BC Racing Coilovers *UPDATED UPDATE* run in and new settings

[ChrisGB]

Well, despatched Friday from the Tiwan factory, arrived here today (Monday) all nice and shiny. These are the BR type BC Racing coilovers. Design is a monotube shock with 4Kg/mm and 6Kg/mm springs f/r. Damping is 32 step adjustable combined compression and rebound. System is height adjustable independent of spring perch position (like Tein Monoflex). All pillowball top mounts with camber plates on the fronts.

EDIT:

The standard spring rates are 6f/8R but I thought these would work out too hard for our beautifully surfaced UK roads, so if ordering, be sure to state springs required. They even do an 8f/10r for those of us who want to suffer compressed spinal columns.

They look well made and finished. The monotube design means a lot of gas pressure so are very stiff. My 85kg frame wont move the front even a little with all my weight on it, so I expect the going to be firm.



Sourced from:

http://www.waltermotorsports.com/main.php

Wayne there is extremely helpful. Only snag in ordering process was an inexcusable delay caused by Paypal taking forever to clear funds.

Cost £626 including shipping (+£68 duty  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  )

Will try and fit them tomorrow morning before going out (if the drop links will come undone without too much trouble) and get an alignment immediately after. Looking forward to frozen fingers. Biggest task for these tomorrow is the SWMBO test.

Chris

[Jaik]

They look the business! Looking forward to hearing what you think of them  s:) s:)

[broudie]

They look the business! Looking forward to hearing what you think of them  s:) s:)

+1 Always looking forward to Chris' reviews!

[ChrisGB]

Pah! fell at the first hurdle, cant get the rear drop links undone  s:oops: :oops: s:oops:  

Oh well, have to get someone else to do it.

Chris

[kanujunkie]

i had to remove mine with an angle grinder Chris, mind you i was fitting a set of 2's r us droplinks and TTE ARB's so it didn't matter so much

[Anonymous]

congrats on your choice of bc coilovers!

i have already fitted the bc ram (inverted) coilovers in 6/8 spring rate!

in soft settings the ride is comfortable and the handling is very sharp and balanced!

i think the coilovers worth every penny they cost!!beautiful constaction
and specs equal to much more expensive coilovers!

the bc coilovers are a true competitor to teins..

enjoy your ride!!  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:    s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[ChrisGB]

congrats on your choice of bc coilovers!

i have already fitted the bc ram (inverted) coilovers in 6/8 spring rate!

in soft settings the ride is comfortable and the handling is very sharp and balanced!

i think the coilovers worth every penny they cost!!beautiful constaction
and specs equal to much more expensive coilovers!

the bc coilovers are a true competitor to teins..

enjoy your ride!!  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:    s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Encouraging words. I was going to get the inverted type, but thought about the adjusters being exposed to salt spray over winter here in the UK and that made me choose the BR type with top adjusters. The 6/8 rate looks good but I am a big fan of the British B/C type roads where softer rates will help keep the plot in touch with the ground. I have been  passenger in a car fitted with Tein SS and felt these were OK for road use, with 3/4 spring rates, but did not want to go too far above that.

Just ordered my roll bar end links so I can get fitting done next week hopefully.

Chris

[custardavenger]

OOh. very nice. Been looking for an alternative to Teins. Look forward to hearing what they're like.

Question. Did they include adjustment spanners?

[ChrisGB]

OOh. very nice. Been looking for an alternative to Teins. Look forward to hearing what they're like.

Question. Did they include adjustment spanners?

Yes, two C spanners included, one large for spring perch, one small for perch lock ring or height lock ring.

I got a can of Loctite freeze and release today and will try and give that a go on the link nuts on Friday between jobs if I can. I ordered a set of links so that if all else fails the angle grinder can be utilised with subtlety.

Really looking forward to getting these on.

Chris

[heathstimpson]

They do look like a nice bit of kit. Is the quality as good as it looks  s:?: :?: s:?:

[ChrisGB]

They do look like a nice bit of kit. Is the quality as good as it looks  s:?: :?: s:?:

Fit and finish look fine to me. Only driving on them will tell for sure though.

