BigRed

I've finally recieved, installed and tested my FLT-A2's. And I have to say, these things are AMAZING. I want to touch on a few points

INSTALLATION:

A major plus is that these coilovers come pre-loaded on delivery. They have a 2nd block off plate for ride adjustment without changing the spring rate. You have to turn the whole stock rather than adjusting the top plate (or adjusting it by hand with the GC/Koni's Combo), but keeping a desired spring rate is worth it.

Rishie: Post my spring rate for me will ya? I forget what we decided on.

TESTING:

I took the car out friday night to settle/seat the suspension before the car got aligned saturday morning.

These coilovers are 17way adjustible and for the break in period I left them on the softest setting (I will refer to this as setting 0) to compare it with the smoothness of the factory R1 suspension.

To my plesant suprise, setting 0 was relatively smoother than the Stock R1 ride. Not by much but riding on the same road I took the night before seemed more comfortable. One thing I noticed immediately is that eventhough the ride was smoother, on larger bumps on the freeway, there was less give even on the softest setting. Rebound of the suspension was similar but the total travel of the springs was less. you were kept hugged to the ground much better.

On saturday we had a cruise set up with 5 FD's. If any of you know the bay area, this was a cruise along HWY 35 down to HWY 9. a great way to test out new suspension.

I had the suspension dialed in 6 clicks from the softest setting (approx 1/3) in both the front and rear for the first part of the ride. All I can say, is that it was tight. very tight and very responsive. HWY 35 is pretty smooth so there wasn't much road chatter providing still a comfortable ride.

At highway 35 and hwy 84 (woodside road) we stopped to let the cars cool down and get some food. I stiffened the suspension for the next leg of the cruise, from 35 to hwy 9. I'm now running on 10 settings from soft (approx 2/3) F & R. I thought setting 6 was responsive! Here I felt everything. Not as in providing a shakey/uncomfortable ride, but as in I felt like I was crawling on the ground inspecting the pavement with a magnifying glass. I felt that close to it. We hit some traffic also so I was able to feel out the suspension at lower speeds. again. no complaints

I kept the 10 setting for HWY 9. Again, just an amazing ride. This is a more weathered road and there are a few more unkept corners, and you could feel the flaws in the road alot more, but it was more than manageable.

We headed into downtown saratoga and out 85 to in-n-out in mountain view. Here is where I would not recommend setting your suspension on 10. I hadn't switched back to a softer setting and paid for it. well, I really didn't mind, because I was so stoked about my ride . But here, 85 and 101 have major flaws and accoridian like sections of the road. Not coilover (set on setting 10) friendly.

But what was brought to my attenton by this is how quiet these coilovers were. When riding in my friend's (BATMAN) ride. this area creates alot of noise from his GC/Koni's set up, with the sleeve design and a single block off plate which when adjusted allows play in the spring. My ride on the other hand was stiff, but quiet. There was no chatter or rattle!

I have to give thanks to Rishie (ARDT2) for hooking me up with these. I couldn't be happier.

If there's anyone in the bay who wants to check them out, let me know. I endorse these things 100%

ARD T2

iTrader: (22)

Spring rates are the 12kg/mm and 9kg/mm. Approx.
675lb/in and 500lb/in.

I want to thank Greg for letting me drive his FD around the block to feel out the suspension. It was so much more than I expected. I planned on hearing some noise but not a single squeak.

I am so happy. I can't wait to get my FC back so I can install mine.

Thanks Greg for the review,

Rishie

foko

i just picked up my set from rishie today, and will be installing this weekend (i hope). my initial impression is the high quality, professional looking fit and finish, although i could do without the purple/violet springs. i'm looking forward to installing and testing.

more to follow.

fabian

BigRed

yeah.. the JIC Coilover kit for the WRX's came with black springs. It would have been nice, but honestly.. you can't see them so who gives a rats ***.

ARD T2

iTrader: (22)

Yeah that was to my dissapointment too. I could always shoot them with engine enamel paint. hehe. You'd never know.

Rishie

BLUE TII

iTrader: (9)

Rishie set me up w/ some for my FC as well. It will be a while before I can road test them, but I thought the quality was awsome! The adjustable lower mount/collar is where its at. I'm glad to hear these can punish your *** on the higher settings- I didn't want some posseur street crap. Thanks again Rishie.

