[rayray]

been on the site for a year now but haven't even made an intro, mainly due to the fact that my CR-Z has been stock until just recently.

gonna try not to be too pic heavy and keep it straightforward. in a nutshell, this is strictly my daily. i don't plan heavy mods (2 project cars already). wanted a fun daily that won't break the bank, while not looking like every other small econobox on the road. the CR-Z fit the bill and here i am.

the only mods i plan are those to improve mileage, improve handling performance/feel, and lastly, improve aesthetics.

day i got it Feb '13

the first "mod" which was just making sure those headlights were protected on my 35 mile commute. i installed headlight and bumper nose film from invisiblemask.com

which i have to say went pretty smooth for a first time install.

then fast forward 10 months of nothing and a few nicks and chips here and there...

picked up RS*R Sports-i coilovers

sorry for the bad angle/shot of the rear, all i had was an led spotlight

i never liked the way the rear suspension wasn't very inspiring, and stock, felt like the rear suspension had a hard time keeping up with what was going on in front. it was one of the few annoyances i had of an otherwise pretty awesome little car.

fast forward another 3 months and i've been very happy with the new suspension so far. decided to go with the factory recommended settings for breaking it in. got an alignment in the meantime which helped me gain back about 1MPG (lowering causes slight toe-in at the front, which has been corrected to near-zero toe).

been waiting on messing with the coilover settings for since the initial installation, as i plan to pick up new wheels/tires... the only setting change i've done is raise the right rear two turns to balance everything out.

then a friend stopped by the other day and mentioned he bought some "wrong" spacers for his Z (a 350Z) off craigslist, which i was curious to know what they were for.

turns out he got some H&R 20mm spacers in 1.5 pitch that are 64mm hubcentric.... honda fitment. a little used but at $80 i wasn't complaining.

and on they went

here's a shot of the stock wheel and offset sitting about 1.5" lower than stock on RS*R coilovers (looks pretty gross i know)

and the side with the 20mm spacer for comparison

hope to "fill out" the front another time when i pick up some wheels...

here's how it sits as of now

the Sports-i factory setting sets the rear down a little more than the fronts. i've noticed this has helped give the car a bit more of a neutral feel in terms of weight balance. also had slight toe-out dialed in to aid in cornering, which has helped to get rid of that slightly nose-heavy feeling and sharpened turn-in response.

and good thing i waited on the suspension setting, since the 20mm spacer made a notable difference in handling in the rear as well.

to bring people unfamiliar with the RS*R Sports-i coilovers up to speed, these are sportier more track-oriented offerings from RS*R (contrary to their Black series which are designed for even lower ride heights without compromising ride/comfort). it's not a "track" harsh Tein Monoflex level of spring dampening/spring combo, rather, a compromise between a full sports and OE-like sports shock upgrade.

it's firmer off the bat for sure, but in a good way. the factory setting is pretty close to what i would consider an all-around ideal setting.. but you can raise and soften the dampers to near stock specs, or go much stiffer and lower for track duty.

also, the one defining characteristic i find interesting with RS*R coilovers is how quiet they are (not just the CR-Z but several other cars i've sat/driven in). which is why i shelled out the extra $ for a sportier ride without compromising road noise, while improving overall handling characteristics.

lack of camber adjustments in general for this car (and the rear torsion setup) has been a turn-off, but so far impressed with the nimble handling characteristics of the CR-Z.

the only other thing i've added was illuminated door sills which are pretty self-explanatory lol.

well that ended up being more wordy than i anticipated.

on the hunt for sportier "OE" looking wheels as the next upgrade.

 

[CR-Z Canadian]

Thanks for the details of the suspension, rayray. :thumbup:
The car looks good.

What size wheels are you looking at? And what you gonna shoe them with?

 

[rayray]

thanks!

since it's a daily and i'm not likely to track this car hard, i'm going with 18x8 with either 205 or 215. tires are going to depend on what's available in each of the sizes

 

[CRz_pHiLe]

:thumbup:

I'm ordering myself a set of RS*R coilovers due to your recommendation. To confirm again what settings are you running? height? damper rate?

 

[rayray]

it's at the factory (RS*R) recommended settings and height, pretty much the out-of-box setting.

Front -35mm (-1.4inch)
Rear -40mm (-1.6inch)
I believe my shock settings are smack in the middle. and 2 clicks harder in front

you can also find the range of recommended heights on their site
RS-R Sports-i Coilovers for 2013+ Honda CR-Z | RS-R

i mentioned this in the separate suspension thread, but RS*R USA has based their setup to the US "ZF2" or basically the USDM 2013 ZF1 models. 2011-2012 owners might want to play with their settings to find the right height and rates to their tastes, I can't imagine it would be THAT different. it's just their initial out of factory settings have been based on 2013 USDM models is all.

