Any zc32 Suzuki swift sport users?

[kinker_rocks]

On the springs your going to loose comfort over stock. Personally thought the comfort was great in the standard set up. H&R is -30mm that feels like the limit normal/fast driving is great but in town it’s out of damping over pot holes. This is with standard shocks. My aim was to reduce the roll which this has helped with. Interested in the gearbox bushing kit, make a big difference I was going to fit a poly rear engine mount to try and firm it up.

Spoke to CTC a bit on the bilstien his view was they are very hard. They also have a long lead time on them. There is an Koni kit which give adjustable rebound, more adjustability. Larkspeed have them I think.

I will fit coilovers at some point in the near future as the car is daily it can be softened up for normal duties. For the price difference to the Koni kit I’m looking at the BC kit but also wondering if it’s worth getting the Ohlins kit as I’m comparing all the rates to that. Worth noting they only drop by -25mm.

Very hard to find stock rates. Suzuki have never released them. CTV don’t have and and neither did yellow stuff. Best I could find was this on the R&R

Stock spring rate
front 22.0N
rear 25.7N

[Kev_Mk3]

depends what your using it for if its daily stick to springs

[kinker_rocks]

ldub said:

Recently bought a 2017 grey SSS (ZC32S, aka NZ etc!) it's a great compromise of handling and comfort. Fitted BRD shifter base bushes from Chris at CTC (made of Delrin, sits between the Beatrush polyurethane and the Cusco metal ones) this greatly improved the gearchange that was a bit vague (low mileage but play in standard rubber bushes) plus a weighted gearknob to help reduce the notchiness.

There's quite a lot of roll/pitch/dive, so am looking at uprating the springs

@kinker_rocks on this thread fitted H&R springs and found these improved handling and retained comfort but was thinking of upgrading to coilovers for more control; @kinker_rocks any update?

Few mixed reviews of lowering springs/coilovers on sssoc.

Info from websites and contacting manufacturers

H&R
Part number 28931-2
F 38 N/mm (= 3.88 kg/mm)
R 31 N/mm (= 3.16 kg/mm)
F&R -30mm
Progressive

Tein H Tech
SKU86-G1B00
F 3 kg/mm
R 3.6 kg/mm
F -30, R -25
Progressive

Eibach Pro
E10-80-010-01-22
F&R -30
Progressive
Company doesn't give out spring rates


Intriguing the difference in front to rear rates of the H&R and Teins. Does anyone know the stock spring rates?

I've already bought a Cusco rear arb as I want a bit more throttle adjustability and should also help reduce roll. H&R may be better as the rarb will stiffen up the rear, so may suit their combo of higher front spring rates. On the flip side, may be the rarb will compliment the higher rear spring rate on the Teins!


Any first hand experiences with available spring options much appreciated!

Edited by ldub on Friday 4th June 22:08

Picture of the stock springs v the H&R to go with previous reply. The Teins are very soft but I have read a lot of positive reviews on them.

Spring rates on the Ohlins coilovers:
Front 5 Kg and rear 4.4Kg. It’s very hard to compare spring rates though. I was using it as a guide. I found it very difficult to get any feedback from the forums on what people had experienced. I got a cheap deal on the springs and decide me to give them a shot. Give Chris at CTC a shout for advice. He told me go for adjustment I’m also running camber bolts and it really sharpens the steering up.

On personal experience maybe the best I could say on the H&R after changing on to them. My wife who hates cars was using it and I asked if it was she noticed and change and didn’t notice anything.

[dapper]

Bit of a late reply to this but I had the 25mm lowering springs on my 31S from H&R and I can say there was no noticible decrease in comfort when pottering about. Made the car sit a bit nicer too. As it was my second car I was still improving as a driver so can't comment on how much a difference the springs made in terms of handling.

[Lunar Tick]

kinker_rocks said:

I will fit coilovers at some point in the near future as the car is daily it can be softened up for normal duties. For the price difference to the Koni kit I’m looking at the BC kit but also wondering if it’s worth getting the Ohlins kit as I’m comparing all the rates to that. Worth noting they only drop by -25mm.

I run Ohlins on my 32S. Absolutely superb for the road - magically smooths out the road imperfections the faster you go. Lowers by 30mm. Non height adjustable. Personally, I think this is a good compromise between lower COG/looks and damper travel

[ldub]

kinker_rocks said:

On the springs your going to loose comfort over stock. Personally thought the comfort was great in the standard set up. H&R is -30mm that feels like the limit normal/fast driving is great but in town it’s out of damping over pot holes. This is with standard shocks. My aim was to reduce the roll which this has helped with. Interested in the gearbox bushing kit, make a big difference I was going to fit a poly rear engine mount to try and firm it up.

