[bNks334]

Originally Posted by Julian2485

Why are you going stiffer on spring rate ?

For some reason everyone here seems to think anything more than 600-700lb/in out back is "too high." It's just not true when you look at the motion ratio and see that a 1000lb spring out back (18k) is only as effective at the wheel as a 336lb spring (6k) up front for about a 300lb wheel rate F:R.

The damping can handle it and I'd like to have the additional range of height adjustment stiffer springs offer. Bump travel will also be improved although it's not currently an issue except for potholes.

I've taken up autocross lately over HPDE's. It's a cheaper and local alternative to get my "fix." That 45seconds of adrenaline is a blast. However, I've quickly found that fast transitions driving 50mph in a parking lot benefits from a different suspension setup than what I wanted when I was running over curbing, and handling elevation changes, at 100mph on a track.

[AK.]

Ordered a set of these for my friend during the beta phase and he didn't really like it that much.
The front needing a spacer to clear the wheel was a big downside for him because the wheel offset was pretty aggressive as is already.
I could see why these would compete with KW V2's as they come with linear springs, camber plates, and they even included some adjustable swaybar endlinks.
I thought the ride quality overall was still pretty bouncy and stiff no matter what dampening it was set at.
There were couple of issues where the strut bar didn't clear one of the bolts and they told us to cut a hole through for it to fit.
Maybe it could've been because we ordered when the coilovers were still going through beta so a couple more revisions had to be made for the final product.

[bNks334]

Originally Posted by AK.

Ordered a set of these for my friend during the beta phase and he didn't really like it that much.
The front needing a spacer to clear the wheel was a big downside for him because the wheel offset was pretty aggressive as is already.
I could see why these would compete with KW V2's as they come with linear springs, camber plates, and they even included some adjustable swaybar endlinks.
I thought the ride quality overall was still pretty bouncy and stiff no matter what dampening it was set at.
There were couple of issues where the strut bar didn't clear one of the bolts and they told us to cut a hole through for it to fit.
Maybe it could've been because we ordered when the coilovers were still going through beta so a couple more revisions had to be made for the final product.

I'm guessing you mean the stud from the caster plate? I would've cut the stud shorter before I drilled a hole through the strut bar. They were probably afraid you'd screw up the threads though lol.

My 17x9 had issues fitting too, but there isnt a coilover option out there that doesn't interfere with tire clearance. Coilovers usually come with linear springs which requires a longer spring length to prevent bind. I successfully moved to a custom 180mm 4k spring without issue though. I was hoping mfactory would've capitalized on this opportunity to deliver a product with maximum tire fitment out of the box though.

As for bounce and harshness, you doubled the stock spring rate (~2k) with 4k springs and even tripled it if you were a 6k "tester". The car is going to "bounce" on the street. I wouldn't call it bounce though. I think of bounce as when the struts take 4-5 strokes to "settle" after a bump. That's bad. My car behaves more like a pogo stick. The suspension absorbs small sharp impact and returns in a single cycle, it just happens much more quickly and aggressively than a comparably softer setup. Hitting back to back bumps is where the ride can feel funky because of this instant pogo stick action, but that's a function of the stiffer linear spring rate and damping that doesn't allow the suspension to just float around like stock.

There is a big difference in how linear (more performamce oriented) springs behave on initial impact vs soft progressive springs like stock. The linear rates and damping shine at autocross where consistency in suspension travel and transitions is important.

Tires and bushings also play a huge role in this sensation, as I noted in my review. Also, rear damping is is going to be more important than the front. The rear isn't a true coilover and th rear spring gets preloaded as you bolt up the A-Arm. Therefore, the RETURN RATE (rebound) of the rear spring is going to require more damping than front. I found rear damping needs to be set at at least 4/7. I also found 7/7 to be over damped though and the suspension would "jack down."

Each damping click makes a pretty meaningful change so you need to do a lot of trial and error 1 click at a time to get things where you personally want them.

