BC coilovers

jackmack · Postby **jackmack** » Mon May 27, 2013 10:59 pm

I am doing my research on coilovers. Today I had the run down on BC BR coilovers. No doubt they are a good quality product for $1,149 plus fitting. Now this is my question....my driving is mainly just weekends, the odd MX5 Sunday drive and maybe 3 track days a year for fun. My engine work is completed for the time being so happy with that. New Rota RB alloys just arrived so now for the suspension. I want a good lowered look maybe 110ml off the tarmac, so what will my ride be like with the BC's? Or should I just go for Pedders Sports Riders or the like?
Help needed here as I want the look, some performance without too hard a ride.
All suggestions welcomed.

narita · Postby **narita** » Mon May 27, 2013 11:31 pm

I use bc br, my friends use bc br.

Hell I even have a mate with a z4 using bc br.

Great value!

barge · Postby **barge** » Mon May 27, 2013 11:59 pm

BCs ride great!

PaulF · Postby **PaulF** » Tue May 28, 2013 1:11 am

They have adjustable height, separate to preload, so you can adjust it to get what you like (within a certain range, obviously). I would imagine that your target height should be well within comfortable adjustment range for the BC's.

MattR · Postby **MattR** » Tue May 28, 2013 8:56 am

I went with the BC V street series for my NA6, dríven much like yours will be with the odd track day.

The ride is better than the BR series for road work, but stiff enough to have fun on the track. Most people set up MX's to stiff for road/track duties. They are a light car and need to roll a little to get the most out of them, well I find that anyway and my car isn't a slouch round the twisties, just down the straight with all asthmatic 1600cc giving their all. :lol:

Another advantage of the V series is that they are cheaper again than the BR series. They have 30 steps of damper adjustment, same as BR IIRC, but just softer damping than the BR series.

On the road I run the coilovers at the 4th step from full soft front and rear, and still playing on the track, at the moment I set them at 8 and 6 front/rear from soft. On the road settings it is a comfortable and controlled ride, on the track settings I find it uncomfortable and too stiff, crashing over bumps rather than riding over them. For the track they work fine, last time out at QR I took 5 seconds off my previous best with the coilovers and some sticky rubber, about 2 seconds in the rubber so 3 seconds in the coilovers and I'm still finding the best track set up, so a little more time to come.

Height wise, mine is set at around 110mm and I could drop it further if I wanted to get stranded on the traffic calming devices around my place.

I would stongly recommend the V street series BC coilovers for the intended use for your car.

project.r.racing · Postby **project.r.racing** » Tue May 28, 2013 9:08 am

The only different between the V1s and BRs is a smaller shock tube holding less fluid. You pay extra fo the larger capacity BRs. but I am yet to see a set have issues on the track. So as above, maybe look at the V1s as a option.

If you don't want a harsh ride, you could select springs 1kg softer than the standard options.

Magpie · Postby **Magpie** » Tue May 28, 2013 9:15 am

I have the BC ER shocks and after playing with both bump and rebound settings there is more (noticeable) change in the rebound settings than the bump. I have been adjusting the bump down 10 clicks between track and road and leaving the rebound alone and the ride is not really any different. Plan is to reduce the rebound by 10 clicks and see if there is any difference on the road.

Lokiel · Postby **Lokiel** » Tue May 28, 2013 2:44 pm

project.r.racing wrote:The only different between the V1s and BRs is a smaller shock tube holding less fluid.
:

WRONG!

V1s are Red, BRs are gold - BIG difference

project.r.racing · Postby **project.r.racing** » Tue May 28, 2013 2:54 pm

Lokiel wrote:
project.r.racing wrote:The only different between the V1s and BRs is a smaller shock tube holding less fluid.
:

WRONG!

V1s are Red, BRs are gold - BIG difference

HA! Red goes faster!!!

jackmack · Postby **jackmack** » Tue May 28, 2013 8:56 pm

Thanks all for the feedback. Matt you think the V are the way to go. I can get the BR's for the same price on special. So which way to go? Yes I want performance....yes I want the look and both will give the look....but if the BR's due the the saving on price....will they give a good a good ride for street on a soft setting?

initial D · Postby **initial D** » Tue May 28, 2013 9:55 pm

project.r.racing · Postby **project.r.racing** » Tue May 28, 2013 10:35 pm

If you can get them for the price of V1s, then go for it. But that is not the price of V1s in the first post.

Base model YSRs are $980 shipped from Mania for another option.

KevGoat · Postby **KevGoat** » Tue May 28, 2013 11:10 pm

jackmack wrote:Thanks all for the feedback. Matt you think the V are the way to go. I can get the BR's for the same price on special. So which way to go? Yes I want performance....yes I want the look and both will give the look....but if the BR's due the the saving on price....will they give a good a good ride for street on a soft setting?

I only fitted BC BR's to my NB8A last week. My wife hated them the first couple of drives. Felt very harsh, crashing over every bump. So we took a good long drive on Sunday to muck around with them and see if we could find a comfortable setting. The alternative was that I'd just remove them and fit back my stock suspension if we couldn't. Both my wife and I have bad backs, so although I like the car handling nicely and enjoy it's looks slightly lowered, it is vital that it is comfortable. We drove approx 200/250k's during that day over all kinds of roads. By the time we got home, we had a setting that was close to the comfort of my stock NB8A suspension and my wife even commented on how much better they felt. Believe it or not, "soft settings" aren't actually the answer. These springs are stiffer and require more damping. Took me a while to sort that in my head, but once I did, I found the settings we needed.

Drove around a fair bit today and it feels great. What I realised, and told my wife, is to keep in mind that the road irregularities feel (and sound) different due to the different suspension, but this doesn't necessarily mean it feels harder or less comfortable. I asked her to consider the feel independently, not to compare.

As a result, our final thoughts were that had we bought the car with the BC suspension already fitted, we would have been very impressed with the ride/handling compromise.

Postby **NitroDann** » Tue May 28, 2013 11:28 pm

KevGoat wrote:By the time we got home, we had a setting that was close to the comfort of my stock NB8A suspension and my wife even commented on how much better they felt. Believe it or not, "soft settings" aren't actually the answer. These springs are stiffer and require more damping. Took me a while to sort that in my head, but once I did, I found the settings we needed.

Drove around a fair bit today and it feels great. What I realised, and told my wife, is to keep in mind that the road irregularities feel (and sound) different due to the different suspension, but this doesn't necessarily mean it feels harder or less comfortable.

You can post this once. you can post it a dozen times. I would know I have. 95 percent of people dont get ot and wont even try it but its the truth 100 percent.

Dann