Spoke to CTC a bit on the bilstien his view was they are very hard. They also have a long lead time on them. There is an Koni kit which give adjustable rebound, more adjustability. Larkspeed have them I think.

I will fit coilovers at some point in the near future as the car is daily it can be softened up for normal duties. For the price difference to the Koni kit I’m looking at the BC kit but also wondering if it’s worth getting the Ohlins kit as I’m comparing all the rates to that. Worth noting they only drop by -25mm.

Very hard to find stock rates. Suzuki have never released them. CTV don’t have and and neither did yellow stuff. Best I could find was this on the R&R

Stock spring rate
front 22.0N
rear 25.7N

Thanks @kinker_rocks

agree the std comfort is good, ideally would retain that but dial in a bit of roll/dive/pitch/arch gap; Ohlins I guess for that!

The gearbox bushing kit made a big difference, very rarely miss a gear now, whereas was quite common with the soft oem bushes. I've got the Hardrace hardened rubber rear mount on order too to help sharpen it a bit more. Short shift would be good as quite a long throw.

[ldub]

Kev_Mk3 said:

depends what your using it for if its daily stick to springs

yes bud, daily for me, so will try springs first

[ldub]

kinker_rocks said:

Picture of the stock springs v the H&R to go with previous reply. The Teins are very soft but I have read a lot of positive reviews on them.

Spring rates on the Ohlins coilovers:
Front 5 Kg and rear 4.4Kg. It’s very hard to compare spring rates though. I was using it as a guide. I found it very difficult to get any feedback from the forums on what people had experienced. I got a cheap deal on the springs and decide me to give them a shot. Give Chris at CTC a shout for advice. He told me go for adjustment I’m also running camber bolts and it really sharpens the steering up.

On personal experience maybe the best I could say on the H&R after changing on to them. My wife who hates cars was using it and I asked if it was she noticed and change and didn’t notice anything.

Thanks again bud; the H&R were on back order so I've gone for the Teins! Great to hear there are lots of positive reviews Had a 350z with Teins; it looked and handled better than stock whilst being comfortable, although more challenging roads showed it up a bit

I've got camber bolts as well; now need to decide on alignment settings! Always a compromise, may be -1.5 camber to start with?

Edited by ldub on Monday 21st June 19:54

[ldub]

dapper said:

Bit of a late reply to this but I had the 25mm lowering springs on my 31S from H&R and I can say there was no noticible decrease in comfort when pottering about. Made the car sit a bit nicer too. As it was my second car I was still improving as a driver so can't comment on how much a difference the springs made in terms of handling.

Thanks bud, appreciate the reply, sounds like either H&R or Tein will be a good improvement, with Teins slightly closer to stock on the comfort / softer side v H&R

[ldub]

Lunar Tick said:

I run Ohlins on my 32S. Absolutely superb for the road - magically smooths out the road imperfections the faster you go. Lowers by 30mm. Non height adjustable. Personally, I think this is a good compromise between lower COG/looks and damper travel

They do sound and look amazing! Spent some time deliberating whether to go for the Ohlins. At this point, it's a daily with the odd fun run and one of the reasons for me getting the Swift was to get a comfy and fun daily that I don't spend thousands on like most of the other cars I've had recently. A big brake kit is also very tempting!!

[PJ_Parsons]

I understand that changing to HEL brake lines sharpens up the brakes quite a bit; so maybe the big brakes are not needed. I did manage to buy set of Bilstein B14’s, lightly used for £350 recently. I’ve not fitted them though, mainly because I’m afraid of turning it into less of a daily driver. When I start using the car on track more, I will fit them. The Ohlins, sound good, but they are quite serious money.

[trickywoo]

ldub said:

A big brake kit is also very tempting!!

The standard brakes are more than up to the job with decent pads. Big brake kit would be for looks only.

[Kev_Mk3]

ldub said:

Lunar Tick said:

I run Ohlins on my 32S. Absolutely superb for the road - magically smooths out the road imperfections the faster you go. Lowers by 30mm. Non height adjustable. Personally, I think this is a good compromise between lower COG/looks and damper travel

They do sound and look amazing! Spent some time deliberating whether to go for the Ohlins. At this point, it's a daily with the odd fun run and one of the reasons for me getting the Swift was to get a comfy and fun daily that I don't spend thousands on like most of the other cars I've had recently. A big brake kit is also very tempting!!

