improvement will be massive haha.
That's only my two cents so take it with a pinch of salt. Assuming I stick to my plan (financially) and pick up a set, I'll give you the heads up on the pro's and con's and put up some pics maybe.

[plohl]

Curiously, what is the stroke length of the bc's and ysr coilovers? I know with the HSD's, the rear's extend past the upper shock mount to give a longer stroke (poor description). I dont think many consider HSD's when looking at shocks for mx5's, but I think they are comparable to the bc's and ysr shocks. Spring rates are 10 and 8, so they also fall in between.

Also, mx5mania said they sell the ysr shocks less than recommend retail, hence the cheaper price, when really they are equivalent in price to the bc's.

HAD coilovers can be seen here: http://www.hsdcoilovers.com/hsd-coilovers-mx5-fitting-video if you got to about 2 min on part 2, you can see what i mean about the rears.

not promoting - just discussing.

[Apu]

So...it looks like this thread tapered off! It's been an interesting read so far as I'm interested in getting coilovers for my car.

I'd like to be able to adjust the ride height for the aesthetics, and have the adjustability for the occassional track day...when I get around to it!

Could any of the YSR users here give more feedback after a few months of usage now please? And is anyone else interested in a group buy? I'd like to get them on my car right after Easter.

[Mr nanotech]

Hey man, I just ordered some yesterday. Mania were out of stock so they're ordering them in. I'll be able to give you full feedback in about a week. I've had quite a few PM's from people who own YSR coilovers and had a lot of quality feedback.
They're a good setup. I'm actually going for the street ones now, not the heavy spring track setup now.

Like I said, as soon as I put these in and give them a good ride, I'll let you know how they go.

[elitee]

Ordered mine from mania as well going for the prem comps. Will provide some feed back once I have received them.