I am currently in the market for new suspension for my ITR. My car has had PIC's for the past couple years and I'm looking to change it up a bit. After some research, I came across BC Racing and read about there coilovers and am looking to see if anyone has had experience with this brand before, good or bad, as I have never even heard of them before. I'm looking for something agressive yet I daily drive my R and want a smooth ride, and will probably lower the car some more as well.

If anyone has any other suggestions on what suspension to purchase that meets my needs above, I'd appreciate the input. Thanks HT.

 

my buddy had these in his evo and they rode great!! and they held good on the autocross.. buy why change the pic's are they bad?

 

BC's are junk IMHO. They are known for inconsistent valving and the ride will be harsher as they do not have as much "droop" as other coilovers. Do people competitively compete with them in motor sports events.....well yes, but the bottom line is you get what you pay for.

I have a few friends that have BC coilovers on their Subaru's that I have rode in. When it came time to buy coilovers for my old STi I went with KW, BC was not even an option.

 

Do you not read the threads where we all recommend Koni Yellows/Ground Control (with custom rates)?

Stay away from the 'bling' full coilover unless you are willing to spend enough to get a quality servicable unit.

When you say BC racing, are you referring to BuddyClub? If so, anything under the 'Racing Spec' level is pure junk.

 

DAVE_B had them on is track only ITR, put crazy springrates on it like 14k ft and 16k rear and he loved it for track
(buddy club race spec)

 

I am fairly certain the OP is talking about BC Racing the company, not Buddy Club racing coilovers.

Link to said company- http://www.bcracing-na.com/

I can't even imagine what it would be like to drive with spring rates like that on the street.

 

I've never heard anything negative about the Koni yellow/Ground Control setup, I just read comments on the skinny Koni struts, but I don't know enough about the topic to judge..

 

BC Racing stands for 'Bor Chuan' if i recall correctly.

they make coilovers for anything on the market. typical taiwanese coilover like D2, K-Sport, T1-R, Attack, etc...

not to be confused with the old Buddy Club Racing spec dampers which weren't too bad...before everyone started buying Koni/GC

 

What should I buy? Koni/GC? This is one of those things that I need help from those who have experiencing with a few different makes. The suspension on my car was installed by the previous owner (Bbasso) and is blown to ****. I love the response the suspension has though.

 

buddy of mine has BC (nt buddy club) on his mazda, he hates it every moment when he takes on corner or drive over uneven pavement

mind we have compare the BC coilover with T1R Bmax, H&R basic, H&R road racing, Tein basic and Tein monoflex, and yet, they hate the BC the most

the dampening is not appropriately engineered, the coilover quality is meh......

if OP is seriously considering some aggressive driving and hoping to get nice dampening from coilovers....stay away from BC...

Koni/GC will offer you the best bang for the bucks option

I would strongly suggest the H&R road racing coilover as I have them in R and it damps sooooooo nicely that it wont hurt your back while having f16k r14k spring rates..it is streetable yet very competitive in track racing

 

To the OP: What is the wear like on the PIC's after 2 years? Just curious...

 

Dave had PIC Select R3s.

 

I've been in cars with 20k spring rates on good dampers (Showa Spoons) and it rode just fine.

High spring rates require a real damper, not the crap that all these "entry level" and even mid level threaded body coilovers come with.

 

That depends on what you want to use the car for.

Since my 97 is now primarily going to be a street car I love stock ITR springs on Bilstein Sports, lowered slightly via Bilstein's c clip being put on the bottom slot instead of the stock height slot (middle or top, I forget which).

If you need anything more, then you either have to go Koni or Bils with GCs or spend a good chunk of money to get better setups.

 

My Showa Mugens actually ride decent with high spring rates on them. It is absolutely all in the quality of the shock and not necessarily the springrate itself.

OP: Stay the HELL away from any taiwanese coilover (like BC Racing). If your budget is about a grand, you cannot beat Koni Yellow with Ground Controls.

Search any old suspension thread (in the ITR forum) and we say the same thing, every time. Please do not rely on knowledge from places like the EG forum. If anything, search the Roadracing/autocross forum as we had a lot of good discussions in there, as people actually compete on their suspension rather than just hang out at the 7-11 with it.

 

Yup a good damper goes a long way. I daily on my Spoon N1s with 16/14 rates. I've driven a dc5 with 22/20k Mugen N1 dampers and it was ok as well.

Kroy546 - the T1r products are also made in Taiwan FYI

Op - sounds like the koni/gc combo fits your budget

 

Thanks for all the responses so far everyone. Very good references.

 

You guys are crazy or I'm just getting old

I ran 12k front 11k rear on my DD STi. These were on a set of KW Competition Coilovers, definitely a quality piece. I live in the DC area and at times I felt that was right at what I could handle. The area you live in plays a huge factor when picking DD spring rates for some.

 

STi has struts; ITR has double wishbone. The motion ratio between the two are completely different. Thus, a 12K spring on an STi will be different than a 12K spring on an ITR.

Struts = ~1:1
Honda Double Wishbone 88-00 = ~0.75:1

 

Todd, what is your education background?

 

Please answer this. I am also curious what is wrong with the PIC's. I'd take PIC's over Konis anyday. Not too mention PIC has definately supported this very ITR community over the years.

 

Excellent point man!

I didn't even think to consider this. I just picked up my R 2 months ago, gotta get out of thinking in STi mode.

 

My PIC's are blown. They've been on the car since 2005.

 

Gotcha.

 

i went with skunk2 springs and koni yellows. car blew up before i installed them