BC Racing Coils versus Bilstein B6 + Steeda Minimum Drop Springs

[PsychoPete]

Hello, just got a 2017 GT Premium PP1 a few weeks ago. I love it (of course), however it came with BC Racing Coils on 20" wheels and the shit is slammed. I hate the ride. And despite it being super stiff, it doesn't even work correctly because in the real world on a back road near where I live with depressions in the road, the shocks bottom out and the wheels rub. I know the easiest solution would be to raise up the coilovers but will it still be really stiff? I think what I'd like to do is swap in some Bilstein B6 (I've had nothing but happiness on at least 3 other cars with Bilstein) with Steeda minimum drop springs. Does anyone have any opinions on this situation?

Additionally, I'm considering replacing the 20" wheels with 19's. Would this result in a more compliant ride? I can get the OEM 19's from the seller for free.

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[Mach VII]

I love my B6/Steeda minimum drop spring combo, drives nicely without being harsh. If your car is indeed a PP1 it would have come with 19" wheels not 18", they don't fit over the Brembo calipers in front. Tried and true combo is to get 19 x 10" et 35 wheels with 285/35/19 tires, improves handling and also still has compliant ride.

 

[PsychoPete]

I love my B6/Steeda minimum drop spring combo, drives nicely without being harsh. If your car is indeed a PP1 it would have come with 19" wheels not 18", they don't fit over the Brembo calipers in front. Tried and true combo is to get 19 x 10" et 35 wheels with 285/35/19 tires, improves handling and also still has compliant ride.

Thanks for the response. I'm sure you are correct about the 19" wheels and I just got it wrong. It definitely has the big Brembos on it. I'll see if I can get the stockers from the seller.

 

[Roadsign]

There are 18" wheels that will fit with the Brembo's but the street tire choice is more limited in 18's vs 19's.

 

[EFI]

Almost anything else will ride better than BC coilvers (except for even cheaper coilovers). Those are not really meant for performance or ride quality, just for lowering purposes.

I would personally go with a pair of Ford springs (whether X or Y depending on how stiff you want the ride).

 

[NightmareMoon]

Its a good plan. i’d also swap out those coils for some bilsteins and min drop springs.


For the wheel/tire, the considerations are weight, and tire sidewall. Depending on the 20s on the car they could be extremely heavy or basically fine. In general 20 packages are heavier than 19s and then 18s, but it depends on the specific wheel and tire you go with. You can mess it up with a heavy 18” wheel too. Some people are running the same sidewall in 19s that people run in 20s so it can be a wash, you just need to dig into the detailed specs

Still, a good 19x10” ET35 square set with 285/35R19 tires on all 4 corners really suits the car IMHO and will weigh less than stock wheel and tire sets if you go with flowformed/spinforged or forged wheels. Cast wheels and where things get heavy (most Ford OEM wheels are cast). Flowformed/spinforged means forged barrels and cast face, ao they minimize weight where it helps the most, but arent forged throughout, and there are plenty of good muatang specific wheels in that category and sizes. If a wheel doesnt say its weight or it doesnt say its construction, assume its cast and a boat anchor.

Pay attention to tire weight and quality too, but please dont cheap out and throw some bargin price Nittos on there, they’re terrible.

 

[PsychoPete]

There are 18" wheels that will fit with the Brembo's but the street tire choice is more limited in 18's vs 19's.

It turns out I was wrong, the stockers are 19". I'll keep the 20's for now and get the new shocks and springs.

 

[PsychoPete]

Almost anything else will ride better than BC coilvers (except for even cheaper coilovers). Those are not really meant for performance or ride quality, just for lowering purposes.

I would personally go with a pair of Ford springs (whether X or Y depending on how stiff you want the ride).

Why do you recommend the Ford springs over the Steeda minimum drop springs? I don't want to have it slammed.

 

[PsychoPete]

I love my B6/Steeda minimum drop spring combo, drives nicely without being harsh. If your car is indeed a PP1 it would have come with 19" wheels not 18", they don't fit over the Brembo calipers in front. Tried and true combo is to get 19 x 10" et 35 wheels with 285/35/19 tires, improves handling and also still has compliant ride.

You are correct, the stockers are 19's, I edited my original post.

Do you recommend a square or staggered setup?

 

[PsychoPete]

Its a good plan. i’d also swap out those coils for some bilsteins and min drop springs.


