Yes - but there is a difference between calculated risks and just going in blind.

 

lol - good comeback- although 'calculated' does not make for much of a dare now does it?

 

so whats going on with the suspension??? anything yet???

 

oh oh. he went on a test drive and we haven't heard anything back yet..

 

hey all- i was going to get the Agency suspension installed this weekend, but, wouldn't you know it... my buddy's wedding is this Saturday and I am the best man (well, at least the best man he could find... LOL).

So my weekend is taken up with the festivities.

I will get it installed the following weekend. They are sitting here in the box next to me waiting... it's killing me to wait another week.

 

Whats up with that, tell your man there are more important things than his wedding, we have some suspension thats begging to be carved on.....

 

Call in sick.....

 

Agency coilovers went on today!

Rolled up at 8am this morning to EF1 Motorsports in Signal Hill (near Long Beach BMW / Cherry Ave. www.ef1motorsports.com)

Fab (owner) greeted me and promply put my ride up on one of his 4 lifts to get started and put two of his guys on it.

Fab's shop is very nice and he has about 3 or 4 guys working for him, all very friendly and very knowledgeable. EF1 is a full service shop and from the looks of the shop setup and the different types of cars in the lot / on lifts, they can probably handle anything. There were also a couple of serious track cars in the shop.
As I was standing around, I talked to several customers that were there and they all had nothing but praise for Fab's service and prices.

So, I was feeling pretty good and knew I had brought my pcar to the right place.

Installation of the Agency coilovers took about 3 hours. Nothing out of the ordinary for the installation, everything was straight-forward and there were no fitment problems or oddness with the parts.

I spoke with Fab's techs after the install and asked them their opinion of the Agency build quality and ease of installation vs. PSS9, HR, etc.
They both felt the build quality looked quite good and installation was no different than any others.
They did note concern of the rear dog bone ball joints and felt these parts may wear out rather soon, but that they are also easy to replace.
Also noted was a lack of suggested setting parameters, so they left the damping at the setting as-shipped from the factory and only set the ride height (5/8"" drop front / rear).

Since we were there and while we were at it, I also had them install 15mm HR wheel spacers all around along with the longer lugs (bought these from www.automotion.com in Van Nuys, good pricing. Return customers get 15% discount on all purchases).

I had concern that the 15mm spacers may be too much for the rear but Fab assured me that with OEM wheel offsets it is totally fine. He also added that you can go up to 20mm safely. After looking at the outcome I would say he is right- I still have room if I want to space it a bit more!

So, installation was finished, ride height checked, and an initial alignment set (we will do the full alignment next week after the coilovers settle in)-

Fab jumped in the car himself for the maiden test drive (looks like Fab test drives all customer cars personally, I like that!).

He was actually gone for quite a bit, then rolled up confidently with a smile.
I asked him "what do you think... good / bad / iffy?"
He said they felt great- He was surprised since they had not adjusted the damping from the factory settings, but he felt that it was 'just right' and wanted to leave it that way for this next week of driving / break-in.

He told me to jump in and check it out- So, off I went- Straight to the 405 North and hit a few crummy streets on the way.
Here is what I noted, my comparison is vs. the stock OEM suspension.

-Bumpy streets at low / medium speeds. Huge improvement. I thought these coilovers would feel more harsh, but they actually muted the sharp bumps and had no 'jarring' like the OEM setup had. Very pleased!

-Freeway at 65, crummy pavement sections. Much improvement, same notes as above. No "cheap suspension" bounce, firm and smooth. Very pleased!

-Freeway at 85mph to 115mph. Again, high marks. No more 'porpoise' at higher speeds and nice and firm withought being jumpy. I feel more confident now pushing the car faster.

-Big dips. No bottoming out, it is a firm but soft ending to the suspension travel and no hard jar like the OEM suspension. Very pleased.

- Cornering. Cornering was limited to freeway sweepers, it felt much firmer and less body roll. My alignment is slightly off so will reserve more serious cornering tests for post-alignment. I think they will do quite well though.

-AutoX / Track. Well, I don't know yet. I don't autoX and I have not made time to hit any of the local tracks.
My only concern after today's driving is these might be a bit soft for serious track use, much like the PSS9 or HR (non clubsport) setups. I have no idea what the damping is currently set at so I will crank it up to full firm this week and see how that feels. but, these to have the adjustable camber plates in front so that may be of nice benefit to the more track-minded crowd.

Overall, after a few hours of town and freeway driving on all sorts of roads, I have to give these Agency's two big thumbs up. The overall feeling is firmness without being harsh or bumpy. They feel solid on the car. I think if priced right they might be a good purchase consideration. If they continue to ride the way they ride today, I will be pleased to own them.

