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Stance GR+ Coilover Review

22K views 65 replies 19 participants last post by  Jerm__ 
#1 · (Edited)
Edit 3: 10k mile update, September 8, 2009
I started going up north to visit my girlfriend's family and the roads SUCK ... so I raised up the car just a touch. Before, I was almost tucking 205/45/16's up front and 205/50/16's in back. Now, I have about an inch of fender between the tire and fender (getting 18's shortly). I also installed stock swaybars front and rear.

I'm currently on 4/2 front/rear damping and the car rides very well still. It has a nice fluidity to the motions (they're still short motions) so they're very smooth. Handling has gotten better from raising the car. Before, when taking a turn, it would load the suspension up and if there was a bump in the road, the car would feel like it would waver side to side. It wasn't a lot, but I could feel it. The car didn't loose any grip, it just felt weird. After raising the car, it is SOLID through a turn. It's much more confidence inspiring.

Overall, I'm still super impressed with these coilovers!

Slammed Tire wear: I got my toe set to just a touch of toe in for the front and rear, 2* camber up front, 3* rear, 1.5* caster split up front (previous owner bent something on the driver side) and the tires wore very nicely.

Raised Tire Wear: Toe is once again the same, 1.5* camber front, 2 rear, same caster split. Tires are wearing the same!

My advice for an alignment is to go someplace that allows you to sit in the car. In doing so, the alignment is set for how it's going to be driven, so the tires will wear MUCH better than with a podunk alignment.

Edit 2: Road trip

Just took a 500 mile road trip. The car was very smooth for the entire trip, but this is my full opinion.

Over the course of the trip, I had the dampers at 5/15 front and rear and swapped over onto my snow tires (225/50/16 Michelin X-ice @ 46psi). The car was very smooth on the road and when I got to the border of NM and CO, the downhill into CO was super fun, even in the wet =P The car felt very planted in the turns and over the undulations in the road. I never felt like the car was out of control.

The only thing I didn't like (well, I wasn't ready) were transitions from bridges back onto the road. On some, the transitions combined with the speed (95+ mph) and the higher spring rates and soft damping setting caused the car to become pretty unweighted, but the car regained composure as soon as it came back down.

There's also another transition from I25 to highway 36 from Denver to Boulder and with the old suspension, the car would blow through the suspension travel and scratch the bottom of the car on the road =\ With the Stances, the car didn't even come close to bottoming out, but once again, coming out of the bump, the car unweighted and came right back down and was solid again. I'm interested to see what happens with a harder damper setting.

Edit 1: Final Impression and pics

Track experience:

The car was amazing on track. It was very composed, even going sideways over a transition from the road course onto the banked part of the oval. The car handled turning transitions very well.

Grip driving:
Even on 205/55/16 all season Continental tires, I was able to do pretty well against a Mustang GT with springs, swaybars, shocks, some other under-the-car suspension bracing, Steeda brakes, and 295 series BF Goodrich KD's (I don't remember, they're the sticky dry tires). He was pulling away in braking and acceleration, but in the sweeping and hairpin turns, I was able to close just a bit because of being able to get on the power sooner. Overall, the car felt amazing. It handled the elevation changes, rumble strips, sweeping turns, hairpin turns, undulating braking zones ... everything was just wonderful, I couldn't ask for anything more.

Drifting:
Dialing in the dampers was a cakewalk to get the proper balance for drifting. I was able to do CRAZY angle on most of the turns by just powering over, no need for clutch kicking or Scandinavian flicks. Once in the slide, the car was very easy to control, even going on the roadcourse-to-banked-oval transition sideways. The exits out of the drifts were smooth for the most part (I'm still learning this car, so I was a bit nervous pulling out of the drift), but tires with less sidewall flex would be nice.

So yeah, I'm incredibly impressed with how well these coilovers work and how composed they are on the street and on the track in all kinds of conditions. They're nice and supple, but offer a remarkable amount of control and feedback.

Out of a rating of 10, I'd give them a 9.5 overall, just because it'd be nice if they came with a way to mount the ABS lines in the front. For handling, I give them a 9/10 because it'd be nice to have stiffer springs, but that's just my opinion. With stock sway bars, I think the handling and control would be a 10/10. For street handling, 10/10. They're more than capable for spirited driving, even on crappy roads. For street comfort, 9/10. It's not jittery at all on full soft and it's not harsh at all until you hit hard bumps or pot holes, but like I said before, they're firm but have a great feel and fluidity when the car is being driven on the street.




**Here's my initial impression, I've only had them on for a few hours.

Installation was super simple, setting the spring perches was a piece of cake, but the ride height was a little tricky. I wanted to go super low all around, but I decided on a fairly mild drop, about 2" in front and 1.5" in back.

