How would you rate Buddy Club coilovers?

[stevenlee]

If you have any experience with Buddy Club coilovers, please post your comments on them.

Buddy Clubs are made in Japan (not China or Taiwan).
Buddy Clubs also have a larger body diameter of 55mm vs. 52mm for KW and 50 for Bilstein.
I'm impressed with some of their other features and would like to hear comments from users.

Any comments you can provide will be greatly appreciated, for example:
How would you compare them to other coilovers?
How long have you had them?
Would you recommend them?

Much Thanks!

 

[06_typeS]

I've only run one season on my Buddy Clubs and I love them. I had stock suspension prior and I cannot comment on any other type of could as this is the first for the NSX. When I installed the I had a bit of a problem with Fitment up front. The collars would want to hit on the control arm, but with some finessing we managed to figure it out. I am not on my lowest setting and I am definatly low enough. I had to raise the car up a bit before going in for alignment as I was rubbing quite a bit.

The he feel great as well, stiff when you want them to be but just cruising they feel quite stockish.

I know now it's not a great review, but it's late lol. Check out my build thread for install pics.

 

[Hugh]

I have an issue installing something called Buddy Club in my car. It sounds like the name of a bar in Ptown if you know what I mean.

 

[Mr. Fuji]

I have an issue installing something called Buddy Club in my car. It sounds like the name of a bar in Ptown if you know what I mean.

lol- I'm guessing you are not a fan of Pride exhausts then either? :wink:

 

[Hugh]

lol- I'm guessing you are not a fan of Pride exhausts then either? :wink:

Those come with little rainbow stickers, right?

 

[stevenlee]

I've only run one season on my Buddy Clubs and I love them. I had stock suspension prior and I cannot comment on any other type of could as this is the first for the NSX. When I installed the I had a bit of a problem with Fitment up front. The collars would want to hit on the control arm, but with some finessing we managed to figure it out. I am not on my lowest setting and I am definatly low enough. I had to raise the car up a bit before going in for alignment as I was rubbing quite a bit.

The he feel great as well, stiff when you want them to be but just cruising they feel quite stockish.

I know now it's not a great review, but it's late lol. Check out my build thread for install pics.

Thanks for your comments on your Buddy Club coilovers.
They do allow the NSX to be set to a VERY low ride height.
Do you think they allow the NSX to be set as HIGH as you would like?
Any other comments you may have would be greatly appreciated.

I really like some of the features of the Buddy Clubs that are not available on other brands such as Tein and BC Racing.

For those who don't know how these coilovers work, they have 2 adjustments. The spring perch adjusts the preload on the spring (and the clearance to the control arm). The bottom mount is threaded to allow the entire coilover to be lengthened or shortened to raise or lower the ride height of the car without affecting the spring preload.

I'm working on a system to allow more clearance between the spring perch and the control arm on these types of coilovers, WITHOUT increasing the preload on the spring. The system I'm working on will also provide more shock travel (and some other important benefits).

Any other comments on the performance of Buddy Club coilovers would be greatly appreciated.

 

[06_typeS]

When I first install my coils and put the car back on the ground it looked like a 4x4. SO yes, you can ride with them as high as you like, lol.

 

[stevenlee]

When I first install my coils and put the car back on the ground it looked like a 4x4. SO yes, you can ride with them as high as you like, lol.

Thanks for the reply. It's funny you mentioned that it looked "like a 4 x 4".
I'm attaching some photos of "off roading in an NSX".
I took these a couple of years ago when I was testing a lift system that I was developing.
The car is set up to normaly be quite low but it was raised to go over rocks and uneven terrain without scraping.





The reason I'm taking a survey on Buddy Clubs is that they can work well with the lift system.
The NSX can rise more than 3.5 inches at the front lip with them.