Stance GR+ Coilovers Review
Jan 21, 2009, 11:40 PM
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Stance GR+ Coilovers Review
I'm going to stop thread jacking the other thread about Stance and start my own. I ordered some Stance GR+ Coilovers 2 weeks ago and put them in last week. Big thanks to Andrew at CIP motorsports for hooking me up with the coilovers. The coilovers themselves feel pretty solid, especially compared to the Teins I had on my RSX before. To be honest I had no idea how to make any adjustments to the coilovers before I put it on, which caused me a great deal of trouble later.
Anyway, this is my first time installing coilovers and let me just say that it is not as simple as I thought it would be
. I don't have very good tools, so I had some difficulties. Here are some of them:
1. The stock struts have a ridiculously long thread on the top, and my socket won't completely go over the 14mm nuts at the strut top. I don't have any tools that will help me get around it, so I ended up putting the socket over the nut first and letting using minimal contact between the ratchet and socket to get it to turn. The back is an even bigger pain in the ***, especially on the driver's side where the windshield washer fluid blocks any rotation you can have. Some installs recommend taking out the backseats and there's a good reason for that.
2. Some of the bolts are torqued pretty tight from the factory. I don't have a breaker bar, but I did have a cross wrench that I used to give me more torque. I basically inserted one end of the cross wrench into the end of the ratchet, giving me one big ratchet.
3. Height adjustment has been pretty difficult for me. I must be doing it wrong because no one else is having this problem, but it's pretty hard for me to turn the shock body to lower/raise the height. Owe a lot of thanks to goofygrin for helping me out with this
All in all, the install took me about 7 hours, and I didn't even do a good job. Since then I've had to make a few height adjustments to the car. Right now the front is where I want it to be, but the back is still too high and I probably won't go back to adjust it until I get the extenders for the dampening adjustments, which will hopefully come soon. Pics will come after the car is complete!
Anyway, this is my first time installing coilovers and let me just say that it is not as simple as I thought it would be
. I don't have very good tools, so I had some difficulties. Here are some of them: 1. The stock struts have a ridiculously long thread on the top, and my socket won't completely go over the 14mm nuts at the strut top. I don't have any tools that will help me get around it, so I ended up putting the socket over the nut first and letting using minimal contact between the ratchet and socket to get it to turn. The back is an even bigger pain in the ***, especially on the driver's side where the windshield washer fluid blocks any rotation you can have. Some installs recommend taking out the backseats and there's a good reason for that.
2. Some of the bolts are torqued pretty tight from the factory. I don't have a breaker bar, but I did have a cross wrench that I used to give me more torque. I basically inserted one end of the cross wrench into the end of the ratchet, giving me one big ratchet.
3. Height adjustment has been pretty difficult for me. I must be doing it wrong because no one else is having this problem, but it's pretty hard for me to turn the shock body to lower/raise the height. Owe a lot of thanks to goofygrin for helping me out with this
All in all, the install took me about 7 hours, and I didn't even do a good job. Since then I've had to make a few height adjustments to the car. Right now the front is where I want it to be, but the back is still too high and I probably won't go back to adjust it until I get the extenders for the dampening adjustments, which will hopefully come soon. Pics will come after the car is complete!
Jan 22, 2009, 04:14 PM
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Nice wright up I have been thinking about getting the AP pro version but I'm not sure as to I want to track my car and I don't know how well these will stand up to the punishment.
Jan 22, 2009, 07:17 PM
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Swung by HB Speed today and they helped me adjust the height on the coilovers with a higher degree of accuracy than I would be able to myself. Big thanks to them for helping me out!
The car needs to be corner-balanced and aligned so badly right now, so I'm hoping to get that done ASAP. The lesson here, and I cannot stress this enough, is that you can have the best coilovers in the world and it will make your car perform much worse if you don't set them up right. In light of that, I also have a greater appreciation for the work that a skilled mechanic does. There's a huge difference between what they can do in a shop with pro tools, vs what a punkass kid like me can do in my garage with basic hand tools. Some people who do DIY might be very skilled, but I personally I don't really have the talent or patience to do a proper job.