Chris

[ChrisGB]

I fitted the coilovers today. A fairly straightforward job (the droplinks came undone with gentle persuasion. I undid the lower link joints and worked on the strut joint off car). Fitting was simple enough. A few things to note:

The coilovers are supplied without a set nut for the front ABS sensor wire bracket, so you need to find two nuts to fit. I cannot tell you what size they are, I just happened to have a couple in my odds n sods box.

The front hub mounting bolts are a bit tight as the hole pitch is slightly smaller than stock. They will go, but it takes a bit of force.

On both front and rears, the proximity of the brake line mounting point on the strut is slightly different to that of the stock strut so some easing will be required.

When fitting the rears, there is no access for a torque wrench to get to the lower droplink joint at the factory preset ride height. This should be OK once I have set ride height up.

When removing the rear struts, it is advisable to remove the ABS sensor wire bracket to help slide the old strut out without distressing the wires.

The strut top mount nuts are longer than stock meaning you can comfortably mount a strut brace.

So how are they? Well ride was factory set to -40mm all round. Looks cool but is really far too low, so I have not had a chance to properly test them yet as geometry is likely to be all over the place with this much drop. With the 4/6kg/m f/r split, ride is actually pretty good. The primary ride is noticeably stiffer than stock, but not harsh, the secondary ride is really good, better than stock IMO. Wheel control with all 4 corners set to damping +4 (from softest) seems pretty good although I think it will be better slightly harder. The ride is obviously working the shell much harder now though, which is an expected downside.

Will get ride wound up tomorrow morning (am going for -25mm f/r) and get the geometry done and hopefully, dry roads permitting, can give a decent appraisal of the kit.

Chris

[ChrisGB]

Further update:

Got all four corners set to -25mm from stock this morning which looks much more sensible. The car just makes it up the ramp outside my house if I go in at an angle. Alignment done, only needed slight adjustment to front toe. Camber at front is spot on with struts set centrally. Rear camber is OK one side, but drivers side is a bit steep at 2deg 18 mins. May have to invest in some Che adjustable Chapman arms.

It has been raining all day here, so no proper handling information yet, however, early indications are that the drivers side rear is not properly loading under partial cornering forces, so may need to tweak a little more ride height onto that corner, of maybe have a go at corner balancing.

Some decent driving today was indicating that the damping set at +4 from full soft all round was too stiff, particularly at the front, if the road was more than slightly uneven. The dampers were definitely slowing the springs excessively on compression. I have now backed the dampers down to +2 from full soft. This has allowed the car to flow much better and ride bumps without getting put off line. Primary ride is now nicely compliant without being bouncy or uncontrolled. Yumps and transverse ridges are handled with much less stress on the shell. Body control is actually better for road use, the reduction in damping force allowing the springs to rebound quick enough to keep the tyres on the road. Secondary ride is also slightly improved, the car now riding broken surfaces with less disturbance than on the stock struts.

Setting at +2 from full soft on a 32 step adjuster seems a bit odd, but do consider that the struts are available fitted with fronts ranging from 4kg/mm to 8kg/mm and the rears 6kg/mm to 10kg/mm, so I would expect all the adjustment needed for my 4/6 setup to be at the soft end.

Wet handling is more throttle adjustable than on stock struts and breakaway at low speeds is easier to catch and easier to detect coming on. Overall balance is less understeer than previous, but the front washes out just a little earlier than the back. Roll is obviously reduced to a degree as well, helping keep everything progressive.

Road noise is a little increased through the pillowball top mounts, but not to any great degree. There is a fraction more noise, but mostly you are just more aware of surface changes as the sound varies.

Steering weight has gone up a little from stock, but that may be because I had some toe out (within limits) previously, which I now don't have.

The setup has passed the critically important SWMBO test. So far well impressed with this kit. Now all I need is a dry road.

Chris

[Anonymous]

Chris

Strange that about the offside rear, it was the same on mine when I had the Teins fitted, but with a bit of pulling is was improved slightly.

I've had the Megan adjustable tie rods fitted, but not set-up yet, I'm going to run about -1.5 on the back I think, but not sure what to do with the caster on the rear, I understand there is an ideal setting but not sure what that is.

