Inspiniti

So I’m looking to put bc racing br coilovers on my car in March, and I’m wondering if anyone else has installed them on a 2013 G37x sedan and if anyone knows if I’ll need anything outside of what comes in the lowering kit if I plan on doing a 1.5-2.5” drop (such as camber arms or adjustable plates etc etc)
https://coilovers.ca/products/2009-2...37566657167512

and I’m also wondering if it’s realistic to have the ‘extreme low’ coils, or if I should just stick to the standard coils. The car they’re going on is a daily and a winter car. So the forced minimum 2” drop on a extreme low set might be too much to still be usable in winter. And I got a pretty big curb getting into my driveway. But I would like the option of being able to drop 4” if I wanted to.

And I’m gonna be running 9.5” 245/40/19 +35 wheels in the rear and 8.5” square tire in the front. which also introduces the question “do I need to roll my fenders?” Just if anyone happens to know the answer 😅

Hugh Jorgens

I would stick with the regular ones.

Yes, it would be a good idea to buy some sort of camber adjusters if you're lowering 1.5 to 2", as that is an agressive drop.

You will need a lot of correction to get camber and toe put back closer to the factory spec.

Inspiniti

the bc racing br series coilover kits come with camber plates - is that enough? Or is it 100% essential that I buy other things like camber arms and toe bolts? I’m really new to lowering and just trying to piece together the most all around best way to do this for a daily/winter and still maintain a relatively good price point. The coils are 1500 CAD after shipping and taxes and the camber arms and toe adjuster is 650 USD no shipping or taxes, probably 1300 CAD all in which would put my budget WAY over. It’s basically the cost of the coils. So if the plate is enough to offset a 1.5” drop I’d be happy.

Hugh Jorgens

The coilovers can't come with camber plates since the shock/spring doesn't control camber on these cars. Camber plates only apply to McPherson/Chapman strut suspension cars. These cars have front double wishbones and rear multi-link suspensions.

You could try lowering it how you want it. Then go for an alignment and see where everything ends up before buying the camber/toe arms.

But then you're potentially paying for 2 alignments.

As far as toe bolts go....I'm sure someone can chime in if they disagree with me. But you have to elongate the holes in your subframe. I wouldn't want to do that since you'll be driving in rust causing conditions. And the labour to do this might just end up costing the same as buying adjustable toe arms.

Inspiniti

is there anywhere that has any and all necessary parts in a list with part numbers?

or is it just simply:
1) the coilovers them self
2) the camber arms
3) the adjustable toe arms
??

if so, do I need both front and rear camber arms AND adjustable toe arms?

I’m literally clueless 😂 I don’t even know if a toe arm and camber arm are the same thing, I’m just guessing.

gord27

You're probably not going to like this but lowering my car on coil overs was one of the worst decisions I've made with cars (the worst being selling my STI). These cars hang low on stock suspension even though they look jacked. So when you lower, it makes your subframe, skid plate, control arms, etc. REALLY close to the ground. I've ended up going up to the max height the BCs support. Even still, the suspension travel remaining induces butt clench over certain bumps. It crashes bump stops when you don't even expect it and I'm running almost full stiff. Being a winter car, you also bottom out on ice chunks you don't expect to hit.

Long story short, if I was to do this again, I'd get a set of coil overs that allowed a higher suspension height. On smooth roads, the BCs are great and the handling is night and day improved but with a 4 season car that's driven on unfamiliar roads, for me it's completely changed my driving style from full send to brake and butt clench for bumps that might bottom out my suspension. If I was to do it all again, I'd probably splurge for the Fortune 500s only based on word of mouth around here. Though as I said, I'd check the max allowable height to make sure I can set it higher than the BCs.

As for other related parts, I bought the front camber arms, rear camber arms and rear toe bolts to get into spec.

It's worth noting that my previous experience with lowering was with an 09 STI and an 04 Jetta. Neither car had any issues. My alignment guy says Gs just don't like being lowered.

Hugh Jorgens

I hate to burst the bubble of a young person trying to get into modding cars. But...

