and this is a 5 year old thread

 

Well I got the kit, and am very satisfied with the ride quality and the handling. I used modified Honda civic bumpstops. The car is very neutral and controllable. It didn't appear to lower my car very much, but I wasn't going for a big drop. Overall I am very happy with the performance and ride quality. It was great at road Atlanta this past weekend.

 

I just installed the Bilstein B12 kit, and my height is about 1.5 inches HIGHER when It's supposed to be about an inch or so lower.

Of course my springs were shot early on with 13.5 inch height from center wheel to fender lip.

The B12 kit is firm, and doesn't bottom on bumps, so springs will settle.

Should stock shocks and springs be thrown away? They'd be good enough for someone to get their expensive coilovers off, but I'd never go back.

 

i tossed mine, but you could offer them on freecycle or craigslist or these forums.

 

Sell them.

 

Footman, are you still on this spring set-up?

Your review was good and thorough, and definitely makes it enticing for me to looking into purchasing these items.

Christopher

 

yes I still have them, I am completing the setup this year with the eibach front and rear sway bar, so it will be a full stage 2 setup.

 

Footman, searching the internet for reviews on the B12 kit on an RX8, yours is the best I could find.

I am thinking about going for the same setup with the B8's and Eibach Pro lowering springs. I was told the B12 kit is the B8s with the Eibachs.
The B12 kit is backordered so I would be ordering shocks and springs separate as well.

If you still have your RX8 (since the thread is pretty old now) are you able to measure the final lowered height for me?

I measured my stock height from the stock 18" rim to the wheel well as: Front 5-1/8" and Rear 4-7/8"

Also do you have any problems scraping speed bumps with the setup?

Thanks

 

I'll help you out since I put B12 kit on my 07 RX8 GT.

My car was all over the place on height which we measure from center cap to fender.

Your fronts seem to be 14 1/8 inch, and rears 13 7/8.......my rears were about 13.5 inch.

The kit RAISED whole car to 14.25 ALL AROUND.

I like the height, and I've already lowered car with 215/40r18 Michelin PSS to fit my 7.5 x18 Enkei wheels.

I have barely run them in 2 years, but they work well. I think it's so firm I'll even take the rear sway bar off since car can still skitter across pavement bumps.

 

In case you didn't price them at AJUSA.com I got them there about 3 years ago for $712 whole B12 kit.

 

yes I still have the car, though if I measure it now, it might not be accurate for a brand new install since I've had them for some time now, and my springs might have sagged a bit with age. I can tell you it still rides amazing. The car has perfect wheel gap in my opinion. Regarding the speed bumps, yes this is a very varied answer as it depends on the height of speed bumps. I have had issues with some nasty speed bumps that are way too high. Some you can't get around (not even with angle), so you will have to accept the fact that after lowering, you will potentially scrape the front lip bottom and or the underside of the car.

 

If you want, I can post some side shots of my car here so you can see yourself? let me know.

 

If you could post side shots that would be great.
Are you also able to measure it just to see how much it settles to?

Thanks

 

Measurement isn't going to help you. Like I said, my setup is 8 years old... if you are doing it brand new, it's not going to be the same.

 

Footman:
Yes please post side shots of the car when you get a chance. The original photos from 2010 don't show anymore.

REDRX3RX8:
Thanks for the reply, wow it actually raised the car..I guess eventually when the springs settle in it should be lower than stock?
When you say it's so firm, is it still comfortable for street only?

 

Car feels firm on bumps, but I had a RX3 on Konis that was firmer. On most stuff no big deal, and I do have smaller profile 215/40r18 Michelins on it.

I think I need to run 30 psi cold in them. Wife notices bumps, but I never would care since car sticks like glue with whole combo.

I was about to put Tein s on it once, and I found out all the trouble from them, since RX8 needs good gas shock like Bilstein to hold rear up.

Maybe the Bilstein B6 and stock shock could be good?

She likes her BMW X1 s28i and I have to say it's got a firm M Sport suspension that needs nothing, and bumps are felt less on it.

 

I finally got the chance to order the Bilsteins. The Bilstein B12 kit was back ordered for at least 3 months from time of order.
So I ordered the B8's and was going to order the Eibach springs separately because when I first checked both were available.
Turns out Eibach has now discontinued the Eibachs for the RX8.

So I decided to try the H&R Sport springs which is a progressive spring like the Eibach but was only supposed to give a 1" drop front and rear.

But the drop is much more than that. I think too much of a drop. Here are the measurements before and after from Center of wheel to the fender

Stock:
Front Left 14.75"
Front Right 15"
Rear Left 14.25"
Rear Right 14.5"

With H&R
Front Left 13"
Front Right 13.125"
Rear Left 13.5"
Rear Right 13.5"

I haven't done alignment yet since I'm waiting til I get new tires.
Ride is really good, Slightly firmer than stock yet still comfortable. Just don't know if I can get around and avoid all the higher speed bumps.

 

Dang dude that's hellaslammed especially for Softish rates. If you buy a thicker spring pad seat you could maybe try to preload the front some to regain some front height.

 

What spring pad seats could I get? I was looking at some from energy suspension but could not find one that would fit for sure.
I'm trying to figure out what I could do to raise the car up around 3/4" but any amount would be an improvement.

I'm even thinking about changing out the springs.
I'm not sure if I can find Eibachs anywhere as they are supposed to be discontinued.
But just in case.

Can anyone with the Eibach / Bilstein B8 combo please measure the distance from ground to wheel well for me?
I know the height will vary depending on age, tire pressure etc. I'm just trying to get an idea how much higher it is than mine with the H&R's just to see how much more ground clearance I could gain if I could find a set.

I even thought about getting Racing Beat springs to replace the H&Rs since they are only supposed to lower by 1/2" but I can't find photos since the posts that had them are so old the photos are no longer available.

 

Go back up a few threads and see where the B12 kit RAISED my 07 RX8 GT 3/4".

Car is still 14.25" all around just with the kit. We measure with lower fender to center cap.

I took off the GT rear sway bar, and car drives like a dream, and actually softer than stock.

Bar off of course makes it understeer now, so I put 32 psi in fronts and 34 psi in the back, and I like the feel running on 215/40r18 Michelin PSS

 

Here you go guys, some folks recently were looking for photos of what it looks like with B12 and Eibach springs.

 

H&R Springs have a larger drop amount than Eibachs so that's expected that it's lower than what you're looking for. That's why in my opinion the Eibach's are the perfect pairing.

 

Sorry to revive and old thread, what rim size and tires were you running in these pictures?
I myself got the Bilstein B12 Pro Kit with Eibach springs, drives well but it does not look the same whatsoever on my 18x8.5 235/40/18.

 

18 x 9 +38
Tires are 245/40/18