Rob

[ChrisGB]

Chris

Strange that about the offside rear, it was the same on mine when I had the Teins fitted, but with a bit of pulling is was improved slightly.

I've had the Megan adjustable tie rods fitted, but not set-up yet, I'm going to run about -1.5 on the back I think, but not sure what to do with the caster on the rear, I understand there is an ideal setting but not sure what that is.

Rob

Hi Rob

I have no idea what the rear castor should be. Seems strange to set castor on a non steered wheel.

When you had the problem with the camber on the OS rear, did you find the car feeling a little vague under cornering load in the wet? I am trying to decide if this is a result of camber or light corner load. That corner sits ever so slightly lower (about 2-3mm) than the other as it did on the stock struts.

I was going to undo the strut leg bolts and pull the top end of the hub outwards and re-tighten, just to be sure I have minimised the problem until I can get some adjustable arms. Are the Megan racing ones a set of four? Are they rubber bushed or rose jointed?

Just my luck, the roads dried out today a bit and just before I get home from work it starts tipping it down with rain again.

Chris

[Anonymous]

Hi Rob

I have no idea what the rear castor should be. Seems strange to set castor on a non steered wheel.

When you had the problem with the camber on the OS rear, did you find the car feeling a little vague under cornering load in the wet? I am trying to decide if this is a result of camber or light corner load. That corner sits ever so slightly lower (about 2-3mm) than the other as it did on the stock struts.

I was going to undo the strut leg bolts and pull the top end of the hub outwards and re-tighten, just to be sure I have minimised the problem until I can get some adjustable arms. Are the Megan racing ones a set of four? Are they rubber bushed or rose jointed?

Just my luck, the roads dried out today a bit and just before I get home from work it starts tipping it down with rain again.

Chris

Hi Chris

I never really notice a difference, as the ride heights are set with the spring rate setting, which were set to Teins recommended dimension. What you suggested with regard to the bolts is exactly what SP did which gives you about -0.10 adjustment.

With regard to Megan take a look here

 m http://www.mr2roc.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=19148 m

They are pillow ball and brought in pairs, the only reason I changed was because of rust, plus I get the added advantage of adjustment all round. They are about £95 for a set including shipping.

Thanks
Rob

[ChrisGB]

Hi Rob

I have no idea what the rear castor should be. Seems strange to set castor on a non steered wheel.

When you had the problem with the camber on the OS rear, did you find the car feeling a little vague under cornering load in the wet? I am trying to decide if this is a result of camber or light corner load. That corner sits ever so slightly lower (about 2-3mm) than the other as it did on the stock struts.

I was going to undo the strut leg bolts and pull the top end of the hub outwards and re-tighten, just to be sure I have minimised the problem until I can get some adjustable arms. Are the Megan racing ones a set of four? Are they rubber bushed or rose jointed?

Just my luck, the roads dried out today a bit and just before I get home from work it starts tipping it down with rain again.

Chris

Hi Chris

I never really notice a difference, as the ride heights are set with the spring rate setting, which were set to Teins recommended dimension. What you suggested with regard to the bolts is exactly what SP did which gives you about -0.10 adjustment.

With regard to Megan take a look here

 m http://www.mr2roc.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=19148 m

They are pillow ball and brought in pairs, the only reason I changed was because of rust, plus I get the added advantage of adjustment all round. They are about £95 for a set including shipping.

Thanks
Rob

Those bars look good for the job. I would need to find the correct castor figure though, so my local alignment shop know what to set to. It is not s specified measurement on their system.

Where are they from?

Thought I would get a drive in the dry tonight. Lovely breeze came up late and dried all the roads out around here. Got in from work at 9:50, shovelled dinner down me neck as fast as I could and grabbed the keys to the '2. Opened front door: Drizzle. FFS!

On the plus side, went on a few of my favourite test routes anyway. Definitely more progressive and with more grip than stock in the wet at least. Bloody drizzle. Had to come in and drink a bottle of red to make up for the disappointment.

