Good day FitFreak members. I've had my Fit for nearly 2 years now and have been pretty pleased with it. It was on OEM struts with Swift springs.

Most of the time it seemed like a nice ride. However at times on a bumpy/pot hole ridden road it was a very jarring experience...it was like I was driving a leaf sprung vehicle and the whole car just moved with every bump. Passengers in the back would continually complain/joke about the experience...needless to say people called shotgun extremely fast when they knew we were taking my car. On a smooth road it was buttery smooth and handled some curves relatively well. Couldn't tell you the true difference between swifts vs stock since I never had stocks to begin with.

Because of this I was starting to get really down about my choice of car and even began looking at others. It didn't help that my friend had a 2013 GTi he let me occasionally drive and that thing is flat out NICE.

Ultimately I decided that something clearly was not right with my swift setup. In addition I wanted to get rid of the huge 2.5 finger gap up front and 3 finger gap in the rear. This was due to the swifts only being 1.2/1" drops and a smaller diameter tire setup (205/50/15).

So my search began. For a while I was determined to buy Bilsteins. Great company, used to have their suspension on my truck and my dads BMW. Dampening is determined and 0-2" drop capable. Non adjustable shock lengths were what prevented me from going this route. Also considered TEIN street Basis/Advanced as these had similar adjustability but at a lower price point and TEIN has been in the game a LONG time for tuners. Just wasn't enthused about making my car x-mas color themed with the green setup, nor the non-adjustable shock lengths were also a reason.

I reached out to Chris over at RedShift Motorsports to pick his brain and explain my current issues and what I wanted out of a suspension. We both agreed that the rear suspension with OEM struts leaves a lot to be desired. The ride I was describing certainly sounded like the rear was sitting on the bump stops and any bump would send the rear flying. So either 1) the struts are blown or 2) whoever installed the swifts did NOT cut the bumpstops. I'm leaning towards option 2 as the struts are not leaking and the rear does not "bounce". Either way the lack of down travel in the suspension was causing the terrible ride. To gain a balanced suspension travel in the rear, adjustable shock lengths would be key and neither the Bilstein or the TEIN Street systems offered this.

Chris then suggested BC-Racing's BR Suspension. It was height adjustable, can get custom spring rates, and dampening adjustable. Plus they were a classy black/gold if that matters haha. After long discussions/many questions I saved up my money and purchased them.

The construction of these is great. Super clean and accommodate all the brackets to put the speed/abs sensors and brake lines back on without the use of zip-ties etc.

There have been installation threads already so I will leave mine simple.

Front:
Jack car up
Support vehicle
Remove wheels (loosed lugs before lifting)
Remove cover panels for top strut access. Use 6mm hex to lock and 17mm to LOOSEN nut.
Remove sensor wire from strut
Remove Sway bar link from strut
Remove brake line from strut
SUPPORT the knuckle to avoid CV axle from coming out
Remove (2) 19mm bolts holding strut to knuckle
Remove the top nut while supporting the strut assembly so it doesnt just DROP out.
Use bungees to hold knuckle in place.

Install is reversed.

Many of you might be going "wait you didn't remove the cowl or wiper assembly." This is true. I did NOT have to or choose to not remove it. The Honda Service manual does not mention needing to remove the cowl so I figured I'd give it a go. If you have only allen wrenches then you will probably HAVE to remove the panel as they are typically too short to clear the wiper assembly on the driver side. Passenger side has room for days. You also have to swing the wipers a certain position to get access to the top of the bolt. I had this 6mm hex that worked with my socket wrench (used on my motorcycle somewhere I'm sure). Perfect match with a ratcheting wrench to remove the driver side and no risk of broken clips.











Here is the front strut, it removed and BC installed.












Rear was straight forward as well: This is the suggested method.
Jack car up
Support car
Remove wheels
Support arm with jack
Access top of rear strut by removing plastic covers in trunk
Remove with 5mm hex and 17mm (I think)
Remove Lower strut bolt 19mm (I forget and will double check)
Lower jack supporting the arm carefully
Remove Springs
Reuse the rubber feet for the spring, may require modification to sit flush.

Install is reversed.

Only pics I took back there.



Installed camber bolts in the lower slot up front and the top hole is slottted so you can get some decent camber I think. Time to get an alignment. Tires tucked nicely to boot!

Initially the drop looked great but it was so low that it rub even on slight turns.








Ultimately loved the look but hated the rubbing so I raised it an inch or so.
Rear will rub slightly on the hwy when I hit a dip fast. Down to 1.5-2 finger gap up front and 1-1.5ish in the rear.



Initial driving setup is right in the middle. 15 clicks from full soft or hard.
Also the ride SEEMS improved especially inin the rear. Only have 5-10 miles on it. Will report back. So far, extremely happy with the result!

 

Update. Still running the "middle" setting for damping. Runs great. no rubbing in the front, so may lower another 1/4" just to get that good balance of wheel gap and handling.

 

Update. Suspension still rides great. I ended up rolling the rear fenders as having passengers in the rear would cause it to rub on anything that wasn't a smooth surface. This is due to my wheel setup. If I were on 15x7's +35 I probably would've cleared easily as it was BARELY rubbing.

The front is still fine and will only rub under at highway speeds taking a turn and hitting a dip simultaneously. Under normal driving conditions no issues.

Haven't messed with the damping settings and plan to leave it where its at.