Godspeed Coilovers
08-29-2018, 12:55 AM
#77
Three Wheelin'
I thought about them too. For a while actually.
then I figured that the Koni-Eibach is a much better proven combo.
964 are built to be driven, don’t jeopardize that pleasure with low quality parts.
then I figured that the Koni-Eibach is a much better proven combo.
964 are built to be driven, don’t jeopardize that pleasure with low quality parts.
12-07-2018, 05:20 AM
#78
Intermediate
It has been over 2 years now. How do you find the Godspeed Coilovers? I wanted to replace the SUV height suspension of my 964 but then got news that I need to replace my shocks on my 993. This came as a surprised as I was planning the upgrade a year down the road. So cost is a major factor. I planning to make purchase soon so any advice is much appreciated.
12-07-2018, 02:16 PM
#79
Racer
After a couple years I can say that I've been very happy with these. I know that Goughary isn't a fan. I'd like to know why.
Here are some of the the activities I've done in this car since installing these coil-overs.
Autocrossed a couple times 2017
Porsche HPDE 2018
Porsche parade in 2017 with driving events
Drove from Spokane to Seattle and back 4 times
Lots and lots of back country roads around Eastern Washington
2 Winters in 'lifted' mode
Over all that time, with the coils at my lowest setting and with the dials set to Medium stiffness in the rear and Stiffest in the Front, I've only ever felt them bottom out once. And that was before I had the alignment done and camber changed.
Since that, no issues withrubbing or bottoming out. At the track for the Autocross and HPDE, the car felt very solid and handled very well.
On the mean streets of Spokane, where the ruts run wild and pot holes know no bounds, I'd set the suspension to Soft in the fronts. With that, my car soaked up the bumps and handled the ruts just fine. Not as smooth as an SUV, but no where near as kidney killing as it was before on the stock suspension.
Over all, I've been very pleased with these. For the money they delivered. My expectations were not very high and so they definitely exceeded them and more.
Would I buy them again? Yes.
Would I do anything differently or want something changed? Yes!. The adjustment of these is different than any other coil-over setup I've owned. You have to unbolt the bottom of the strut from the rest of the suspension to turn the strut to make height adjustments. Weird at first then you get used to it. The change I'd like is to make the adjustments like traditional coils. Turn spring perches up or down.
Bottom line is for the price these are hard to beat. They handle the weather pretty well with minor corrosion on the struts, but nothing regular maintenance can't address. They handle the roads around here like a champ and for light track duty they do not disappoint.
Hope that helps.
I do plan on replacing these with a set of KW v3's or Ohlins road & track coils in the near future because I want to be snooty and say I have a set of Ohlins. ;-)
Here are some of the the activities I've done in this car since installing these coil-overs.
Autocrossed a couple times 2017
Porsche HPDE 2018
Porsche parade in 2017 with driving events
Drove from Spokane to Seattle and back 4 times
Lots and lots of back country roads around Eastern Washington
2 Winters in 'lifted' mode
Over all that time, with the coils at my lowest setting and with the dials set to Medium stiffness in the rear and Stiffest in the Front, I've only ever felt them bottom out once. And that was before I had the alignment done and camber changed.
Since that, no issues withrubbing or bottoming out. At the track for the Autocross and HPDE, the car felt very solid and handled very well.
On the mean streets of Spokane, where the ruts run wild and pot holes know no bounds, I'd set the suspension to Soft in the fronts. With that, my car soaked up the bumps and handled the ruts just fine. Not as smooth as an SUV, but no where near as kidney killing as it was before on the stock suspension.
Over all, I've been very pleased with these. For the money they delivered. My expectations were not very high and so they definitely exceeded them and more.
Would I buy them again? Yes.
Would I do anything differently or want something changed? Yes!. The adjustment of these is different than any other coil-over setup I've owned. You have to unbolt the bottom of the strut from the rest of the suspension to turn the strut to make height adjustments. Weird at first then you get used to it. The change I'd like is to make the adjustments like traditional coils. Turn spring perches up or down.
