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Coles Notes for lazy readers: WOW WOW WOW Sell you house, sell your kids, whatever it takes so you can afford a set of these.
Setup: Xida CS 700/450 rb sway, 15x9 on 225 rs3
Installation: The coilovers do not come with any instructions. If you are using your own NB top mounts I would ask Emillio how to reuse them and mount them if its unclear. But if you just take a second and think about it you will see how to reuse them. Pretty much the only part you reuse is the metal tophat. All the old bushing are thrown out and replaced with xida bushings. Other then having to figure this out for a minute or two installation is very straight forward.
First ride: The only word I can use to describe these is perfect. Unlike most people which get coilovers and are blown away by their performance after riding on blown shocks, and riding bump stops all day. I was coming from FCM non adjustable 560/350 setup so I already had high standards. The Xidas hide the spring rate so well that I will make a very bold statement and say they are more comfortable then my softer sprung FCM coilovers. To top this of I had my FCM ride height around 12.5 fender to hub my xida's ride around 11.5 fender to hub.
I was so terrified that the 700/450 rates would be impossible to hide, yet somehow the Xida's manage to do it with ease. I was so dumbfounded by how cushy they were I thought the fact that I was so tired, and my butt was numb from being under the car all day was the reason why I couldn't feel all that much. Yet when I woke up the next day I had the same wonderful experience.
Every bump, big or small is managed with complete control. After driving all day I gave my xidas a deadly challenge. There is a set of train track crossing around my house which is notorious for being rough. In fact several years ago someone died at the crossing by going too fast in the rain and lost control. I went over the tracks several times a good pace and though there was no way to avoid a bit of harshness the car stayed firmly planted to the ground like a rock. This test alone has me sold on these as no track, or autox in the entire world can have bumps like these. So if the car is planted on them I don't see anything that can overwhelm these coilovers.
To makes things even better I havn't had my alignment done yet so the massive toe wasnt helping stability in all my tests.
More to come as I am getting a corner balancing and alignment today.
Impressions after alignment.
I took it to a local shop to a guy named Scott. He has been racing for years and pretty much only does race alignments. He was shocked when I wanted it as low as I requested. 4.25 front 4.5 rear. my spec are
-2.8 camber front
-2.5 camber rear
0 toe all around
corner balanced with my fat ass in the car
2445lbs with driver.
After the alignment this car finaly showed what the setup can do. I took a detour back home and hit some of my favourite roads. Though I wasn't at the bleeding edge of traction I got a very good feel of how the setup worked. Midcorner, big or small, every bump was soaked up with ease. With spring just beginning and it being just above freezing (5 celsius) and a bunch of dirty and gravel still on the road I was expecting slip and slide behaviour especially since rs3's are notorious for sucking in the cold. On the contrary I was suprised with confidence inspiring mid corner feel. The car just wanted to go faster and faster, but I had to hold myself back being I was on public roads.
I already took a friend on a ride and didn't tell him the 700/450 rate. He commented that the suspension felt firm but not harsh. It's a very hard feeling to describe as you know the car is stiff, it turns in like a stiff sprung car, but it doesn't make you run to your chiropractor after every ride.
More to come when I take the car auto-xing. I will post videos and further review in May.
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Setup: Xida CS 700/450 rb sway, 15x9 on 225 rs3
Installation: The coilovers do not come with any instructions. If you are using your own NB top mounts I would ask Emillio how to reuse them and mount them if its unclear. But if you just take a second and think about it you will see how to reuse them. Pretty much the only part you reuse is the metal tophat. All the old bushing are thrown out and replaced with xida bushings. Other then having to figure this out for a minute or two installation is very straight forward.
First ride: The only word I can use to describe these is perfect. Unlike most people which get coilovers and are blown away by their performance after riding on blown shocks, and riding bump stops all day. I was coming from FCM non adjustable 560/350 setup so I already had high standards. The Xidas hide the spring rate so well that I will make a very bold statement and say they are more comfortable then my softer sprung FCM coilovers. To top this of I had my FCM ride height around 12.5 fender to hub my xida's ride around 11.5 fender to hub.
I was so terrified that the 700/450 rates would be impossible to hide, yet somehow the Xida's manage to do it with ease. I was so dumbfounded by how cushy they were I thought the fact that I was so tired, and my butt was numb from being under the car all day was the reason why I couldn't feel all that much. Yet when I woke up the next day I had the same wonderful experience.
Every bump, big or small is managed with complete control. After driving all day I gave my xidas a deadly challenge. There is a set of train track crossing around my house which is notorious for being rough. In fact several years ago someone died at the crossing by going too fast in the rain and lost control. I went over the tracks several times a good pace and though there was no way to avoid a bit of harshness the car stayed firmly planted to the ground like a rock. This test alone has me sold on these as no track, or autox in the entire world can have bumps like these. So if the car is planted on them I don't see anything that can overwhelm these coilovers.
To makes things even better I havn't had my alignment done yet so the massive toe wasnt helping stability in all my tests.
More to come as I am getting a corner balancing and alignment today.
Impressions after alignment.
I took it to a local shop to a guy named Scott. He has been racing for years and pretty much only does race alignments. He was shocked when I wanted it as low as I requested. 4.25 front 4.5 rear. my spec are
-2.8 camber front
-2.5 camber rear
0 toe all around
corner balanced with my fat ass in the car
2445lbs with driver.
After the alignment this car finaly showed what the setup can do. I took a detour back home and hit some of my favourite roads. Though I wasn't at the bleeding edge of traction I got a very good feel of how the setup worked. Midcorner, big or small, every bump was soaked up with ease. With spring just beginning and it being just above freezing (5 celsius) and a bunch of dirty and gravel still on the road I was expecting slip and slide behaviour especially since rs3's are notorious for sucking in the cold. On the contrary I was suprised with confidence inspiring mid corner feel. The car just wanted to go faster and faster, but I had to hold myself back being I was on public roads.
I already took a friend on a ride and didn't tell him the 700/450 rate. He commented that the suspension felt firm but not harsh. It's a very hard feeling to describe as you know the car is stiff, it turns in like a stiff sprung car, but it doesn't make you run to your chiropractor after every ride.
More to come when I take the car auto-xing. I will post videos and further review in May.
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