Initial ride: I set the suspension on full soft and went for a ride. It's very smooth over the normal streets ... I'd say that it's just as smooth as the Tokico Illuminas and Eibach Prokit springs. The ride is very well damped for having such stiff springs in there. I'd say the ride is firm yet supple, meaning that the overall motions were very small (maybe about half or less of the height changes from the illumina/prokit), but there was a nice fluidity during and after the car went over the bumps. The only "harsh" moment was over a manhole cover that was about 2-3" below the level of the asphault ... but I'm going to guess that the stock suspension would be harsh in that situation as well.

Full hard felt really nice, but the harshness definitely went up. I could feel just about every bump and undulation and the "smooth" roads on soft were almost causing the car to feel like it was bouncing rather than staying on the road. I think the harder damper settings should only be used on smooth roads or the road course.

Initial handling: No official comment for now (still waiting to get the ride height figured out and to get the car aligned), but the car seems to have more grip (probably the negative camber) and poise around the turns, but at my next track outing (November 9), I'll be able to give a full report on how the car handles transitions, sweeping turns, and elevation changes, both sudden (rumble strips) and gradual (transitions from the road course onto the banked oval).

Edit: I wanted to give a list of the suspension and wheels/tires on my car.

2003 Sport Design with the 5 speed and LSD
no sway bars
Stance GR+ coilovers (duh =P )
16x7 Rota Slipstreams
205/55/16 Continental all seasons (not a great performance tire ... but they wear well and can handle some snow, kinda)
 
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1
#4 ·
Update:

I still haven't gotten an alignment yet because I'm still fiddling with the ride height. At the ride height now, it still rubs just a touch on the driver front corner around hard turns.

So a handling update:

the suspension is starting to settle in a bit and I've pushed the car a little harder to see if it's stable. It is around the smoother roads, but the bumpy rutted stuff ... well that's where the fun starts!

With the suspension on full soft, it ate up the ruts and went right on around the turn.

There was one turn, though, where I wasn't trying to do anything stupid ... but with new suspension, very little experience with it, and a wacked out alignment, things happen. Well, I hit this "washboard" in the asphault just as I was shifting into 2nd at full throttle (trying to make the light ... don't ask) and the back end came out, but it was VERY controlled and I was able to hold the slide (even over the bumps and undulations) and went right on my way without a problem.

So in a nutshell, I'm still extremely impressed by this setup and how poised it is on just about any road condition on the street thus far. Just gotta get the height up a little more (or maybe take out the fender liners?), get an alignment, and then a track test next weekend!
 
#7 ·
Sure, you can use this writeup.

Another update:

So it's been 200 miles on them and they're settled already. I've also pulled the front fenders just a touch, maybe about 1/2" and it REALLY helped with the rubbing I'm having. It's just rubbing the fender liners, which I can handle. I might pull them a little more, but I like the stance the car has ... but I'm going to 225 tires all around (up from 205 currently), so if it rubs, the fenders will come out a little bit more.

Anyways, I've been getting a little more aggressive with it and the car is VERY stable in turns now, it's easy to go grip or drift with the setup, and the ride quality is still as well-damped and has the firmness and fluidity as the day I put them on!

I'm getting an alignment tomorrow morning (first open day they had) and then Saturday is the track day! I'm super excited to get aggressive with them.

 
#8 ·
Got an alignment today and got the camber set at -1.8* all around with just a touch of toe in. The car is straight and true and now the back end is solid and planted (the rear toe was way out of wack). I also modified the fender liners and there's no more rubbing.

Just in case you guys are worried about the rubbing ... don't. I don't have swaybars, so that explains the increased roll that I'm seeing. I think that even with stock sway bars, you could go lower than I am and not rub due to the extra roll stiffness.
 
#10 ·
Track experience:

The car was amazing on track. It was very composed, even going sideways over a transition from the road course onto the banked part of the oval. The car handled turning transitions very well.

Grip driving:
Even on 205/55/16 all season Continental tires, I was able to do pretty well against a Mustang GT with springs, swaybars, shocks, some other under-the-car suspension bracing, Steeda brakes, and 295 series BF Goodrich KD's (I don't remember, they're the sticky dry tires). He was pulling away in braking and acceleration, but in the sweeping and hairpin turns, I was able to close just a bit. Overall, the car felt amazing. It handled the elevation changes, rumble strips, sweeping turns, hairpin turns, undulating braking zones ... everything was just wonderful, I couldn't ask for anything more.