Chris

[Anonymous]

Hi Chris

Brought them direct from Megan - website is  w www.meganracing.com w  They arrived within 5 days including the weekend  - great service and they were very understanding with regard to the invoice  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  

I've now driven the car, and for some reason the steering as gone really sharpe and the back end feels a lot smoother, or it could be driving my Yaris for the past 3 weeks  s:shock: :shock: s:shock:  

Rob

[ChrisGB]

Thanks for the info Rob. Unless your arms are set up, there could be some pretty odd geometry going on at the back  s:shock: :shock: s:shock:  

I finally got to drive the car in the dry tonight. Roads were mostly gritted, but still had some fun. First up, grip levels seem a little higher than with stock suspension, not huge differences but noticeable. The setup really seems to ram the tyres into the road giving a much more positive feel when cornering.

Next thing I noticed is how much more throttle sensitive the car is now. It feels like the stock setup was geared to safely deliver the driver through changes of throttle position mid bend. Now the car is much more sensitive to mid corner lift or acceleration. It is now much easier to hold the car at the angle you want. On the downside, a clumsy lift of gas needs a quick unwinding of steering to avoid the rear end breaking away, which was not really the case previously.

Is it quicker? I would guess around 10% increase in cornering speed on my well known test sections (and that is with the roads gritted!). More importantly, communication from the chassis is more immediate and simple. The signals are not confused by the car rolling around. This makes the car a bit less intimidating to drive at the limit as corrections are easily worked out and applied if the car starts to get sideways. Handling is best described as distilled MR2.

The damping adjustments give a degree of versatility. I found for quick and well settled fast smooth A roads and roundabouts, 5f/7r seem to give excellent body control and balanced handling. Go to an average B or C road and its bumps and the handling will go completely wrong at these settings, it is simply too stiff. The dampers hold up compression of the springs to a large extent making the responses harsh and overdamped. I finally settled on 2f/3r as giving nice C road compliance with very acceptable open road behaviour. The car nods its head a tiny bit when really loaded up exiting a roundabout under full throttle in 2nd (think of the gritted surface and gritted teeth!), but is is very controllable and does not deflect the cars line. Most surprising, having started soft, gone to stiff and then back to soft agian(  s:oops: :oops: s:oops:  ooh err matron) the fastest progress was made with settings of 2f/3r on bumpy or smooth roads. This may change a bit once the struts have had time to run in as they only have around 150 miles covered so far.

I really want to drive the car on a clean, dry surface, but even with a frost descending and grit on the roads tonight, I am going quicker and having more fun than I did on stock struts. My only reservation is that on a fast C road with lots of bumps, the stock setup may prove faster. More research when I get time.

On the whole, I am very pleased with the results.

Chris

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info Rob. Unless your arms are set up, there could be some pretty odd geometry going on at the back  s:shock: :shock: s:shock:  

 Go to an average B or C road and its bumps and the handling will go completely wrong at these settings, it is simply too stiff. The dampers hold up compression of the springs to a large extent making the responses harsh and overdamped. I finally settled on 2f/3r as giving nice C road compliance with very acceptable open road behaviour. The car nods its head a tiny bit when really loaded up exiting a roundabout under full throttle in 2nd (think of the gritted surface and gritted teeth!), but is is very controllable and does not deflect the cars line. Most surprising, having started soft, gone to stiff and then back to soft agian(  s:oops: :oops: s:oops:  ooh err matron) the fastest progress was made with settings of 2f/3r on bumpy or smooth roads. This may change a bit once the struts have had time to run in as they only have around 150 miles covered so far.


Chris

Hi Chris.

I set the bars to each individual length of the ones I pulled off - one by one. So its going to be around stock and I've not changed the toe setting.

Now not wanting to look a smart arse, you can understand why the EDFC unit that Tein use is so useful, you can't do setting changes when you are on the move and also you have to drill the front plastic cover to get access to the front top mount adjuster.

I'm glad they are working out for you, it just makes the car feel a whole lot different.  s:D s:D  

Rob.

