BC Coilovers

[carlclarke]

Having decided that new suspension is the cheaper option long term. I can see that the BC Coilovers on the BC-Racing website come as:

BR Series Coilover : Type RA £769.00
4/6 Kg/mm
5/7 Kg/mm

and

BR Series Coilover : Type RA £799.00
5/7 Kg/mm

There is a £30 difference between RA and RH to give pillow ball rear top mounts, any advantage? Perhaps more importantly what about the spring rates? What should I go for? I am not planning to do any track day racing.

Thanks

Carl.

[doogz]

4kg/mm is 224lb/in

5kg/mm is 280lb/in

Personally, if it's a road car, not a track car, and you value your spine, I'd go with the lower rates.

But that's just me.

[Wabbitkilla]

I have experience on the higher spring rates and agree for a road car go for the lower rate. As for the pillow ball top mounts, it's debatable if they're required but my rubber ones were perishing after 2-3 years.

sent from a planet somewhere nearby

[markiii]

pillow ball mounts are definately worth it

[Wabbitkilla]

pillow ball mounts are definately worth it

Obviously I switched to the rear pilloball mounts ... they are the bees knees   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:    s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[doogz]

Having checked, the lower 4/6 springs are the same stiffness as my last set of BCs on a car weighing about 25% more.

They were about as stiff as I'd want to go on the road. With the dampers at their softest it felt a bit underdamped, about 4 clicks in sorted that bit the ride was 'uncomfortable'.

Loved the ease with which the rear damping could be turned up for a more pointy track set up. As it was a road car I couldn't really run as much front camber as I'd have liked.

[FGrob]

pillow ball mounts are definately worth it

Obviously I switched to the rear pilloball mounts ... they are the bees knees   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:    s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

They are standard on Tein.  s:D s:D    s:wink: :wink: s:wink:    s:lol: :lol: s:lol:    s:lol: :lol: s:lol:    s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Loved the ease with which the rear damping could be turned up for a more pointy track set up.

You can do that inside the car with Tein without lifting the lid.  s:D s:D

[Wabbitkilla]

Loved the ease with which the rear damping could be turned up for a more pointy track set up.

You can do that inside the car with Tein without lifting the lid.  s:D s:D

For an additional £300 on top of the Tein suspension   s:scared: :scared: s:scared:   simply over-priced for avoiding stopping, getting off your ar$e and manually adjusting the damping.

[FGrob]

Loved the ease with which the rear damping could be turned up for a more pointy track set up.

You can do that inside the car with Tein without lifting the lid.  s:D s:D

For an additional £300 on top of the Tein suspension   s:scared: :scared: s:scared:   simply over-priced for avoiding stopping, getting off your ar$e and manually adjusting the damping.

Nic - you can't do that when your are going down the motorway at 70 mph in a cross wind. Any way if I'm spending £1800 on the shocks a further £300 no big deal   s:D s:D

[iPap]

I have the 4/6 set up and would ideally like to change the fronts for something about 50lb lighter at the front.

The 5/7 would be mental on the road.

[Jaik]

I had the 4/6 setup on mine and they were plenty stiff enough for me, certainly wouldn't have wanted to go any further. I think I had the dampers set to about 4 and 8 from softest (out of 32).

[Wabbitkilla]

I've got 5/7 ... but then I'm slightly unstable apparently   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:   muwahahaha.
Saying that I was probably the first adopter and didn't know any better ... I do have my dampers set a fair but higher than those of you with the lighter springs. Given the choice I would have happily gone with those lighter springs, but like I said I didn't know any better.

The construction of the BC's is really good and they do last well, just the British weather and our addiction to road salt cakes up the threads making adjustments a nightmare. Saying that spares are very reasonably priced and quickly available. The "spanners" for locking the rings are pretty light-weight, but as lo9ng as you don't over do things pretty adequate for the job. The 5/7's are pretty harsh when coupled with crap roads like we have in Yorkshire and I'm sure they've contributed to destroying two sets of 2's-r-us droplinks, and two sets of Whiteline droplinks. I'm not running the RoC links but haven't put many miles on them.

[doogz]

You can do that inside the car with Tein without lifting the lid.  s:D s:D

For an additional £300 on top of the Tein suspension   s:scared: :scared: s:scared:   simply over-priced for avoiding stopping, getting off your ar$e and manually adjusting the damping.

Nic - you can't do that when your are going down the motorway at 70 mph in a cross wind. Any way if I'm spending £1800 on the shocks a further £300 no big deal   s:D s:D

You adjust your dampers when it's windy, to compensate?  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[FGrob]

For an additional £300 on top of the Tein suspension   s:scared: :scared: s:scared:   simply over-priced for avoiding stopping, getting off your ar$e and manually adjusting the damping.

Nic - you can't do that when your are going down the motorway at 70 mph in a cross wind. Any way if I'm spending £1800 on the shocks a further £300 no big deal   s:D s:D

You adjust your dampers when it's windy, to compensate?  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Oh man you really have not had a 2 long enough have you  s:scared: :scared: s:scared:    s:scared: :scared: s:scared:    s:scared: :scared: s:scared:

[doogz]

Nic - you can't do that when your are going down the motorway at 70 mph in a cross wind. Any way if I'm spending £1800 on the shocks a further £300 no big deal   s:D s:D

You adjust your dampers when it's windy, to compensate?  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Oh man you really have not had a 2 long enough have you  s:scared: :scared: s:scared:    s:scared: :scared: s:scared:    s:scared: :scared: s:scared:

I fail to see what that has to do with it?

If i feel the car being pushed to one side by the wind, there's this big round device I use to correct it. And I've driven mine in high winds, it doesn't affect my MR2 nearly as much as it does my 4x4, or my old lorry.

