GR86 Lowering - Coilovers and Springs

[Bathroom_Security]

I'd like to lower the car a little

Ohlins have some coilovers available but don't seem to be available in the UK yet, they would be my first choice.

What are peoples thoughts on lowering springs, honestly?

Eibach Pro are probably the only ones I'd consider but I don't fancy messing with the dampers as they work extremely well and deal with awful back roads in a way I've not experienced before. I'd imagine you'd lose the excellent small bump compliance available at the top of the damper stroke and end up sat into the dampers travel pogo-ing around like an imbecile.

The stock setup has slightly too much high speed rebound deeper into the damper travel at the rear for my taste but it's almost spot on really. It really is very good and I'd think it would deal with road and track very well.

I'll have a think. Some eibachs might work for a little while until Ohlins become available

 

[OPC100]

I'd probably talk to Fensport if going down this route and get their view on it. For me, I'll not bother as I'm happy with the standard setup, as it is a 100% road car for me and works well with the crap roads we have.

I thought that the Savagegeese long term videos on YouTube were interesting regarding what they did to their car, IIRC, they fitted Ohlins, but the outcome was tracking it and wanting / needing to upgrade, fill your boots and you might never stop tinkering.

But for a daily road car, makes alot of sense to just keep it standard.

 

[Bathroom_Security]

Yeah savagegeese GR86 has been interesting, so was the thread on GR86 org about it. Ive been through it all before so get where they are coming from

I don't think I fancy the coilover route if I'm honest (Ive owned B14 and H&R Monotubes in the past) and am now leaning toward Springs and Dampers, I don't want to mess the car up with just springs. The best handling car for road use I've driven EVER in 15 years was the AC Schnitzer ACS1 Sport Eco (the 58 plate) which had what I assume was the B12 - Eibach Pro and Bilstein B8 combo only 'tuned' by ACS, the car did have generous amounts of camber though! I'm sure the rears were on -2.5 or something. Very compliant ride, although firm it was never crashy.

Bilstein lists the B12, B14 and B16 now and are available to order in the UK, their B12 kit looks to be exactly the same as the one from the GT86. Currently hovering over the buy button for the B12 Kit, just need to check Insurance.

Passenger car

web1.carparts-cat.com

Drop wise it should be suitable for road use, I'd expect to be able to progress down a bumpy country lane at decent pace with these.

 

[Bathroom_Security]

I've gone with the B12 kit so ill update my impressions if and when it arrives. Spent a lot of time going back and forth between the B6/Eibach, B12 and B16 so hopefully wont regret this decision.

Reading GT86 forums it seems the best option are B6 dampers with something like Eibach springs given the B6 dampers retain the original damper travel. B8s are lower.

Also ordered 20mm black H&R spacers and some camber bolts.

Part codes for the Bilstein stuff here:

サスペンションブランドBILSTEINよりSUBARU BRZ用 B14（ネジ式車高調整サスペンションキット）・B12（純正形状ローダウンサスペンションキット）・B6（純正形状スポーツダンパー）新発売

www.dreamnews.jp

 

[Stardus.]

Revolution's GR86 just featured on Best Motoring touge run with stock dampers and a set of lowering springs.

Devlopment/Endorsed by the actual GR/Lexus Devlopment driver, truly OEM+?

GR86 GROW Design×HALsprings スポーツサス スプリング/ハイトアジャスター単品

「GROW公式オンラインショップ」で取り扱う商品「GR86 GROW Design×HALsprings スポーツサス スプリング/ハイトアジャスター単品」の紹介・購入ページ

grow-motorsports.shop

 

[ZN8]

Revolution's GR86 just featured on Best Motoring touge run with stock dampers and a set of lowering springs.

Devlopment/Endorsed by the actual GR/Lexus Devlopment driver, truly OEM+?

GR86 GROW Design×HALsprings スポーツサス スプリング/ハイトアジャスター単品

「GROW公式オンラインショップ」で取り扱う商品「GR86 GROW Design×HALsprings スポーツサス スプリング/ハイトアジャスター単品」の紹介・購入ページ

grow-motorsports.shop

I wish they would publish the spring rates. Would be useful to know.

 

[Bathroom_Security]

Despite ordering Bilstein B12 kit they sent me B6 dampers (unless thats right) and eibach springs and without checking I installed them. This was a setup I nearly went for initially over the B8 dampers and Eibach pro so wasn't so fussed initially.

Not settled yet and at max camber at the front. The front is very low, I'm expecting it'll look better with less camber but never know.

Looks really bad to the point I might remove them, the rear barely changed height atall but that maybe the B6 damper raising the ride height. I'll give it a little while.

Should have gone with coilovers after all

 

[ZN8]

My understanding was B6 dampers are suitable for stock ride height and B8 are intended for lowered cars, but people use B6 for lowering anyway, so I don't think that matters too much. I agree the ride height doesn't look correct though, a bit of rake is normal but it should only be about 5mm.

