etikoner
03-12-2013, 07:17 PM
I bought a set of coilovers a while back. I was looking all over the place to see if other Miata owners had some testimonials, but found very little. SO I thought i'd make this post to show you guys what they're all about, and how I've modded mine to suit MY needs.
Please bear with my shitty iPhone pictures. lol
http://www.nengun.com/buddy-club/racing-spec-damper
http://www.buddyclub.jp/r_damper/index.html
Buddy Club envisioned the complete all-around suspension and as a result the Racing Spec Damper came to be. Incorporated with the P-1 Racing Dampers excellent design, Buddy Club adjusted accordingly to meet the tough requirements of a street/track vehicle. Tunability is still evident in the upper pillow-mount (optional in some applications) and also in the 15 way adjustable dampening and rebound. Damper size, spring rate, attenuation, and stroke can all be set up for anything from city streets to hardcore circuit.
Height adjustable w/ high quality aluminum perches
15 way adjustable dampening
Pillowball upper mount and camber plate
Buddy Club springs
I received them unassembled, and put them together to get a feel for how they look put together.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/etikoner/A67CE6B5-D4A1-4323-B7AF-E8F40781908E-3902-0000050AA9A85F1F.jpg
This picture shows the upper spring Isolator they come installed with. The PO sold me these because he couldn't get low enough on 16's. I figured they'd work cause I'm on 14's and if anything I could modify them, so I did.
I called Albert (BuddyClub USA's) Engineer, and he told me that I could remove the upper isolator, as long as I found some shims to keep the top hats from sliding up and down on the shaft, so off to ace hardware I went :)
One set-back I experienced was that the PO was forced to bleed two of the dampers at the post office. Luckily he refunded some money due to that, and I found a local motorcycle shop that was able to re-charge all four with the same amount of nitrogen. Recommended range is 20-25 PSI. This guy ended up pressurizing them to 30 PSI. I asked Albert from BC and told me they'd be fine, but would most likely ride a bit firmer. The guy from the motorcycle shop then ran the adjustment knobs on all four dampers and confirmed that the shocks should still be good. He was super knowledgeable so I took his word for it, haha.
Another problem I encountered was that the shock bodies were pretty tall to begin with. But luckily I spotted DJSquiggles's FS thread and made on offer on a set of STANCE extended Pillowball top hats.
Difference between the BC pillow ball mounts and stance on the rear dampers
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/etikoner/78C60F88-81A9-4423-826F-C21E38AE419E-583-00000236273F596E.jpg
The BC bushings had to be pressed in, but they fit like a glove into the stance mounts.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/etikoner/FACEB6FB-EA6E-41A6-8B0F-A519E7323B57-5641-000006DE045CD887.jpg
Once I threw the top hats on, I knew I had to do something about the bump stops. The rears were basically wasted to shit and were in really bad condition. A quick email to Shaikh from FatCatMotorsports and I knew which bumpstops to order. I went with 36mm for the front and 76mm for the rears.
Here's a pic of how the BC bump stop hides (slides) into the stance top hat;
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/etikoner/C2E25769-A0D4-446D-B578-0167A9BA4D9C-5641-000006DDEDA4E5ED.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/etikoner/1ECAB48A-1E08-4AE9-AEA1-49323F700368-5641-000006DDF1C91AF0.jpg
This pic shows how tall the 76mm bump stops were.The 76mm bump stop only allowed about 1cm of shaft travel before engagement, I trimmed them to allow 1" of travel before engagement, but I think i would barely notice them because these are the medium stiffness. Even softer than their 58mm sets. I ended up putting the cut material under the front bump stops to give some more initial softness to their engagement.
(Hope it makes a difference)
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/etikoner/E88B6E5A-B0F5-497E-9318-F970923D360E-4794-000003A82EC7FDA6_zps693c17fb.jpg
I also emailed Shaikh regarding what spring rates I should get. I was debating going with 9f/6r or 9f/7r ... He used his awesome brain and told me that with 9/7 the car would have more "flat ride" I've heard him use the term before, but from what I remember it's a term that BMW uses to talk about ride comfort. So off to the world wide interwebs I went to find the cheapest set of swift springs.... Ended up buying from stance-usa cause they're on of their dealers, and John hooked me up on the price. lol
I bought swift springs because of this topic right here : Swift Springs Dyno'd (http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/suspension/157535-swift-springs-dynoed.html)
I couldn't find one single company that has outperformed Swift springs in any categories that I have stated
-weight
-stroke
-spring rate accuracy
In the end I ordered 65mm ID 6" tall springs all around. 9kg/mm for the front and 7kg/mm for the rears.
It's pretty crazy how light they are when compared to the original BuddyClub springs.
The difference is clear:
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/etikoner/499FF990-335F-44FC-811F-F89449E76834-4794-000003A7CD5CA6BB_zps1297dfbf.jpg
and the final product complete with dustboots
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/etikoner/CC96C6CD-441C-4697-BAFB-3767A1C49649-4794-000003A7BB20E982_zps8ab24d49.jpg
Over-all I'm pretty happy that I was able to do this with less money than what a set of new BC/stance/teins would have run me. And if the time comes to sell them, I think I should be able to ask a nice amount for them as well :)
I'll make sure to update this once I install them. I don't have a good micrometer, but my friend does at his shop, so I'll get shock travel measurements as well as bump stop heights ect.
