Paul_J

Hey all,

I went to jamsport had new clutch, brakes and decat. At the same time they fitted my new BC Racing coilovers. As you may be aware, BC Racing coilovers are made by the same people who make a lot of the other brands of coilovers, but sold under their own brand. They look well manufactured and offer height adjustment, spring compression adjustment and 30 levels of damping.

On the day Jamsport were fitting everything, they ran out of time, so they invited me back yesterday to have them setup completely for free.

Considering it was done for free, several of them spent several hours tweaking the car until it was set up perfectly! (I was plesantly surprised).

While I was there, I also whacked it on the rollers to check it was making appropriate power - 236 bhp @ fly... which is pretty much smack on standard (237) so I'm happy with that.

Here's a couple of pics...























Despite how low it looks, it handles superbly and rides really nicely. The car has a lot of rear camber for stability at high speed cornering, however still oversteers and drifts very nicely! Jamie @ Jamsport took me out in the car and impressed me greatly showing me what the car can do Drifting it perfectly round empty roundabouts.

Due to the coilovers adjustable damper settings, I can make it harder for smooth fast track driving, or make it softer for every day use. I have it set roughly in the middle of damping at the moment and it's lovely, handles nicely and doesn't 'crash into bumps' - but rides them nicely. Infact, on soft setting it feels softer and more comfortable than it is on standard coilovers.

I definately recommend the BC Racing coilovers and jamie @ jamsport to set them up! (Note the coilovers are pointless unless set up correctly).

- http://www.bc-racing.co.uk/ < BC racing coilovers
- http://www.jam-sport.co.uk < Jamsport

I'll be going to Nurburgring this Friday - my 3rd trip there, but 1st in the Honda S2000. I'll update all how I get on.

RedUn

The car looks lovely with the drop

My mate runs BC coilys on his Cooper S and swears by them, I had a look at them when get first got them and they do look a well made piece of kit

Ultra_Nexus

The rear looks lower than the front.

What geo settings have you gone with?

Paul_J

2.5 neg camber on the rear.
1.5 neg camber on the front.

toe in slightly at the rear.

Then the damping is 15 clicks at the rear from soft, 13 clicks from full soft at the front. (so slightly harder damping at the rear).

The front and rear look about equal, it's probably just my sloping drive making it look lower at the rear.

J_D

How low did you set the ride height?

Did you have adjustable rear toe arms, driveshaft spacers and steering rack spacers to protect your car and get rid of bump steer?

Did they come across seized bushes?

Sorry for all the questions but some companys dont have a clue about the S and will just bang coilovers on and just set the wheels straight which will eventually knacker your bushes, bearings and driveshafts.

DAT International

What he said? Did you get all the kit along with them?

you shouldnt have any damping for the first 200 odd miles as well. Having the damping turned up at all on new coilovers is a great way of fubaring the seals.

Paul_J

I always find it amusing when people put 'run in' amounts in mileage. Because if I do 200 miles of country roads, does that equal the same as 200 miles of motorway? - it shouldn't do. Hence it being a pretty rough way of measuring 'running in' of brakes / suspension / etc.

The dampers were set to soft initially, I did about 100 miles on the way back like that and at least 2 days worth of normal driving like it (160 miles) - 260 miles, before I turned up the damping to the mid point.

The coilovers were fitted last monday, but only set up on saturday. So had about a week of just running soft (~ 500 ish miles).

Paul_J

P.S. I do think it's a little bit too low on the rear, but seems fine to drive.

Fatbloke

At the risk of showing up my total lack of suspension knowledge.......

You (Paul J) said the ride height is adjustable with the BC's, so presumably you can keep it near to standard if you choose to? Maybe I'd like a small drop, just to fill up a little of the gap in the arches, but I don't plan to go as extreme as you've opted for?

From what I've read so far, it's still worthwhile to get the coil overs if you don't intend to drop the ride height; have I understood correctly?

Finally, again, if I've read and understood properly, uprating bushes seems to be necessary if you alter the height, but is this so critical if you fit the coil overs without significantly altering the height?

Any advice very welcome. Thanks.....

Ultra_Nexus

In terms of quality, the OEM dampers are VERY good.

If they made a set of OEM style that gave the spring/damping rates I have now, i'd have them, except they'd probably cost something daft like