First Impression: RCS Suspension - Velocity Sensitive Dampers

[red_cloud]

We do re-build certain dampers which we have the parts for. But these are mostly servicable dampers like, proflex, ohlins DFVs, some bilsteins, drummonds etc.

and we haven't done any Edix's yet, but customizing a set shouldn't be a problem


Nanda

 

[MD777]

i would like to know how much to rebuild alphard ohlins dfv?
It squeeks when turning steering and clonks
what's the cost?

 

[droll]

so let me see if i understand this. i am not a suspension expert but i know what i feel when i drive the car and i'm sensitive to that.

with this system, i have the best of both words - comfort + improved traction without having to suffer from bone jarring rides of firm suspension setups. is that correct?

only issue now is comfort and stiff means different things to different people..

 

[g4i8y0t]

I wanna ask something. Do RCS also provide the spring?

 

[Tom]

droll: you can specify the sort of feel you want, say a known car model you've recently tested to help them help you

g4i8y0t: yes they must

 

[x363]

nice...

 

[Phantom_Scarab]

Hopefully RCS have the swipe machine......

 

[kimoka]

They do :P

 

[lrse7en]

Firstly congrats to yet another homegrown full on talent backed with r & d. Up to this point i was giving up hope thinking such breed of ppl exsist no more in bolehland. Perhaps its also a wake up call for everyone else to start having more research backed into the products they sell. Its all well and fine to judge a product based on price alone but living in malaysia, we know that the price often does not rack up to the quality.

Interesting too to see aragostas and the exquisite rana springs ditched for RCS. The point to note here is that everything bought from japan does not work well on malaysian roads. In the case of absorber valving, i have only found 1 which can stand up to the harsh brutal malaysian roads. And pls stop kidding ourselves with national pride saying our roads are good. They are quite simply not. With potholes and gaps and uneven surfaces. A shock absorber has to be built and valved properly for what its about to encounter. Springs also matter, with most of the jap manufacturers offering 'out-of-the-box' rates in excess of 5kg-mm...its never going to work for a road car. Hopefully ppl can be realistic about what they are putting their tyres on. Give local TALENT a fair chance. They deserve it.

 

[x363]

Give local TALENT a fair chance. They deserve it.

yeah, agree of given chance..

 

[BLaCkHoWLiNG]

In this case, this local talent comes with a foreign price.. ;) hope Tom's ride is better than ever.. but i can't blame Tom... he like his stuff low... his under wear he wears it so low that it's like his nuts are visible from the top.. his gals .. he only buy low cut jeans.. showing all the tips of their pubes.. (i said gals ah.. not his girlfriend.. girlfriend ada satu.. gals ada banyak..dare not offend future mrs. goh)... when he piss and shit.. he squats... really one of a kind of dude.. that's y he wants his suspension low with VERY LITTLE TRAVEL.. good to see his positive review of a local bred talent in suspension making.. if only the price is local as well.. oh well, i guess u pay for what u get... good to give old farts local talents who has been around for ages a good run for their money... competition is always healthy..at least for consumers like us

 

[Tom]

I didn't know i was being stalked right up into the toilet

 

[x363]

Hi Nanda and team,

remember seeing from another thread that you guys have one "ready made" for Impreza.

What is the spring rate and how much?

I have an 2006 STI, running stock suspension now, I find the stock is a bit "soft", as in "floating" when doing high speed, i.e. 160 and above, also it doesn't give me much "confident in attacking corners.

Love to know your suggestion, I like to keep the height at the moment, so I can still drive her around town without worrying too much on speed bump and car parks. In the same time, want it to be stiffer for high speed and corners.

Please PM also, thank you

 

[x363]

mysubaruclub.com • View topic - Suspension for GDB

 

[EGK20A]

Yesterday, I did my maiden visit to RCS. Met Nanda and Tom ( finally, after years being a member of ZTH, oh yah, this ain't my 1st nick in ZTH as I forgot the e-mail password that I used to sign in lolz )!

Had quite a chat with both of 'em, and then viola! Tom's Meanie Greenie was ready for a test run and I ride shotgun with Nanda driving it.

