Raceland Coilover Review for the xA
 

So I wanted to write another review for Raceland coilovers, I wanted to write it specifically for the xA.
I bought the coilovers about a week ago and they just arrived yesterday, First thing that I really liked is that the coilovers came very well packaged.
The packaging science guys there did a great job, everything had its own little box and nothing rattled around, not even the tools. The box was well taped and had straps around it to insure nothing would open up

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Upon inspection of the product, everything was in almost perfect condition. The only flaw was a small knick in the finish in the rear coil. But I can live with that
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As far as install goes, When I was putting the front in, everything went pretty smoothly since Raceland uses the factory holes (which is very nice). The only problem I had was that the two large holes at the bottom of the coil did not match the factory holes perfectly. One hole was only off by millimeters but this was easily corrected for my using the side of a drill bit just to shave away some metal. Other than that, the front install went very smoothly.
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In the rear, it was also very easy. It was only 4 bolts in total that you needed to remove to put the new suspension on.
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All in all, I think the install went well, it took me about 5 hours (but I did not have a lift, and my girlfriend was there talking to me).
PROS: very well packaged, nice that everything fits into the factory holes, provides a nice drop, good pricing, looks well built (including welds).
CONS: I would have liked some type of schematic showing how the install the perches in the rear, it seems straight forward, but there are three pieces that screw onto the perch, so I was a little confused on which way everything went (in the end I got it, but it took me a while), I would also have liked it if they provided the tool so that you could hold the top of the strut while you tighten the nut down on the top hat, unlike the stock struts these do not lock in place when the cars weight is in it. I would also like to see a list of what parts you need to take off of the old suspension for the new coilovers (just so everything is clear).
It seems like there are a lot of CONS but in reality these, at least in my mind are small things that were really not that bad.
I have only installed them and took a short ride on them last night, but everything fit well, and so far the ride quality felt pretty good. The drop is decent so far but I will like to see what in looks like in a few weeks once the springs settle.
All in all Raceland did a good job building these coilovers, and I am a really big fan on how helpful the customer service was. I will follow up in a few weeks to comment on ride quality and the settling of the springs
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omg finally a review for the xA. i've been following the xb1 raceland thread. got a few questions ...
Specs of tires?
Are you on the lowest setting?
How much drop did you get?
For the rear shocks you didn't reuse the bumpstop or dustcover thing?
According to the website it says 3 inches. you can also remove the perches and helper spring for a lower drop.

Yeah I have not seen one for the Xa so I said what the hell ill write a review.

But for the tires, Im running a 215/40/r17
and yes I am on the lowest setting, the drop (if I had to estimate it, i would say that Raceland is accurate with the three inches) I measured down 3 in from the stock ride height and its pretty close to where it actually is.
and you are correct for the rear shocks, i had to reuse the dustcovers, I forgot this part (like a fool) and when I took the jacks out from under my car, it just kept going down untill the plastic covers for the top of the shock popped off in the back. Like I said in the review i wish they told you what to reuse. But then again it was late at night when i was doing this, so i could have just been being careless.
I ended up not using the bump stocks for the back (or the front since new ones were provided), I think in the rear those are actually built into the dust covers since I did not see any on the rear shocks.
in the end, im happy with the ride height, the front and rear look pretty even (in terms of gap), but like I said in the review, i was kind of confused on how to put together the rear perches, so I may have done it the way I heard you could assemble it so you get another .5 inch out if it, but im not sure

Looks Really nice. I love the height. Really clean car too.

I went with Eibach Sportline Springs as they offered the lowest drop and were only a fraction of coilovers.

I just looked up Raceland Coilovers and $400 Shipped is a really good price. Had I known about these before, I would have gone with these instead. Are you running any camber kits?

Anyway you can make a video of the ride quality? Coilovers are usually too tight and bouncy for my taste.

Thanks alot I appreciate it!
yeah I had the Eibach pro kit, it was good, but I wanted to go lower.
and I agree the pricing is great,I got everything I needed from Raceland for $423 , which is not bad and they have amazing customer service.
For your camber question, It does not appear that I have an issue, but you cant go by looks. I am going to go in and get my camber checked though.

I would love to make a video for you, but the camera I have is quite old and is having issues, and my phone has a great camera but it has bad video quality. All I can do is tell you how it is, so far all i can really say is that it is stiff, but not that bad. In comparison to the Eibach springs (my pro kit) it is stiffer but not that bad. Im assuming that it will be somewhat the same as the sportline that you have since those are stiffer than the ones that I had. I hope that helps!

from your picture, it doesn't look like the drop was 3 inches. i'm on sportline and my gap looks smaller but it might be because my wheel diameter is .5 inch larger than yours. if you want the drop to go lower, you don't use the perches in the rear. just install the springs as if it were just springs. also you can remove the helper spring in the front, which is the thin coil piece that is underneath the actual spring. information gotten from clubxb xb1 raceland thread.

yeah I was thinking about that, but I have to put on my snows in the winter, and as of now, i know they wont fit, so I will need to adjust the ride height for that. I dont want to have to take apart my suspension every winter and spring, that will just be a hassle...but if i did it, I could look like a total BOSS in the summer..... its a tough choice to be honest.

the springs settled a little bit more so here is another pic

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Your car definitely looks lower than mine on Sportlines.

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http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/3843/dsc00614x.jpg

maybe because your wheels are smaller than his.

I'm judging by the wheel gap.

According to an online tire size calculator:
His tire size has an overall diameter of 23.77".
OEM tire size has an overall diameter of 23.74".

Very minimal difference.

it's so hard to see his fender gap, his tires and the wheel well are pitch black ;p.

Ha. Yea, that's true.

I can get some more closer up pics of the wheel gap later in the day. I will post them, hopefully they will be clearer.

here are the pics I promised

the rear

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and the front

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If I had half a finger the gap would be about 1.5 fingers

Guess I'll be modding mine. That's not low enough lol. I sit like that on Eibachs. My rear sags thanks to 200lbs of bass.

My tire setup will be 205/45 on 16s so we'll see...

edit: Plus the rim setup 16x8 +20 ::: front and 16x8 +0 ::: rear so the wheel gap will be less noticeable...

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See the difference?

With less offset, you'll see how that gap disappears real quick.

if you have the time, i would like to see the rear without the perches since it's a pretty easy set-up and a "before and after" shot ;] i heard it's about .5 inch lower.

Xaxaxa: Yeah understood, I have a large offset, its 45, I was planning on spacing my wheels, once that is done, i think the gap will be smaller than yours. But since they are sunk into the wheel wells its hard to see the true gap from tire to fender. Im guessing that if I spaced them to the fenders, I will only be able to get a finger between the gap.
I am happy with the product, but still slightly dissapointed that it does not appear to go as low as the Tc coilovers by raceland, but then again, its a totally different setup and is lower to begin with

itscurtsk: I will try my best to do something like that for you, but im working 45-50 hours per week, and my family is in the process of moving so i may not have the time to do it, looking at the height of the perch tho, im guessing that you could get another inch
heres a pic i took of the perch

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and the helper spring in the front fully compressed is almost an inch, (i could not get a good picture)

So your looking at another inch all around which in my case would tuck the tops of my tires.

Yeah, I'll be taking that perch out. It does nothing... Can you take a picture of the front piece that you can take out? I can fit 2 fingers in my wheel gap with sportlines.

edit: End of July I'll be posting pictures of Racelands with 0 offset rims so you'll see the difference.