My friend, a 1.5 to 2.5" drop is MASSIVE. Cars aren't designed to accomdate that much of a range of suspension setting. Like...when they were designing the car, they couldn't say...well...lets leave enough room to lower the ride height 2 whole inches. You know?

They left room to maybe go 0.5 to 0.75" lower. More than that...and you're going to need to prepare for compromise and/or huge expense, as well as cunning engineering on your part. You're going to essentially need to redesign some of the chassis to get you where you want to be.

OR (as mentioned) compromise things like ride quality, tyre life, component life, drivability, longevity, etc.

Its good you're taking time to research before diving in. Don't plan on doing this on a restricted budget if you really want to do it.

It doesn't seem like ride quality or drivability are on your list (you haven't mentioned them). So that makes it a lot easier to do what you're doing.

You're gonna spend a lot of money and do a lot of trial and error and probably ruin the car a little.

The recommendations above are solid.

Toe arms require a switch to a "true coilover" rear. You then replace your spring buckets with toe arms.

Toe bolts may work? But they're pretty primitive.

Camber arms are also needed, to bring you back closer to spec.

There's a ton of subject matter to cover. But that part list may help get you started til you have more pointed questions.

2.2Lude

iTrader: (1)

Slightly off topic I guess but still relevant to this thread. This right here is why on a daily driver I generally refuse to use “separate height/preload” coilover. They absolutely will not give you the same amount of travel a “single adjustable” coilover will give.

There is a way to set them up to help with the ride, but the average consumer not named Huge will not take the time or even posses the knowledge to properly set up their bump/droop travel.

I’ve had both types on a few different platforms and ridden in many others. Something like a Tein Basis, or whatever they call them now, and a KWv1/STX coilover is the way to go if ride comfort is important to you.

Watch this to help you better you understand what I’m talking about:


You should probably watch all of it but I’m referencing around the 10min mark in the video.

Hugh Jorgens

Good video/reference.

I'm just wondering if a single point coilover (KW/ST/Basis/Bilstein) will work for him at all, since he was a 2.5" (!!!) drop.

Single points work better with a smaller drop. Especially TUV approved single points like KW.

You're correct that full body adjustment coilovers (like the BC) do often - not always - come with short total stroke as compared to a single point adjustable. AND that they need a ton of tuning to really extract something out of them.

BUT, with full body types...since you never change the spring position as you lower the car...you never lose any compression stroke. You can also add preload to gain more travel, blah blah blah.

The danger is that you eventually run out of room at the shock tower (the front UCA smashes the shock tower at a certain point).

So there's up and down sides to both. #upandown #suspensionpuns

I don't wanna confuse this mensch.
For a subterranean drop like he's planning...I think a full body is the only viable choice. The AWD front shock travel is pretty small as it is.

Just watch them shock towers bwoyyee.

Especially with those bigassed SPC ball joints. I don't recommend extended joints at all, for cars with outside-of-wheel suspensions, FWIW.

My 2cents.

Hugh Jorgens

I feel bad this dude might get confused lol.

DONT READ MY ABOVE POSTS, OP!!

Maybe just buy the coilovers for now.
Set them how you want and then see where you end up.

Then buy whatever else you need as you get more budget.

All this is going to be a learning lesson.

And I won't lie about it being expensive. Its gonna be ungratifyingly expensive at first. Then when it works out, you probably won't miss the money, as you can always just go make more of it.

2.2Lude

iTrader: (1)

I guess should’ve checked how low the OP wanted to go first ha. My suggestion is for a very mild drop and prioritizes ride comfort. I can’t be assuming that’s what everyone wants.

Lol that’s enough to make your head spin for sure.

