coilover reviews

well based on some research i have had many opinions on what brand of coilovers are best. i just want to consolidate all opinions onto one thread. so here is my question... which brand/type/series. etc. of coilovers would anyone recommend. my budget is approx 1300. im looking for a good balance of price vs. quality

BC Racing br series. Best bang for the buck. I am on my 3rd set of coilovers for the lgt and the BC's are by far the best I have had on my car. Plus the custom spring rates are really nice for wagon owners.

I have one set of Tein Flex I am selling for $1400. Brand new. Just unloading some inventory.

^someone buy this already!!

Seriously. Its a huge discount. I am blown away I still have them.

I say get stance,

 

Had Tein flex's on my Miatas when I had a few any they all blew out within a year and Tein was a pain to deal with to get anything else. I have had stance, KW, Tein, JIC and a few others and I still think Stance is the best bang for the buck. Hands down best customer service regardless of who you talk to.

i might be going with the BC-br. i am gonna be using it as a daily driver mostly and probably tracking it about 1-2 a year.

I say get stance,

 

Had Tein flex's on my Miatas when I had a few any they all blew out within a year and Tein was a pain to deal with to get anything else. I have had stance, KW, Tein, JIC and a few others and I still think Stance is the best bang for the buck. Hands down best customer service regardless of who you talk to.

 

ohh shit...u again!!! roadsterdrift, clublexus, now here... hahaha

BC Racing br series. Best bang for the buck. I am on my 3rd set of coilovers for the lgt and the BC's are by far the best I have had on my car. Plus the custom spring rates are really nice for wagon owners.

 

What did you have before?

What is the NVH like compared to stock?

I vote for the RCE T1's. Pricey, but the ride is amazing.

What did you have before?

What is the NVH like compared to stock?

 

 

Megan

Tein

 

The NVH is increased with any coilover but the BC's are much better than the previous two sets I had. The Megan's being the worse. I honestly can't compare them to stock because my car was stock for about a week before the first set of coilovers were put on. I prefer the added NVH over stock because it gives me a better feel for the road.

I have also had the bc br's for over a year now and agree with integroid, they're a great bang-for-the-buck coilover - nothing better for <1k

 

integroid - What spring rates are you running? I just got the regular 6k/8k and think I should have gone 8k/10k or 8k all around; when I adjust the firmness to my liking I always end up overdamped. fyi I have an obxt at lgt ride height, so fellow wagoneer, your advice would be much appreciated!

I have also had the bc br's for over a year now and agree with integroid, they're a great bang-for-the-buck coilover - nothing better for <1k

 

integroid - What spring rates are you running? I just got the regular 6k/8k and think I should have gone 8k/10k or 8k all around; when I adjust the firmness to my liking I always end up overdamped. fyi I have an obxt at lgt ride height, so fellow wagoneer, your advice would be much appreciated!

 

 

I went 8K front and 10K rear on my setup. With 22MM FSB and 25MM RSB and it is perfect. Just a bit of controllable oversteer with the dampers set even in the middle F&R.

What effect does spring rate have on the ride quality?

 

There's some pretty rough/rutted roads around here. I don't recall what my Megans have, but they're junk in the ride quality department.

I say get stance,

 

I love my GR+

 

Megan

Tein

 

The NVH is increased with any coilover but the BC's are much better than the previous two sets I had. The Megan's being the worse. I honestly can't compare them to stock because my car was stock for about a week before the first set of coilovers were put on. I prefer the added NVH over stock because it gives me a better feel for the road.

 

Megan and BR are the same stuff

same factory, different label

Megan and BR are the same stuff

same factory, different label

 

I don't think that's the case. Yes, BC makes Megan, but they build them to Megan's spec and then make their own under the BC label to the BC spec.

 

This was confirmed by a vendor here and there is a large thread on Nasioc where people have been quite happy with the BC product. I don't see such praise for the Megans.

The vendor here who stood up for BC is teh sole wholesale source of BC. he basically owns BC.

 

But still, I too do not hear the cries of "blown coil" that was so prevalent with Megans.

 

So, something is different.

A couple months ago during/after the first big rain I did some foolish rallying at too-low a ride height on a nice muddy dirt road with banked berms long story short, by the third day of rain the water created a trench much deeper than the first two days; after attempting to quickly squeeze between the trench and the berm like I did before, my front passenger tire slid into the 12-16" trench and slammed into the other side. I was able to drive home but was treated to a nice, violent steering wheel shimmy, front end vibrations, the whole deal. I ended up bending one of the stock obxt 17's, completely bending the front passenger threaded damper body, grenaded the pillowball, and turned my camber plate into an umbrella.

 

Honestly I think this is proof of the difference between BC/Megan. Although I did some serious work to the coilover, it held its structural integrity enough to drive home safely; mind you the impact was at around 30-40mph and akin to slamming into a curb, sending both my friend a I into the headliner. In the past cases of the Megan damper failures I've read about it was much more catastrophic damage where the damper body burst rendering the car undrivable and dangerous.

 

Although I think the bc's are a great value, if you're going to push into the 13-1400 range I would opt for stance gr's or grab those tein flex's msprank has laying around if I were to have a do-over

The vendor here who stood up for BC is teh sole wholesale source of BC. he basically owns BC.

 

But still, I too do not hear the cries of "blown coil" that was so prevalent with Megans.

 

So, something is different.

 

 

They are different. I broke down both the Megan and BC and the strut is completely different. The BC has a bigger piston than the Megan and the build quality between the two are worlds apart. Even down to the threaded collar and little things like the welds.

 

Remember folks, BC also makes many of the "other" brand coil overs coming out of Taiwan including Apexi. Just because Toyota builds Lexus doesnt mean they are the same cars.

See. Something is different. They are a higher quality. This is comforting to know.

 

In Germany Mercedes are taxi cabs and diesel trucks, not luxury cars. The same factory can make crap and gold. Its all about the specs and QC.

ohh shit...u again!!! roadsterdrift, clublexus, now here... hahaha

don'tbe mad! IM EVERYWHERE .......well that's relevant to my interests.

I liked my BC Racing coils, I love my RCE Tarmac's now.

BCs are good, but not flawless, Dont get me wrong, they are leap bounds better than the factory garbage subaru put on this car, but with time, i feel like the have lost their mojo and need rebuilding. Well, i had mine now almost 2 yrs, its almost time for a rebuild, they now behave a lil different. I dont know if its the springs or strut , but they are starting to get a lil sqeaky, bouncy and front right coilover knob is now harder to turn than the drivers side. The quickness of the rebound is wearing out. Makes the car feel like it 20 years old. I really have no complaints about the rear coilvers, they feel solid, but the fronts need help, maybe better rates,n rebound. Well with legacy being heavy as a tank, I just feel like the BC coilovers company need to revise product with maybe a stronger or bigger shock or better springs rate to handle the front. If they had a front coil comparable to KWs/RCE , or better i would def upgrade just the fronts. but that would never happen. So I am know looking for more of a sporty bmw feel to car know, i just wanted a sporty civilized suspension, so i am parting soon with mine and moving over to pinks/or epics w konis. I cant say i havent enjoyed the bcs, but I would gladly keep em till they die, over the factory crap any day.

I recently installed some RCE Tarmacs on my LGT and love them. I know they seem a little pricy, but you get what you pay for. In my experience anyways. After messing with the dampening the car rides so smooth and yet performs the way I want it to. Also, Myles with RCE has great customer service.

I have had my BCs for a over 3 years (about 12K-15K miles total) and they have held up really well. Of course they have never seen snow or any type of track time.. For the price they are great.