For the wheel/tire, the considerations are weight, and tire sidewall. Depending on the 20s on the car they could be extremely heavy or basically fine. In general 20 packages are heavier than 19s and then 18s, but it depends on the specific wheel and tire you go with. You can mess it up with a heavy 18” wheel too. Some people are running the same sidewall in 19s that people run in 20s so it can be a wash, you just need to dig into the detailed specs

Still, a good 19x10” ET35 square set with 285/35R19 tires on all 4 corners really suits the car IMHO and will weigh less than stock wheel and tire sets if you go with flowformed/spinforged or forged wheels. Cast wheels and where things get heavy (most Ford OEM wheels are cast). Flowformed/spinforged means forged barrels and cast face, ao they minimize weight where it helps the most, but arent forged throughout, and there are plenty of good muatang specific wheels in that category and sizes. If a wheel doesnt say its weight or it doesnt say its construction, assume its cast and a boat anchor.

Pay attention to tire weight and quality too, but please dont cheap out and throw some bargin price Nittos on there, they’re terrible.

Thank you for the detailed response. I think for now I'll keep the 20's (they do look good, 5 spoke wheels) and swap in the Bilsteins and Steeda Min Drop springs.
What is the minimum in other parts to add while I'm doing this? I know the previous owner installed camber plates/tie rod thingies but with the slammed setup, he probably didn't need to add those other 'wheel hop' parts. Any suggestions? Perhaps that should be a seperate post.

 

[Oakley]

go with bmr. my steeda minimum drop springs weren't level. i had to add spacer to one side to get them right. it was very weird. wish i would've gone with bmr. car drives good but wish i would've done bmr and a different shock rather than steeda adjustables..

 

[NightmareMoon]

Thank you for the detailed response. I think for now I'll keep the 20's (they do look good, 5 spoke wheels) and swap in the Bilsteins and Steeda Min Drop springs.
What is the minimum in other parts to add while I'm doing this? I know the previous owner installed camber plates/tie rod thingies but with the slammed setup, he probably didn't need to add those other 'wheel hop' parts. Any suggestions? Perhaps that should be a seperate post.

Its likely the camber plates with the BC coils won't transfer over and you'll have to source some which work with normal springs or go back to the OEM hats. I like camber plates, because I like to fine tune my camber, but for a 100% street car that doesn't need to carve twisties hard it doesn't matter. Steeda makes some good camber plates for a good price if you go that route.

Do you have pictures of the tie rod thingies? If those are bump steer mods, then you might need to have them adjusted, but they'll transfer fine.

If the other wheel hop parts aren't causing extra noise, then I'd leave them alone.

Hard to say if anything is needed without inspecting it.
* If you're going back to OEM style shocks, its new top hats OR camber plates
* new bump stops and dust boots (trimmed the right amount for your lowering or some fancy suitable ones,
* new OEM strut to spindle bolts and nut hardware.
* Possibly you'll need new swaybar endlinks for OEM fit shocks?
* You might want new nuts for the top hats to the strut towers, but its likely Bilstein struts will ship with that.

 

[EFI]

Why do you recommend the Ford springs over the Steeda minimum drop springs? I don't want to have it slammed.

I prefer the higher quality of OEM derived parts and I've never been truly happy/fan of Steeda stuff. If you had the whole Steeda catalog, I would say go for their springs but from what I've hear the Billsteins pair very nicely with the Ford springs.

It wouldn't be anywhere near slammed...they drop a very modes 1.0 in the front and 0.6 in the back just enough to get rid of the wheel gap but still be very streetable.

 

[Diegosuave]

go with bmr. my steeda minimum drop springs weren't level. i had to add spacer to one side to get them right. it was very weird. wish i would've gone with bmr. car drives good but wish i would've done bmr and a different shock rather than steeda adjustables..

I have BMR Handling springs on FPP track shocks and struts on a square setup. I’m pleased with the fitment, ride, and prefer the square so I can rotate them. If you want something more comfortable, I would recommend the BMR performance springs.

 

[PsychoPete]

Its likely the camber plates with the BC coils won't transfer over and you'll have to source some which work with normal springs or go back to the OEM hats. I like camber plates, because I like to fine tune my camber, but for a 100% street car that doesn't need to carve twisties hard it doesn't matter. Steeda makes some good camber plates for a good price if you go that route.

Do you have pictures of the tie rod thingies? If those are bump steer mods, then you might need to have them adjusted, but they'll transfer fine.

If the other wheel hop parts aren't causing extra noise, then I'd leave them alone.

Hard to say if anything is needed without inspecting it.
* If you're going back to OEM style shocks, its new top hats OR camber plates
* new bump stops and dust boots (trimmed the right amount for your lowering or some fancy suitable ones,
* new OEM strut to spindle bolts and nut hardware.
* Possibly you'll need new swaybar endlinks for OEM fit shocks?
* You might want new nuts for the top hats to the strut towers, but its likely Bilstein struts will ship with that.

The previous owner installed a Voodoo Camber Kit, would that be compatible with the new suspension?

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