Review: Bilstein HD's/Pinks and JDM 20mm Rear Sway

Finally put a decent amount of driving on these things that I can sorta give a review.

 

JDM Rear Sway Only

I started with just the sway bar when waiting for some parts to show up for the suspension. I bought the sway off a forum member in the Boston area. First off, even though it is bigger the sway was much, much lighter than my stock RSB. I think the JDM is a tubular, and the stock solid?

 

Automatically the feeling of the car changed. The car felt lighter, with the front end turning in much easier. I had to readjust how I approached some turns on my usual work commute, it didnt feel as though it needed as much turn of the steering wheel anymore. The rear felt much more planted and the oversteer increased slightly. The car felt a little more stable while changing lanes on the highway. Also, I do not feel there was any increase in the harshness of the ride. I didn't put this on until April so I cannot comment on how snow driving changed.

 

Bilstein HD/Pinks with JDM Rear Sway

 

A few weeks later I was able to put on the Bilstein HD's and STi Pink Sport Springs for the Sedan and Auto Transmission. I purchased the Bilstein HD kit from Fredbeansparts (includes the Spec B tophats and all necessary hardware for assembling the Bilstein HD shocks/struts with a new set of springs without having to take apart any of your current suspension) and purchased the springs off of a forum member, lightly used, less than 2k miles on them. I also purchased the 1/4" "saggy butt" spacers from http://www.camotoy.com/products/saggybutt/index.php and I also bought the longer studs available on the same page. Make sure you get the "Legacy" ones from there...toward the bottom.

 

The stock suspension uses a domed shape washer under the stock tophat. DO NOT USE THIS DOME SHAPED WASHER WITH THE BILSTEINS AND SPEC B TOPHATS. It makes the tophat sit up higher and have some side to side play.

 

Took it for a quick ride right after the install to make sure there were no odd noises and everything felt right. This was on city roads with potholes and road dips. The first thing I could tell was that the car was much more stable when going over sudden changes in road height. Going through a dip in the road used to result in the car feeling like it was diving into the dip and then bounding out and then taking a bit to settle. With the new setup, the car feels much tighter and very stable. The car rides through the dip but comes out and is flat almost instantly, barely any bounce. The car feels like it reacts better to turning inputs as well. It is also not that harsh. It is only noticeable over some of the bigger bumps. Over the standard bumps the difference is not that noticable.

 

The way the car settles quickly from bumps also translates to the highway. It does not feel floaty anymore, but planted to the road. When I change lanes there is no longer a large roll to the side while the weight shifts and then it goes, it just goes. The car handles dips and going over bridges where it would bounce much better. It settles almost immediately from the good dampening in the struts/shocks.

 

I finally got to take it on some hard turns and twisties when I took a drive to NH last weekend. I took the Kancamagus Highway over the pass, a road that goes up and over some mountains and down the other side. Take a look here: http://tinyurl.com/pozwhw ...I drove in both directions on it, a real nice ride. At the peak there are overlooks on both the eastern and western sides. On the way up it was nighttime with no moon and you could see the milky way and tons of stars....amazingly clear.

 

When turning hard, the car is now just planted to the road. I remember when taking a hard corner that the car would plant, and then as it got a little further into the turn, i could feel the car float up and shift weight over and re-plant. Now, the car just sticks. There is a hairpin turn in there where I thought at first I was taking it too fast, but the car just held on smoothly and pulled me around the corner. I was driving at what the suspension's limits used to be and it was taking it beautifully, and seemed to be able to take much worse. I drove the whole road at a speed which had not felt comfortable before (and this was not very fast) and it made it very fun. The car never felt like I was pushing it past its edge, or even at the edge.

 

The increased harshness is evident on this kind of road, though, where there are frost heaves all over the place and large cracks in the road. The stock suspension would have felt very floaty but probably less harsh, where this was bumpier but felt in control the whole time.

 

The drop is mild, maybe an inch or so for each front and back. went from about 3finger gap to a 2 finger gap. I really like the look it gave the car.

 

My only concern will be how it changes snow driving and ground clearance, for both snow and regular driving. So far I have not had any issues with rubbing the front end or rear end on the ground, or the tires. FWIW, I am also running Dunlop Direzza Z1 tires in 225/45/17. I'm sure they are also helping a ton with sticking to the road.

