BC Racing BR Coilovers for BE?

[gryffinwings]

Does anybody know where I can get Buddy Club Coilovers online for a good price, I'm pretty sure I saw a listing for the BE on the Buddy Club website.


Edit: I was meaning to put this out, but what I was looking at are not Buddy Club coilovers, but are BC Racing Coilovers, 2 different companies. Sorry for the confusion.

[Huffer]

I'm going to ask you to stop creating new threads about your suspension setup. Ok?

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?t=10658
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?t=10648
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?t=10643

Please try to keep all your related questions together.

If you want to make your threads more relevant, just edit the FIRST post to reflect the additional question/requirement.

ie. "BE/BH coilover - Buddy Club? Pics if you have them!"

[gryffinwings]

Actually I'd like to keep this separate, this is going to be specifically Buddy Club, I've pretty much found a following for these.

It's the new BC Racing BR Coilovers that have been our for a bit, that replace the old version, the black and red ones, the ones also made for Megan Racing. The new ones are black and gold, and are sold exclusively apparently, by import image. Now the deal with the BR Coilovers and I've been seeing this a lot is that these are really good coilovers and this is what I'm getting from reading a thread over at NASIOC:

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1085379&highlight=importimage

It seems that these are the latest and greatest coilovers for 1k, apparently a lot of people are putting these on par with the Tein Flex or maybe better, the interesting thing is the incredible customer service these people are getting through Import Image and BC Racing, so I'm guessing that these have got to be good, I plan on buying these when I get my bonus in October.

Here's a link to where you can buy them:
http://importimageonline.com/imageprint ... _33_85_853 (http://importimageonline.com/imageprint/subaru/legacy-gt-05-09/suspension/coilovers/index.php/cPath/22_33_85_853)

So what do you guys think about this, this thread is over 900 post long, this can't be a gimmick.

[rougeben83]

1k and "good" is an oxymoron for coilovers.

Get any coilovers around that price range. You'll get the same exact results as the guys on NASIOC. Those cheap coilovers just reuse the same exact strut bodies on all the cars they cover, the brackets and spring rates are just changed out.

I'm not telling you how to spend your money, but it seems like you just want someone to say what you want to hear.

If youre seriously planning to track the car like you keep saying you are, you're better off with something else, or saving your money with a cheaper, more reliable setup and see if you'll even like tracking the car.

[gryffinwings]

If you'd read the thread that I post that's on NASIOC, you'd understand that these are not just any 1k coilovers.

[Huffer]

If you'd read the thread that I post that's on NASIOC, you'd understand that these are not just any 1k coilovers.

How about if you're going to refer to threads on another forum, post them IN the thread on THIS forum and specifically say that you were involved in the thread.

Don't make people read 900 posts just to see where you're going.

[gryffinwings]

That is a bit outrageous, I'm going to start compiling several of the post about what people are saying and get a few of the pictures from there, which actually includes a shock dyno chart that I can post, just give me some time to get it all, I actually went through most of the post. I'm going to save the next 2 spaces for this.

[gryffinwings]

Reserved for comments taken from NASIOC forums.


Sti-lin'
just got these from importimage (awsome vendor by the way) and installed them last week, the install is like any other coilover however mine came with no instructions so i wasn't sure if there was anything different that i had to do with anything.
ride is very smooth and slightly stiffer than the stock suspension as i have it on 14 in the front and 11 clicks hard on the back. it is a little bouncy over bumps larger than normal but just normal cruising it is good.
handling is amazing body roll is like non existant and it just handles like a gocart wanting to go faster and faster thru the turns
the bad is that they make a ton of noice clunking in the rear when i first hit the gas and when i get off the gas, i checked if it was a loose nut and everything is on there tight as hell, i'm guessing it is just the ball pillow mounts,

also the front drivers side shock makes a creak when going over any decent size bump it is kind of annoying and i'm not sure what it can be

so to sum it up overall they are a great setup for the money and in general, only downside that i see is all the noise that they make and the lack of instructions

i'm gonna take a few shots of the car in the next day or so, so bear with me



wrxgurl06
Yeah, I have the BR series. I also got them from Josh (ImportImage). I love them. They are a nice smooth ride, but they do tend to be a little harsh with big dips in the road. Other than that the handling is amazing. There is basicly zero body roll now and the steering is much more responsive.


