Bc Coils R34 - Mechanic Just Slammed My Research

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

street car & very little track time?

Go Bilstein shocks & some decent springs.

All up will cost you the same price as a set of BC coilovers and will be light years ahead in terms of comfort/handling

Demontweaks have them pretty good, like $750 shipped then buy some local springs done.

[dyl33]

Are you bilstein fanboys using B6 bilstein shocks? I ask because bilstein and some local suppliers have said I should not use the B6 shock with any lowering spring and recommend the B8 shock when lowering. Thoughts?

[Dose Pipe Sutututu]

Nope, not a fan boy. I just know what a good damper feels like - also a damper that has heaps of settings already shows that it's not good. Dampers should damper a large range of frequencies not just a small range. It's like comparing a good 2 way speaker to some fully sick 4 way speaker. What sounds better?

If you look at Bilstein PSS9, Cusco Zero 2R, Ohlins they all don't have 30+ points of adjustment.

I'm waiting on MCA to bring to market R33 coilovers kits and I'm moving to them.

And to your point don't slam your car.

[34GeeTeeTee]

Nope, not a fan boy. I just know what a good damper feels like - also a damper that has heaps of settings already shows that it's not good. Dampers should damper a large range of frequencies not just a small range. It's like comparing a good 2 way speaker to some fully sick 4 way speaker. What sounds better?

If you look at Bilstein PSS9, Cusco Zero 2R, Ohlins they all don't have 30+ points of adjustment.

I'm waiting on MCA to bring to market R33 coilovers kits and I'm moving to them.

And to your point don't slam your car.

I think i saw GKTECH were going to do an entry level range with MCA stuff?

[scotty nm35]

If you look at Bilstein PSS9, Cusco Zero 2R, Ohlins they all don't have 30+ points of adjustment.

Actually, the Ohlins I have here do. You understand they are just a grub screw underneath the cap, and the clicks are caused by notches with a ball and spring inside the cap. The amount of clicks has absolutely nothing to do with the range of dampening or the quality. If you think it does, you are just plain wrong. Keep spreading the 'Bilstein' fanboi rubbish Johnny.

Dampening needs to be matched to spring rate. If you just buy Bilstein's and whack any cheapskate (King) spring on there, you will never have the correct dampening. (unless SK sends the springs and adjusts the valving to suit) At least with coilovers you get some adjustment, that way they can be set close enough if you are competent to do that. If not you could just pay someone to corner weight them and set the dampening in the ballpark.

My point is, for the price the BC's are a very capable unit. They will never compete with competition coilovers with rebound adjustment and gold plated valving, but they are very well suited to a road car, if you select the correct (softer) spring rates. Mine are still going strong 5+ years on, and considering they cost less than replacement stock shocks alone, they are a no brainer.

[Little]

Thought it would be useful to follow up, most people leave once they're happy with the answers, but if anyone else ever looks, here's the verdict

I ended up going with BC coilovers, and had them set for 6/4. On the GTT, they are of course forked at the back.

We ended up going for legal minimum height for victoria for a bit of balance. I'm happy with the result as if it was any lower i'd have to get bigger wheels and roll the arches because it would look terrible. Also, vics has a lot of crap roads. Last thing I want is a pothole to take off the front bumper.

The end result was spot on what everybody has been saying - I'd say I feel about a 25% improvement in handling. It's heavier, Sturdier, & more "confident" when cornering. Just point the wheel and it sticks. The limiting factor at this point is my back tyres, but thats the endless struggle anyway.

6/4 Seems to be pretty much perfect for balance. No - speedbumps are not fun, but theyre not horrible either. I wouldn't be going over them at more than 30 km/s or with anybody that has a spinal injury

Aside from that, vast improvement, & quick & easy to get put in. 450 bucks & half a day at the shop.

Thank you for all the input.

Alex

[warps]

Good to hear you're happy with the setup.

Just a note on the Bilstein Fanboi thing. In my 20 years involvement in club rallying, Bilsteins have been the go-to brand for people building custom suspensions for gravel rally cars. This was when we had to design and build our own coilovers, years before the market was flooded with aftermarket coilovers from a dozen different companies.

Bilstein have been making the shock hardware for these applications for a very long time, and have always offered to valve the product to suit your application. Even today, I see their gear under a lot of rally cars, and it's a great budget alternative to the remote canister mega $$ kits available today. One of their strengths is that they are rebuildable (I know a few rally guys who rebuild their own, for little more than a few $$ per unit)

Maybe I am a bit of a Fanboi, but you can't argue their quality. I know there is potentially better gear out there, but believe me, there is a hell of a lot worse too.

[_Ryan_]

Nope, not a fan boy. I just know what a good damper feels like - also a damper that has heaps of settings already shows that it's not good. Dampers should damper a large range of frequencies not just a small range. It's like comparing a good 2 way speaker to some fully sick 4 way speaker. What sounds better?

If you look at Bilstein PSS9, Cusco Zero 2R, Ohlins they all don't have 30+ points of adjustment.

I'm waiting on MCA to bring to market R33 coilovers kits and I'm moving to them.

And to your point don't slam your car.

The PSS9 has a flawed adjuster and has been replaced by the B16 PSS10. The B14 PSS is likely a better option than the PSS9 as the savings allow for linear springs and camber tops.

Are you bilstein fanboys using B6 bilstein shocks? I ask because bilstein and some local suppliers have said I should not use the B6 shock with any lowering spring and recommend the B8 shock when lowering. Thoughts?

The B8 is of the same design as the B6 although with a shorter stroke to suit lowering springs.

Good to hear you're happy with the setup.

Just a note on the Bilstein Fanboi thing. In my 20 years involvement in club rallying, Bilsteins have been the go-to brand for people building custom suspensions for gravel rally cars. This was when we had to design and build our own coilovers, years before the market was flooded with aftermarket coilovers from a dozen different companies.

Bilstein have been making the shock hardware for these applications for a very long time, and have always offered to valve the product to suit your application. Even today, I see their gear under a lot of rally cars, and it's a great budget alternative to the remote canister mega $$ kits available today. One of their strengths is that they are rebuildable (I know a few rally guys who rebuild their own, for little more than a few $$ per unit)

Maybe I am a bit of a Fanboi, but you can't argue their quality. I know there is potentially better gear out there, but believe me, there is a hell of a lot worse too.

Agreed, that's exactly why I run them. I've owned Koni, Kings, Tokico etc, and am on my third car with Bilsteins. Reliability and consistency being the key reasons. I know I can drive a couple of hundred kms on gravel roads per month and still have a functional shock. If they die, I can drive 8minutes down the road to Brett O'Brien of shock works and get them rebuilt to whatever rates we see fit, knowing components are likely on hand at the distributor who is another 20 minutes away. It's often not that simple with the cheapo BC/Tein stuff.

[scotty nm35]

Haha, cheapo BC cnc alloy gear, as opposed to overpriced pressed steel.

I will stick with my BC's.

[sucram]

gold plated valving, is that the same as motec system exhaust

[BeastVS]

I have 8/6 BC br series in my 34 GTT which is also my daily driver. Have slightly stretched tyres and it sits just above the tyre. Its not that bumpy at all. Hell i drove it to qld and back last year for the modball rally and even the mrs didn't complain lol.