[ChrisGB]

Thanks for the info Rob. Unless your arms are set up, there could be some pretty odd geometry going on at the back  s:shock: :shock: s:shock:  

 Go to an average B or C road and its bumps and the handling will go completely wrong at these settings, it is simply too stiff. The dampers hold up compression of the springs to a large extent making the responses harsh and overdamped. I finally settled on 2f/3r as giving nice C road compliance with very acceptable open road behaviour. The car nods its head a tiny bit when really loaded up exiting a roundabout under full throttle in 2nd (think of the gritted surface and gritted teeth!), but is is very controllable and does not deflect the cars line. Most surprising, having started soft, gone to stiff and then back to soft agian(  s:oops: :oops: s:oops:  ooh err matron) the fastest progress was made with settings of 2f/3r on bumpy or smooth roads. This may change a bit once the struts have had time to run in as they only have around 150 miles covered so far.


Chris

Hi Chris.

I set the bars to each individual length of the ones I pulled off - one by one. So its going to be around stock and I've not changed the toe setting.

Now not wanting to look a smart arse, you can understand why the EDFC unit that Tein use is so useful, you can't do setting changes when you are on the move and also you have to drill the front plastic cover to get access to the front top mount adjuster.

I'm glad they are working out for you, it just makes the car feel a whole lot different.  s:D s:D  

Rob.

Hi Rob

The stock arms will be rubber bushed, the new ones solid mounted, so you may be getting more camber under load as the lower arms will not allow the hub to come closer to the centre of the car. Must really help with feedback I would think.

As for the holes in the plastics, it would make no difference as I could not reach the adjusters even with holes in (mainly because my plastics are leaning against a wall in the garage). For road use, the 2/3 setting are absolutely fine. The problem is that going to 4 on the front or 6 on the rear causes obvious slowing of the springs and the resultant excessive transfer of load into the shell. This would only be acceptable on a completely smooth track or on just a few limited areas of very well surfaced road. At the 2/3 setting the car is actually faster on smooth surfaces as well, particularly when camber changes or mid corner rises are involved. The harder settings would suit the circuit, provided it is smooth, but for all road types, 2/3 seems best anyway. When I go to trackdays, I will try tweaking it up a little. I would not be surprised if the harder settings reduced the actual corner speed though. With the 2/3 setting, you get a little head nodding under power as the fronts start to wash out trying to keep up with the rear end. With the harder settings, you get less of the nodding, but get more understeer and the front washes out earlier. The differences are not vast, but on one roundabout where exit last night was full throttle in 2nd transferring from a right past the apex to a left on exit, the limits with hard setting (4/7) resulted in the nose pushing wide needing a lift to achieve the transition. Down at 2/3 the front just keeps hanging in under full throttle, even with the nodding and a few more MPH where realised, maybe 45mph hard setting, 53mph soft.

These were not definitive tests as they were carried out on a few large quietish and freshly gritted roundabouts with damp descending. I lost my bottle and headed home when the road started to look and feel shiny.

Because these dampers are valved to suit springs of a wide range, the damping adjustment is quite effective, not subtle. They are potentially stiff enough to work on track with 8kg f 10kg rear springs, so with half that, I really expect to run soft settings. They are also monotube type dampers where the gas pressure normally gives a lot more preload effect than in twintube types (as the gas pressure is normally much higher and acts over a wider piston area). Fine adjustment is not really an option with the lowest force springs.

I just love being able to tinker. Sure when summer arrives and temps go up, the slightly harder settings might come into play. I am really glad I did not go 6/8 springs though. For UK roads they would be a bit too much I would think. The 4/6Kg combination pass the SWMBO test and actually give a better less ruffled ride than the stock struts under most circumstances.

Chris

[ChrisGB]

So some proper clean dry road today  s:twisted: :twisted: s:twisted:  

Trying all sorts of combinations of damper settings over the week, I finally settled on 2 front 3 rear. This gives a firm well controlled ride. Body motion is checked very well, primary ride is fluid, firm but acceptable and secondary ride impresses with the lack of patter and disturbance for what is a firm road setup.

So now the setup is finalised, what has the kit done for ride and handling?

Ride is very firm by comparison to stock setup. There is obviously less insulation from poor road surfaces, however, the actual degree of ride harshness seems to be barely increased from stock. On some broken surfaces, the car is surprisingly less ruffled than on the stock setup. I put this down to the damping which at the settings I am using is firm and fast enough to check wheel overshoot. Drops and rises from drain grills and covers are more evident than on stock. Trim rattles are excited a bit more than on stock setup. Ridged concrete dual carriageways are little if any less comfortable than on stock setup.

