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Wanted to bring light to a new coilover suspension :D

SVOFANATIC

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
Mar 1, 2012
Messages
897
Location
Matthews, NC
I recently (about 3-4 weeks ago) installed a new suspension on my SVT I pulled my Koni's with GC's off and put a coilover suspension on. I haven't seen anyone talk about it so I figure it's not well known. They cost me around $900 after shipping (which was expensive) and they still allow for the upgraded strut bearing design. They also have 32 different dampening settings like ksport and D2's but not their stupid spring design. Of course they have a height adjustment like all the others but they also have a preload adjustment as well. It took about 3 weeks to get them because I ordered them from the UK. You can buy them from the US distributor but it takes the same time (because they don't realize yet they fit on a contour) but they will cost $1050 (I called and asked).

If you haven't noticed I like creating suspense. They have a good bit of lowering adjustment but if you're going for slammed you'll have to lower the preload as well to get down super super low. I will post pictures in a minute of the setup.
 
Here is a picture of them. BC racing coilovers for an MKII Mondeo.
 

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Here they are installed I've had a few weeks to drive with them and they are quite stiff but I'm enjoying them. My car is pretty much become a track car at this point as you can tell by the second picture.
 

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Looks nice I know a few people running bc coilovers on other brand cars and have had nothing but good things to say about them.
 
Rippin6gears bought a set for his air suspension project. I think he found them for around $750 or so..I'll have to find his post again. Nice find though.

Looks good.
 
Very cool, Do you notice any major differences in ride quality over the Koni setup?? You say the car is mostly a track toy :D but still is it comfortable enough for the average person to deal with daily driving??
 
Most won't like these as they will be to stiff for most unless you are like I am and can drive on really stiff suspension.
 
Those look nice, how did the fitment go?

Do these use a clamp on bracket for the front anti-roll bar links? These have been known to be a weak point in other similar designs, keep an eye on this.

So did you go with the spring rates BC suggested?

Looks like they supply 8 Kg/mm front and 4 Kg/mm rear, which translates roughly to 460 pounds/inch front and 230 pounds/inch rear, so compared to the factory CSVT spring rates of about 130 pounds/inch front and 100 pounds/inch rear, yours is a fairly serious increase. I run 500F/300R pounds/inch on my Contour with Koni struts and don't consider it especially harsh, but some wouldn't like it. My conversions were a significant weight savings for unsprung weight, and this tends to offset the ride quality issues from running higher spring rates. Any changes that reduce the mass of moving suspension components and allows the suspension to move with less resistance (For example, Powerflex bushings for the 2-bolt A-arms) should improve perceived ride quality.

Once you start running spring rates this high, the wheel rates get to the point that you might try running with smaller anti-roll bars or just disconnect them altogether and get the chassis roll resistance from the wheel rates themselves. I run my 'Tour with high wheel rates and without anti-roll bars and rather like it, as it keeps tires on the pavement. If you're considering a Quaife or Torsen torque biasing diff, running with a small or no front anti-roll bar is beneficial as these diffs work better if the anti-roll bars aren't lifting a tire off the pavement in the middle of a turn.
 
Those look nice, how did the fitment go?

Do these use a clamp on bracket for the front anti-roll bar links? These have been known to be a weak point in other similar designs, keep an eye on this.

So did you go with the spring rates BC suggested?

Looks like they supply 8 Kg/mm front and 4 Kg/mm rear, which translates roughly to 460 pounds/inch front and 230 pounds/inch rear, so compared to the factory CSVT spring rates of about 130 pounds/inch front and 100 pounds/inch rear, yours is a fairly serious increase. I run 500F/300R pounds/inch on my Contour with Koni struts and don't consider it especially harsh, but some wouldn't like it. My conversions were a significant weight savings for unsprung weight, and this tends to offset the ride quality issues from running higher spring rates. Any changes that reduce the mass of moving suspension components and allows the suspension to move with less resistance (For example, Powerflex bushings for the 2-bolt A-arms) should improve perceived ride quality.

Once you start running spring rates this high, the wheel rates get to the point that you might try running with smaller anti-roll bars or just disconnect them altogether and get the chassis roll resistance from the wheel rates themselves. I run my 'Tour with high wheel rates and without anti-roll bars and rather like it, as it keeps tires on the pavement. If you're considering a Quaife or Torsen torque biasing diff, running with a small or no front anti-roll bar is beneficial as these diffs work better if the anti-roll bars aren't lifting a tire off the pavement in the middle of a turn.

No they don't have a bracket the whole lower piece is screwed onto the shock body and the tab for the sway bar is welded onto it.

Yes I went with the BC recommended springs as my car is quite a bit lighter than factory. 2817lbs to be exact without me and with a full tank of fuel. 1034lbs of it was in the rear. I didn't wanna go with something super stiff yet as I wanted to see how the car would react with this rate first.
 
Another comment about the screwed on hub is that it can be a saving grace as many of us have hit something in the road, run over a curb, massive potholes up north and bent the strut right around the collar if you do that with these the shaft unthreads and can be replaced instead of buying a whole new strut.
 
No they don't have a bracket the whole lower piece is screwed onto the shock body and the tab for the sway bar is welded onto it.

Good, I see that now looking at the picture of the units in the box a few posts up. I've seen some pretty weak-nut anti-roll bar attachments on aftermarket coilovers, they don't understand the forces involved and the tabs fail in short order.

Nice units, and a very good price. If I'd known about these I might not have done the Koni conversions I did, but I'm and engineer, I like building things, and I'm very happy with them.

Did you do the Pole120 upper strut bearing conversions with the new top welded on the front strut towers?

If you're not using some sort of metal load-spreading camber/castor plate, beware of putting the whole spring load and the vehicle corner weight through the center rubber bushings on the factory upper strut mounts, they weren't designed to support the weight of the car.

I sectioned a rear mount to look at the load paths, and opted to put the spring load into the outer section of the mount instead of the center. If the rubber supporting the center element fails, it will put the strut rod and spring right through the top of the rear strut tower. This is especially important for a track car where excursions over corner curbing can put some serious multi-G vertical loads into the suspension and failure has serious consequences.


For the front, I designed an upper spring perch that locates a 2.5" race spring and uses the factory front strut bearing and load path, again so I wasn't supporting the weight of the car on the center of the strut mount. I still have a pair of these if you're interested.


Cheers.
 
Yea I have the upgraded strut bearings have for years lol was my main reason for wanting this suspension setup. I always buy directly from mcmaster carr I think Josh started selling them about a year and a half ago? Don't quote me on that.

I'm just using what was sent with the coils the front will be swapped to poles upper strut mounts at some point though.
 
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