madspecvman
seriously ive had them since october, and ive been autocrossing on them, and they feel great. the quality is top notch. and havent had problems, put as much preload as you can on them, and lock everything down. i even tapped the lock rings with a screwdriver and a hammer to make sure everything was tight. i have not had to adjust the ride height since. no clunks or anything. for the price they are a great alternative even to the megan and helix coilovers.


a winner by default
okay well i just drove around w/ the struts on. Pulled outta the driveway and no clucking or and weird noises, so far so good w/ installation. Drove real slow for a little while to break them in a bit, then it was pedal to the metal (well not all the way since its a bit slick out here). Anyways these things are awesome, body roll is nonexistent as well as the ride is a hell of a lot better than my stock struts w/ cobb springs and is a little softer. The only problem is i had adjusted the struts the same on both sides, front w/ front and rear w/ rear. The front is about an 1/8 inch off and the rear is about a 1/4 inch off. But i guess i can fix it later, i would do it now but its a pain in the ass to unbolt then torque them down, I'm just lazy i guess. Also they weigh about 12 pounds and the stock struts w/ cobbs weigh about 20 so that's a plus. Also since they are a bit thinner i can run my 245/40/18 18x8.5(+48 offset) with more clearance, wasn't a problem w/ the stock struts, since i have that extra fender flare in the rear ). I would have to rate these a 9/10 . I have the front on 22 clicks and rear on 15.....


thrdeye
I got mine installed last night and so far I am very pleased with them especially when you factor in the cost. Install was simple. The ride quality is leaps and bounds above the JIC FLTA2RS that I had and I am running stiffer spring rates with the BC than I was with the JIC. I really can't tell that these are 10/12 springs. I have not adjusted or played with the damping yet.

I doubt I will get the chance to autocross on these anytime soon, but from just driving aggressively on them, I am certain that they would be a good low budget solution for and ST or SP car.


geeboy
I've had them on for two days and so far so good. The dampening is much better than I hoped for although I have experienced alot of body roll. I'm going to try and stiffen things up a little since I have it set at 8 clicks from soft to hard to see how much roll I can get rid of. I have to say that this is a very good alternative to the people who made that mistake and now are running on s-techs like I was. I was debating on purchasing prodrive springs or sti pinks before i found out about these coilovers. And for those people who are still on s-techs, first you don't know what your missing and second you might want to check your struts out because after only 10k on them my right front was blown.


twiSTies
Oh, here's a true story about the BCs that happened a couple days ago. I met up with a local STi owner to sell him my old Swift springs. We got to talking and he says, "My friends keep telling me to get coilovers but they're way too harsh for my liking, so I'll just stick with springs." I told him to get in and took him for a ride in my car. BCs set at 5 out of 30 (30 beng hardest), I aimed for every pothole I could find and he goes, "You can't even feel them!!" I then did a full lock U turn and the car stayed completely flat with some tire squeal and he says, "Springs can't do this!!". I drove back to where we were and showed him the adjuster extenders poking up from the rear seat and how they work, explained how easy it was to put the coilovers in, and his only questions were: "How much?" and "Where can I buy these?"

Luckily, he still bought my old Swifts, but chalk up yet another believer in these coilovers.

