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Old 04-05-2018, 02:15 PM   #1
tmontague
 
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BC Racing BR coilovers review 7k F/9k R

I thought I'd get a thread started about my thoughts so far on my coilovers. The plan is to update this as I go and get more seat time in my car.

Currently the car is on 14" winter tires and I have had no track days or autox days with it. I have just done some spirited driving and commuting with it.

The install is relatively straight forwards as you do not need a spring compressor like you do with the factory suspension. The longest part by far is adjusting preload and height. If you are doing this in a driveway on your back then it becomes much more cumbersome than if you have a lift. My current set up is 5 1/4" front height and 5 3/4" rear height (measured to the jack points) It currently has a bit too much rake so I will be raising the front a 1/4" so that my rake is 1/4" total.

Front springs 7 3/4" length


rear spring 6" according to Tom Armstrong if you want to successfully corner balance your car then do not get anything longer than a 6" rear spring






my bottom portion of the rear shock
https://scontent-yyz1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...aa&oe=5B619C54

Bottom of Tom Armstrong's rear shock, as you can see it is stubby'r


The coilovers come with this spacer, make sure you leave it installed. The bearing goes on top of this and then the nut get torqued down on top of the bearing. Then the rubber isolator gets placed on top of the nut.


Due to the salty winters up here I had to disassemble all of the coilovers and coat in a layer of copper anti seize. This was messy and took a lot of time but is worth it. I will be coating everything in a layer of Krown rust inhibitor next week to add further protection. I also used a white paint marker to mark my front camber bolts so that I didn't have to go for an alignment, this way the bolts were installed back the way they were adjusted when it was aligned last summer. This appears to have worked well based on a quick look at camber comparing both sides.

After listening to some YW members I felt that the optimum spring rate for me was a 7k F and 9k R set up. This will allow me to remove my TRD rsb which frees up the rear H bar axle to act as a true semi independent system as it is designed to be.

I originally wanted to go with Fortune Auto coilovers but they only offered custom front spring rates and the stiffest they had available in the rear was 3k which was much too soft for me. The DR coilovers by BC were out of my price range so I opted to the BR version which does not have a digressive damper so a potentially less refined ride than the DR variant. My whole reasoning for purchasing coilovers was so that I can corner balance my car and have optimum weight distribution, I can have a higher spring rate and reduce the nose dive I was experiencing at the track and I can customise/adjust the dampening from front to rear to aid in how the car steers in corners as well as have a slightly softer ride when I DD and a stiffer one at the track.

These coilovers cost me just over $1500 CAD with taxes and shipping so all in all not too bad if they last a decent amount of time. They are rebuildable which is good so if they do blow out down the road I don't needs to drop another grand. Quality coilovers (think KW, Ohlin's etc) would have run well over $2000 all in and were out of my price range and amount I was willing to spend on this car just for suspension.

The BR's are by no means a budget cheap set of Coilovers like other ebay ones for $500 USD but are somewhat a middle ground. I expected them to ride harsh due to the high spring rates but to my surprise they are really tolerable. Compared to my previous set up (Excel G struts, Tokiko Blue shocks and MI springs, TRD rsb) this set up actually dampens the small irregularities in the road better. On large bumps or drops in the road (think large cracks) they are slightly harsher as there is more energy from the spring pushing the tire down.

My wife road in the car with my 16 year old son and he didn't mind the new spring rates. My wife stated that she didn't really notice a difference in roughness but she did notice how little body roll there was. I currently have the dampers set at 6 clicks F and 11 clicks R from the softest setting. I will eventually start playing around with these, but my concern is if I go softer then the springs will get bouncy, but we'll see.

A few installation tips and tricks I found out:

To make the rear dampers accessible to adjust just remove the left and right plastic trim pieces located on each side of the back of the rear seat (located when the seats are folded down). This allows you to fully access the top of the shock by just flipping the seat down. You have to remove these pieces anyways to install the shock but don't re install them and you'll be fine. The seat once flipped up covers that piece anyways so you cannot notice it missing.

Adjuster extenders from BC are useless as they are not long enough to reach above the rear speaker shelf so don't spend extra on them. I received mine free as they had a promo but I will not be using them.