Here's the kicker!! Went for test ride with my G/F and while she loves sports cars, hates it when they ride harsh and bumpy.
She actually commented (unsolicited) on how much smoother my pcar rides now and handles bumps so much nicer. And that was after 3 miles up West Olympic and back on Wilshire (crappy streets!)
If that is not a major positive pump for a set of street shocks, I don't know what is... LOL

Pics below, enjoy- I will update this post over the week and through next weekend.

EF1 Motorsports in Signal Hill:


Left side of shop- performing major engine work on a track bimmer...
..my pcar with no shoes


Right side of shop- Silver 996, the owner burned the clutch out after only a week of owning it!! Guy never drove stick before, expensive learning experience huh?
Far right, Fab (shop owner) installing a full PSS9 set on an '02 330ci.


Finished results: 15mm HR spacers on all corners, Agency Coilovers and 5/8" drop all around. Those spacers really do add to the looks.









That is a Vortech S/C'd and GIAC-tuned 330 behind me. Talked to the owner for a bit, he just had the tranny swapped out at Fab's shop.
He has some sick mods on that car including full silver CF interior, and has won numerous best-of-show awards.


And of course I want to thank Dan at VividRacing for the suspension hookup and great service.

Added notes, Sunday 7/15:
Went through the shock adjustment settings a bit. I noted that "from the factory", the rears are set at 3 clicks from full firm and the fronts are set at 3 clicks from full soft. There is a possible 34 adjustment settings between firm and soft. Adjustment is easy since the **** is on top of the shocks, indicating direction fo turn for H or S.

My only concern here is the factory setting of 3 clicks from full firm on the rears. Does not give much room to dial it more firm if needed. Dan perhaps you can ask Agency about this and get their thoughts / recommendations on settings. At 3 clicks from full firm it does not feel overly-stiff, but at this close to full firm it probably should.
For now I have the rears set at -1 from full firm and the fronts at -20 from full firm. Will test these settings out today.

Sunday 7/15 UPDATE:
Test drove car today with above changed settings. It definitely made a noticeable difference both front and rear.
Car felt much firmer and had a bit of bounce to it, not a bad type of bounce but more like when you go with a suspension setup that is more for track use than street.
Ride was still not harsh at all, just notedly firmer.

Dialing the rears to 2 clicks from full firm and the fronts to 25 from full firm will be my next test. Goal is to have it firm and dial out the slight bounce, since most of my driving is town / freeway. If I were only driving it on weekends I might consider leaving it as is, it feels good.
With the range of settings I have to work with I'm sure I can get there after a few trial and error sessions.
When I'm done with all this i'll post my different tested settings and comments in a consolidated format.

Sunday 7/15 UPDATE:
Hit some very bumpy pavement while under hard accelleration from a stop and rear wheels stayed planted. No more jumping around as with the OEM suspension. Agency's handled it superbly. Very nice!
Took a few low speed corners very hard and rear wanted to start stepping out. I definitely have the rear settings too firm. Probably a bit alignment-related as well.

Tuesday 7/17 UPDATE:
I set the rears back to 3 clicks from full firm and the fronts to 7 clicks from full soft. This seems to be about perfect for the rear and getting about right for the front.
Got rid of the front over-stiffness on city streets / bumpy pavement, gave the rear a bit more give for added corner bite.
I'm noticing some chirping sound from the front suspension as of Monday, Dan suggested it may be a loose lower spring collar or it could even be one of the suspension bushings or front sway bar links.
I'm rolling back out to EF1 this Saturday for an alignment, new rear tires and check-over of the suspension components. You know how it goes, you change one thing and then you may have to change others...

 

That is an awesome post. I will have to call him and thank him too. Glad everything worked out...well now we just need to play with those dampening settings and get it dialed. With this reaction I hope to bring them in now! Add them to your mod list signature

 

Wow looks awesome! How long did the installation take with tuning?

 

good to hear you are enjoying them. Would be better to hear how they compare to other cars if you were competitive at Auto-x or something smiliar so that we "really" know how well they stack up gainst some of the best. Till that happens......

 

not tuned yet, perhaps next week. going to let them settle in first.
All in, I'd say about 3 hours or so.

 

Nice write-up porsch3 and happy you are enjoying them, I can see Dan setting his margins now. Dan good to know that you are looking into new additions to the market.

 

Drop it more! Come on just do it!

 

One question, you say the damping is set at the factory delivered, what is that? What is the range 1-9? is it at 3? 4? etc.

You should also think about dropping it a little lower and perhaps the front more than the rear.

Glad to hear you are happy with it.