Onto a real review: the ride quality on these coilovers, despite the 10k/9k spring rates, is surprisingly complacent over most roads. It's only noticeably stiffer going over big bumps or coming out of a bad driveway, but otherwise its quite tolerable to use as a daily driver, especially during freeway cruising. I have both the front and the rear set at 5/16 clicks on dampening right now, and I will play w/ these settings in the future to see what difference it makes on ride quality. Handling is not so good right now because its not aligned/balanced, so you guys will have to wait a bit my review. Other reviews have raved on the performance of these COs so I'm hoping to get the same sensation once its setup!
The car needs to be corner-balanced and aligned so badly right now, so I'm hoping to get that done ASAP. The lesson here, and I cannot stress this enough, is that you can have the best coilovers in the world and it will make your car perform much worse if you don't set them up right. In light of that, I also have a greater appreciation for the work that a skilled mechanic does. There's a huge difference between what they can do in a shop with pro tools, vs what a punkass kid like me can do in my garage with basic hand tools. Some people who do DIY might be very skilled, but I personally I don't really have the talent or patience to do a proper job.
Onto a real review: the ride quality on these coilovers, despite the 10k/9k spring rates, is surprisingly complacent over most roads. It's only noticeably stiffer going over big bumps or coming out of a bad driveway, but otherwise its quite tolerable to use as a daily driver, especially during freeway cruising. I have both the front and the rear set at 5/16 clicks on dampening right now, and I will play w/ these settings in the future to see what difference it makes on ride quality. Handling is not so good right now because its not aligned/balanced, so you guys will have to wait a bit my review. Other reviews have raved on the performance of these COs so I'm hoping to get the same sensation once its setup!
Jan 22, 2009, 11:53 PM
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Jan 31, 2009, 10:22 PM
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So I finally got my car corner balanced and aligned by Robi today. The load on my car was so off it's not even funny. Robi commented that it was the most off-balanced car he's ever seen, which is quite a statement from someone whose worked on a lot of cars 
I didn't get to take a picture of the scales after he was done (I had to sit in the car to account for my weight), but the car obviously feels much more balanced than before. In retrospect, I had no idea how I managed to drive for over a week with my previous set-up, but now that the alignment is set-up properly and I have confidence in it, I'll take out to the touge tomorrow and see how it goes. In the mean time here are some pics from the EDO Event to share.
Car on the lift, getting some much needed tuning from a suspension expert
Pack of Evos (and 1 Subaru)
Pack of Subys.....
I didn't get to take a picture of the scales after he was done (I had to sit in the car to account for my weight), but the car obviously feels much more balanced than before. In retrospect, I had no idea how I managed to drive for over a week with my previous set-up, but now that the alignment is set-up properly and I have confidence in it, I'll take out to the touge tomorrow and see how it goes. In the mean time here are some pics from the EDO Event to share.
Car on the lift, getting some much needed tuning from a suspension expert
Pack of Evos (and 1 Subaru)
Pack of Subys.....
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Mar 4, 2009, 05:45 PM
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Well it's been over a month since I had these on my car with corner balance. I haven't gone to any HPDE since but just from daily driving, these are pretty easy to live with aside from the ride height that I set (about 4" off the ground in the front, without Aero). I had them set at 5/16 clicks since install and I haven't touched it since, but they feel more comfortable than the first month I've had them. Either the shocks and springs are finally broken in and settling, or I'm getting used to a stiffer ride. I'm pretty happy with these coilovers and hopefully they'll withstand the test of time!
Some pics I took at work
From the side you can kinda see how low the car is
Some pics I took at work
From the side you can kinda see how low the car is
Mar 4, 2009, 08:15 PM
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Expensive: Robi from Robispec charges $400 for corner balance and alignment. It makes a pretty big difference, especially since it was so poorly balanced initially.
Mar 5, 2009, 04:04 PM
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seems awfully high to me. Glad the car is handling better 
. Most people just install CO's and go, few actually take the time to set it up right
Mar 10, 2009, 10:34 AM
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Ironically, a few days after posting a favorable review for these coilovers, I am having a minor issue. When I make slow left turns (like in a parking lot), there's a soft creaking noise that comes from the front passenger coilover, similar to what you hear when you step on the bad part of a hardwood floor. Anyone have any idea what might be causing this? It's not a loud clunking noise that some coilovers experience, but its loud and consistent enough to be obtrusive. Thanks in advance!