Inspiniti

As anti climactic as it might be, after spending literally hours upon hours upon DAYS debating, pricing every piece, reading reviews, balancing wants with reality... I’ve come to the conclusion that I rlly can’t do coils. I’ve read what everyone said here and on other posts and for what I can do with the tire set up I’m running and budget, it doesn’t make sense to put just about 2500$ into coils and alignment pieces, and then like 500$ in installs, just to drop my car, what in reality, could only be 1.5” at most. The dream of 2.5” that I measured out was just unrealistic for a daily and winter. I’d also 100% need to roll my flares and fenders for my +32 9.5 255/40/19’s. I could raise it for winter, but that’s another 200$ alignment every winter and summer. And I’ll bottom out and scrape my diffuser and splitter on my own harsh angled drive way in the summer.

so with all that being said, and after reading a wide variety of people’s reviews, it’s really not too bad of an idea to go with swift springs... I hate to do it but it just makes sense. The 600$ price tag ( https://www.tdotperformance.ca/swift...g-springs.html ) is something I can live with. And while not entirely recommended, I can do the drop without needing any pricey alignment kits or the installs that come with them. And running stock shocks appears to work for most people within reasonable amount of longevity/life span. And when they do blow, I will upgrade to better shocks for the 350$ price tag ( https://conceptzperformance.com/kyb-...89_p_27119.php )

sorry to have such a flaccid conclusion after all this discussion 😅 if it’s any consolation, since my Dunlop sp sport 5000’s aren’t the most precious thing to me considering I paid 425$ for a 100% tread set, I will be running a bit of camber and as a result of the spring drop lacking alignment mods, And I’ll be forced to rotate my STAGGERED WHEELS! So I will suffer that pain. Fortunately, they’re square tires on a staggered rim set up because AWD forced me to have square tires basically. So hopefully it’ll all work, just look a bit funky IF it’s even noticeable considering it’s just +35 8.5 vs +32 9.5” rims with square tires.

thank you for all your inputs though! I do greatly appreciate it all.

I’ll get pics up in March, if anyone’s interested. Nothing new really but I’m excited

Hugh Jorgens

Well...why don't you just future proof it?

Get coilovers which you can use to drop the car ~1" for now. They'll ride better than Swifts and stock shocks.

When you decide later that you want to drop the car more and/or go further with your setup...you'll already have most of what you need and you can just buy parts to do what you want.

The choice to just use springs makes no sense to me. Firstly, its not going to ride properly....and you're stuck with the drop you are assigned by the spring.

KYB's aren't an upgrade from stock...they're just "OE equivalent". You'll be going through them every 15-30K miles. You'll have to keep replacing them. They're LESS better than stock, if anything. They're only 350 loonies, bruv....

All that is going to add up in terms of parts and labour, eh.

Camber isn't going to cause much tyre wear. Just prioritize getting toe in spec. Leave a little toe IN on both ends of the car (positive toe).

Inspiniti

the coils came out to 1600$ man! And so many people say don’t bother without swift spring upgrade, so now it’s 2100. And even then, people on BC’s say use fortune 5’s for 2200$ All in. And like I said, without spending another 1000+ on alignment kits, I’ll just be on the same height as springs anyways. And with future proofing, there’s rlly no point. Cuz I can sell the springs for like 75% of the cost anyways so I basically just recoup most my cost if I wanna upgrade. So it’s 600 (450 of which I can recover if I go to coils later)
Or 2100-3200 immediately for something I may not even like at the end of the day.

I believe my choice is made. Even if I upgrade next year, 150$ lost on the springs is a perfectly fine cost for a year of enjoying the car more and not jumping into a $3000 set up prematurely.

so if those KYB shocks are inferior, what shocks would u recommend? Just so I know, for when I run my current shocks down - IF I don’t upgrade to coilovers at that time.

I hear koni yellows - but I’m not sure what that means... maybe a product number or link or specific name?

thanks in advance!

Hugh Jorgens

KYB's fine...its just not an upgrade from stock is all. The factory shocks nor the KYB's are going to put up with the Swifts for too long. You'll just need to swap them out them every so often.

You know what tho...Swift is a great company and maybe you'll love the ride quality. And if your mind is made up, its made up.

To answer your shock(ing) questions...

There aren't any performance shocks available for the AWD. Its all factory or factory replacement. Out of what's available, KYB seems to be the most popular. Probably because of price and warranty. I'd be tempted to try the Sachs shocks...but..have no idea if they work well.

Koni yellows are available just for the RWD coupe. For some reason, Koni prices them at $1200 for a set (LOL).

BTW...$650CAD seems steep for springs, no? You live in the arctic circle or something? Gotta have a moose deliver it? Ice road truckers? Idk anything about Canada. Lmk.