[gryffinwings]

Reserved for pictures taken from NASIOC forums.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/08/3ztd1c6-1.jpg

thrdeye
Here you go. Stock rear bar and endlinks, 90 deg turn, middle of second gear. I didn't notice any wheelspin in the rear though. Must have only been up for a split second.
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/08/91569227-1.jpg

Mechie3
Here's my pic of "wheel lift". I put it in quotes since I'm not sure if it's actual wheel lift or a tricky optical illusion. In this event, with the exception of a handful of Karts and the FSAE car, I was the only car to break 40 second runs (39.2 was my best fun run, ~39.7ish was my best timed run).

Relevenat suspension mods (at the time):
29/24 F/R sways
Kartboy endlinks
BC Racing Street coils, full hard
-2.5/-1.5 F/R camber, 0 toe.
Falken RT615
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/08/IMG_1883-1.jpg

Shock Dyno Graphs
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/08/2dm5kxc-1.jpg
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/08/44sjwwy-1.jpg

[sybir]

Here's my opinion. Most people evaluating a set of $1k coilovers are doing so to justify a bargain. You make a purchase, and you're not goign to go on a board and say "hey lol I wasted my money lol" Unless they have a significant problem, it's going to be "OMG AWESOME I SLAMMED MY CAR AND IT LOOKS SICK" because they're not abusing the things, or putting extended miles on them. When I say extended miles, I'm talking 30k+. You'll see the same symptom in Tirerack reviews; check the ratings for budget tires and you'll see a bunch of "hey, these are crappy tires" from guys putting Kumhos on BMW's, but you'll see even more people saying "OMG, these Sumitomos are the best tires I've ever run" from a kia owner."

$1k is not trivial, but it does not represent a serious investment in suspension. A thread of fanboyism's around what is basically cheapest set of WRX coilovers does not mean they're awesome, it means they're popular. And, when you're selling a cheap, mass-produced product that costs you next to nothing, two things happen: one, you have to have awesome support to protect your name, and two, it costs you next to nothing to send out new parts.

Let me give you a comparison. I have run Rotas for years on my daily drivers because of great customer service and reasonable price. I had an early batch of Attacks, that I bought used, and Rota comped me a new set when I found a stress fracture after years of use on the previous owner's car (including hard track use). The wheels don't cost them much, so they get a win/win for customer service when they handle occasional CS issues by providing great followup......because they can afford to do it. I'm happy with the wheels from a price/performance standpoint, but I'm not going to compare them to a Volk/Advan/Work, and I've run the high-end wheels too; they cost more for a reason, including original design.

See the relationship? Decent after-sales support on lower-end parts plus the feeling that you got a bargain because upmarket coils are so expensive, genders a super-positive review. By comparison, I can count on one hand the reviews of Mono Flex's I've seen (I run them on my car and I was one of the first), because people won't pay another $400 on what they perceive as the same coilover with a more advanced valving system. Does that mean that my coilovers aren't as good as a set of BC's or Helix's or Megans? By your logic it does.

I'm not saying my coils are the end-all; far from it. There are better setups and worse setups. But one thread on a board populated by people who give positive reviews of Tein springs (which suck, hard) doesn't mean shit, especially when it's not your vehicle application.

Here's the deal. If you want opinions, you have to take 'em all. I've worked in the industry, I've dealt with the people behind a lot of these companies......and I wouldn't buy $1k coilovers, personally. I've picked up lightly used Tein Flex's for that price, and I've ridden in cars on almost any suspension you can think of (as well as installing them), and you do get what you pay for. Knockoff wheels, meh. I run 'em, I don't claim they're hot shit. You will never catch cheap, knockoff, multi-branded suspension bits on my cars, they're too important. I've seen failures on Megans, Helix's and K-sports that made my hair turn grey.

[rougeben83]

^^Thanks Sybir, you wouldve put it more nicely than I could ever have.

Like I said before, it seems he just wants someone, ANYONE to give him the answer that he wants to hear.

Fine. Go for it dude, you have my blessing. I could honestly care less if youre another BE/BH owner or whatever, but seriously, what we've been saying are the realities of these kinds of coilovers.