 

I am very happy with how the ride came out, it is exactly what I was looking for. I'm curious as to how it would feel with a tigther set of sways, also. That may be in my mod future.

 

GTTuner (a member on this forum) did the install for me of the whole suspension and the sway bar, and all of my stage 2 parts. He does great work and I completely recommend him in the MA/RI/CT area...maybe even further, it is worth the drive.

 

And just a random observation: the 5EAT engine brakes REALLY well going down hill if you are in manual mode. It will hold the car on the engine just like a manual transmission.

Some install pics:

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_j_o5shsPsEQ/Sge4Xkb1mCI/AAAAAAAABQM/y3o-bYnST6o/s512/IMG_0001.jpg

 

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_j_o5shsPsEQ/Sge4X8SfdBI/AAAAAAAABQQ/wGwg8hcmCLQ/s512/IMG_0002.jpg

 

 

Cutting the bumpstop inside the front struts in half

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_j_o5shsPsEQ/Sge4ZLYcrcI/AAAAAAAABQc/QCtWIR1pJpA/s512/IMG_0005.jpg

 

Assembled Springs/shocks/struts, the white things on top of the shocks are the spacers

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_j_o5shsPsEQ/Sge4Z5zUabI/AAAAAAAABQk/t3w1vrw6r8A/s512/IMG_0007.jpg

 

Stock Strut/Spring

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_j_o5shsPsEQ/Sge4bPOW3RI/AAAAAAAABQ0/FuvsuffAAvk/s512/IMG_0010.jpg

 

New strut/spring on car

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_j_o5shsPsEQ/Sge4bGM9d6I/AAAAAAAABQ4/hLBN39oYEv8/s400/IMG_0011.jpg

 

Stock Shock/Spring

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_j_o5shsPsEQ/Sge4e0jiAhI/AAAAAAAABRo/e8VfsbDIZqE/s400/IMG_0024.jpg

 

new shocks/springs

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_j_o5shsPsEQ/Sge4fOGE6ZI/AAAAAAAABRs/ZFeDpZ5yyCE/s512/IMG_0025.jpg

 

 

Height before (top) and after (bottom):

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_j_o5shsPsEQ/Sge4aYVUN-I/AAAAAAAABQs/7TqCvi1HK9U/s512/IMG_0008.jpg

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_j_o5shsPsEQ/Sge4fT_t0mI/AAAAAAAABR0/j-PfP06ZiPs/s512/IMG_0026.jpg

 

before(top)/after(bottom)

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_j_o5shsPsEQ/Sge4asldRgI/AAAAAAAABQw/7ji3r1L3Qrg/s512/IMG_0009.jpg

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_j_o5shsPsEQ/Sge4hHaHE1I/AAAAAAAABSE/6HD-Ihrr6N0/s512/IMG_0030.jpg

 

 

 

and these are some more after pictures:

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_j_o5shsPsEQ/SgrubAfLQDI/AAAAAAAABTY/1KvKZmkbHAQ/s512/IMG_0034.jpg

 

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_j_o5shsPsEQ/Sgrub8pKocI/AAAAAAAABTc/81kls1ZwnEs/s512/IMG_0035.jpg

 

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_j_o5shsPsEQ/SgrucEGzzyI/AAAAAAAABTg/5lff87lUnQQ/s512/IMG_0041.jpg

 

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_j_o5shsPsEQ/SgruccNL6YI/AAAAAAAABTk/Asj6D38oZX4/s512/IMG_0044.jpg

 

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_j_o5shsPsEQ/Sh4oPgEuLXI/AAAAAAAABU4/5YxUomWwCa0/s512/IMG_0057.jpg

 

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_j_o5shsPsEQ/Sh4oSVFnKSI/AAAAAAAABVg/ZcuxCNiOAe0/s512/IMG_0080.jpg

Thanks for the write up, same set up I think I'll be going with. Looking forward to the pics.

pics are up!

I have the same setup except I used JDM SpecB Wagon springs because I didn't want any drop. That's the way that car should have come stock.

great write up!

 

edit: btw i still want to go for a ride

Very good write up pal...

 

;-)

 

Thanks for posting pictures as well...

 

 

 

 

 

Flavio Zanetti

Boston, MA

nice review, and setup is almost identical to mine except that my Direzza's are 215.