 

[JonBon]

Lowering is such a catch 22, it looks great but there are down sides. Having owned a GT86 for 5 years and used as a daily driver, I scraped the front bumper and underside many times when encountering speed bumps and that wasn't lowered. I would be worried that lowering the GR86 which already sits lower than the GT86 would restrict it's use.

These ones are particularly bad.

and these ones

 

[Bathroom_Security]

My understanding was B6 dampers are suitable for stock ride height and B8 are intended for lowered cars, but people use B6 for lowering anyway, so I don't think that matters too much. I agree the ride height doesn't look correct though, a bit of rake is normal but it should only be about 5mm.

Yeah I've seen the forum posts about GT86 B6 vs B8

The rake looks stupid

Annoyingly the fronts are very low and the rears too high.

I will say though the ride now even with a pissed up geometry is excellent. Far more controlled over a bumpy country lane. Its only down a really chunky backroad near me I can feel the progressive rear springs load up a little at the end of the stroke, but thats a road that gets any car to phgo stick at each end. rest of the time it seems to float over back roads, quite impressive.

I'm thinking about swapping the b6 rear dampers for B8s, I assume they would lower the car further than the B6. That or just go for B16s but that's financially a poor decision

Looking forward to driving it with a proper geometry setup.

 

[Bathroom_Security]

Took some photos, adjusted the shadows so the gaps can be seen

This is 20mm spacers all round with the Bilstein B6 dampers and Eibach pro springs, camber settings are about -1 up front and the rears are roughly -1.3 (Driver) and -1.6 (passenger) with no adjustability yet, /edit to add I think the driver rear looks higher because of camber. There is about 5mm difference between the two sides, but I think the driver side rear having -1.3 camber looks considerably different to the passenger rear at -1.6.

I'm fairly pleased although its a little too high at the rear, particularly drivers side, its beginning to settle already but don't think it'll drop to where I'd hoped. The rake does annoy me, apparently the S wave camber arms have a lower mounting point and will drop the stock dampers 15-20mm so that might be just the ticket for me.

I should have gone with B16's but wanted the ride quality and compliance of the B12 kit, which to be fair is excellent and it does make a bumpy 60mph backroad a lot of fun, roads where most drivers will sit at 30mph to avoid being shaken to death.

Turns in nicely, geo setup is the gold standard people go for with a slight toe in at the back.

 

[mackie]

Which spacers did you go for in the end?

 

[Bathroom_Security]

20mm h&r in black

4025561SW I think

Ordered through Carnossieur, weren't listed when I checked so contacted them

 

[Bathroom_Security]

In a complete 180 to my previous post, genuinely considering returning it to stock as it rides like absolute crap over anything bumpy, which is most uk back roads and where this car is at its best. This is probably because of where I'm currently living, the roads around me are all garbage, rutty bumpy back roads. The stock car dealt with these surprisingly well, and I've used the roads round here for years to test cars on to see just how good or bad a car handles, the stock setup made these roads easy to drive down at speed. It's now so bumpy it genuinely feels like it's sat on its bump stops at times, the car rocks from front to back over bumps only its so firm the car feels like it has about a third of its original suspension travel. It must look ridiculous. I can see the headlights moving up and down ahead of me as the car bounces around.

Things improve at higher speeds compared to low speed. Low speed driving really is atrocious.

I had the pleasure of hooning some nice Yorkshire back roads this weekend around the wolds where the roads are generally pretty good, fun windy smoothish roads and it really was good, handling was very good. Surrey back roads generally aren't that great unfortunately in my experience.

Its too firm, but not crashy, it feels to me like the front dampers are sat too far into their travel to take advantage of both the full suspension travel and the initial part of the damper which should be plusher, wasn't expecting that at a 25mm drop if I'm honest.

It also looks terrible I think. I hate the rake. The rear has settled more but looks only a little lower than stock, but not low enough, the fronts look way too low. Because race car type low.

This is the 3rd car I've lowered, first two being h&r monotube sat on the bumpstops at -70mm, the 2nd on B14 within tolerance. I figured the the Bilstein/Eibach combination would be a good mix for road use and be somewhat compliant.

Ill leave it a bit, but I may try a few more setups, stock springs and b6 dampers (although I suspect the rear end will be laughably high), stock dampers and Eibach springs. I may try some Teins too. Considering Bilstein B16s too.

If you're 30+ and don't want to ride around feeling like the cars sat on its bumps stops, don't install the Bilstein/Eibach combo unless you live around smoothish roads.

 

[ZN8]

That's such a shame you've forked out for new suspension and its under performing. I've seen a side by side photo of the old generation B6 rear dampers and the spring perch is mounted higher up the damper than stock, I'm guessing its the same for the GR86, which explains the uneven ride height, but it would make it look a joke on stock springs, might be worth comparing yours before you faff too much with them. S18RSG is fitting B14s to his car, I'm keen to to get his take on those as that might be the way to go.

