Lowering a 2.5 with Gecko coilovers

[surmiser]

I've lowered my 2.5 with Gecko G-Street coilovers. 18-inch wheels with stock 225/50R18 tires. 1.5-inch drop all around:

 

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Front coilover:

 

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Front damping adjustment knob:

 

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Rear coilover:

 

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170108/afedc5ef0b04d0c529575d126a142bbb.jpg

 

Rear damping adjustment knob:

 

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Gecko is a Taiwanese coilover brand that's available in the US: https://www.facebook.com/GeckoUSA

 

You probably haven't heard of them because their background is OEM work and they don't seem to have had much luck establishing themselves as an independent brand. Their dubious branding probably doesn't help.

 

But I decided to gamble on them because they are cheap (I believe they start at about US$700 Stateside but are perversely a bit more expensive in Southeast Asia) and boast impressive specs, which include Japanese KOYO bearing and NOK seals (I believe Tein uses these too).

 

I bought the G-Street model, which is fully adjustable for height but not camber, and has 24 levels of damping adjustment. There's a G-Street Plus model that adds camber, and a G-Race model with stiffer springs and 30 levels of damping.

 

My coilovers are actually a custom job because Gecko didn't have a model for our Legacy BN9. My local dealer gave me a small discount for being a guinea pig, which made them noticeably cheaper than official BN9 coilovers from D2 and RS*R. And now Gecko officially supports the BN9. Ask for product number 13581075.

 

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Front springs are 180mm with 8kg spring rates. Rear springs are 200mm with 6kg spring rates. In terms of comfort, I was worried these would be on the stiff side but although the ride is noticeably bumpier than stock, it's completely bearable. I have front dampers at a third stiffness (8/24) and rear at a quarter (6/24), with no bottoming out and no rubbing when cornering. I suspect that softer springs would have given me clearance problems at this ride height. I also suspect that my 22mm Whiteline sway bar allowed me to get away with softer rear damper settings. So, before you get coils, I highly recommend a stiffer sway bar first.

 

In terms of performance, there's no longer any perceivable diving during hard braking. And cornering composure is greatly improved, as is roadholding in general.

 

In terms of looks, I'm completely satisfied.

 

P.S. I originally posted this in the "H&R Springs" thread but mod GTEASER suggested I start my own thread, so here it is.

[surmiser]

I just looked on their web and I don't see they are available for our legacy. Maybe I have to contact them directly. I need coilovers! Looks great!

 

Took the liberty of replying here to the post you made in the H&R Springs thread.

 

Thanks!

 

Yeah, although they do have a (hopeless) official global website, I'd contact them directly through their USA Facebook page, which lists their US office as being located in Waterford, New York.

 

If they tell you they don't support the 6th-gen Legacy BN9, show them this scan of the front page of my Gecko manual, which clearly shows product number 13581075:

 

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170109/a4d945dabb8a00f5ed49f19f6b2a8a38.jpg

 

I don't know for a fact that they created a new SKU just for our cars, but that would make sense, so the product number should show Gecko USA a different coilover model in their system compared to the 5th-gen Legacy BM9/BMM.

 

They were shipped to me from their Taiwan factory last week (first week of 2017), and the specifications for our cars were submitted to them about three months ago, after my stock suspension was measured.

Edited January 9, 2017 by surmiser

[RobbieGT]

How close are you able to get to stock height if you adjust these as high as they go? I'm very interested in a set of these but may need to swap to the stock suspension during the winter..

 

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[andrew_l_s]

How close are you able to get to stock height if you adjust these as high as they go? I'm very interested in a set of these but may need to swap to the stock suspension during the winter..

 

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I'm curious about this as well. When it comes to deep snow, low is a no-go.

 

Strut top spacers would be an option to regain some height.

[surmiser]

How close are you able to get to stock height if you adjust these as high as they go? I'm very interested in a set of these but may need to swap to the stock suspension during the winter..