 

[Spooner]

You have the best year and color! Im biased lol

Thats a great height

 

[rayray]

thanks Spooner, and yes, all my cars have been white, so i'm a little biased too. it was just the color of my first car and it's stuck that way since

the 16's look 'alright' at this height but definitely can't wait to fill them out with some light 18" wheels haha

 

[^Joe]

Looking good rayray! Nice colour

Have you noticed any difference with adding spacers at all..? Thinking of getting some for mine, just pull those rears out a touch.

 

[rayray]

yes there is a noticeable difference. it's an increase in 40mm total rear track, which is noticeable considering the CR-Z's track isn't that wide to begin with. the FR-S is an inch wider, Veloster nearly 2 inch wider in the rear.

can't say for certain if this translates to better times on the track, as i haven't taken it to the track, but it definitely a bit more inspiring to toss into a corner as it feels softer and more predictable out rear with the spacers when coming into a corner.

 

[^Joe]

Thanks for that..

It doesn't offer any more 'stresses' on the car / suspension at all does it..?

 

[rayray]

any changes to the offset will affect something else. in this case, adding a 20mm spacer is no different than installing a wheel of 20mm lower offset (or 20mm less backspace over stock), and it will change the leverage on the rear torsion beam just like any other low offset wheel.

imagine our rear suspension (or beam) as being a single giant wishbone with springs/shocks on the end to support the vehicle and dampen the ride. any extra width to the track in this case, will provide more "leverage" against the torsion beam, hence the softer feel in ride.

so technically, yes it does stress the rear torsion beam a bit more, but no more than a wheel of equal width and offset. general rule of thumb, the further out you go with your wheels, the more stress is applied to the studs, rather than on the hub itself.

 

[^Joe]

Thank you - good advice.. so would you say I need to take any extra precautions to outweigh the extra tension..? I appreciate it may not be much, but I plan on keeping the car a while..

Same question to lowering springs really (25mm).. but I don't want to spam your thread up

 

[rayray]

hey joe, i don't mind answering questions.

may be shift the questions to this thread, and i'll answer them there

http://www.crzforum.com/forum/handl...ports-coilover-driving-impression-13-6mt.html

 

[CRz_pHiLe]

Do you happen to have a side profile shot?

 

[rayray]

^ sorry didn't get back to ya. you mean like a straight on side shot?

 

[rayray]

just received my first cosmetic and (hopefully) functional mod.

never liked the ultra dim mirror lights and found the trunk light to be too dim at night, especially when considering we don't have a dome light to cast light into the hatch.

so i picked up some exLED custom interior LED lighting kit from exLEDusa

crz kit link here

been following them for awhile and they have some pretty amazing custom LED builds. most of them are a little over the top for me, but their custom interior kits always caught my eye. a bit pricey at about $70 for the set, but as you can see, there are a ton of LED's plastered over the board and are fitted to the specific location of each.

jin there is the man, always promptly answered my questions, made sure i got exactly what i needed.

what's even more interesting is that the light output for many of their kits (the map lights) are adjustable. not sure if you can spot the little phillips "+" screw on the map light board, but it's there.

you can also choose your light output "tempurature" range in which i opted for the most natural looking 5000K. you can get many other colors (or custom colors if you desire).

heck, you can even customize them further with "caps" that cover the LED's if you want alter the light pattern. they have caps that diffuse the light, and even ones which focus them (if you prefer a directional beam of light).

hope to have a quick write up and a stock vs exLED comparo up shortly.

i'm going to try both the standard installation, as well as trying some diffuser film between the LED and the lens (within the housings) to reduce the distinctive LED glare without cutting too much of the out put.

 

[Spooner]

Im excited to see this. My expensive OSRAM LED blew out on my front map light now Im looking to replace all of them. Ill be keeping an eye on this. Can I recommend wax paper for diffusing light?? Works perfectly.

 

[IareMrHappy8D]

Im excited to see this. My expensive OSRAM LED blew out on my front map light now Im looking to replace all of them. Ill be keeping an eye on this. Can I recommend wax paper for diffusing light?? Works perfectly.

I heard from a led retail shop nearby that fuse-type leds don't handle electrical load very well. im going to pick up some of these next week and we'll see how they last

 

[CRz_pHiLe]

^ sorry didn't get back to ya. you mean like a straight on side shot?

Yes, since I got them I'm debating if I should go lower just to get rid of wheel gap uke: Do you happen to have a picture of your wheel alignment specs?

 

[rayray]

here's the direct side shot of the current setup. hard to tell in the photo but it's just a tad lower in the rear than the front. also have 20mm spacers out back.

i'll see if i can get my alignment specs scanned. i think i have the sheet in my car