Thanks for looking!
Please bear with my shitty iPhone pictures. lol
http://www.nengun.com/buddy-club/racing-spec-damper
http://www.buddyclub.jp/r_damper/index.html
Buddy Club envisioned the complete all-around suspension and as a result the Racing Spec Damper came to be. Incorporated with the P-1 Racing Dampers excellent design, Buddy Club adjusted accordingly to meet the tough requirements of a street/track vehicle. Tunability is still evident in the upper pillow-mount (optional in some applications) and also in the 15 way adjustable dampening and rebound. Damper size, spring rate, attenuation, and stroke can all be set up for anything from city streets to hardcore circuit.
Height adjustable w/ high quality aluminum perches
15 way adjustable dampening
Pillowball upper mount and camber plate
Buddy Club springs
I received them unassembled, and put them together to get a feel for how they look put together.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/etikoner/A67CE6B5-D4A1-4323-B7AF-E8F40781908E-3902-0000050AA9A85F1F.jpg
This picture shows the upper spring Isolator they come installed with. The PO sold me these because he couldn't get low enough on 16's. I figured they'd work cause I'm on 14's and if anything I could modify them, so I did.
I called Albert (BuddyClub USA's) Engineer, and he told me that I could remove the upper isolator, as long as I found some shims to keep the top hats from sliding up and down on the shaft, so off to ace hardware I went :)
One set-back I experienced was that the PO was forced to bleed two of the dampers at the post office. Luckily he refunded some money due to that, and I found a local motorcycle shop that was able to re-charge all four with the same amount of nitrogen. Recommended range is 20-25 PSI. This guy ended up pressurizing them to 30 PSI. I asked Albert from BC and told me they'd be fine, but would most likely ride a bit firmer. The guy from the motorcycle shop then ran the adjustment knobs on all four dampers and confirmed that the shocks should still be good. He was super knowledgeable so I took his word for it, haha.
Another problem I encountered was that the shock bodies were pretty tall to begin with. But luckily I spotted DJSquiggles's FS thread and made on offer on a set of STANCE extended Pillowball top hats.
Difference between the BC pillow ball mounts and stance on the rear dampers
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/etikoner/78C60F88-81A9-4423-826F-C21E38AE419E-583-00000236273F596E.jpg
The BC bushings had to be pressed in, but they fit like a glove into the stance mounts.
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/etikoner/FACEB6FB-EA6E-41A6-8B0F-A519E7323B57-5641-000006DE045CD887.jpg
Once I threw the top hats on, I knew I had to do something about the bump stops. The rears were basically wasted to shit and were in really bad condition. A quick email to Shaikh from FatCatMotorsports and I knew which bumpstops to order. I went with 36mm for the front and 76mm for the rears.
Here's a pic of how the BC bump stop hides (slides) into the stance top hat;
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/etikoner/C2E25769-A0D4-446D-B578-0167A9BA4D9C-5641-000006DDEDA4E5ED.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/etikoner/1ECAB48A-1E08-4AE9-AEA1-49323F700368-5641-000006DDF1C91AF0.jpg
This pic shows how tall the 76mm bump stops were.The 76mm bump stop only allowed about 1cm of shaft travel before engagement, I trimmed them to allow 1" of travel before engagement, but I think i would barely notice them because these are the medium stiffness. Even softer than their 58mm sets. I ended up putting the cut material under the front bump stops to give some more initial softness to their engagement.
(Hope it makes a difference)
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/etikoner/E88B6E5A-B0F5-497E-9318-F970923D360E-4794-000003A82EC7FDA6_zps693c17fb.jpg
I also emailed Shaikh regarding what spring rates I should get. I was debating going with 9f/6r or 9f/7r ... He used his awesome brain and told me that with 9/7 the car would have more "flat ride" I've heard him use the term before, but from what I remember it's a term that BMW uses to talk about ride comfort. So off to the world wide interwebs I went to find the cheapest set of swift springs.... Ended up buying from stance-usa cause they're on of their dealers, and John hooked me up on the price. lol
I bought swift springs because of this topic right here : Swift Springs Dyno'd (http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/suspension/157535-swift-springs-dynoed.html)
I couldn't find one single company that has outperformed Swift springs in any categories that I have stated
-weight
-stroke
-spring rate accuracy
In the end I ordered 65mm ID 6" tall springs all around. 9kg/mm for the front and 7kg/mm for the rears.
It's pretty crazy how light they are when compared to the original BuddyClub springs.
The difference is clear:
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/etikoner/499FF990-335F-44FC-811F-F89449E76834-4794-000003A7CD5CA6BB_zps1297dfbf.jpg
and the final product complete with dustboots
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b242/etikoner/CC96C6CD-441C-4697-BAFB-3767A1C49649-4794-000003A7BB20E982_zps8ab24d49.jpg
Over-all I'm pretty happy that I was able to do this with less money than what a set of new BC/stance/teins would have run me. And if the time comes to sell them, I think I should be able to ask a nice amount for them as well :)
I'll make sure to update this once I install them. I don't have a good micrometer, but my friend does at his shop, so I'll get shock travel measurements as well as bump stop heights ect.
Thanks for looking!