Bottom line is for the price these are hard to beat. They handle the weather pretty well with minor corrosion on the struts, but nothing regular maintenance can't address. They handle the roads around here like a champ and for light track duty they do not disappoint.
Hope that helps.
I do plan on replacing these with a set of KW v3's or Ohlins road & track coils in the near future because I want to be snooty and say I have a set of Ohlins. ;-)
12-07-2018, 02:54 PM
#80
My experience with Godspeed is on my 987. Completely different car, so results will vary, but coilover quality is often shared among other models.
I have always shared the general opinion of Godspeed products (you get what you pay for) and if these last me two seasons, I'll be surprised and happy. In the meantime, it's nice having something with adjustable damping, lowering, and built in camber plates. KW is the best from my experience, but the price can be a bit intimidating for many.
I'm honestly very impressed... Compared to my experience with H&R, Bilstein, and KW on Ford, Mazda, and Volvo, I would consider these better than H&R and Bilstein, but time will tell...
The amount of adjustability has allowed me to test various settings over the last few months and dial in something that is comfortable, sits the way I want, responds very well to the road, and isn't bouncy. I have done 3 track days with these and been impressed so far.
After about 100 miles, I started getting some spring binding even though I set the preload appropriately. My problem was the mounts were a little stiff since they were new. After another few hundred miles, everything got loosened up the way it needed and has been problem free since.
Install took about 2 hours and height/damping adjustments only take seconds on the 987.
Considering that they cost me less than 20% of any other 987 coilovers (many with less adjustment options), these will hold me off for a year or two.
I have always shared the general opinion of Godspeed products (you get what you pay for) and if these last me two seasons, I'll be surprised and happy. In the meantime, it's nice having something with adjustable damping, lowering, and built in camber plates. KW is the best from my experience, but the price can be a bit intimidating for many.
I'm honestly very impressed... Compared to my experience with H&R, Bilstein, and KW on Ford, Mazda, and Volvo, I would consider these better than H&R and Bilstein, but time will tell...
The amount of adjustability has allowed me to test various settings over the last few months and dial in something that is comfortable, sits the way I want, responds very well to the road, and isn't bouncy. I have done 3 track days with these and been impressed so far.
After about 100 miles, I started getting some spring binding even though I set the preload appropriately. My problem was the mounts were a little stiff since they were new. After another few hundred miles, everything got loosened up the way it needed and has been problem free since.
Install took about 2 hours and height/damping adjustments only take seconds on the 987.
Considering that they cost me less than 20% of any other 987 coilovers (many with less adjustment options), these will hold me off for a year or two.
12-07-2018, 09:54 PM
#81
Race Car
I don't have any big things to say abt the godspeeds- responding from the post above...
But here are my woes...
First they are cheep. So yes this is a plus. And do they work? Yes. They are essentially fine. So for anyone having a good experience- awesome. You should be. Cuz when we buy something and go through all the time and expense to install align etc...they had better be good!
Now- for us...we installed these on the lobster rocket. They were "good", but we had removed a set of bilstein hd- which were "good".
Now - we also installed a new set of bilstein hd and eibachs on the Alabama car, having installed also a set of monoball top hats to the rear in that setup....so we had a new set of godspeeds and a new set of bilstein/eibach/ monoball on another to play with back to back. And then...i did kwv3 with camber plates and monoballs...so we had that setup to compare as well.
The bilstein and eibach were - over all for a street setup, much better when the godspeeds were set to a similar softness. So for the majority of driving - the bilsteins won that argument. Yes, for a track day, the added adjustment of the godspeeds would have won in that setting.
Cost? I would have gone Godspeed too---knowing only what i just said. Cuz i love to know i can stiffen things up for hard driving...but...