[bNks334]

So, currently running SWIFT 4k/16k springs and loving it. The rebound settings I have settled on are 4/7 front and 6/7 rear.

I am debating on whether or not I even want to install the 6k front spring I ordered. I have not felt any coil bind at all since moving damping from 3/7 to 4/7. I was able to get a bit more front ride height (1/4") by adding a spacer between the chassis and the camber plate.

moving to the 6K spring would definitely be a better solution, but I feel like a 6k spring + 27mm H&R sway bar might be too stiff. I'll give it a try again once I get some free time.

[Captain Canuck]

Originally Posted by bNks334

I was able to get a bit more front ride height (1/4") by adding a spacer between the chassis and the camber plate.

Could you tell me what you used for a spacer?

[bNks334]

Originally Posted by Captain Canuck

Could you tell me what you used for a spacer?

The camber plate and caster adjuster are two separate pieces. So, I found 3x nuts that matched the pitch of the caster adjustor and used them to bolt the 3 studs to the camber plate. I then installed the coilovers back into the car and bolted the coil overs to the chassis. The nuts sit between the chassis and the top of the camber plate and add a few mm of ride height. I used those locking washers in-between as well to prevent things slipping.

[Julian2485]

Originally Posted by bNks334

The camber plate and caster adjuster are two separate pieces. So, I found 3x nuts that matched the pitch of the caster adjustor and used them to bolt the 3 studs to the camber plate. I then installed the coilovers back into the car and bolted the coil overs to the chassis. The nuts sit between the chassis and the top of the camber plate and add a few mm of ride height. I used those locking washers in-between as well to prevent things slipping.

Pm'd it says you reached your quota delete some messages lol

[bNks334]

Originally Posted by Julian2485

Pm'd it says you reached your quota delete some messages lol

I cleared them

[Julian2485]

Originally Posted by bNks334

I cleared them

I pm'd you

[bNks334]

Latest Update:

Swapped out the SWIFT 4k springs (178mm) for SWIFT 6k springs (178mm). I also raised my front and rear ride height to 22". This provides for 3/8" rake. The rear A-arms sit just about parallel to the ground. The front-end could probably be lowered another 1/4" to get the front arms to be parallel to the ground. I also had it aligned to 2* negative camber.

The car plowed like a pig at an autocross yesterday. It was horrible. The pavement was also terrible and dirty, but that doesn't change that the car was ALL understeer. I had to use the throttle to power over-steer to get the car to rotate. I was essentially drifting around.

I conclude that a 27mm front sway bar combined with 6k front spring is just TOO STIFF for 255 (200tw) tires up front. Maybe things will change when the temperature rises a bit more. It was cold at 50-60f and the RS3's weren't providing much traction. Again, that doesn't change that the car was plowing like crazy.

I was MUCH happier with 4k/16k. No, not an even F:R ratio (4k/12k), but the 27mm bar made up for the lower front roll resistance provided by the 4k springs. Problem with those rates were that my ride height was too low. Next weekend I'll try running with the front swaybar disconnected and see how it feels.

I also have the damping set to 7/7 front and 6/7 rear to reduce bounce on the street. Maybe I'll trying reducing front damping to something like 5/7 before I disconnect the swaybar.

[Captain Canuck]

Thanks for the update. I've been trying to decide which Swift springs to get. I'd prefer a 4K/12K spring rate but want to maintain the M-sport ride height which I know is not possible. I don't really want 6K springs up front since the car is my DD so I think I'm going to go with 5K/14K which would give a wheel rate of 258/249 front and back. I have the 26.5mm hollow M3 bar up front and have M3 front arms to install as well.

[rothwem]

Originally Posted by bNks334

I was MUCH happier with 4k/16k. No, not an even F:R ratio (4k/12k), but the 27mm bar made up for the lower front roll resistance provided by the 4k springs. Problem with those rates were that my ride height was too low. Next weekend I'll try running with the front swaybar disconnected and see how it feels.

So I guess you can't just run a longer 4k spring due to the spring perch location?

