ShockTek Sourced Bilstein Shocks / Eibach Springs (450 lb./in. Front, 600 lb./in. Rear) / Ground Control Coilover Sleeves
Okay, first off a massive thanks to Scott Rinde for putting a ton of work and money into these and then deciding to sell them. And thanks to Matt for telling me that if I didn't buy these I was a jacktard (even tho I had absolutely no money to throw around and the time)...I held on to these bad boys for a long time before they were finally installed in later winter of 2003. Scott shipped these in a very protected state, in layers of bubble wrap and tape, which was very good...he also included the shock dyno curves and a small essay about why they are as awesome as they are. I'll scan that in when I get a chance, for now you'll have to trust me that these kick a whole lot of ass. Let's talk about the components:
Bilstein Dampers: Pretty standard stuff, a good solid damper tube, these have been custom valved, converted to field servicable and single adjustable (a hex wrench in the top adjusts bump and rebound simultaneously) by Mike O'Callahan at ShockTek. Scott Rinde specified what rates to use, and without the sheet in front of me I can't tell you the numbers. But they exist :)
I started these at 4 turns from full firm (way underdamped), and have had them as high as 1.75 turns from full firm (kidney bleeding stiff on regular roads). I'm cruising around with them at about 2.25 if memory serves, and this is quite firm but lots of fun and very livable.
Eibach Springs: Pretty straightforward, these are springs. The fronts are 450 lb./in., the rears are 600 lb./in. The stiffer springs in the rear encourage the car to rotate better (oversteer). They work.
Ground Control Coilover Sleeves:These are what keep the whole assembly together, they also allow pretty much infinite adjustment of the height of the car. I've played with the ride height some, right now There's about 8.5 inches from the ground to where the sheet metal starts above the plastic sideskirt just behind the front wheel and just in front of the rear wheel. I plan on cornerweighting the car, and then getting an alignment done, I'll have camber #s and such then.
Installation was pretty darned easy, actually...since these came off a Type R (the rears were unused, the fronts had a couple thousand miles on them), they were pre-assembled, and I didn't have to take apart my stock spring/damper combo. Basically, jack the car up, undo the necessairy bolts (with a 2 foot breaker arm in some cases, tho none were too stubborn) and throw the new ones in, voila. I forgot my camera, Doh, but Karen was awesome enough to run to her work and get a digicam from the jurassic period to take a few pix. Each pic resulted in the sound of a bird chiseling the photo onto a disc flintstones style, so there weren't many....
Aren't they just wickid! Nothing like a little black, gold and burgandy...no foo-foo jellybean colored coilovers for me!
The goody bag Rinde sent along, with unnecessairy spring perches and a very necessairy 2 inch pipe for whanging the brake line bracket onto the Bilsteins.
I make installing, fun!
The right front in completed format, along with a bling new brake rotor
the rears were REALLY easy, thanks to big Kyle for putting some muscle and heft into bending down the suspension so i didn't have to disconnect the swaybar.
The first of several height stances after installation.
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