Then the problems started. The first problem, was that there is no lock ring on the godspeeds, so under hard use, the height adjustment rings kept loosening up and the struts kept rotating and therefore changing the ride height. This drove us nuts. The kw use a set screw in the ring and the bilsteins use a lock ring. If the godspeeds had been on my car, i would have had to fix this by modifying to one of those two methods...so i would suggest that. Simple fix. Drill a hole, tap in and toss a set screw in there.
(We cranked down the rings very hard and the problem wasn't something i heard about again)
But then....mike blew out the right rear strut. After a year of use. So here is where the cheap comes into play. Cuz first off- you are very very unlikely to blow a bilstein. They are really well made. But he went and tried to contact the company. And couldn't. Now he isn't me and I'm not him. And it wasn't on my car. So I'm going by hear say, but he tried multiple times to find someone to discuss this issue with and was unsuccessful and gave up. Because this not only shouldn't have happened, but it also shouldn't happen that you have a product on your car that should be warranteed, and there is no one behind the product. Or at least no one easily accessible- which wouldn't happen with bilstein, kw, Olin's, etc.
So yes they work- and when they work they are good for the price- for sure. But judging by my/our experience, I'd buy a more reputable product, which is only a few hundred more out of pocket. Because should you have either of those issues, the alignments alone would cost you more than having bought the better product just once and aligned once. Plus I'd like to have the option to have the struts rebuilt in the future if need be. But for 800 dollars- ok we aren't rebuilding godspeeds...
Now - as to kw- great product, sort of. I really wish the perches were aluminum. But- for anyone that hasn't been to the other threads - suspension madness and the other one - where we discussed the issue w kw- take note:
First - all current kw for a 964 require that you use step down washers on the lower bolt in the front strut. This is important as your camber will change in corners if you don't. Kw does not supply the step down washers. Unless you call them and complain.
Second- i will NEVER buy another kw product due to the way they have handled being notified of this issue. Keep in mind - if you have kw struts, this is a safety issue. And you need a receipt for the struts you have proving that you bought the struts in order to have them send you a few dollars worth of step down washers to solve your issue that they designed into their own product. So if a shop bought your struts, they won't send you washers unless you have the receipt for the purchase.
Good product. Terrible way of handling a serious issue. (You may be able to tell that I'm not happy).
This all said, if i get a call from the president of kw- he should have my number at this point after all the time i spent discussing this with his employees on the phone- and if i hear an apology and a promise to not only include the step down washers on all future 964 purchases, but also hear that they will send the step down washers to any of us that have their product on our cars- i will retract and thank them for stepping up.
But for the moment- they are black listed. I'm not giving them my business or recommending a product with a fundamental design flaw.
Now back to our regularly scheduled program...
But here are my woes...
First they are cheep. So yes this is a plus. And do they work? Yes. They are essentially fine. So for anyone having a good experience- awesome. You should be. Cuz when we buy something and go through all the time and expense to install align etc...they had better be good!
Now- for us...we installed these on the lobster rocket. They were "good", but we had removed a set of bilstein hd- which were "good".
Now - we also installed a new set of bilstein hd and eibachs on the Alabama car, having installed also a set of monoball top hats to the rear in that setup....so we had a new set of godspeeds and a new set of bilstein/eibach/ monoball on another to play with back to back. And then...i did kwv3 with camber plates and monoballs...so we had that setup to compare as well.
The bilstein and eibach were - over all for a street setup, much better when the godspeeds were set to a similar softness. So for the majority of driving - the bilsteins won that argument. Yes, for a track day, the added adjustment of the godspeeds would have won in that setting.
Cost? I would have gone Godspeed too---knowing only what i just said. Cuz i love to know i can stiffen things up for hard driving...but...
Then the problems started. The first problem, was that there is no lock ring on the godspeeds, so under hard use, the height adjustment rings kept loosening up and the struts kept rotating and therefore changing the ride height. This drove us nuts. The kw use a set screw in the ring and the bilsteins use a lock ring. If the godspeeds had been on my car, i would have had to fix this by modifying to one of those two methods...so i would suggest that. Simple fix. Drill a hole, tap in and toss a set screw in there.