To have easier access to front strut dampening adjuster you can take a pry bar and slightly pry the metal cowling that sits in front of the windshield. This will bend the metal and give you the clearance to fit your allen key adjuster into the top of the damper

I'll post pics later this week to give a visual. Overall I am impressed with the ride quality these coilovers give as well as the build quality. Time will tell how long they last but if these last a decent amount of time then I'd say they are a good option at a decent price point. The yaris is a light car and tends to be easy on things like suspension so that should help as well.
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Last edited by tmontague; 04-07-2018 at 01:38 PM.
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Old 04-07-2018, 12:51 PM   #2
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Nice write-up, thanks!

I've been dabbling in the idea of coilovers for the future upgrade and have had an eye on the BC Racing setup after seeing Tom's install. I've found the same thing you list - not a cheapy eBay setup, but not into the bigger cost brands. Most reviews I've read are positive on the BC line - only the one Yaris review, but reviews on other platforms seem to say they're good. Rebuildable and parts available is nice to boot.

Looking foraard to hear more as you settle into them as a DD and get a track day or two on them..

-- Adam
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Old 04-08-2018, 07:48 AM   #3
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I've had my BCs installed for about 10 months now, having gone through half a season of autocross as well as a daily and I really enjoy them. Only thing is I wish I got them brand new since I got them used, but they were pretty cheap from another Yaris driver here in the islands so i'm okay with it.

I have 5k springs up front, 3k rear. I might get stiffer springs before the next autocross season starts up later this year.

I use the extenders on my car. I have them routed towards the trunk for easy access.

Last edited by fujiwaru; 09-27-2018 at 02:44 AM.
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Old 04-08-2018, 10:38 AM   #4
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I was curious about these for these cars.

My MI springs on blues ride like a garbage truck. I put the stock springs back on, still reusing the blues and the ride is 90% the same. SO I know the dampers are my main factor for the crap ride quality.

I want to put the springs back on, I hate the 4wd status. But I am considering coilovers. I have Fortune Auto 500s on my Tercel with Swift springs and it rides better.

I recently helped my buddy put some BCs on his gs300 and rides pretty well, but its hard to compare as its another 1300~lbs and independent suspension
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Old 04-12-2018, 06:38 PM   #5
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Corner balance and alignment booked for May 1st, I'll post some updates after that.
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Old 04-12-2018, 07:01 PM   #6
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Quote:
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Corner balance and alignment booked for May 1st, I'll post some updates after that.
Nice!
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Old 04-12-2018, 07:24 PM   #7
tmontague
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by malibuguy View Post
I was curious about these for these cars.

My MI springs on blues ride like a garbage truck. I put the stock springs back on, still reusing the blues and the ride is 90% the same. SO I know the dampers are my main factor for the crap ride quality.

I agree, the MI spring with Blue's definitely rode harsher than I thought they would but I still found them DDable

so far the BR's quality is impressive but much too early to know definitively. I had a slight whistle on high speed slight bumps coming from the front left strut area. It seemed to go away after a couple days so no idea what that was about

I reduced the dampening down from 6F and 11R to 3F and 8R (clicks from full soft) and the ride actually got harsher. Not much bumpier but harsher. I'll be going back to 6/11 on my commute home. I was surprised by the opposite change then I expected
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Old 09-25-2018, 01:44 AM   #8
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How have the springs been so far? I've gotten to a point with my setup that the springs feel too soft and I've been having rubbing issues on the front going over small dips in the road. In addition whenever I autocross it, even with the dampers set to max, there is still a significant amount of dive. I've considered upgrading to the swift springs but i'm hesitant to get them since it's also my daily.
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Old 09-25-2018, 06:32 AM   #9
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Springs have been great, especially at the track. A bit stiff for daily driving but the roads where I live are atrocious. Imo if you are going to spend the cash on Swifts you are better off with a proper coil over or else your springs will likely be under dampened assuming you go with stiffer springs

It still surprises me how little dive there is on hard braking
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Old 09-25-2018, 12:02 PM   #10
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I have a set of these coilovers on the way. I also ordered the swift springs on the side........after going back and forth with BC about the fact the stock springs are not included if you get the Swift springs..........