Defiantly a waste of money a BBK. I use oem discs and endurance pads with RBF660 never had an issue. Only just put braided lines on as i had them and needed to change the fluid. Not once have i had issues with fading and i brake a lot later than most

[ldub]

PJ_Parsons said:

I understand that changing to HEL brake lines sharpens up the brakes quite a bit; so maybe the big brakes are not needed. I did manage to buy set of Bilstein B14’s, lightly used for £350 recently. I’ve not fitted them though, mainly because I’m afraid of turning it into less of a daily driver. When I start using the car on track more, I will fit them. The Ohlins, sound good, but they are quite serious money.

trickywoo said:

The standard brakes are more than up to the job with decent pads. Big brake kit would be for looks only.

Kev_Mk3 said:

Defiantly a waste of money a BBK. I use oem discs and endurance pads with RBF660 never had an issue. Only just put braided lines on as i had them and needed to change the fluid. Not once have i had issues with fading and i brake a lot later than most

Good shouts @PJ_Parsons, @trickywoo & @Kev_Mk3

MLR hoses & Black Damond Predator pads are waiting to go on, with some uprated fluid. The Endless Superstreet pads were tempting, being marketed as having great initial pedal bite / feel. I decided to go with a more modest pad upgrade (the Predators were a big improvement on a previous daily!) and see how it goes.

What pads are you using / found work well on the SSS?

[kinker_rocks]

Just went into a B14 kit.

Initial findings are its very good. Not harsh very complaint and controlled. 👌

[PJ_Parsons]

Interesting to read that you went for the B14’s. Your other posts suggested you were heading a different way. I did buy a set of lightly used B14’s recently, but have not got round to fitting them yet. I’m not quite sure if my local garage can fit them, or if I need to get a motorsport orientated outfit to set them up. My car will see several track days a year but, mostly be road use, so I am concerned about ride quality.

So, who fitted your B14’s, how low are your running them and did they need any special setting? How does ride compare to standard?

[kinker_rocks]

Maybe the kit was a bit spur of the moment but had a bit of research on a few things and these seemed a compromise on price really. No damper adjustment with the kit.

Fitting wise did it myself, with some help from a mate and a flat garage. Not difficult to fit some guides online if you need. Advantage with the swift is it is simple to work on. Replaced the drop links at the same time. Only note is rear top mounts only come with the full shock absorber from Suzuki. You need to re-use the mounts on the rear.

Was difficult to get any standard measurements and didn’t get any stock rake measurements. Bilstien give measurements in the fitting manual as a start. Can put up my measurements if you need?

Big improvement damping wise over standard and way better ride quality than just the lowering springs. Feels much more controlled now. I don’t find them harsh as was worried about this but it is absolutely fine.

PJ_Parsons said:

Interesting to read that you went for the B14’s. Your other posts suggested you were heading a different way. I did buy a set of lightly used B14’s recently, but have not got round to fitting them yet. I’m not quite sure if my local garage can fit them, or if I need to get a motorsport orientated outfit to set them up. My car will see several track days a year but, mostly be road use, so I am concerned about ride quality.

So, who fitted your B14’s, how low are your running them and did they need any special setting? How does ride compare to standard?

[PJ_Parsons]

Well, thanks for the reply. I also brought the B14 kit as an opportunist buy, albeit used. I didn’t get any instructions with my shocks, so was wondering what measurements you are using? I understand that the front needs lowering more, to keep the rake similar to standard. I’m also fitting a baffled sump to mine to survive track use. This could be messy, so I think, I’ll get a local track preparation outfit to fit my shocks at the same time.

The biggest fear, I have is ruining my Swift, as a daily driver. It sounds like the B14’s are still good for road use, which is great to hear.

[kinker_rocks]

Absolutely fine on the shocks as long as you don’t go too low. Measuring up mine are about -30mm from standard with 10mm rake measured from the jacking points.. They are highly thought of in the Renaultsport forums which is one of the reasons I went with them. Good compromise for some quick road use and daily. Not used them on the track yet.

I’ve an copy of the B14 manual which will give the TUV settings. I set it at the Manual settings but it seemed to be high so went with the drop to the height the lowering springs were at. I can send if you message me an email.

[PJ_Parsons]

Your car does look "right" and a minimal 30mm drop is what I'm after. Should allow for a better ride with more travel. The previous owner of my shocks didn't seem to get the rake right and the car looked like it had bags of cement in the boot. Wonder how it handled? The rake on your car does appear as it should be.

I've sent you a PM.