ZN6 Front

ZN6 Rear

 

[Bathroom_Security]

Yeah I have seen the GT86 threads for those B6 shots. I was concerned about the height issue but the threads I saw only seemed to be limited to a few people.

B14's will be similar to the B6/Eibachs from my experience although the height adjustability is a bonus, so long as its kept in tolerance - although the higher they ride the better.

e/

After a whole 2 weeks the ride was so bad I had enough so I'm now back on the stock rear showa dampers, front B6 dampersand Eibach Pro springs all round. My gut told me the B6 rears were simply too firm for any undulating back road driving but I wasn't sure if it was the springs or dampers.

Its had a slight drop in the rear maybe 10mm. Still does not look as low as the red BRZ photos.

The overall ride now feels considerably more composed, I'm not saying its a revelation or improvement over stock, because the rear dampers behave as you might expect with a lower spring where its almost normal 90% of the time but on occasion the damper sits a bit further into its travel where the stock spring might not, similarly it dives into its travel on some of the most awful back roads at times, but the rear suspension now seem to utilise the available travel properly and does so without wanting to rebound violently, instead they feel more controlled and composed. the B6 rears honestly did feel as though they were sat on the bump stops at times yet they obviously weren't. I can now drive the car focusing on placing the front and just let the rear do its thing without being jarred to death. Low speed 30mph ride quality is the most notable change where it seems to flow down a road like the stock setup does rather than jiggle. The damper now seems to sit in its travel remaining calm.

As you might gather from this thread I'm not into a firm ride, its not that I don't like it, I just think its totally unnecessary and a total compromise for the roads we have here in the UK, instead I'd sooner have a car that utilises its available travel because that's what its there for (ironic considering Im seeking to remove travel from the car by lowering it), I mountain bike and I like longer travel slack bikes (170mm) setup to absolutely smash through steep technical trails where a bike remains composed without rebounding to the moon. Some might describe it as a feeling dead. But I don't want a pogo stick. Progression is important in bike car suspension but how its delivered is key.

Best way I can describe that B6/Eibach rear setup is when you set the sag on an MTB fork and don't equalise the chambers while doing it. Felt absolutely awful.

Currently considering where I go next suspension wise. The rake still annoys me, I would think Tein springs might have better option with a 20mm drop all round.

 

[Bathroom_Security]

Fitted Swave rear camber arms. I was after the lower mounting point these supposedly provide, fensport website quote 15-20mm drop with these, before going down the coilover route.

The ones that arrived have two mounting points on them, the upper of the two points seem to drop the car about 15mm which was just right for me, thats what I wanted. The lower of the two dropped it between 20 and 25mm I think, car looked absolutely slammed at the rear on the lower mount. This was measured with a measuring tape from floor to wheel arch and me going... hmm yeah

I'd think these would be useful for anyone with coilovers, I'd imagine the lower mounting point would provide a bit more suspension travel than the stock arms do if you were to raise your coilovers up.

So to clarify this is:

Eibach Pro all round -20mm rear -25mm front
Bilstein B6 front, stock Showa rear dampers
Swave Rear Camber arms mounted at the upper of both mounting points.
20mm spacers all round

Looking to have a decent alignment done at some point

edited to add clean photos. Rear camber at -2.5 and front -1.75

 

[Bathroom_Security]

Appreciate this is probably well above and beyond what people want to know or be involved in but its been an enjoyable learning process for me and might help others. Its new to me, might be obvious to others.

B6's are back on the rear with eibach pro's for now.

The mounting holes both raise/lower hide height and adjust the suspension behaviour, I'd call it changing the leverage curve like you do on a mountain bike and others might call it adjusting the motion ratios and resulting spring and sway bar effectiveness (That's how SPL describe it)

With all mounts set to the upper/middle setting the B6's are like they are on the stock arms, ride WAY too high and a very hard ride (too harsh to be useful for the road I think with a jolting and jarring ride at the rea, bumps on the road translate to taking a rubber mallet to your back side).

Drop that to the lower middle, the height drops to something like the photos above, the ride becomes more composed. Firmer than the car was with Showa/Eibach rears, but a much more compliant ride than the B6/Eibach was previously.

Going to try messing about with it some more to see how the car looks and behaves with the shock mounted to the lower/outer hole as I'd expect that to calm it down further.

But its pretty good as it is now.

Rear camber is about -2.5 in this photo, it has been driven and settled before the photo was taken.

 

[ritch]

It’s sitting lovely @Bathroom_Security

Is this a daily driver for you?

 

[Bathroom_Security]

It’s sitting lovely @Bathroom_Security

Is this a daily driver for you?

Not really no..... currently my only car alongside my wifes CX5

I drive it to customer sites when I'm not working at home which is 90% of the time

Done a few 2-4 hours drives in it, Its wasted on a motorway so usually try link in some b road driving on the way