Drifting:
Dialing in the dampers was a cakewalk to get the proper balance for drifting. I was able to do CRAZY angle on most of the turns by just powering over, no need for clutch kicking or Scandinavian flicks. Once in the slide, the car was very easy to control, even going on the roadcourse-to-banked-oval transition sideways. The exits out of the drifts were smooth for the most part (I'm still learning this car, so I was a bit nervous pulling out of the drift), but tires with less sidewall flex would be nice.

So yeah, I'm incredibly impressed with how well these coilovers work and how composed they are on the street and on the track in all kinds of conditions. They're nice and supple, but offer a remarkable amount of control and feedback.

Out of a rating of 10, I'd give them a 9.5 overall, just because it'd be nice if they came with a way to mount the ABS lines in the front. For handling, I give them a 9/10 because it'd be nice to have stiffer springs, but that's just my opinion. With stock sway bars, I think the handling and control would be a 10/10. For street handling, 10/10. They're more than capable for spirited driving, even on crappy roads. For street comfort, 9/10. It's not jittery at all on full soft and it's not harsh at all until you hit hard bumps or pot holes, but like I said before, they're firm but have a great feel and fluidity when the car is being driven on the street.
 
#11 ·
Just took a 500 mile road trip. The car was very smooth for the entire trip, but this is my full opinion.

Over the course of the trip, I had the dampers at 5/15 front and rear and swapped over onto my snow tires (225/50/16 Michelin X-ice @ 46psi). The car was very smooth on the road and when I got to the border of NM and CO, the downhill into CO was super fun, even in the wet =P The car felt very planted in the turns and over the undulations in the road. I never felt like the car was out of control.

The only thing I didn't like (well, I wasn't ready) were transitions from bridges back onto the road. On some, the transitions combined with the speed (95+ mph) and the higher spring rates and soft damping setting caused the car to become pretty unweighted, but the car regained composure as soon as it came back down.

There's also another transition from I25 to highway 36 from Denver to Boulder and with the old suspension, the car would blow through the suspension travel and scratch the bottom of the car on the road =\ With the Stances, the car didn't even come close to bottoming out, but once again, coming out of the bump, the car unweighted and came right back down and was solid again. I'm interested to see what happens with a harder damper setting.
 
#12 ·
Great reviews, keep em coming. Your reviews are my inspiration for picking the spring rates I picked (12kg/mm front and 9kg/m rear). Since you do not have sways and I have thicker ones I went with a little more offset between front and rear. This will be used with Koni shocks
 
#13 ·
That should be a good setup! I'm guessing that the car will be geared more towards understeer, but I could be wrong as I don't know what size your sway bars are =P Regardless, the rear of the car will be able to be coaxed out, so it's all good =)

The Koni's are a great damper and I've used them extensively with my old street and race cars. I don't know how long they'll last with those spring rates, but luckily they can be rebuilt later even with shorter bodies if you want to lower the car more and retain full travel :approve:
 
#16 ·
01silverbullet, you won't be disappointed! Like TH said, they really are wonderful for the money!

Yeah, Motons would be awesome ... but only if I got them for 1500 for the set =P But hey, being able to change high/low speed compression and rebound damping is freakin awesome. If the Stances had that ability, I'd keep the high/low speed compression and low speed the same and crank up the high speed rebound. That'd definitely keep the car planted coming out of the hard dips/bumps that unweight the car now.
 
#23 ·
i had decided on the stance gr+ or gr+ pro's before this review and this only makes me want them more lol.

a hardcore drift buddy of mine uses the gr+ pros on his s14 drift car. he has had them for quite awhile and he beats the crap out of them and they just keep on performing. they are a truely great product for the money.
 
#26 ·
The GR+ is our flagship line. It features 15-way damping adjustable monotube shocks, which allows the driver to fine-tune the handling and ride. A separate lower bracket allows the ride height to be adjusted without sacrificing stroke. Spherical bearings are used to give the driver greater feedback. Inverted monotube shocks are utilized on strut types for greater rigidity and heat dissipation. Camber adjustable upper mounts are used on strut types.
GR+ Pro coilover has all the features of the GR+ but adds the benefit of a helper spring. The helper spring allows the shock piston to be placed in the optimal position within the shock body, increasing rebound stroke, and maximizing articulation on cars with minimum suspension travel.
got that from their website
 
#30 ·
I have Stance and have mixed feelings. While they feel good and handle on smooth roads, any little bump is harsh. I'm set about half on the dampning, so nothing too bad. I can stand the harshness, but whats I hate is that they are REALLY noisey. My buddies Stance on his S14 240sx are not noisey. On my IS they seem to make a crash noise everylittle bump. Almost sounds as if the bushing on the bottom mount, especially in the rears, is larger of a whole than the stock bolt that goes through it, allowing it to have play and bounce around over bumps.

Anybody have these experiance with them being noisey?
 
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