hey everyone, i installed my buddy club coilovers today. the pictures are not good, i'll post up better pictures in a bit.

here it is:




my car after i installed it:


details:
i front is dropped to the lowest setting. the rear has half and inch left on the thread. the car is a DD so i have the shocks set to 1/15 clicks (which is the softest).

review:
I had the car dropped on eibach pro-kit springs (i think it is a 1.5 inch drop) before i put on the buddyclub coilovers. I liked the ride with the eibach pro-kits but i wanted to go lower. this is my first time with coilovers and i have mixed opinions.
THE GOOD: the drop, to me, looks great! when i take turns, the car feels like it is on rails. i don't feel the front of the car dip when i brake hard and the shifts don't have that "back and forth" motion while driving normally (opposed to driving hard)
THE BAD: in my opinion, for daily driving, the coilovers are too harsh (even on the softest damper setting). on NJ streets there are too many pot holes, man holes, and cracks. I just drove 40 miles on the highway and every time i went on an overpass my car felt like it was exploding when i went over the cracks. these coilovers are very bouncy.
THE SUM: i don't mind the harshness and bounciness because the car turns super awesome (i guess i like performance vs. comfort) BUT i think if anyone rides as a passenger they would think my car is too stiff and uncomfortable.

question:
when i turn my steering wheel while stopped, driving slow, or taking a 90 degree turn there is this CREAKING noise coming from the front coilovers. why is that? any ideas?

 

Awesome review. Many will appreciate the honesty...especially since you just laid down some good coin on the coilovers. Not many would be as sincere as you were.

BTW, dampers may calm down a bit with time. You ride looks great!

+rep

 

The ride is going to be bouncy with the damper set to soft and your springs lowered. You need to stiffen the damper to get rid of the bouncy effect, or raise it. How much was the coilover kit, and where'd you get it?

 

thanks homie!

thanks for the advice but i had the fronts set to the stiffest (15/15 clicks), then mild (7/15 clicks). with those settings it was way to stiff and much more bouncy. i figured to soften the dampers to 1/15 clicks (the softest setting) because it would absorb the bumps on the road. /// to answer your question, i bought them from jhpusa.com (only reason is because they have a 10% discount on almost everything on their site because it is their 10 year anniversary or something). with shipping it came out to about $950. that's the cheapest i found it anywhere considering shipping prices.

 

great review and car looks great also!

 

with the ride height at the lowest, you don't have enough suspension travel to absorb the big road impacts. u might want to try raising the height some in order to run the dampers at the softest setting, maybe

 

wow looks great man

 

thanks

thanks for the advice but i really wanted the "low low" look.


on that note...
I think i'm going back to my old suspension (eibach pro kits).
i drove it around today, a total of two driving days with the coilovers!!! and they are too harsh for my daily whip. I feel bad when my wife rides with me and she could barely text because of the bumps. the eibach pro kits aren't a bad drop with a good ride but it wasn't low enough for me. i guess i have to compromise. i might go for a little photo shoot before i take the coilovers off though. hehehe. look out for them on the photo and video part of the forum if i get a chance to.

here are two older pictures of my car with eibach prokits (the picture looks almost identical to the one with the coilovers but in person, trust me, there is a HUGE difference.. i think a difference of about 0.5 inch in front and back):



come to think about it. that wheel gap is FUGLY! i'm so sad..

 

i jus installed my coilovers but for my GE8. I had that creaking...clunking problem when i turned also. I finally found out the culprit...its the coils making noise because its rubbing against the collars. If you installed the aluminum flat washer thing sandwiched between the locking collars and the coil, I guess this is acting like a berring. I ended up greasing this washer and now it doesn't make any noise...or I guess u could grease the top collar where the spring sits. Currently, I am tweaking the suspension to find a not so harsh & bumpy setting cuz I daily drive my fit too.

Hopefully this helps.

 

what are the spring rates for these coilovers?

 

8k front, 6k rear