hellaflush8

So I finally got fitted up this arvo with my 18x9.5 +22 TE37s running 225/40 and 245/40 feddy 595SS's...

-3 front camber
-4 rear camber (maxed)

I have cut the rear inner plastics and also rolled the rears... Need to shave the fender tab tomorrow and then roll the fronts as when I pulled into my driveway I completely buckled and pulled the front lip on my guard...

Basically I have ordered some Silkroad RMA12's custom made from japan but won't be here till the end of the year so I have to put up with these shithouse BC's...

Rears are as low as they go and fronts aren't far off... Im happy with the height as cops in Australia will deem your car undriveable if you are too low... so as it is this is tame compared to what ive done but it is daily driven...

My main issue is that I do hills runs about 3-4x a week and allbeit majority of the roads are smooth... some do have some bumps/dips... with the height im at now and the fitment, I will completely bottom out and buckle my guards (thus I am driving a friends S15 tonite and leaving the RX8 at home)

My question is... what can be done to mitigate the travel these crappy BC's have? More preload? Any tips?

Damper is currently set max hard in the rear and half hard in the front (too much seesaw action if the front is set to full hard and it makes it difficult to drive fast)

bose

iTrader: (5)

pre loading the spring may be your only, answer. What spring rates did you get? I have no problems with my bc's, dampers only at 5 clicks from the softest setting and it's awesome with 8k and 10k springs.

paimon.soror

iTrader: (15)

or bigger bumpstops lol

hellaflush8

Well I am about to tackle it in about an hour soon as the sun rises... hopefully coilovers are at max low, so the more preload I put in now, it will start to raise the car...

Springrates are the standard BC 8k/6k

Maybe I can order some 10k/8k's?

How she sits right now... -3 front 225/40 Feddy 595SS on 18x9.5 +22 and -4 rear 245/40 Feddy 595SS on 18x9.5 +22

I really should've gone 235/40 but i wanted grip :/

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

You can order springs easily. The BC's don't bolt up the the rear stock tower points right?

hellaflush8

BC's are a direct fit... use alloy tops... there are 2 types of BC's, the RA (have to put your standard tops on) and RS (aftermarket tops)

I have the RA's... not that the tops should make a diff...

hellaflush8

Oh yeah... hopefully it goes smoothly fixing my front guard damage from pulling into my driveway today :x

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Hmmm, not based on this pic. Seems to me that not bolting up top like the rest of the coilovers on the market could be an issue. My buddy had a a shop install his powertrix coilovers and they did not bolt up the tops and he had handling issues (squirrely rear end). When we finally got them properly bolted up on the top rears his handling was restored.



The megans appear to be the same:

hellaflush8

What do you mean by "not bolting up top"?

The rears have alloy versions of those retarded giant tophats which mount in the factory holes...

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Both are missing these factory tops or replacements.



Bolting here:

hellaflush8

are those factory tops with that side mount bolt really needed?

this is offtopic ofcourse as it isnt going to help with my fitment/preload issues...

It may explain why I seem to be the only person on the internet who has worn out subframe bushes and cradle needs to be realligned once a month (not anymore... I have rmagic subframe bushes to go in next week!)

Dan507

It's the gold bracket which bots the top bit of the OE shocks to the chassis. I dont think any aftermarket coilovers bolt into the chassis via this gold plate. you can over come this by adding a rear strut brace.

I've just ordered some Stiffer springs for my MeisterR coilovers. 12k at the front and 10k at the rear. I found with mine that the harder spring rates on the rear have longer springs.
All though this might not be the Same with the BC coilovers.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

I definitely think they are needed. Those are two main bolts that tie the rear shocks to the frame. I think this is verified that most of the high end coilovers re use the stock shock tops and a few have their own tops included as part of the package.

Take a look at the setups on the RX-8 race cars. Most I have seen are running factory tops in the rear. I'm sure it is not related to your issues but then again I'm not sure what you are trying to accomplish with your setup either.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Man, that is some misinformation. Most RX-8 coilovers do bolt to the gold plate. Some use the factory pieces to accomplish this (Bilstein, Tanabe, HKS, Ohlins, Fat Cat, etc) and some (Stance, Powertrix, etc.) have their own bracket that bolts to that gold plate. And ever set of RX-8 coilovers I HAVE INSTALLED that uses it's own bracket uses equal length 2.5" springs with stiffer springs in the front and softer in the rear.

Example Teins:

hellaflush8

Might swap mine out and put the stock tops on then... not a job for today though as i need my car to drive...

My main quarm is reducing the suspension travel on the BC's... I am going to attempt adding a shitload more preload and setting dampner to max hard (even though the car handles like a springboard piece of **** on max hard) just so i can get it driveable...

Might also call my tyre guy in a minute and see if he has 235/40 in stock... clearly the 245/40 isn't going to work unless I flare the guards (which I dont want to do as flared guards on 8's look dicky)

Dan507

Ahh, Fair enough. I've seen MeisterR, BC, D2 all the cheap ones. that explains it. lol. Still i think adding a Good strut brace on the rear will be a compromise.

My Coilovers use barrel type spring on the rear.

J8635621

iTrader: (10)

Rear strut bar? How would that help?

Dan507

It will stiffen the rear up and make it less "floaty"

J8635621

iTrader: (10)

News flash - doesn't make a discernible difference

Sway bars on the other hand....

Dan507

Yes, you are correct. but we are not talking about sway bars. That's a completely different chapter.

The top cover of that suspension is bolted to the chassis, to increase rigidity of the suspension to stop the chassis/suspension strut flex under high tension. Adding a strut brace dose the same job but instead of being interdependently bolted to the chassis so they cant flex there bolted to each other by a solid bar thus meaning little to next to no flex. This will increase stability and handling. The ultimate strut brace would he something the the miracle x brace like picture here in a Civic



Starting from the Bolts from the coilover then bolted the chassis Via the chassis where this gold plate is bolted to.

J8635621

iTrader: (10)

We don't have a civic.

hellaflush8

Ok bit off topic... back to reducing suspension travel on my BC's...

J8635621

iTrader: (10)

Not off topic at all. Car stays flatter = less height change. 245/40 at 9.5 + 22 fit on my car with shaved rear tabs with 0 problem. Had room to spare and less camber than you have. Those coilovers are either super soft (less than stock) or your car is broken in some way. Seriously

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

+1.

Dan507

+2

Only thing you can do is either raise the car or get stiffer springs.