(We cranked down the rings very hard and the problem wasn't something i heard about again)
But then....mike blew out the right rear strut. After a year of use. So here is where the cheap comes into play. Cuz first off- you are very very unlikely to blow a bilstein. They are really well made. But he went and tried to contact the company. And couldn't. Now he isn't me and I'm not him. And it wasn't on my car. So I'm going by hear say, but he tried multiple times to find someone to discuss this issue with and was unsuccessful and gave up. Because this not only shouldn't have happened, but it also shouldn't happen that you have a product on your car that should be warranteed, and there is no one behind the product. Or at least no one easily accessible- which wouldn't happen with bilstein, kw, Olin's, etc.
So yes they work- and when they work they are good for the price- for sure. But judging by my/our experience, I'd buy a more reputable product, which is only a few hundred more out of pocket. Because should you have either of those issues, the alignments alone would cost you more than having bought the better product just once and aligned once. Plus I'd like to have the option to have the struts rebuilt in the future if need be. But for 800 dollars- ok we aren't rebuilding godspeeds...
Now - as to kw- great product, sort of. I really wish the perches were aluminum. But- for anyone that hasn't been to the other threads - suspension madness and the other one - where we discussed the issue w kw- take note:
First - all current kw for a 964 require that you use step down washers on the lower bolt in the front strut. This is important as your camber will change in corners if you don't. Kw does not supply the step down washers. Unless you call them and complain.
Second- i will NEVER buy another kw product due to the way they have handled being notified of this issue. Keep in mind - if you have kw struts, this is a safety issue. And you need a receipt for the struts you have proving that you bought the struts in order to have them send you a few dollars worth of step down washers to solve your issue that they designed into their own product. So if a shop bought your struts, they won't send you washers unless you have the receipt for the purchase.
Good product. Terrible way of handling a serious issue. (You may be able to tell that I'm not happy).
This all said, if i get a call from the president of kw- he should have my number at this point after all the time i spent discussing this with his employees on the phone- and if i hear an apology and a promise to not only include the step down washers on all future 964 purchases, but also hear that they will send the step down washers to any of us that have their product on our cars- i will retract and thank them for stepping up.
But for the moment- they are black listed. I'm not giving them my business or recommending a product with a fundamental design flaw.
Now back to our regularly scheduled program...
12-08-2018, 12:44 AM
#82
Racer
Thanks man. I'll have to catch up on the suspension madness thread!
12-08-2018, 09:53 AM
#83
Race Car
Yeah sorry - i was tired and that was really long..lol...
You guys all know I'm sometimes massively opinionated...don't read into my comments a "black and white"...cuz though i always have my black and white that is in my head...it doesn't ever mean I'm not open to the grey and I'm always open to other perspectives.
If you do go to the suspension madness thread and happen to run across the wevo engine mount issue- wevo is the perfect example of how a reputable company should respond to their customers when there is an issue.
"I have a problem"
"Send pics and tell me"
"That shouldn't have happened let's discuss while i send you replacements immediately"
Please let me know if you find out more"
Then a couple weeks later they followed up.
You guys all know I'm sometimes massively opinionated...don't read into my comments a "black and white"...cuz though i always have my black and white that is in my head...it doesn't ever mean I'm not open to the grey and I'm always open to other perspectives.
If you do go to the suspension madness thread and happen to run across the wevo engine mount issue- wevo is the perfect example of how a reputable company should respond to their customers when there is an issue.
"I have a problem"
"Send pics and tell me"
"That shouldn't have happened let's discuss while i send you replacements immediately"
Please let me know if you find out more"
Then a couple weeks later they followed up.
12-10-2018, 03:41 PM
#84
Intermediate
After a couple years I can say that I've been very happy with these. I know that Goughary isn't a fan. I'd like to know why.
