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Ground Control Coilover Conversion kit?

8K views 15 replies 8 participants last post by  BigBill 
#1 ·
Hello,

Does anyone here have experience with Ground Control Coilover kits? I would love to be able to dial in the perfect ride height and spring rates for my car, but nice coilovers are pretty expensive. I already have the WRX struts with koni inserts in them, that could be a good base for custom "coilovers", right?

I don't remember anyone mentioning running similar setup on a Forester on this board, what do you guys think?

Stan
 
#2 ·
Hey Stan,
I've got a set that are pretty beat up from spring rub, and I think the springs may be a bit short, but you can have them if you want them to mess around with. L.I.C gave them to me so i'll give them to you, if you want. If you do decide to use them you might want to get the taller springs.
let me know
 
#4 ·
sorry i missed this yesterday, I just saw you going over the GG. I have them at my house, but I work in the City. I can bring the to work if you want. it would be best if i could bring them down on fri when I drive, as they are just a bit heavy to put in my backpack on the motorcycle. let me know by pm that way i'll get the msg on my phone if I dont check this later.
 
#6 ·
I've had their setup mated to some Bilstein HD's on my Audi 4kQ for a few years. With the car pretty much slammed, it was still the best handling and best riding car I've ever had. I would like to have that same ride in my 04XT...

Now, the Audi weighed in at 2817lbs, IIRC it was ~1700 F, 1100 R. I was running 300lb/in springs. This sounds much stiffer than the published Forester rates on here, which has me confused. Are the published figures mostly just the initial rates of progressive springs?

Does anyone have any ideas on what length and rate to go with for a 1-2" drop, with either stock or other struts?
 
#7 ·
For spring length, I think maybe 9"? As far as rates -- not sure, but seems most people that run GC sleeves use 300+ rate springs, which is high compared to regular style springs. I don't know of anyone running this setup of an FXT, so it may have to be alot of trial and error.. and those springs aren't cheap.

Stan
 
#10 ·
Search for posts by Back Road Runner, he ran a kit over a set of D Specs on his SF. I believe he was using 10" or 11" springs.

Keep in mind Forester's main problem -- our cars are too low if we use Impreza aftermarket suspension. With the GCs, you are limited by spring length since adjusting the spring collars control both preload and height. You may be better off with a coilover setup which has a separate adjustment for spring preload and hight adjustment.

Honestly, the GC kit I had (got it from Jarod^^) wasn't very impressive as far as quality and strength, and looked very similar to $80 generic coilover kits you see on eBay. Yeah, springs were Eibach, but they were too short for our car anyway.

Stan
 
#12 ·
Im bringing this back from the dead again!

So iwas thinking of using something similar to this, but i want to lift my car, i was thinking of getting some aftermarket long spring (king shocks, fox racing, something like that) with relatively soft spring rates (250f/200r ?). My questions are
A) how long of a spring should i get for 1-1.5" lift?
B)Are the fleabay generic versions a good way to go if im going to huck the springs that come with them?

Oh and I would be using them on kyb gr2s
 
#13 ·
it may work, but keep in mind that you won't be able to go higher than the damper will allow you to go, it can only expand so far. Maybe if you'd preload the spring more so it wouldn't compress as much, or if you got really stiff springs..

Stan
 
#14 ·
I like how you know everything about my many suspension ideas :biggrin:

So the 9" gc kit for the impreza has the ability to go form -1 to +1 inch so how much shorter are impreza springs? I believe its ~1" so a 10" spring would be good to use for the forester to be able to go +1"?
 
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