 

Sorry guys, I have no idea, but I'm going to ask my local dealer when I go in for adjustments after my coilovers have settled in. I'm hesitant to experiment myself cuz each adjustment takes a while to break in, and sometimes results in sag and imbalance.

 

I don't have snow here, but we've been getting increasingly bad flooding in Asia, so I'm going to have to be careful during the rainy monsoon season.

[Grnlantern1]

Sorry guys, I have no idea, but I'm going to ask my local dealer when I go in for adjustments after my coilovers have settled in. I'm hesitant to experiment myself cuz each adjustment takes a while to break in, and sometimes results in sag and imbalance.

 

I don't have snow here, but we've been getting increasingly bad flooding in Asia, so I'm going to have to be careful during the rainy monsoon season.

So how did they mount the Front Sway Bar Mount if you could take a picture next time your Front Wheel is off.. Im kinda of curious..[emoji106]

 

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[Grnlantern1]

So how did they mount the Front Sway Bar Mount if you could take a picture next time your Front Wheel is off.. Im kinda of curious..[emoji106]

 

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Sorrt just saw the the other post with the pucture of the Front Strut.. Nice Mount on the Strut Housing..[emoji106]

 

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[fullah]

Damn this is promising! Looks awesome lowered. Are you saying they developed these coilovers from scratch? Seems more like they already had something that fit out cars they just might not have realized it. I am hoping that some the case as it would confirm fitment of previous generation parts on our car. Edited January 9, 2017 by fullah

[surmiser]

Damn this is promising! Looks awesome lowered. Are you saying they developed these coilovers from scratch? Seems more like they already had something that fit out cars they just might not have realized it. I am hoping that some the case as it would confirm fitment of previous generation parts on our car.

 

Gecko has coilovers for older-gen Legacys and other Subaru models, and probably reused old specs for my rear coilovers since our rears are identical to the previous gen. But I'm pretty sure that coilovers for previous gens won't fit. The fronts are the problem.

 

They (Gecko) are open to customising coilovers to spec for pretty much any car because it's a win for them. They get to support a new model with minimal effort, and then claim to have a huge catalog. For my part, I had to let my dealer remove my stock suspension and spend hours measuring it. It was a bit of a pain and took up a lot of time. If there were more coils for our car available on the market, I wouldn't have bothered, but I was desperate enough to put up with it. It helped that my dealer gave me a US$140 discount for being a guinea pig.

 

So how did they mount the Front Sway Bar Mount if you could take a picture next time your Front Wheel is off.. Im kinda of curious..[emoji106]

 

In case more pics would be helpful, here are some and I've got plenty more:

 

 

 

 

 

And what the hell, here are some more of the rear, in case anyone's interested:

 

 

 

Edited January 10, 2017 by surmiser

[fullah]

Ok that makes sense now. Thanks for clarifying.

[surmiser]

After 2 months on Gecko coilovers, here's a short update:

 

They took 3 weeks to break in. During that time, they were too harsh and unforgiving, especially on uneven asphalt. After 3 weeks, they became significantly more comfortable without losing the benefits in stability, cornering and road-holding they provided. I didn't require any height adjustment after the break-in period.

 

So what I've got now is drastically improved handling, at the price of only slightly increased bumpiness. And as far as I can tell, the bumpiness is just a necessary consequence of my suspension responding more quickly, and therefore detecting more road surface imperfections. Whereas I found the stock springs and shocks would sometimes take way too long to rebound.

 

I should add that the small difference in ride quality between stock and my Gecko coilovers comes from 6th-gen stock suspension being noticeably stiffer than many other cars I've driven, such as the current-gen Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima K5, and the Mk7/Mk7.5 VW Golf TSI and Variant.

 

So, I'm even happier now with my Gecko suspension than when I first had them installed. I do wish they had independent rebound damping adjustment, which I'd have happily paid a premium for, but that's about it.

[derp]

Where would one even buy these things?

