Newborns and stiff rides don't really mix, so I've decided to sell my coilovers in order to fund a slightly more forgiving setup.
These are Helix DNA coilovers. Here's the official description:
Helix DNA Sport Coilovers are designed to suit the average vehicle enthusiast. Unlike race coilovers which often exhibit harsh ride characteristics, high cost, and sometimes excessive noise, Helix DNA Sport Coilovers are designed primarily for street service with mild track service in mind. Featuring excellent ride characteristics and lower cost, these coilovers are a fine balance of street function and track service. Fully rebuildable and available in multiple spring rates.
Details:
-Application for 02+ RS or WRX and 04 STi
-Lightweight aluminum shock body
-16pt adjustment for damping (bump/rebound combined) at each strut top
-Independent height adjustment
-Independent spring pre-load adjustment
-Full upper pillow ball mounts
-Front topmounts allow camber adjustment
-8kg (447 lbs) front, 6kg (336 lbs) rear springs
I've been pretty pleased with these, and am not exactly thrilled about having to give them up.
Ride quality on the street took some getting used to - the 8kg/6kg springs are definitely on the stiff side and, while they're perfectly fine while driving around town, if damped softly they tend to oscillate a bit when you hit higher speeds on the crappy highways around here. Fortunately, the damping level can be toyed with to create an acceptable compromise. Again, at this point I'm quite comfortable with the firm ride, so they're not kidney-killers or anything.
And of course, they're still a bit noisy.
They proved themselves to be worth the purchase on the autocross course. I was glad to have the damping adjustment available for quick fine-tuning, and loved how stable the car felt while cornering. I got comments from a few folk on how the car seemed to snake through corners without any discernable body-roll.
Anyway, enough with the mini-review (I never did get a chance to give them a full write-up). Here are some details on their condition:
I've had them on my car since early November '05, for about 12,000 miles at this point. They're still on, but I should have them off within the next two weeks. Most of those miles are highway commute, from Dayton to Carson or Reno, or some combination of the three. They also have a "whopping" 6 autocross days on them.
One of the studs on the front passenger-side topmount was over-torqued a bit during installation and broke off within the first 30 miles. It was replaced with a generic bolt and nut that fits quite snugly (and is probably stronger than the stock ones anyway), and the others on all four corners were checked and re-torqued to proper spec. They're all still there after 12,000 miles, so I'd say they're safe. If a potential buyer has any qualms about that generic bolt, I can still get a real replacement from Gruppe-s that can be pressed back in.
They will fit straight up to any '02 or later RS or WRX (not sure about '06, though) and '04 STi (but not '05+ STi). You will need camber bolts for the rear struts to avoid excessive negative camber.
The DNAs go for $999 on most websites, but I've seen a few that have them listed at $1199
I'm asking $700 for the set, and this includes the wrenches for adjusting height/preload and camber. I'm listing them here before I put them up on rs25.com, i-club, nasioc, etc. to hopefully hand them off to a club member looking for inexpensive entry level coilovers before I potentially have to deal with shipping rates and what not.
It's way past my bedtime now, so I'll have pre-installation pics of the coilovers up tomorrow. I can also post current pics once they're off the car and cleaned up, if someone so desires.
I really dig these cats; here's hoping someone in the club can give them a good home.