Very nice! I went for nearly the same set-up (JDM RSB, Bilstein HDs, pinks in front), but I used JDM LGT rear springs instead of pinks to keep the butt from sagging on my wagon. With the LGT sedan you can use wagon pinks, but there's no pink option for wagons that avoids the saggy butt.

great write up!

 

edit: btw i still want to go for a ride

 

Sure thing! And I want a ride with your coilovers before you move away.

Thanks for the pics. Hard to find pics of 5EATS dropped on 5EAT specific pink springs. Think you could take some more pics in a week or so after the springs settle?

why did you trim the front bump stops? I don't think you need to with pinks. as far as winter traction goes, I don't think you'll notice much with the set up so far. you will notice if you get stiffer bars, but if you get something adjustable you can soften them for winter.

scoobydoobie: the pictures with the kayaks are definitely settled, they have almost 1k miles of my driving on them, and I got the springs used. I had the install done on the 9th of May, the pictures in the driveway (the 4 above the kayak ones) are from May 12, and the kayak pictures are from May 22. I'll get some more flat-ground pictures now that it's been nearly a month.

 

 

rexster: I was informed that any drop with the Bilsteins it is recommended to cut the bumpstops. We only cut the front bumpstops, not the ones on the car in the rear. I saved the other halves of the bumpstop just in case

ahh my bad. Didn't realize you'd been running these for that long. More pictures would definitely be great

Sounds like a great setup for DD. Thanks for the write-up.

 

is the AVO brackets required for the JDM rear sway or would they be ok without them? Also, stock or aftermarket endlinks?

is the AVO brackets required for the JDM rear sway or would they be ok without them? Also, stock or aftermarket endlinks?

 

i'm also wondering the same, RSB is gonna be next on my list

 

edit: where did you get the JDM rear sway?

looking at the OP it looks like he bought it used off another member

 

they have it on Rallitek's website, I'm planning on getting it from them later on.

Mine JDM RSB was installed on stock bracket, with stock endlinks. I got mine new from Rallitek, it comes with own poly bushings.

Sounds like a great setup for DD. Thanks for the write-up.

 

is the AVO brackets required for the JDM rear sway or would they be ok without them? Also, stock or aftermarket endlinks?

 

I did not use the AVO brackets, I think this RSB is light-duty enough that the stock brackets will work. I'm still on stock endlinks, though I'm going to upgrade to kartboy at some point. My front driver's side endlink has play to it so I get a clunking sound on uneven surfaces and I can sorta feel the extra distance the bar is able to move because the endlink isn't solid.

 

and it can be purchased new from the rallitek site, but keep your eyes peeled on the classifieds section. one happened to pop up when i was thinking about it and I jumped on it. they seem to show up every now and then.

thanks for the input, I'll keep my eyes in the classifieds. I guess people sell them to upgrade to more aggresive setups, but I'd rather retain more of the independent suspension and ride comfort since it is a DD after all.

is the AVO brackets required for the JDM rear sway or would they be ok without them? Also, stock or aftermarket endlinks?

 

I am running bilstien HDs/pinks with a whiteline adjustable bars front and rear. the rear is set in the middle which is ~20mm and the brackets have held up. But the car is much stiffer from the bilsteins/pinks and I also have the whiteline front bar. I think the brackets are a good idea if you are still on the soft stock dampers.

bumping this back up. snow, are you still enjoying the set up?

yes i am. very much so. summer time (plus summer tires Dunlop Dirrezza Sport Z1 Star Spec or whatever the name is) was so much fun. the car sticks to the road and handled nicely even in adverse situations. i almost feel it helped me in a few cases.

 

back on winter tires now. hasn't seemed to effect winter driving, even being lowered with a lip. i havent been up north during a big storm yet, though. the thought has crossed my mind once or twice about coilovers, but i really dont see a need for them the way i drive my car.

 

i will say that after about 6months on the setup i noticed a change in the ride height from when i first installed. took some time for it to settle completely. i'll try to get some pictures for a fully broken in setup.

I take it the rear brackets are holding up ok? How about noise? Any squeaking from the poly bushings? Any additional grease needed?

brackets seem fine. the bushings look like the stock ones, as i'm using the stock JDM bar and the bushings that came with it (black rubber). i never greased them at all. i think there might be a little squeak when going over uneven surfaces (say going over a speed bump on angle, or entering a sloped driveway on angle) but in normal driving i hear nothing.