[whitetiger]

After 2 months on Gecko coilovers, here's a short update:

 

They took 3 weeks to break in. During that time, they were too harsh and unforgiving, especially on uneven asphalt. After 3 weeks, they became significantly more comfortable without losing the benefits in stability, cornering and road-holding they provided. I didn't require any height adjustment after the break-in period.

 

So what I've got now is drastically improved handling, at the price of only slightly increased bumpiness. And as far as I can tell, the bumpiness is just a necessary consequence of my suspension responding more quickly, and therefore detecting more road surface imperfections. Whereas I found the stock springs and shocks would sometimes take way too long to rebound.

 

I should add that the small difference in ride quality between stock and my Gecko coilovers comes from 6th-gen stock suspension being noticeably stiffer than many other cars I've driven, such as the current-gen Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima K5, and the Mk7/Mk7.5 VW Golf TSI and Variant.

 

So, I'm even happier now with my Gecko suspension than when I first had them installed. I do wish they had independent rebound damping adjustment, which I'd have happily paid a premium for, but that's about it.

 

you do realize that shocks dont have break-in periods, right? springs settle over time, but shocks should be optimal right out of the box. these look like a garbage brand shocks, so odds are they were super stiff and then partially blew out after 3 weeks. that kind of ride quality change should be really troubling.

[surmiser]

Where would one even buy these things?

 

 

Gecko USA. They have a Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/GeckoUSA

[surmiser]

you do realize that shocks dont have break-in periods, right? springs settle over time, but shocks should be optimal right out of the box. these look like a garbage brand shocks, so odds are they were super stiff and then partially blew out after 3 weeks. that kind of ride quality change should be really troubling.

 

Thanks for your candour. I've had blown shocks, worn out lower arms, etc, and it really doesn't feel like what I have. Anything mechanical (eg, moving parts) will change slightly with use (movement). And my coilover springs were also brand new. Ymmv.

Edited March 3, 2017 by surmiser

[whitetiger]

forget about springs. shocks dont have a break-in period. they should not change damping force much over their life cycle unless they blow out, or the valving needs rebuilding. what you described is not how shocks function. there are many different ways a shock can blow out, and there are many different ways a blown shock can behave, and what you have described is one way they behave.

 

I would be concerned. Greatly.

 

its your car. you do you.

[Pleiades 3.6R]

Any chance of an update on these?

[surmiser]

Any chance of an update on these?

 

 

I'd be happy to post updates. What would you like to know?

 

So I've run these Gecko coilovers for about 16,000km (about 10k miles) over the course of about 14 months without any problems. No leaks, noises, sagging or imbalance.

 

A few months ago, I changed from 18" Prodrive wheels (18x8 +43) to 19" GFG Forged wheels (19x9 +35) and my coilovers are performing just as well with my new wheels.

 

The coilovers are doing so well that it's causing me a bit of a dilemma, because I'm toying with upgrading to bags, but find it a little difficult to justify selling off perfectly good coilovers. But I guess that's a good problem to have, as far as problems go.

 

@RobbieGT was also running Gecko coilovers on his 3.6R for a few months (without any issues) before he sold his Legacy and bought a Camaro.

[Pleiades 3.6R]

I'd be happy to post updates. What would you like to know?

 

So I've run these Gecko coilovers for about 16,000km (about 10k miles) over the course of about 14 months without any problems. No leaks, noises, sagging or imbalance.

 

A few months ago, I changed from 18" Prodrive wheels (18x8 +43) to 19" GFG Forged wheels (19x9 +35) and my coilovers are performing just as well with my new wheels.

 

The coilovers are doing so well that it's causing me a bit of a dilemma, because I'm toying with upgrading to bags, but find it a little difficult to justify selling off perfectly good coilovers. But I guess that's a good problem to have, as far as problems go.

 

@RobbieGT was also running Gecko coilovers on his 3.6R for a few months (without any issues) before he sold his Legacy and bought a Camaro.

 

Thank you, sir!

[Jrobles06]

Hey what kind of tires you running thanks !