So, a visit to TGM on Saturday. The intention was to have the following fitted:
Öhlins Road & Track Coilovers.
Spoon monoblock calipers.
H&R 10mm hubcentric spacers.
RAYS CE28N wheels.
AD08R tyres.
Eibach anti roll bar.
Got there for 9am and dropped the car off. Des and I went into Basingstoke to pass some time. 5 minutes after arriving we were bored so we had some breakfast and returned to TGM. How on earth do people go out and spend the day shopping? By the time we got back, the coilovers had all but been fitted and Tom was in the middle of putting the AD08R's I'd had delivered a few weeks ago on to the wheels.
I hadn’t seen them before so I was keen to get a look. They didn’t disappoint, lovely wheel with a great colour. Very happy with my decision. I had a look around in the car park and there were two cars with other wheels I’d considered, the RAYS RE030 and Work Emotion, after seeing them in the flesh I’m glad I went for the CE28N’s! No wonder they are so popular.
In order for the Spoon calipers to fit with the offset I’d chosen, I need to run the spacers. I’d read that they will clear, but when Tom mounted the wheel there’s about a 1mm gap between the caliper and the wheel. Ordinarily I’d run a wider spacer but this then brings issues with the wheels rubbing the arches! I may look into a 330mm kit and see if they require less clearance and maybe change them.
In terms of rubbing, there’s a slight bit when I hit a hard bump or brake like an idiot, and after looking at the arches, the tyres are touching one of the little plastic clips rather than the liner itself. I’ll keep an eye on it nonetheless!
Unfortunately time ran out to fit the roll bars, so I’ll be back in a few weeks time for them. On to the drive, well, it’s like a new car. The coilovers are fantastic; they soak up bumps with no noises at all, they are comfortable and body roll is reduced a fair amount. Tom described them as the Rolls Royce of the damper world. They really are class, 100% the best out of the brands I’ve tried. Combined with the tyres, the car handles like a dream now. It’s very planted, pointy, lots of communication from the chassis. Went over to South Wales yesterday and over some of the back roads my confidence in the car was much greater than any time before, it really does handle well now. I haven't really had chance to try the brakes properly but they don't feel too much different to the OEM calipers on the road.
Now onto some pics.
JDM boxes everywhere!
Öhlins on.
First real look at the wheels.
Good look at them fitted, caliper clearence is tiny.
Spoon vs stock.
Calipers fully fitted.
Pics of the car with them fitted, taken in South Wales.
Although the wheel isn't 100% straight here, you can see how it pokes out a little bit.