[ChrisGB]

He's probably driven more miles in his than you have in yours though Rob  s:D s:D  

I have been running the BCs for about 4 years, and over 25,000 miles now. I chose the 4/6 spring rates and they are as stiff as you would want for road use, about twice as stiff as stock springs. The damping quality is good for a budget aftermarket suspension kit, certainly better than stock and the car now deals with surfaces that would induce patter and deflection off line on stock suspension.

A road setup to your tastes should be easy enough to achieve with a little testing. The only time I have adjusted away from the settings I normally use is when on a wet track, where I softened the damping at both ends a little. The Tein edfc is ok if you want to adjust the car often, but once you find the spot where damping and springing match, you will likely just leave it there.

The pillowball top mounts are very good, but be aware that you will introduce more road noise into the car with them.

The other consideration to make is that if you go for 4/6 springs, you will need to stiffen the shell with some bracing. At the very least you will want a strut brace on the front and a breastplate underneath as the stiffer spring rates really work the shell harder.

Chris

[Wabbitkilla]

If it's windy I adjust my driving style, not my suspension ... that's just being daft and doing it because you can, I doubt it makes any real difference to how hard the wind is blowing   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:    s:P s:P   And for £2100 you should be darned well able to adjust them from inside the car, but I object to paying that ridiculous amount of money on suspension when all I have to do is either adjust my driving style, or stop and get out to make adjustments.

There's a difference between owning an MR2 and driving an MR2 don't you know?   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:  

Anyway, back to subject, the BC's are darned good value for money, imho the Tein suspension is overpriced and falls down in regards to adjust-ability when compared with BC's.  I strongly recommend the lower spring rates for road use and definitely get the pillowball topmounts for the rears ... for the price it's daft not to really.

[doogz]

I seem to be continually scolded for taking things off topic since I joined here, but what's one more time...

Does anyone know the standard spring rates for the MR2?

Ta

[ChrisGB]

I seem to be continually scolded for taking things off topic since I joined here, but what's one more time...

Does anyone know the standard spring rates for the MR2?

Ta

From memory, 1.9 front, 2.9 rear.

Chris

[FGrob]

So let me sum this up
1. I've wasted money on something I think is far superior.
2. I don't do enough miles on my car (20,000) - I always thought it's not volume that counts but quality.
3. I don't understand how the 2 performs
4. My car too clean

I'm not sure why I bother to be honest. Oh well never mind.  s:evil: :evil: s:evil:  

Oh to put this back on track.

I run 4 front 5 back (the back being twin springs per coilover) Gives a nice ride for me in the short time I use it.

Regards
Rob

[doogz]

FGrob, I don't think that's really what anyone has said.

Although you haven't answered me about your adjustable damping rates, and how you use them when driving.

Would you? Do you actually alter rates from side to side when driving in a crosswind?

Chris, as low as that? I didn't think it felt that soft tbh.

[carlclarke]

Guys you are making me laugh but scaring me a little too. Approx £800 is quite a lot of money to turn my MR2 into harsh uncomfortable ride. Some comments are along the lines of 4/6 is the 'highest' that I should go but it seems like 4/6 is the lowest that BC have available and I am not sure if the rear pillowball is availabe in this configuration. I am really only looking at BC because they would give me an easier route to replace the existing dampers and have an adjustable height so I can lower a little. I can still go the OEM or KYB route if that is going to give me a better ride as my primary use is just everyday road. Should I be looking at other options?

In response to some other points:

* I have fitted front and rear strut braces (that is how I got into this dilemma

http://www.mr2roc.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=39687)
* I am on the list for the group buy on the Mattperformance TTE style underbody brace.[/list]

I really appreciate the responses from everybody and I value the fact that different members are coming at this from different perspectives both in their setups and their usage.

Many thanks

Carl.

[Wabbitkilla]

So let me sum this up
1. I've wasted money on something I think is far superior.

- Superior is a point of view, not an exact science, to me they're not superior ... they're just an expensive alternative, but if you like them then great   s:D s:D   but the OP may not want to spend that kind of money and probably wont make adjustments once he's found that happy spot.

2. I don't do enough miles on my car (20,000) - I always thought it's not volume that counts but quality.

I've experienced your driving Rob, quality is always dependant upon your point of view   s:P s:P    s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  . But lack of miles covered doesn't really demonstrate if a product is good at surviving a life on the road in all conditions.

3. I don't understand how the 2 performs

- I don't believe a single person has said that, calm down and keep off the coffee   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  

4. My car too clean

- You should know by now we're all just jealous   s:roll: :roll: s:roll:    s:P s:P    s:wink: :wink: s:wink:  

I'm not sure why I bother to be honest. Oh well never mind.  s:evil: :evil: s:evil:  

- Because it wouldn't be the same without you   s:D s:D  

I run 4 front 5 back (the back being twin springs per coilover) Gives a nice ride for me in the short time I use it.

- Great, a good bit of experience shared there   s:D s:D  

TBH, you can always go with the KYB's, with new topmounts and maybe new springs. It's a bit more work and requires spring compressors but they do give a very nice day-to-day feel. I'm not sure if that's any cheaper than the BC's though.

[Jaik]

Carl, the only real way to see what you think is to go out in another member's car who is running the BCs. They are a lot stiffer than stock, but they worked well on my daily driver and only rarely felt "too stiff". In contrast, I'd say the stock suspension felt "too soft" far more often. There's no subtext when I say I wouldn't want to go stiffer than the 4/6, I think they're stiff, but about right for the road  s:) s:)

[Two's Company]

Thanks for the comments on this topic guys. I'm definitely going to swap the bc's I have now with 5/8 springs.   s:shock: :shock: s:shock: