corners balanced to 20 inches.
Well I haven't driven a lot of miles but I'm really impressed with the ride quality not bouncy at all and 32 way adjustable damper. It's all about setting recoil and damper. you feel the road but I like that, running my stock 18 wheels right now ,till I get it aligned then my 20s. will go back on and we'll see how it rides.
Okay, I'll bite.
Nice detailed write up, still happy with mine I'm running Continental Tires which seem to have a little softer side wall so compensates a little bit for that.Okay, I'll bite.
We have them on both our G70 and Stinger 2.5T for about 3 months now and like them a lot. With the substantially stiffer front springs and higher compression damping, yes, the ride is not as plush as stock, or even compared to Eibach lowering springs. For everyday driving though, the only time it becomes noticeable is when going over rougher roads and hitting larger bumps/potholes. Over well maintained roads, the ride is still quite good and definitely livable as a daily driver.
I would say tires make just as much difference in ride quality as the coilovers. My latest set of track-ish tires is 245/40R18 Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT600A on Enkei RP01 18x8.5. The combination of ultra stiff sidewalls and tread pattern made the NVH levels difficult to get used to as a daily driver - they are loud, raucous and make me feel every imperfection on the road, whether I want to or not. But boy do they work well with the coilovers at the track! OTOH, my normal street setup with 235/45R18 grand touring A/S on old Genesis 18x7.5 wheels are far more comfortable and quiet.
How much any of this would bother a driver is all relative. Some folks daily on bone-jarring race suspension; others... eh, no.
At the track is where these coilovers are worth every last ride compromise taken, We haven't had a chance to do higher speed track days yet, but even at the local AutoX, both cars are finally worthy of being called sport sedans. There, the well-controlled damping gave the chassis a level of composure in cornering/accel/decel the stock (under)dampers simply cannot.
View attachment 85395
BTW, one side benefit with these coilovers... now the front suspension is a delight to work on. Pulling the coilover out of the car is super easy. Once out, the coilover disassembly is even more of a piece of cake. Plus, every part is replaceable. The shocks are 100% rebuildable, and customizable, if you so choose.
Now to the dislikes:
1. We went with the linear single-adjustables. I now wish we had splurged a bit and gone with the doubles. The rebound adjustability is great, but being able to adjust compression as well would not only provide further chassis tuning possibilities, but also improve daily driving comfort as well. Okay, this one is not so much a "dislike" as an admission of me being cheap. Regardless, at the end of the day, I'm already more than happy with what we have now.
2. The front 160mm (6.3") springs are the weakest link of this kit. I don't slam my cars to the ground for looks, so these springs are wayyy too short to work well and would bottom out too easily. It didn't take long for me to wish for upgrade to Swift springs. I've read good stuff about them, and although I did not personally dyno these springs, those that did reported Swift springs are much more linear and hold true to their rate rating. I upgraded to the 7" version and was frankly blown away by the ride improvement with just a change of springs - to the same 8k rate no less. So much so, I immediately order a second set - this time the 8" version.
Since I keep my lowering fairly modest, so as to preserve the stock geometries - both static and dynamic - as much as practically possible. While CG-lowering does have benefits, most of the performance gains come from better suspension articulation and body control. As designed, the suspension on these cars work best near stock ride height. Veer too far away, and you start running into problems, especially camber gain on the MacPherson strut front. I don't tune chassis for looks. What works good looks good, not the other way around. Anyhow, I digress...
The 8" still provided a good bit of ride height fine tuning, so I'm happy with them on the heavier Stinger. The lighter G70 6MT should do equally well on the 7" (here next to the "stock" Riaction spring):
View attachment 85396
8" Swift springs on my Stinger:
View attachment 85397
3. The top hat is not at all well sealed, so water/grime splashes through the holes and crevasses. I used aluminum foil tape (for HVAC duct works) to seal the bottom of it to control water ingress past the top hat, to where it can rust the steel shock shaft and camber plate screws.
Agreed that the coilover kit, as delivered, makes for a substantially better suspension system than either stock or lowered springs. I'm certainly not saying otherwise.
Well said can you provide me the part # for the 7 inch spring a little confusing on there web site definitely sothing I want to do ThanksAgreed that the coilover kit, as delivered, makes for a substantially better suspension system than either stock or lowered springs. I'm certainly not saying otherwise.
I am, of course, never one to leave well enough alone. If I wrestled for WWE, Michael Buffer will probably introduce me as Volfy... the Mod Modder.
Anyhow, just to clarify regarding the "stock" Riaction springs. Here's a pic of the pair that came out of my Stinger, after a short 1-1/2 month of driving. You can see there are contact markers on either ends of both springs. This is where these springs would first collapse under fairly light compression force. What's bad about this is that as soon as the top and bottom coils collapse, the spring rates will go non-linear. which means instead of a constant 8 kg/mm, it will start to go stiffer, maybe to 8.25, then 8.4, then 8.5. This is not good for keeping smooth control over suspension articulation.
If you look closer, you will see most of the remaining coils all have some evidence of contact puck marks peppered all along the coils. This means at some point, the entire spring has collapse, no doubt when I hit a large pothole or bump. This is very very bad for the car and should NEVER happen, as the fully collapse spring sends a tremendous shock straight into the chassis. This points to the springs being too short and/or the wire diameter too thick for the application, thus limiting the usable stroke they can provide, while supporting the weight and movement of both the sprung and unsprung assemblies of the car. As soon as I saw that, I order the Swift springs.