[bbnks2]

Originally Posted by rothwem

So I guess you can't just run a longer 4k spring due to the spring perch location?

Yeah, I moved to shorter springs to clear my 17x9 wheels.

[Banana Clipper]

got any pics of the end links and the sway bar? I'm thinking I have my end links set too short and would like something to compare to

[Julian2485]

I'm running sonic tuning s3 coilovers with my xdrive. I swapped out the springs to swift 4k 7" front and 12k rear. Every little bump or imperfection is jarring when it hits and then it bounces like crazy. Anyone can help me fix this issue. My front spring right now measures 6.75".

[bNks334]

Originally Posted by Julian2485

I'm running sonic tuning s3 coilovers with my xdrive. I swapped out the springs to swift 4k 7" front and 12k rear. Every little bump or imperfection is jarring when it hits and then it bounces like crazy. Anyone can help me fix this issue. My front spring right now measures 6.75".

My suggestions would be:

*Remove all pre-load
*Play with damping settings (less compression and more rebound)
*Remove any added ride height caused by installing the stiffer springs

[Julian2485]

Originally Posted by bNks334

My suggestions would be:

*Remove all pre-load
*Play with damping settings (less compression and more rebound)
*Remove any added ride height caused by installing the stiffer springs

I removed all preload raised the car about and inch. I went from a 7k spring to the 4k spring. I put the dampening to the stiffest setting

[bNks334]

Originally Posted by Julian2485

I removed all preload raised the car about and inch. I went from a 7k spring to the 4k spring. I put the dampening to the stiffest setting

Try full soft lol... you're using a softer spring = less damping required.

Can't find any spec sheets on sonic tuning coilovers so can't help much. You have too much damping right now making impacts harsh. Your rebound may also be too high now causing the return rate of the shock to be too slow. When that happens you'll be riding on all spring after the initial impact until the shock catches back up.

You also may have your ride height too high now? You'd need to measure F:R ride heights. Putting the car too high may put your specific coilovers outside of their effective operating range?

[Banana Clipper]

Originally Posted by bNks334

Try full soft lol... you're using a softer spring = less damping required.

Can't find any spec sheets on sonic tuning coilovers so can't help much. You have too much damping right now making impacts harsh. Your rebound may also be too high now causing the return rate of the shock to be too slow. When that happens you'll be riding on all spring after the initial impact until the shock catches back up.

You also may have your ride height too high now? You'd need to measure F:R ride heights. Putting the car too high may put your specific coilovers outside of their effective operating range?

Im thinking about pulling the trigger on the Swift springs. I REALLY want to put my 255's back on the front so I need the extra clearance. Found out Im currently running 6k front 12k rear... would you still recommend going with the 4k front? I have LCI E90....

[bNks334]

Originally Posted by Banana Clipper

Im thinking about pulling the trigger on the Swift springs. I REALLY want to put my 255's back on the front so I need the extra clearance. Found out Im currently running 6k front 12k rear... would you still recommend going with the 4k front? I have LCI E90....

I sent you a PM. It's really all about driver preference. I believe in maintaining the 1:3 ratio. I think the car is much more neutral when you do so. Others think the car "feels" better with a stiffer front spring relative to the rear. It makes the car "easier" to drive at the limit (understeer).

Keep in mind the amount of ride height you'll lose by moving to a softer spring too. Again, its preference, some people don't like any wheels gap and 4k/12k will put you right about at that point where the tires will be slightly tucked.

[Julian2485]

Originally Posted by Banana Clipper

Im thinking about pulling the trigger on the Swift springs. I REALLY want to put my 255's back on the front so I need the extra clearance. Found out Im currently running 6k front 12k rear... would you still recommend going with the 4k front? I have LCI E90....

What suspension kit do you have ?

[Banana Clipper]

Originally Posted by Julian2485

What suspension kit do you have ?

I have the YCW's but with OEM springs. Converting the front to Swift now with OP's help/suggestions