Here are some of the the activities I've done in this car since installing these coil-overs.
Autocrossed a couple times 2017
Porsche HPDE 2018
Porsche parade in 2017 with driving events
Drove from Spokane to Seattle and back 4 times
Lots and lots of back country roads around Eastern Washington
2 Winters in 'lifted' mode
Over all that time, with the coils at my lowest setting and with the dials set to Medium stiffness in the rear and Stiffest in the Front, I've only ever felt them bottom out once. And that was before I had the alignment done and camber changed.
Since that, no issues withrubbing or bottoming out. At the track for the Autocross and HPDE, the car felt very solid and handled very well.
On the mean streets of Spokane, where the ruts run wild and pot holes know no bounds, I'd set the suspension to Soft in the fronts. With that, my car soaked up the bumps and handled the ruts just fine. Not as smooth as an SUV, but no where near as kidney killing as it was before on the stock suspension.
Over all, I've been very pleased with these. For the money they delivered. My expectations were not very high and so they definitely exceeded them and more.
Would I buy them again? Yes.
Would I do anything differently or want something changed? Yes!. The adjustment of these is different than any other coil-over setup I've owned. You have to unbolt the bottom of the strut from the rest of the suspension to turn the strut to make height adjustments. Weird at first then you get used to it. The change I'd like is to make the adjustments like traditional coils. Turn spring perches up or down.
Bottom line is for the price these are hard to beat. They handle the weather pretty well with minor corrosion on the struts, but nothing regular maintenance can't address. They handle the roads around here like a champ and for light track duty they do not disappoint.
Hope that helps.
I do plan on replacing these with a set of KW v3's or Ohlins road & track coils in the near future because I want to be snooty and say I have a set of Ohlins. ;-)
Here are some of the the activities I've done in this car since installing these coil-overs.
Autocrossed a couple times 2017
Porsche HPDE 2018
Porsche parade in 2017 with driving events
Drove from Spokane to Seattle and back 4 times
Lots and lots of back country roads around Eastern Washington
2 Winters in 'lifted' mode
Over all that time, with the coils at my lowest setting and with the dials set to Medium stiffness in the rear and Stiffest in the Front, I've only ever felt them bottom out once. And that was before I had the alignment done and camber changed.
Since that, no issues withrubbing or bottoming out. At the track for the Autocross and HPDE, the car felt very solid and handled very well.
On the mean streets of Spokane, where the ruts run wild and pot holes know no bounds, I'd set the suspension to Soft in the fronts. With that, my car soaked up the bumps and handled the ruts just fine. Not as smooth as an SUV, but no where near as kidney killing as it was before on the stock suspension.
Over all, I've been very pleased with these. For the money they delivered. My expectations were not very high and so they definitely exceeded them and more.
Would I buy them again? Yes.
Would I do anything differently or want something changed? Yes!. The adjustment of these is different than any other coil-over setup I've owned. You have to unbolt the bottom of the strut from the rest of the suspension to turn the strut to make height adjustments. Weird at first then you get used to it. The change I'd like is to make the adjustments like traditional coils. Turn spring perches up or down.
Bottom line is for the price these are hard to beat. They handle the weather pretty well with minor corrosion on the struts, but nothing regular maintenance can't address. They handle the roads around here like a champ and for light track duty they do not disappoint.
Hope that helps.
I do plan on replacing these with a set of KW v3's or Ohlins road & track coils in the near future because I want to be snooty and say I have a set of Ohlins. ;-)
12-11-2020, 11:04 PM
#85
Rennlist Member
Any more feedback on the Godspeed coil overs? On sale for $875
12-12-2020, 10:30 PM
#86
I've been happy with mine for the last 2 years. Car only sees road use, but have driven it pretty hard on some curvy roads and it performs well. Also had a few friends drive it and they were impressed by the feel (one drives a heavily modified Ruf Turbo R...)