View attachment 85403
Generally speaking, given the same spring rate (in this case 8kg/mm), the longer the spring, the higher the usable stroke (and max stroke). If you look at Swift's catalog of metric coilover springs, this is exactly the case. Excerpt below from their 65mm ID spring listings:
6" 8k spring - usable stroke 3.3" max stroke 3.9"
7" 8k spring - usable stroke 3.7" max stroke 4.6"
8" 8k spring - usable stroke 4.2" max stroke 5.0"
Load handling = usable/max stroke x spring rate
So, the higher the uable/max stroke, the higher the load handling. For the Riaction front coilover, 8" is the longest that will fit, but even the 7" Swift will provide longer range of linearity and better max margin of safety over the "stock" Riaction spring.
Granted, my son and I running our cars at the track probably is a good bit tougher duty than a lot of other drivers asked of their, but in this case, I would argue you don't need to run track to benefit from upgrade springs. Just ask the rough roads and potholes you'll run over... sooner or later.
That is a very nice and informative review. Thank you! And looks like they are not very good for dd car, unless upgraded with those swift springs.Okay, I'll bite.
We have them on both our G70 and Stinger 2.5T for about 3 months now and like them a lot. With the substantially stiffer front springs and higher compression damping, yes, the ride is not as plush as stock, or even compared to Eibach lowering springs. For everyday driving though, the only time it becomes noticeable is when going over rougher roads and hitting larger bumps/potholes. Over well maintained roads, the ride is still quite good and definitely livable as a daily driver.
I would say tires make just as much difference in ride quality as the coilovers. My latest set of track-ish tires is 245/40R18 Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT600A on Enkei RP01 18x8.5. The combination of ultra stiff sidewalls and tread pattern made the NVH levels difficult to get used to as a daily driver - they are loud, raucous and make me feel every imperfection on the road, whether I want to or not. But boy do they work well with the coilovers at the track! OTOH, my normal street setup with 235/45R18 grand touring A/S on old Genesis 18x7.5 wheels are far more comfortable and quiet.
How much any of this would bother a driver is all relative. Some folks daily on bone-jarring race suspension; others... eh, no.
At the track is where these coilovers are worth every last ride compromise taken, We haven't had a chance to do higher speed track days yet, but even at the local AutoX, both cars are finally worthy of being called sport sedans. There, the well-controlled damping gave the chassis a level of composure in cornering/accel/decel the stock (under)dampers simply cannot.
View attachment 85395
BTW, one side benefit with these coilovers... now the front suspension is a delight to work on. Pulling the coilover out of the car is super easy. Once out, the coilover disassembly is even more of a piece of cake. Plus, every part is replaceable. The shocks are 100% rebuildable, and customizable, if you so choose.
Now to the dislikes:
1. We went with the linear single-adjustables. I now wish we had splurged a bit and gone with the doubles. The rebound adjustability is great, but being able to adjust compression as well would not only provide further chassis tuning possibilities, but also improve daily driving comfort as well. Okay, this one is not so much a "dislike" as an admission of me being cheap. Regardless, at the end of the day, I'm already more than happy with what we have now.
2. The front 160mm (6.3") springs are the weakest link of this kit. I don't slam my cars to the ground for looks, so these springs are wayyy too short to work well and would bottom out too easily. It didn't take long for me to wish for upgrade to Swift springs. I've read good stuff about them, and although I did not personally dyno these springs, those that did reported Swift springs are much more linear and hold true to their rate rating. I upgraded to the 7" version and was frankly blown away by the ride improvement with just a change of springs - to the same 8k rate no less. So much so, I immediately order a second set - this time the 8" version.
Since I keep my lowering fairly modest, so as to preserve the stock geometries - both static and dynamic - as much as practically possible. While CG-lowering does have benefits, most of the performance gains come from better suspension articulation and body control. As designed, the suspension on these cars work best near stock ride height. Veer too far away, and you start running into problems, especially camber gain on the MacPherson strut front. I don't tune chassis for looks. What works good looks good, not the other way around. Anyhow, I digress...
The 8" still provided a good bit of ride height fine tuning, so I'm happy with them on the heavier Stinger. The lighter G70 6MT should do equally well on the 7" (here next to the "stock" Riaction spring):
View attachment 85396
8" Swift springs on my Stinger:
View attachment 85397
3. The top hat is not at all well sealed, so water/grime splashes through the holes and crevasses. I used aluminum foil tape (for HVAC duct works) to seal the bottom of it to control water ingress past the top hat, to where it can rust the steel shock shaft and camber plate screws.
Wouldn't it mean the springs are too short or the diameter is too *thin*?
Z65-178-080 for the 7". Riaction, like most of the coilover mfrs, uses 65mm ID springs.
You would be correct that, given the same number of coils per unit length, the greater the diameter, the higher the spring rate. However, I was simply referring to the physical construction of the Riaction spring. They chose a grade of steel that required them to select a thicker diameter steel wire and/or more coils per unit length, and that limits the amount of travel that length spring can be stroked, before running out of clearances between coils.
If the roads are smooth and well-maintained, it's probably not that big a deal, but I have not lived in a location where I can say that about the local roads.
Thank you
I was looking into getting KW set. But there're several people just on this forum were complaining about the same problem with the rear. So I would hate to spend that kind of money to get a set that, what looks to be, wasn't designed properly. And that is sad, because I had kw's on my previous car. Absolutely loved it.
KW does make great quality hardware, but I wrote them off for the Stinger/G70 application for several reasons:
