SilverCFtC

My 07 tC has now had 4 different suspension setups since I bought it new in Feb 07. A quick rundown of what I’ve had:

Stock struts w/Hotchkis springs


Koni Yellow struts w/Progress Springs


BC Racing Coils.



When I put the Hotchkis springs on my car in early ’08 I was very happy with the look of the car, but the ride wasn’t great. At the time I had 18’ wheels, they would rub on occasion, and the car would bottom out on the bump stops regularly on Michigan roads. At some point in the summer I also developed a clunk from the passenger front wheel when going over bumps. In the fall of 08 I entertained trading in my tC for an Audi S4 and in preparation for that returned my car to stock suspension, the bump persisted but did not get any worse so I pretty much ignored it for the winter as I planned to move on to the Konis as soon as it got warm out.

In early March I swapped the whole suspension out for the Koni/Progress combo. The Koni setup requires you retain your OEM Top hats for both front and rear along with gutting your OEM struts to use the mounting hardware. After the suspension was finished, I still had the bump, and by the end of the summer it had gotten much worse and was now a loud metal-to-metal clank. It would happen on any inconsistency in smooth pavement and was starting to make me very nervous. I had a couple of shops looks at it to assess the situation and they all told me I likely had a blown strut.

I did a lot of comparison shopping on tC Coil Overs and decided on two things.
1. I did not want to re-use my top had hardware, as the noises were consistent across all of my suspension setups.
2. I did want as much adjustability as possible (I do autoX this car on occasion)
3. My budget limit was at or near $1000.00

After speaking with several resellers, my Greg @ Car Candy offered me a killer deal on a set of BC Racing BR coils, so I jumped on them.



After the install I inspected my now worn Konis and found that the passenger front that was clunking had a lot of play in the top hat. In fact the front spring was completely unloaded and I could move it up and down on the strut with my bare hand. This was the source of all the noise, and made me very glad I had decided to not re-use any of the existing suspension.

The third day I had the suspension on the car I took it for a spin on 696E at about 80 MPH. It was the scariest drive of my life in the tC. It was bouncing a LOT. So much so that I attracted the attention of a MI State trooper, he didn’t pull me over, just cruised next to me watching my car bounce down the freeway with a bemused look on his face. The suspension has broken in significantly since then and while it still bounces on occasion, I am no longer in fear of my life.

That was in January; I’ve driven it about 3,000 miles since. Overall I’m very happy with the new setup; it’s firm but not too harsh. I do feel bad about the ride when I have the wife and baby in the car, but when it’s just me I’m hardly notice it. I’ve been running with the fronts adjusted down to 8-clicks up from fully soft, and the rears on the default (Whatever that is) I do plan on tearing the rear apart to adjust them down for street driving to see how it affects the ride, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.

As far as performance goes, the car handles better than it did on any of the previous setups. I had expected more from the Konis but never got around to playing with them enough to dial in the rebound properly and that likely affected the ride quality. I suspect I could get even better handling out of them if I first got the car corner balanced, and then adjusted the rebound to something more performance oriented. Unfortunately I have not ridden in another tC with a competing product so I don’t have any real comparisons to make here, but I am happy with the product and should have just bought coil overs to begin with. It would have saved me a significant amount of time and money over the past two years.

-Sean

DJ08tC

we need some better pics that are closer. Is that as low as they go or how more do you think they will go?

SilverCFtC

You're welcome I'm really glad I took the time to write this up, I may get around to it someday.

Good question! I meant to include this but forgot about it.

They do go lower, this is as low as I am comfortable driving my car. The roads around here can eat small children, any lower and I'd be in danger of losing my front bumper one day. As it is there are some driveways I simply can't drive into. There is easily another inch, and that doesn't include adjusting the spring pre-load.

One of the reasons I bought the BC stuff is that the main height adjustment is done on the body of the strut, not the spring pre-load. I know this is not a unique feature, but it is one I did want.

-Sean

DJ08tC

i have been interested in these coilovers for for awhile now so i do appreciate the write up. does concern me a little bit they you said they were really bouncy, im assuming this is more because they come with pretty stiff springs. I might get a set with the alternative spring rates.

good to know they can go lower.

SilverCFtC

Let me clarify on the bounce, it is much better now, there is still some bounce to them, but nothing that makes me afraid to drive it now. I've since driven the same highway at the same speeds and not had the issue, I attribute this to the suspension needing to "break In" for a bit, along the lines of letting the springs settle after putting them on the car.

-Sean

t_urbo_C_harged

have you ever been in a car with coilovers before? Just wondering, the bouncing issue seems strange.

SilverCFtC

Nope, the bounce is minimal it was much worse on the springs with stock struts, and with the Koni/Progress combo.

-Sean

all4degame

how is the ride quality compared to the hotchkis you had?

SilverCFtC

Night and day, it helps to not have a blown strut mount too...

-Sean

SilverCFtC

Just an update on the suspension's durability. After nearly a full season of driving on some of the worst roads in the country, the Coilovers have not had 1 issue.

I still haven't adjusted the rear struts from the factory stiffness either :D

-Sean

xdejablu3x

Updates now? Lol I plan on picking these up soon.

xtCxo

I have these on my tC, and I'm impressed with them so far, no complaints!

great write up!

xdejablu3x

Just got mine installed today. Faking awesome! Way better than my previous setup that just got switched out (TRD struts w/ Tein H-techs). I hate our rears don't have access panels so you can install the rears easier. I cut a small door so I can adjust the dampening. I got the fronts set on 10 and the rears I left them at 8. Probably going to put them around 15-25 later on. I can't slam or go too low because around post the roads are ate the f*** up by all the trucks, hmmwv's and one tons on a daily basis. Waiting for another couple weeks to a month to let the springs settle in and I'll update how it is. So far I'm lovin' it.