GC8 Suspension options - Perth-WRX.com

sleepy · #1 07-01-2007, 02:06 PM

Everyone with a GC8 and Superlows will know where im coming from when I say the ride is shit house. So this information may help others aswell.

To solve this, from what I hear there are 2 ways to go about it.
1. Buy $3k coilovers
2. Buy Koni Adjustable Shocks.

As the Koni’s are much cheaper, I wouldn’t mind hearing from those who have gone down this path. Especially those who use them on a daily driver.
Is it worth it or is the only way to get ride quality back to go for “Low” instead of “Super Low”?
I know this has been covered before, but most people have backed coilovers and I want to hear from those who have used the Koni!

Cheers in advance.

Mister Two · #2 07-01-2007, 02:56 PM

If you use the konis with king superlows, it will alleviate the problem a little bit but not much. Problem is the king spring rates are so high, because they don't want people bottoming out their car. So they make em super stiff and slowly destroy your spine. If you look inside the kings catalog you'll see they dont even recommend using these springs on the road, and should be used only for show purposes.

Get some progressive rate springs, your back will thank you for it later. I got whiteline progressive rate springs with standard shocks and they give very good ride comfort while still dropping my ride by about 45mm.

Whitelines combined with konis are the best option with out going to coilovers.

sleepy · #3 07-01-2007, 03:09 PM

My plans were to go to Whitelines anyway. The kings on my car have dropped even lower (apparently close to 20mm) which im sure doesnt help either.

Will progressive rate effect handling at all?

Mister Two · #4 07-01-2007, 03:19 PM

Progressive rate will give you greatly increased comfort without sacrificing handling very much at all.

Copy and Paste from that other thread:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mister Two

The progressive rate means the spring is divided into two sections. the top section has a lower rate and the bottom section has a higher rate. That way, when you just cruising along and you hit bumps and stuff in the road, you dont get a spine shattering jolt through the car and the spring absorbs the bumb and the ride comfort is good. But having the stiffer lower section means that when you corner, the upper section compresses completely and the lower stiffer section takes over and you get excellent control through corners with out getting heaps of body roll.

The only bad thing about the whiteline progressive rates, is that when you go over a speed bump a little too fast the springs will "clunk" a little bit. Its not a bad thing, its just the top part of the spring compressing and the coils are touching each other.

Darren · #5 07-01-2007, 04:50 PM

I've been using Koni's "yellow" adjustable struts in conjunction with Apexi progressive rate springs for quite a while now and must say that I still find it very difficult to justify the cost of coilovers for my propose for the car. I participate in a bit of motorsport and only once have I felt that the koni's ran out of damping (I was on r-comps on some pretty tight bumpy stuff). As for springs and ride quality, I've tried both whiteline and kings and both left me pretty disappointed. Until I managed to get my self the apexi's, I thought I had to go coilovers to achieve what I had in mind. It rides reasonably well (recent did a p-wrx trip to Albany and had no complaints from me or my passenger) and I think it performs well at the track as well.

Just my 2c, hope it helps...

Darren

Mister Two · #6 07-01-2007, 05:17 PM

Normal Whitelines are not much better than kings. Its the progressive rate ones that make all the difference.

Im really happy with my whiteline progressive rate springs. Smooth and comfortable for everyday driving and excellent response when I hit the twisties.

sleepy · #7 07-01-2007, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mister Two

Normal Whitelines are not much better than kings. Its the progressive rate ones that make all the difference.

Im really happy with my whiteline progressive rate springs. Smooth and comfortable for everyday driving and excellent response when I hit the twisties.

The whiteline catalogue only shows 2 versions

Control and Flatout, the only difference I can see is height.

chee · #8 08-01-2007, 01:29 AM

Darren's Koni's + Apexi's is an ace combo. Sitting as a passenger on the way back from Albany, I have no complaints. Very tight ride.

Miggidy · #9 08-01-2007, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sleepy

Everyone with a GC8 and Superlows will know where im coming from when I say the ride is shit house. So this information may help others aswell.

To solve this, from what I hear there are 2 ways to go about it.
1. Buy $3k coilovers
2. Buy Koni Adjustable Shocks.

As the Koni’s are much cheaper, I wouldn’t mind hearing from those who have gone down this path. Especially those who use them on a daily driver.
Is it worth it or is the only way to get ride quality back to go for “Low” instead of “Super Low”?
I know this has been covered before, but most people have backed coilovers and I want to hear from those who have used the Koni!

Cheers in advance.

I have Konis and superlows, they are ajustable to I have them pretty sofot for daily drive and tighten them up for a cruise or spirited drive. They are still ruff as all shit, but if you want a soft ride buy a hyundai, to be honest but I'm still yet to see a bugeye, blogeye pignose with suspension out corner a gc8 with this setup. *flamesuit*

Just make sure you get a good workshjop like RMS to put the gear in. I originally had mine put in and they fucked it ll up cost me an extra $1000 total to fix the problems. But 1 year later and then some, the car still handles awesome!

pmh · #10 08-01-2007, 12:36 PM

Koni adjustable struts + Whiteline Control springs was on the old hatch. Good "budget" combo and did a few motorsport events and went well with it.
Coilovers' an overkill personally if you don't do much motorsport. For street use, just a sprint with a matching strut is fine. Save the $ for other things, like swaybars and underbody bracing