I'm inheriting some TSW springs and wondering how they feel with the stock suspension.

I'm getting some IE adjustable camber plates to install with them as well.

Am I in for a harsh surprise?

 

I had them on my R56 and they were great (for springs). Much better ride and handling than stock.

Any particular reason you're going with fixed camber plates?

 

Whoops that was a typo. I was originally going to go with the fixed plates because they were much cheaper and I heard they were the best for ride comfort.

I'm actually getting some IE adjustable plates from my friend...

 

I've been running this setup for most of this year and the only two things I watch and slow WAY down for are the big bumps and pot holes. If the pavement is in bad shape you will feel everything more. It's a fun setup in the back roads but is not the best daily driver setup. But it sounds like you got a great deal on the parts so it's hard to pass up. You may also need to shave some sheet metal out of the way to get the camber you want. I run mine at -1.25 for street and kick them in to -2.5 for fun days in the cones.

 

Go for it, great set up!

 

You wil definitely want to get some new struts as the OEM ones will fail fairly quickly cause they don't have the necessary travel.
Koni yellows are the ones most suggested.

 

About 30,000 miles on my TSW springs with the OEM struts still doing fine. Remember the drop on the TSW springs is not that agressive, about an inch.

 

I just had the TSW springs installed on my MCS and am really happy with them...I've put almost 800 miles on the car since 2 Sundays ago. I have the IE fixed camber plates.

 

Nah, the drop on the TSW's is pretty minimal, and from what Jeff Bibbee told me, they're designed to work very well with the stock struts. It's not like slamming it on progressives like M7's or H&R's.

 

They still lower the car and this will put additional stress on the very short stroke dampers.

 

Agree that they will shorten the life of the damper but unless you've already got a lot of miles on the OEM struts, it's not something staring you in the face right away... As I said I have about 47,000 miles on my struts with about 30,000 of that with the TSW springs and they are not warn out yet...

PS: Suffice it to say that of that 30,000 miles there were many track days, auto x and a lot of ....sprited driving on the Dragon and roads like it...

 

tsw's+ireland fixed plates+koni yellows=great setup.almost 2 yrs of great handling
...add a tsw x brace and the rear sway of your flavor(if you dont already have one) then you're set.imo

 

Sort of. I mean you have less travel, but you also have higher spring rates carrying more of the car's weight. There might be a slight discrepancy in the longevity of the struts, but I'd say it's negligible. It's not just about the travel that you're allowing (granted that plays a big part), it's a combination of several things, and the TSW's were designed to work with the stock struts (and we are talking about a rocket scientist here, too ), so they probably aren't going to shorten strut life very much, if at all.

Regardless, they're not going to kill anything as fast as the other options for lowering springs will.

 

I have 20 000km on TSW V2 with stock 03 struts, I pulled the springs off in the last 1000km and checked the shocks, no leaks and they still rebound just like before I put them in after being pressed in with no spring.

The ride is noticeably softer than stock, drop is very minimal, maybe 1 finger all around, car feels mildly less twitchy in corners.

I use them as winter suspension now, couldn't handle the 4x4 look so I went with BC Coilovers

 

I've never used TSW springs, but if they are a stiffer spring that lowers the car, you will eventually wear out the stock dampers.

If the spring rates are fairly close to stock and there is no much drop, other than free, why use them?

I installed H-Sport springs on stock dampers and ran them for 15k. Medium to large bumps would darn near knock your teeth out. I didn't realize how bad the setup was until I drove one of TC Klines Mini's at MidOhio then promptly installed some Koni Yellows. Amazing difference in ride and handling.

 

Well, eventually, you're going to wear out the stock dampers anyway. (Just sayin')

As to why get them... they have higher rates than stock, and they're linear (which = more predictability in cornering). The dropped center of gravity certainly helps, too. Also, there is such a thing as lowering a car too much (mine is ).

 

Neufusion, when you get those camber plates on, I'd kinda like your impressions on them (since H-sport is taking their time with them for the R56, apparently). Thanks, man.