ARD T2

iTrader: (22)

Always a pleasure Ian. I gotta get one of my FC's together so I can throw mine on. Hope to run into you sometime.

Thanks, Rishie

loi

ARD T2, I'm interesting of getting a set of the jic coilover, flt a2. and the volk Gtn wheel. can you should me a email let me know how much? loisong@hotmail.com i want 18x8 front and 18x10 rear gunmetal thanks

ARD T2

iTrader: (22)

Beautiful choice loi. I will e-mail you later on. I nut when guys say VOLK and JIC. That's the ****.

Thanks, rishie

1FooknTiteFD

Greg, why don't you let me drive your FD and let me determine if your suspension is good? I will even help you set it up and give you some good settings

BigRed

well victor.. part of my car IS your car, so technically you have driven part of it . actually I have no problem letting you drive it. If you would ave told me about Justin's B-day party I could have let you drive it then . actually bad idea.. you drunkards ..lol. shoot me a PM one of these days and I'll swing by.

...actually on that note, I'll be getting my powerFC early this week. if you can help me tune it, driving it to "feel it out" comes with that.

PinkySwear

How much of a drop can the JIC c/o's give you? I'm trying to decide between JIC/ZEAL/Tein.

BigRed

Read my first post. those are the things you should be considering when deciding on coilovers. Your "drop" alone has little to do with how they perform. Also there are other factors on determining SAFE ride height. your coilovers alone will not determine this

but to answer your quesiton. the ride hight is adjustable. you COULD lower your car so much that you have to cut out the fender walls and shave off the underpan and constantly scrape and throw sparks down the street. or you could go less extreme and give your FD a lower, more agressive stance.

ARD T2

iTrader: (22)

What he said. hehe.

Rishie

GoRacer

iTrader: (2)

The front sway bar mounts are the lowest point.
-> I smashed mine like a soda can!

My drop was 1.5" F&R and possibly lower after the springs settled. I currently have 2 fingers gap front and 1 finger gap rear or approximately 1" drop F & 1.5" R.

I recomend 1"F & 1.25R for street. Each corner is adjustable with supplied wrenches.

PinkySwear

I know the drop has very small amount to do with how a c/o performs, but if I'm going to spend over 1 grand on a c/o set-up I want to be sure that it will be capable of giving me the look I desire. I've read all the great things about the Zeal/JIC/Tein set-ups...but no one ever mentions how much of a drop you can get with them. Maybe not for most, but for me, that's a deciding factor. Thanks for the reply, BTW.

GoRacer

iTrader: (2)

Well there is probably about 6" of threads on the Coil Overs and at about 2" your car will be literally sitting on the tires and not drivable. If you noticed, I mentioned 1.5" drop is too low for street.

BTW: Ziel is the distributor, JIC is the manufacturer and Tein is another company all together.

ARD T2

iTrader: (22)

If you're looking to lower your vehicle to the point you desire you would want to go with the JIC FLT-A2 as it allows you to retain the same suspension travel regardless of how much you lower the vehicle.

In effect, your ride is the same if it's lifted 4 feet off the ground or two inches from the ground. I have not seen a single coilover in the price range of the FLT-A2's that has that type of function. They're usually a bit more expensive, over $2000.00.

We are a distributor and have club pricing available for active club members.

Thanks, Rishie
Autmotive r & D
408-947-0505 office

GEB

The question that I have is how much?

Please PM me if you don't want to post it....

Thanks,
GEB

t-rex7

I would like to know the cost too.

thanks
`S

PinkySwear

Yeh, I noticed what you had said about the 1.5" drop. Also knew Tein didn't have **** to do with JIC or Ziel...I wrote it like that since I was choosing between ZEAL, JIC and Tein. My fault, I spelled it wrong. Thanks for your help though.

DavidR

Big Red
Excellent review. I'm looking for a suspension setup and this definately helped out.
Does anybody have any track experience with these coilovers?
Thanks
David

banzaitoyota

I'm interested in the cost for a FC. PM me if neccessary

Badog

The TrueChoice (2nd level) Koni / Coilovers have 3 height adjustments, in addition to the coil adjustments.

BigRed

In the beginning of august, I'll be taking my car up to ThunderHill. I'll post another follow-up review after that. also at that point I'll have about 2 1/2 months on these coilovers. so I'll post any updates on seating/noise/etc.