Neil's Roadster

Jollyjoiner said:
Don't suppose you know the settings do you ? like how many clicks hard or soft ?
Also I was wondering on the rear settings do you adjust the ride height with the shock and then have to mess about with the spring to get it just right ?
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Pretty much what [ref]Steve84N[/ref] has said. The kit is only dampening adjustable and not rebound as well so you can't change the rebound characteristics of the dampers.

As for the rear shock height, I've not changed it from what has been set by factory. Same for the front pre-load.

I'm running 7/10 clicks from soft (front/back respectively). I think their base of 15/15 is too high for our roads.
 
Thanks for that, I'd best get a set ordered and get the spanners out then.
Like you say I think the pre load is already set as a base setting, and all that is needed is to adjust the heights for now and them work on the ride as the car is used.

Cheers
 
The preload is what dictates the height.

The BC dampers are rebound adjustable (rebound is one half of the damping). Having looked them up it's a combined adjuster so you can't adjust compression and rebound independently. Not as good for the ultimate setup but it does mean you can cock it up less as they should have ensured the compression and rebound adjustment matches each other well as you stiffen/soften them.

The main thing limiting how soft you go on the settings is that it will start to give less precise handling and you could get more bounce on the rebound, think of how a Cadillac bobs up and down. The main thing limiting how stiff you should go is when it becomes too uncomfortable and/or the car skips or jumps sideways over bumps.

Making the rear or front stiffer than the other can help tune the car's under/oversteer balance but potentially at the expense of other characteristics.
 
Steve84N said:
The preload is what dictates the height.

The BC dampers are rebound adjustable (rebound is one half of the damping). Having looked them up it's a combined adjuster so you can't adjust compression and rebound independently. Not as good for the ultimate setup but it does mean you can cock it up less as they should have ensured the compression and rebound adjustment matches each other well as you stiffen/soften them.

The main thing limiting how soft you go on the settings is that it will start to give less precise handling and you could get more bounce on the rebound, think of how a Cadillac bobs up and down. The main thing limiting how stiff you should go is when it becomes too uncomfortable and/or the car skips or jumps sideways over bumps.

Making the rear or front stiffer than the other can help tune the car's under/oversteer balance but potentially at the expense of other characteristics.
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Cheers Steve

On most coilovers the preload is what dictates the height but not on these, these have a leg height adjuster so once you've set your ride height you can adjust the preload to suit the ride your after, then you can fine tune the damping with the damping adjuster.

I'm not after a soft ride but a ride I can adjust for the track to make the car turn and hold a line better but without braking the bank balance.
These also have camber adjusters so I can dial in more negative camber than I can with the standard struts :driving:

It's a fine art this suspension setup as I can remember very well from when I raced motorbikes, where the finest tweeks made a difference.
 
That's a good feature to have. Sometimes I miss choice and other times too much choice makes it very difficult to get it right. Good luck with it all.
 
Finally getting around to updating this.

So the audio is all in, tuned, and I'm very happy with it. I never had the intention of going all out with the equipment as I did with the coupe and I did manage to keep it relatively sensible and simple.

So below is what the system now looks like:

Factory navigation stereo
Audison Bit Ten audio processor
JL Audio xd500/3v2
Focal PS165 2 way components
JL Audio cp208lg-w3v3 subs (borrowed from the coupe for the time being)

26831572825_44374d4fc2_b.jpgA98A7649 by Neil Patel, on Flickr

26737782902_28068975d6_b.jpgA98A7651 by Neil Patel, on Flickr

Crossovers are mounted under the dash on each side with fresh wire running directly from the amp to the crossover. I used the factory wiring for the tweeters for ease of installation.

26737774572_7a4999f7e3_b.jpgA98A7638 by Neil Patel, on Flickr

Not bad for daily duties at all. :lol:
 
Good work mate nice and tidy looking too. I struggle to keep one z4 looking good not sure how you manage to keep both of them looking so good.
 
Just going to leave this here.

27292378570_8c551e1136_b.jpgA98A7768 by Neil Patel, on Flickr

Changed the wheels as I got bored of looking at those 108's. Fitted the fog light blanking plates. Need to get around to converting them to functional brake ducts next.

Swapped out the discs, pads, and fluid for ATE branded gear. Though the pads had plenty of meat left on there, I seemed to manage to get them to fade pretty quickly. The discs were rusted and looked pretty disgusting (awful paint job as well on them)
 
NeilP said:
Just going to leave this here.

27292378570_8c551e1136_b.jpgA98A7768 by Neil Patel, on Flickr

Changed the wheels as I got bored of looking at those 108's. Fitted the fog light blanking plates. Need to get around to converting them to functional brake ducts next.

Swapped out the discs, pads, and fluid for ATE branded gear. Though the pads had plenty of meat left on there, I seemed to manage to get them to fade pretty quickly. The discs were rusted and looked pretty disgusting (awful paint job as well on them)
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how easy is it to upgrade the stock items using the stock head unit... I'm finding myself really enjoying cranking my music while i cruise and the logic 7 is struggling slightly, i cant lie, its still Very good to this day and much better than the ST sony setup or the bose in my macan.
 
Beedub said:
how easy is it to upgrade the stock items using the stock head unit... I'm finding myself really enjoying cranking my music while i cruise and the logic 7 is struggling slightly, i cant lie, its still Very good to this day and much better than the ST sony setup or the bose in my macan.
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Relatively easy. Just upgrade the factory amp and speakers will usually give you much better quality (dependent on what equipment you opt for of course!)

Jonny essex said:
Neil I need some of your epic skills to take pics of my zed when shes back from the bodyshop. :roll:
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Soon. :evil:

z4all said:
damn you keep your car cleeeaaaannnn

it looks spotless
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Thanks!

Tempted to sell it now. :headbang:
 
z4all said:
why do you want to sell after doing all that to it?
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As great a car as it is, I've seen something that looks silly fun.

In reality, if that car in particular sells before I get rid of mine, it'll be staying.

:rofl:
 
NeilP said:
As great a car as it is, I've seen something that looks silly fun :rofl:
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bouncycrewcab-1.jpg
 
awesome audio setup too. if you do move it on, the next owner will be a very lucky one.

I am actually having some weird audio issues, the sounds just stops working randomly and it seems to happen a lot more when its warm out...any ideas?
 
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