This made no sense to me as the Swift spring upgrade is $500 which is basically the cost of the Swift Springs alone......

So after many emails and 2 phone calls I am getting the BC racing springs on the coilovers and the Swift springs on the side. I did this for one reason, everyone says the Swift springs are lighter. We are going to see exactly how much lighter they are. :)

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Old 09-26-2018, 12:32 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronnie V View Post
I have a set of these coilovers on the way. I also ordered the swift springs on the side........after going back and forth with BC about the fact the stock springs are not included if you get the Swift springs..........

This made no sense to me as the Swift spring upgrade is $500 which is basically the cost of the Swift Springs alone......

So after many emails and 2 phone calls I am getting the BC racing springs on the coilovers and the Swift springs on the side. I did this for one reason, everyone says the Swift springs are lighter. We are going to see exactly how much lighter they are. :)

Ron
What spring rates did you get for both the BC and Swifts?
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Old 09-26-2018, 06:27 AM   #12
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After riding in Trevs car I went with the same spec he ordered.

7K fronts, 9K rears. I ordered the swifts in the same spring rates. I am going to use the BC springs on another car I have that has coilovers with very tired springs.
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Old 09-27-2018, 02:43 AM   #13
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Seems like 7k is a good spring rate for the front after going through multiple threads. I'll have to do a little more reading to determine the rears.

Looking forward to hear how the Swifts handle. I haven't heard much on them other than reading Tom's (Armstrong Racing) blogs but I believe he was running 5k Swifts both front and rear. Then again his car was more race car than a daily so it wouldn't necessarily translate over to my car
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Old 09-27-2018, 06:48 AM   #14
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7K/9K is a compromise for the street. If my car was a dedicated track car I would have gone 9K fronts 11K rears.........maybe even 10k/13k

A spring is a spring is a spring. The swifts will handle no differently than any other spring. Other than the fact they are supposed to be lighter (which we will see definitively one way or the other) which is good because of unsprung weight.

If your dampeners are not valved for the appropriate spring rates then the most you should go up or down is 2K from the stock setup. Putting a 9K spring on the back without the proper valving in the shock will not work properly.

Ron

Last edited by Ronnie V; 09-27-2018 at 07:38 AM.
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Old 09-29-2018, 11:28 AM   #15
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Great review Trevor, I’m glad you have had good experiences with BC as well. Even though I’m only running 5k springs, I’ve been told that I should consider going with about 8k springs in the future. What I have now is fine for street tires, but if I was to get Hoosiers then Ill need to upgrade springs as well.
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Old 10-08-2018, 06:47 AM   #16
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Deciding to go with the same combo 7k front/9k rear spring setup as everyone else. However on the BC website, the smallest spring for the rear was a 160mm? Is that the smallest they can go? I'll contact BC tomorrow to see if they have any other options. Planning for 62-200mm-7kg fronts, and maybe 62-150mm-9kg rear.
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Old 10-08-2018, 08:27 AM   #17
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There is a shorter spring.

Be warned, I am currently dealing with an improper valving issue on mine. Correct springs installed but I am sure the valving is incorrect. On full soft I can bounce the back of the car up and down like a springboard........not good.

I will update this later today after I call back again. On Friday I had Kevin from sales tell me a person from tech would call me back shortly when they got back from lunch.

I am going to give it till noon today and then try calling in again.

So far not that impressed but let's see how they handle this........

Ron
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Old 10-08-2018, 12:21 PM   #18
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To add to what Ron said, BC is not easy to get a hold of compared to other companies in have dealt with such as fortune auto. That said I have had a great experience with my coilovers as mine were valved properly. They did forget to send my adjuster extenders but they fixed that soon after.

Imho the best solution is to buy coilovers through fortune auto and contact bc to see if they will sell you the rear spring perches and springs in the stiffness you want. Order fortune auto coilovers in the rear valving that corresponds to your bc springs.

Not sure if BC will sell you just the rear perches but I don't see why not. Let's hope BC fixes their issue with Ron's order
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