I installed mine this weekend and so far so good, but the ride is rather stiff.

As i couldn't install the rear damper adjustment extenders, adjusting the rear struts call for removing it altogether.

So, before i go that route, can y'all tell me how well softening the dampers affect overall ride quality?

I realize that stiff CO springs make the ride stiff, but also do realize that dampers play a big role in controlling it so that ever bump is at least soaked up better (rather than just a stiff compression with almost no rebound whatsoever).

For the record, i'm set to 15 out of 30 "clicks" on all corners.

Thanks!

Like you say overall stiffness is predominately the springs.
They are what supports the mass of the car.
The shock setting will be felt more on sharp or harsh surface impefections.
The shocks control the rate that the springs react, so depending on the type of load the effect is variable.

In a nut shell, you will definitely notice a smoother ride at the lower settings, but will sacrifice some performance.
The tricky part is finding that happy medium.
Unfortunately, trial & error is the only real way to do it.

Thanks, Ian. Much appreciated.

I don't mind feeling road imperfections, but i literally had a headache after 30 miles driving into work this morning. Not so much from the added feeling of road imperfections but it just felt like the dampers weren't dampening much... there was hardly any bounce after hitting any dip, bump or undulations on the road.

At 30-45mph, with our roads, it was rather harsh and i felt that each "thud" went right through my spine and head. On the freeway, it seemed to skim over most but still was harsh.

Changing the dampening definitely makes a good difference in the feel but unless you have coils that can use extenders removing is the only way to adjust them. Also I just got used to how harsh the car rides and no longer mind it.

It takes really good internal construction and R&D to offer a damper that can even attempt to offer good ride quality with springs that are too much stiffer then oem. Without that, you will compromise somewhere on the adustment dial, be it ride quality or performance. As my $2500 custom Bilstein coilover fiasco taught me (see sig), be very carefull about what your promised, it it's too good to be true, it is.

Thanks guys.

Gsedan35, i hear you're the suspension guru around here Thanks for the input. Not sure what Fatcat Motorsports have anything to do with your Bilsteins though (it's your sig).

In any case, everyone who's had the BC Racing CO's seem to like it and have posted some pretty good reviews. So i went with it, i'm hoping if those dampers are adjusted it'll make a noticeable difference --- especially in the rears where i feel the harshness the most. It's a 12kF / 8kR spring set-up with dampers at 15 out of 30 all around.

I just didn't want to take take the damper out, adjust and realize that it doesn't help at all. But i'll do it a couple of times, if it doesn't work i'm going back to OEM.

On a similar note, does anyone know where to drill a hole in the trunk so it meets the top of the rear shock hole? (To install the extenders).

I had drilled a hole on the top of the strut tower, but felt some mushy resistance (insulation?) and stopped. I don't know where the trunk wall is relative to that.

So, before i headed home yesterday, i set the fronts to 20 clicks (from hard, per BC's instructions -- or 10 clicks from soft as some would refer to it. BC recommends resetting back to 0, hard, and clicking back to 30, soft, when setting things up).

The ride is so much better! The front is now actually absorbing bumps. I haven't adjusted the rears yet, which is at 15, but it feels nowhere near the harsh ride i had yesterday. I'll stick with this set-up for a couple more days then adjust the rears accordingly when i raise it up a few mm.

Thanks for the responses guys!