Buddy Club N+ Coilover Review
#1
Buddy Club N+ Coilover Review
Ok, so I had blown the struts on my previous set of coilovers, and decided I would give these Buddy Clubs a try. Upon Opening the box, everything looked great! Good Quality parts. I got to install them and immediately had crazy rubbing issues. It was pretty low in the rear, so I raised it up and still had bad rubbing issues. The Spring rate that comes on the rear is extremely SOFT. The dampening adjustment is also laughable. Whether it was on the softest or stiffest setting, it felt exactly the same. The rubber bushings on the rear bottom cup cannot be used, instead there is metal to metal contact of the bottom perch and cup. I purchased a set of Linear higher spring rate springs for the rear to see if this solves my issue. Hopefully it does, because if I can barely drive it regularly how am I going to be able to track it. I did contact Buddy Club about the issues, but they didn't really offer any assistance, besides "higher spring rate". No shit? I already knew that! They requested pictures, which I sent, and have not heard back from them.
I DO NOT RECOMMEND THESE COILOVERS TO ANYONE. Ride like garbage. 1 out of 5 stars.
P.S. The Old Prototype versions of the Megan Racing coilovers I got for free back in the day were WAAAY better than these.
I DO NOT RECOMMEND THESE COILOVERS TO ANYONE. Ride like garbage. 1 out of 5 stars.
P.S. The Old Prototype versions of the Megan Racing coilovers I got for free back in the day were WAAAY better than these.
#3
I don't know about the GE. Most people on this forum only care about slamming the car... it rides shitty when you are that low, so they can't tell the difference. I actually track my car. so I need the suspension to work properly. In any case, the product is horrible. I'm probably gonna buy some KW's and just burn these.
#9
I highly doubt that. The spring rates on these are WAY too soft for the track. My car has a ridiculous amount of body roll. What pisses me off the most is they told me to get stiffer springs, yet don't offer any. I sent a few emails to them and didnt get a response. Over the past 10 years I have had a good amount of various coilover setups on different cars. 3 on the Fit.... and like I said, these are the WORST i have ever had on any of my cars. Customer service is EXTREMELY Lacking as well. O yea also forgot to mention, if you are running adjustable sway bar endlinks, they will not work with these coilovers.
#11
I have a 3 finger gap in the rear, and on acceleration it compresses enough to rub. That's WAY WAY too soft. My car is basically UNDRIVEABLE with these coilovers. Was hoping to get the springs I ordered by this past weekend, but they haven't arrived yet.
#13
That is AWFUL...
Out of curiosity, would you mind sharing some of your spring rate'damping history with me, via PM if you prefer?
I'm trying to tweak for my AutoX setup and would LOVE your input...
#15
Not really. The ride is actually not all that comfortable. Every time I took the car out is just made me more upset how bad the coilovers are.
#16
Keep in mind JDMchris has a GD which is not going to be the same as your GE setup. GE's came with significantly softer spring rates OEM let alone whatever your coils have.
#19
Lol I don't see the issue with these coilovers at all. The only real change I've done is upgrade the rear spring from a 6k progressive rate to a 6k linear rate. I've driven in a GD3 with KWs and I would say it's not much of an improvement. I've driven a GD3 with Skunk2 coils and these are days and days better in terms of comfort.
I feel a ton of change when making just one click of adjustment... I don't know what your shocks are set at Chris but I have it under 5/15 on all corners and when I take my car to the track, I have it a little stiffer but still under 7/15 or halfway of full stiffness and it feels plenty stiff to me. Maybe you just aren't that sensitive to the changes? One click can honestly shift my car from a general understeer to neutral/oversteer.
They can sell you a 6k linear rate rear spring if you please, which I would recommend from what you are saying Chris or since you already bought stiffer ones, wait and install it and see if there is any change. Or, why don't you just try using your old rear springs off your old coilovers for now and see if there is any change?
I've had my N+s for literally 45,000 miles and thoroughly enjoy them. I've taken my car to so many track events I can't even count on them and I never once felt that they were holding me back in any way. Even after making 170whp they still feel like they're up to the task to handle my abuse. Hell, I even take my car off roading once in a blue moon AND I took it to a RallyX event with the coils. They dampened well and survived it.
At the end of the day, these are street oriented coils that could handle track if needed, and I think it is made just as they described. Definitely no big luxury sedan ride but I could say it's similar to a sporty sedan like a BMW M3 or something. It can't handle big bumps but it definitely rides in "normal" conditions very well. Anyways if you enjoy ricer videos of coilover abuse <3
I feel a ton of change when making just one click of adjustment... I don't know what your shocks are set at Chris but I have it under 5/15 on all corners and when I take my car to the track, I have it a little stiffer but still under 7/15 or halfway of full stiffness and it feels plenty stiff to me. Maybe you just aren't that sensitive to the changes? One click can honestly shift my car from a general understeer to neutral/oversteer.
They can sell you a 6k linear rate rear spring if you please, which I would recommend from what you are saying Chris or since you already bought stiffer ones, wait and install it and see if there is any change. Or, why don't you just try using your old rear springs off your old coilovers for now and see if there is any change?
I've had my N+s for literally 45,000 miles and thoroughly enjoy them. I've taken my car to so many track events I can't even count on them and I never once felt that they were holding me back in any way. Even after making 170whp they still feel like they're up to the task to handle my abuse. Hell, I even take my car off roading once in a blue moon AND I took it to a RallyX event with the coils. They dampened well and survived it.
At the end of the day, these are street oriented coils that could handle track if needed, and I think it is made just as they described. Definitely no big luxury sedan ride but I could say it's similar to a sporty sedan like a BMW M3 or something. It can't handle big bumps but it definitely rides in "normal" conditions very well. Anyways if you enjoy ricer videos of coilover abuse <3