You mentioned you already have bilsteins. Plenty of people have put serious track time on them. Have you?

[Airgne]

i ran buddies on my 180sx in japan for awhile, they wre good for the price.

[gryffinwings]

I really wasn't asking if these were any good, but merely starting a discussion on these coilovers specifically, because there is a huge amount of people posting about these on NASIOC, I thought they would be worth mentioning these, since there are people that buy 1k coilovers.

I on the other hand plan on buying these, because in my opinion there isn't much better without having to spend another 7-800 dollars more for 3rd gen Legacy/Outback BE/BH chassis. I could get the Ksports, but I've heard that there are a lot of issues with those. D2s I don't want to touch, questionable quality. I have been looking but the only other brands that even make coilovers for the BE/BH chassis from what I see is Silk Road, Tein, and Cusco. Which all cost a good bit more.

Anyways BC Racing BR series Coilovers, have the durability, I've heard people already putting like 50k miles on em, from what I've read, very few people have any major issues, which is something I like about these. The Customer service that people get is awesome, instant gratification on response, which is incredible rare these days, IMO. For the money I would say this is at least a better deal then most coilovers in this price range, it give everyone else a peace of mind that they aren't going to break these very easily.

[Kansei]

I tell you now... I only trust something if someone has extended use on the thing I'm looking at. My friend Antny from OKSC is running Flex's on his BL/BP? sedan. they are awesome. I will be saving up for them on my BD only because I have also seen people like Sybir running em with no real "defects"

[Brockley]

I just installed my BC coils on my BK last night. Haven't really gt to drive if much, but from the little I have, it feels very good. Much less roll than the AGX/Eibach setup on my friends car, and the stance is great. I still need to Dial out a bit of the bounce from bumps (i haven't touched the dampening or the spring pre load yet, so it has almost no pre load and very stiff dampening.)

The build quality of these honestly on the sturt bodys, no bias here, looks better than the Cusco Zero 2's I had. (not the ride quality im sure) but the parts just look more well made. Now the pillow ball mounts on the other hand, the BC's are the type with the screws that hold the bearing in place, which tend to go bad much faster than the ones like the cusco with a lockring to hold it inplace, but the quality is still very high on the BC.

Im running the BC camber plates front, and GD CUSCO Rear camber plates. Need to align and I want to balance, but there arent any nearby shops that corner weight (3+ hours drive)

So, that is my honest, first day opinion. As long as the ride is even close to the quality of the build, I think they will be a great suspension. In 10k i'll start to see if it was a waste, or if they ar unchanged. Many people on RS25 and Nasioc have said they have 30k-50k on these already, as well as many people are tracking these. The thing about these coils I've read is that even people that go from higher end coils like the Cuscos, Tein, etc... are saying that yes, they dont ride quite as good as the more exp. coil, but they are close. But who knows what some idiot on the internet really knows about suspensions or ride? Well, if there were just a handfull of guys out there with good reviews, I would have been much more skeptical, but since you can find Hundreds of GOOD reviews, and no really bad reviews, they cant be too bad. I am just like everyone else that hears "dont buy cheap coilovers, they all suck if they are under $1200" but I dont think thats true anymore. BC has the Shock dynos/Quality/ Reviews/ Support, that I really feel like I got a very good product.

I guarantee if BC had made them cost $1500, they would be getting the same reviews, but no Flak from guys who hate cheap coils.

my $.02 we'll see how these are in a few weeks/months and keep updating if there are any changes.

[Brockley]

Just a quick update:

Still awesome, no bounce after messing with the dampining. Set at 8/4 from soft. for racing, ive been trying different stiffness on a slalom, but I haven't gotten to time anything yet. Seems like somewhere around 30 clicks front and rear is very good.

[2.5GT]

Good deal brock. I have the Omnipower coilovers and they're way too bumpy for me. I might look in these BC coilovers later on...and post up some pics! :grin: