Member profile - paggaz

[paggaz]

Looks awesome. How was the ride quality?

I was expecting it to be as harsh as assrape, but to my surprise it's equivalent, if not more comfortable than the bilstein/tein S-tech combo - mind you these don't have the adjustable dampening, although XYZ has done well with the setup. I've been driving on harsh country QLD roads for the past week and haven't bottomed out yet either.

Never seen a lifted foz before! Such a strange looking thing!

Definitely something different but more fun off road (and sometimes more capable) than some of the bigger 4x4s. It's not unusual to have people asking what the F is this car!?

5 inches total lift higher than a stock Foz, bullbar, custom rear bar, spare wheel carrier, 100 series snorkel, rock slider side steps, BFG muddies, It has a TD05-20G in it so it's putting out similar power to my tuned Liberty but only on 14psi....although it's double the fun being able to drive on any terrain, and with the auto the Active torque split AWD eliminates the need for diff locks in most situations.

As far as we know, this is the most modded offroad oriented Forester in Australia.

[shav]

Looks awesome. How was the ride quality?

I was expecting it to be as harsh as assrape, but to my surprise it's equivalent, if not more comfortable than the bilstein/tein S-tech combo - mind you these don't have the adjustable dampening, although XYZ has done well with the setup. I've been driving on harsh country QLD roads for the past week and haven't bottomed out yet either.
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That's a bonus. I was always skeptical with coil overs and their ride quality. But if they are no worse than Bilstein type of quality it sounds like the best of both worlds. When the time comes I'll be going the adjustable versions. But it's awesome to see yours at the level of ride height you want with the comfort and clearance you are getting. Nice job again.

[jay.ritchie]

That's a bonus. I was always skeptical with coil overs and their ride quality

With adjustable dampner settings Shav, BC's are way softer on 0 setting compared to bilstein.
If I wanted to match bilstein, I need to have the coilovers on 15 clicks (or halfway)- although when set softer, they're also bouncier.


Looks awesome Nathan! The front wheels look so much better.
Are they rubbing at all?

[paggaz]

Thanks guys!

Jay, I definitely couldn't feel or hear any rubbing happening. I checked the front inner guard liners when I had the wheels off today and on the passenger one, it looks like it had rubbed ever so slightly... must have hit a big bump or something. But IMO, this height looks great and is still practical on harsh country roads and in most situations (I say most because my lip acted as a bulldozer on my parents property lol)

[jay.ritchie]

Thanks guys!

Jay, I definitely couldn't feel or hear any rubbing happening. I checked the front inner guard liners when I had the wheels off today and on the passenger one, it looks like it had rubbed ever so slightly... must have hit a big bump or something. But IMO, this height looks great and is still practical on harsh country roads and in most situations (I say most because my lip acted as a bulldozer on my parents property lol)

Lucky you, I guess that might change when you get new wheels!
What's the ground clearance now?
Mines about 80mm and it struggles on dirt roads!

[shav]

That's a bonus. I was always skeptical with coil overs and their ride quality

With adjustable dampner settings Shav, BC's are way softer on 0 setting compared to bilstein.
If I wanted to match bilstein, I need to have the coilovers on 15 clicks (or halfway)- although when set softer, they're also bouncier.

Oh that's pretty good then. I dont have Bilsteins in mine btw. Its the stock GT suspension as its not a Spec B. So it's softer again. Knowing all this makes me think coilovers are the way to go.

[paggaz]

Thanks guys!

Jay, I definitely couldn't feel or hear any rubbing happening. I checked the front inner guard liners when I had the wheels off today and on the passenger one, it looks like it had rubbed ever so slightly... must have hit a big bump or something. But IMO, this height looks great and is still practical on harsh country roads and in most situations (I say most because my lip acted as a bulldozer on my parents property lol)

Lucky you, I guess that might change when you get new wheels!
What's the ground clearance now?
Mines about 80mm and it struggles on dirt roads!

Honestly couldn't tell you at the lowest point. My guess is around the 90-100 at the centre resonator (estimated). I know my lip is about 120mm from the ground when I drove it around the block after fitment. It's settled even more since then though. I think the rears have settled more than the fronts so I might do some final adjustments when I get time. Every now and then on dirt roads when I forget to stay on the higher spots, I'll hear my centre resonator scrape on larger rocks, but that's about the worst that happens.


I need to sort out a rear camber issue though. I've been told Whiteline has sold out of their KCA399 rear camber correction kit until August and a few stores I have contacted have no stock either. I'd rather run less camber, especially since I'm on stock wheels and there's a load of guard room to be used
Consequently, I wore my set of Dunlop Sport Maxx tyres out to canvas on the inner rears, this is even after an alignment with 0 toe.
This forced me to buy a set of four new rubbers. I went with Continental ContiMax Contact (MC5)....they're a new sport tyre by Continental and were on a manufacturer discount at $248 each from Jax, cheapest quality sport tyre they could get for me overnight while I was in Bundy.
Anyway I've had them on for about 2000kms now and I don't regret choosing them. I can say that they're definitely a quieter tyre than my last two sets (Kumho KU31s and Dunlop Sport Maxx) and also provide better grip than both. They have a treadwear rating of 320 (by memory) which is pretty high for a performance tyre so the interesting thing will be how long they'll last.

What a hoist queen...


Stayed with 225/40/18...they have a really fancy sidewall!

[PUDZ RSC3.0RB]

Looks awesome. How was the ride quality?

I was expecting it to be as harsh as assrape, but to my surprise it's equivalent, if not more comfortable than the bilstein/tein S-tech combo - mind you these don't have the adjustable dampening, although XYZ has done well with the setup. I've been driving on harsh country QLD roads for the past week and haven't bottomed out yet either.
[/img][/quote]
That's a bonus. I was always skeptical with coil overs and their ride quality. But if they are no worse than Bilstein type of quality it sounds like the best of both worlds. When the time comes I'll be going the adjustable versions. But it's awesome to see yours at the level of ride height you want with the comfort and clearance you are getting. Nice job again.[/quote]

Hey Nathan

Car looks so much better with the XYZ coilovers, the front with no gap is great, wish the billy's with s-techs had ur front height and fine work adapting the front spec b strut tops to the coilovers.
FYI - the coilovers are damper adjustable mate. All u need is a 100mm long allen key to get down into the centre of the shaft and when u turn the key u will hear the adjustment click noise on each setting. Fully clockwise is 0 - soft , fully anti-clockwise is 30 - hard. I think I had them about 12 in the rear and 8 on the front. Therefore not too hard. I had 215/60 R16 tyres on my H6 Outback and the ride was pretty smooth in general. Obviously 40/45 series x 18" tyres will be harsher.

Hope this helps u out.

Regards Grant

[paggaz]

Cheers Grant!
Thanks for that info! Turns out I have a better unit that I thought I had....credit doesn't go to XYZ for the comfortable ride, it goes to you for setting it up!
Maybe when I'm bored one of these days I'll play around with those settings...although, I'm pretty happy with the way it rides at the moment. Great to know I have that little extra adjustability

[PUDZ RSC3.0RB]

Cheers Grant!
Thanks for that info! Turns out I have a better unit that I thought I had....credit doesn't go to XYZ for the comfortable ride, it goes to you for setting it up!
Maybe when I'm bored one of these days I'll play around with those settings...although, I'm pretty happy with the way it rides at the moment. Great to know I have that little extra adjustability

Yeah no worries Nathan, good to hear your happy with the ride quality. You can now play with the damper rate at ur leisure.

The KCA 399 kit is a good one although not a perfect fit, got my rear from -2 deg neg back to -0.8 deg neg camber. The rear is a bit more lively now, less like on rails.

Will more than likely buy some sort of adjustable rear control arms at a later stage. Or could easily modify some stock arms.

Just a question are ur front billy struts buggered and what are you going to do with them. Im after a worn out set without springs and tops for development purposes.

Grant

[paggaz]

By memory, my alignment print out showed my rears are on -2 or a bit over that, I'd love to get it back to -0.8 or even -1 max with the KCA399. Would be interested to see you modify some stock arms...I might even replicate it

Front struts were working fine when I pulled them out....it was the rears which were pretty tired and getting saggy. I was actually planning to sell them on, but my dad wanted to keep them for one of his own projects. Not sure what exactly though, could be going in a Brumby, Leone, or WRX. I'll let you know if he wants to offload them though!

[PUDZ RSC3.0RB]

Ok cool, in the meantime ill keep looking mite post a WTB.

Don't think id want to cut open a good working order strut.

[paggaz]

Do I get the award for the worst parking ever?

I finally got some ride height measurements....but then I forgot most of them.
Front lip is at 115-120mm.
Lowest point is about 95mm at my centre resonator...couldn't fit my body under there for an accurate measurement.
Rears are around 320mm, centre of rim to guard height.
My fronts are about 330mm.

I think that's low enough

[HoFF]

Looks fantastic buddy.

[peadya100]

Looks awesome! Wish I could go that low.

Does that height give you trouble over speed bumps?