The first thing that notices is that the car follows faithfully all the contours of the road surface where the original setup would kind of float between the peaks. On smooth or gently undulating A and B roads this translates into much improved stability and feel.

Because the springs are much stiffer than stock, roll, pitch and dive are very much reduced. I only briefly passengered in a car with Tein SS, but would say that from memory, this setup is quite a bit firmer in primary ride terms. Cornering is now a bit on the deceptive side. On stock setup the car would roll about under cornering load and this would make the grip levels drop off as the limits approached. Now the car seems tied down very firmly indeed. On smooth corners, the speed that can be carried is far greater than I could manage with the stock setup. There is no longer that feel that roll is upsetting the geometry and it is now much easier to feel what the tyres are actually doing. This leads you into going faster than originally intended, just because it feels right. Added to this is the increase in the cars responses to the throttle. There is more room to use the throttle to steer the car than there was. The caveat to this is that it is also now much more apparent how the LSD pushes the car about.

Introduce it to roads with more bumps (like your average British B road) and it is very evident that the springs are much stiffer. The car follows the surface faithfully but never gets into any sort of pitching or corner to corner oscillation. Body control remains excellent. You are much more aware of the unevenness of the road, but equally, more aware of how each wheel is loaded as a result. The front remains on line over bumps that would have the stock setup bouncing wide, the rear feels stiff enough to hop but does not, just resolutely staying in touch with the tarmac. When a bump did upset the rear end, it was totally controllable as there was nice straightforward information coming back about how well the rear was loaded.

Get onto a really gnarled C road and you find the compromise. On very uneven roads, the car is far too stiff and travel too limited. It is drivable, but someone in a stock setup would be far quicker. It is a compromise that I expected to be fair. It is not terrible, just not as good as the compliance of a stock setup.

The biggest wow factor is in very fast sweeping corners. Here stability and feedback are both greatly enhanced. I would say that I have been able to add 10 - 20% to corner speeds on this type of bend where the roll reduction and body control allow so much more cornering load by preventing roll building up.

Lastly, braking now involves much less dive than before. Stability is again better and subjectively, the car seems to have a bit more grip under braking.

Would I recommend these then? With springs at 4kg/mm front and 6kg/mm rear, definitely yes. Unless you do a lot of driving on roads where you need to think about ground clearance.

Thanks again to  m http://www.waltermotorsports.com/main.php m  for good communication and a very fast delivery.

Chris

[ChrisGB]

Shocks have now settled down and loosened up a bit. The ride is still firm, but now much more fluid with the suspension reacting more quickly to the bumps than when they were new. These coilovers are bloody excellent!

Chris

[MR-S]

hey Chris,
Plenty of food for thought in those reviews. How stiff in comparison to stock is the ride with the 4/6 split set up?
What height are they coilovers set at when they are shipped from the factory?
I'm lookin int buying some 17" wheels so ideally I'd like to get the coilovers around the same time and fit the whole lot at the same time.

[ChrisGB]

hey Chris,
Plenty of food for thought in those reviews. How stiff in comparison to stock is the ride with the 4/6 split set up?
What height are they coilovers set at when they are shipped from the factory?
I'm lookin int buying some 17" wheels so ideally I'd like to get the coilovers around the same time and fit the whole lot at the same time.

The stock setup is 1.5 / 2.9 split if I remember correctly, so a lot stiffer. You will notice it on everything but smooth roads, but it is not so bad as to be unpleasant unless the road is really poor. The plus side is a much more connected feeling. Roll, dive and squat are all greatly reduced. Remember that my car has a lot of bracing on, so an unbraced car could suffer a lot more trim rattles and wobbles. The car still rattles and creaks a lot less than an unbraced one on stock suspension.

I fitted them as they shipped and had a 40mm drop all round. Fitting was pretty easy, the rear drop links were irritatingly fiddly but OK. Adjusting the height is easy if you have a level surface to work on. Garage ramps are best. I finished up with a 25mm drop from stock.

17s are going to take a bit more compliance out of the ride, but my tyres are hard sidewall jobs anyway.

Anyone wanting to try before they buy would be very welcome to come for a ride.

Chris