SS1 + PED-580096 top hats for OEM rubber as if I’m not mistaken, they are coming without them. Rears, re-use stocks.

note, everyone I know had uneven camber at the rear axle after lowering the car. Consider RLCA in the future to make it even.

 

It's really hard to beat @Racecomp Engineering SS-1 for that value. Tho, if I was you and you want to keep the GR86 playfulness. I would get a set of 170-60-70 (170mm length - 60mm ID - 7kg/mm) eibach springs for the rear. Maybe you can ask racecomp to swap the rear springs out for you on purchase.

I would personally stay away from HKS' coilovers, the name recognition is nice but do know that HKS tune their coilovers for the silky smooth Japanese roads.

Otherwise, I'd also stay away shock cartridges style coilovers (things like BC, Tien, and Fortune auto). These dampers are really tough to adjust their ride height. 10 out of 10 times I saw people adjusting them wrong, then they will get this really harsh ride because the suspension travel is all kinds of messed up. (Also low shock volume and short exposed shafts really limited the comfortability of these multi pieces coilovers)

You can also throw Koni's GTS on this list, but the review on these coilovers is really limited.

 

This was great information to know! Do you have any input on the CSG tuned flex a’s? I been leaning towards one or the other based on reviews i’ve seen.

 

I’m on the same boat as you so I’m not a huge help, have been considering either RCEss1 or Silvers Neomax since the valving is digressive for comforts sake.

May just end of going with the soon to be released RCE lowering springs though since this is primarily a daily with maybe 1 track day/year, as it stands, I don’t fully push the stock suspension as is

 

I might get cooked for saying this. After adjusting my RCE 3 way for a while for street comfort.... I slowly realizing digressive is just a marketing gimmick.

For example I turned my high speed compression relatively high 14clicksF/10clicksR from stiff (total 30clicksF / 28clicksR). Then I turned my low speed comp relatively soft 17clicksF/14clicksR from stiff (LS and HS have the same total clicks).

However, This doesn't speak much about the compression damping. So basically I was trying to create a compression damping curve that has progressive build up from low speed to medium speed comp damping then have the high speed digress to a linear damping. This ensures the dampers not building up too much force during these small road imprefections, but they build enough force to stay off the bumpstops during big road bumps.

Fortune auto is the #1 company that leans too much into the digressive valving. Thus a lot of drivers complaint about their 510s can't take bumps, and generally dont feel nice to drive. The 510 dampers build up extreme amount of LS forces at 1inch/s, then it digresses off to a linear damping. This can shock the tires too fast and too quickly. Also you'd feel a lot of forces build up initially when the car taking bumps.

Well "I digress" after my rant.

 

I went from RSR Super Down Springs to Fortune Auto 500 Coilovers (Got a deal got it for $800 due to the guy selling his car). Not gonna lie I kinda wish I went for RCE SS1 or Hipermax S coilovers - the fortune autos do not feel like they'd be worth $1.8k lol. I'm glad I got it for the price I did but I compared them by driving my friend's 86 with BC racing BR coilovers and they legit feel the same.

Maybe I didn't adjust them correctly but I feel like I would've had a better experience with RCE/HKS. My lowering springs felt better than the fortune autos (obviously with harsher spring rates but didn't think I'd notice that big of a difference). Despite my car being a daily, I don't mind the drive too much but wonder if I'm missing out had I gone with the alternatives.

But take it with a grain of salt - I'm not the most knowledgeable on suspension just telling you my experience.

 

I went from RSR Super Down Springs to Fortune Auto 500 Coilovers (Got a deal got it for $800 due to the guy selling his car). Not gonna lie I kinda wish I went for RCE SS1 or Hipermax S coilovers - the fortune autos do not feel like they'd be worth $1.8k lol. I'm glad I got it for the price I did but I compared them by driving my friend's 86 with BC racing BR coilovers and they legit feel the same.

Maybe I didn't adjust them correctly but I feel like I would've had a better experience with RCE/HKS. My lowering springs felt better than the fortune autos (obviously with harsher spring rates but didn't think I'd notice that big of a difference). Despite my car being a daily, I don't mind the drive too much but wonder if I'm missing out had I gone with the alternatives.

But take it with a grain of salt - I'm not the most knowledgeable on suspension just telling you my experience.

I had a set of FA 510 on 7kg/8kg, now I'm on RCE 3way 7kg/9kg. The ride quality was a night and day difference despite the spring rates for being relative similar.

Did some digging. Found out that the RCE dampers have superior suspension travels and almost seamless damping adjustment. These 2 in combined made a huge difference.

The 510 was def a waste of money.

 

@TrueBlue

Fwiw imma show a FA510 dyno graph and a MCS 3 way dyno graph.

FA:

MCS 3 way:

Without going into too much details about critical damping etc, cus quite frankly I can write a whole damn thread about it.

510 builds up force really fast at 1 - 1.5 inch/ second range. Between 0 - 2.5 inch/second range is usually the "handling section" so things like pitch, dive, squat and yaw. So they build up a lot of force initially then digress to a linear damping, but the driver will feel that initial force as a kick in the butt even they are not at that range of piston velocity.

Then the MCS 3 way allows you to tune the region from 1"/s to 5"/s with their LS comp adjuster. Generally speaking, it's more comfortable to have a progressive line from 2"/s - 5"/s. Because you don't have the dampers to build excessive amount of force to resist the shock asymbly from compressing (well if you're running stiff springs, you're still going to feel the firmness... cus well physics). When you're ready to go on track, then you can always turn up the LS adjuster for better platforming and support.

Another if you don't know now you know moment 😂.

PS: don't look at the number because these 2 shocks can be valved for different spring rates and different chassis. What's important is the slope of the graph.

 

I got my HKS off japanparts so yen to usd pricing was much cheaper (i think around $1400 shipped at the time). I would not pay a US retailer price (~$2k) for them, least of all because any rebuilding/warranty/support would be a pain to deal with overseas

 

I'm running RCE T0's, STi Group N top mounts, lower camber bolt, lower-in-the-upper hole crash bolt, OEM rear top mounts. I have zero complaints about this setup from a damping or NVH perspective. Went T0's because I have winter to deal and I had no desire to play around with damper settings.

Only thing I maybe would've liked is the ability to run a 7K rear spring, but honestly, the car is playful enough on track that I'm not bothered with it now.