He drove at speeds which was easily double the allowed speeds for a 2 - lane street around a factory area @ Sunway @ Horsepower St. I was gigling from the get - go....

Initially, every time the car drives over a speedbreaker at 20 - 30kph, Nanda would smile at me, and yes, I smiled back, giggling ( not in a gay - way, mind you! Lolz! ). The car, although low and firm, simply absorbed it and stayed firm, none of those aftershock - rumpin' feel with stiff suspension setups.

Slight oversteers, pin - sharp steering!

Next up, DSC... Off!

Now we're talking!

Even faster speeds ( I'd swear a minimum of 120 - 140kph easy ), and yet the car still absorbed the rutted roads around Horsepower St without losing composure or requiring more steering input from Nanda!

Around some 45 degree turns, we went at 80 - 90kph minimum with cars coming from the other side of the same corner, and again, not requiring extra steering input from Nanda and the car still kept it's composure!

Final fun... as rally drivers often do : handbrake u - turn, and the Greenie Meanie just took it in it's stride with an evil smirk! Result : a pedestrian nearby almost jumped! We waved our sorry hands towards the fella ( whom I swear still had that " Damn it u mau kill me ah? " look ) with both of us, giggling!

To surmise : I am genuinely surprised that there is a suspension, that's not only low, but firm, and yet absorbs what our " nice " rutted, potholed, undulated local roads offer, and yet, the car still doesn't lose it's composure, doesn't crash around, doesn't give that in mama kangaroo's pocket... that's way better than those really big - brand suspensions ( no, I didn't meant Tein lower end offerings, but brands like Aragosta, Bilstein, Ohlins etc lolz ), and handmade in Malaysia!

Damn u Nanda, I am sold!

My wish : I really hope RCS can be a true, one - stop, custom chassis setup shop. Not only offering suspension and spherical bearings, but perhaps custom : bushes, tie rod ends, steering racks ( Quaife racks anyone? Yummy! ), anything and everything that's connected to the lower part of a car's chassis and wheels.

P.s Nanda if you confirm wanna bring in those funky rubber - padded 4" Intercomp tire pressure gauge, do bring in padded hard cases to keep the gauge in it, and let me know as soon as you made up your mind about it as I want one. Malas mau bring in myself 'cause if buy in bulk at least will be slightly cheaper kan? ƗƗɐƗƗɐƗƗɐƗƗɐƗƗɐƗƗ>=)ƗƗɐƗƗɐƗƗɐƗƗɐƗƗɐƗƗ!!!!

 

[Izso]

Nice review! The chassis for the Mini is already considered pretty good so paired with good suspension it's probably amazing to drive.

But what about slushy chassis like a old Wira A/B? How would these RCS fare with a car this old? Wish I had the moolah to find out.

 

[EGK20A]

Damn it. Typed so bloody long reply but the silly  OS6 native browser auto - close pulak.

My personal answer : worth it. But maybe u gotta check + replace any bushes + tie rod ends + lower arms + driveshaft related parts, and only then, get your Wira RCS'ed. Why? So that you yourself are ensured that the Wira's chassis is working perfectly in harmony with the RCS setup , and you get to fully extract the RCS setup's potential with your Wira.

Taking myself as an example : my monthly salary is 2/3 from RCS's asking price for the package + extras that I wanted for my sekon - han Neo. But damn it I'll try my frickin' best to get it done before the end of this year! RCS setup is just way too good to me!

 

[silviatub]

i actually rode in an E38 730i done by Nanda and the ride and handling was absolutely serene and mind boggling...the car was actually riding low but i was suprised with the amount of suspension travel it had...

it not only handled well in corners, but to be honest, the ride was very comfortable...no floaty feeling at all in high speeds...

there was this time when the owner of the car was testing the new suspension, there was E46 330Ci that was trying to out accelerate us...the E38 was cool and composed, where as the E46 was bouncing all over the the undulating surface...the E38 just coolly overtook the E46 without breaking a sweat because the E46 just could not handle the undulating surface...it is at this point where i could really see and realise the difference between RCS and other suspension...

i was sold instantly!

 

[[PIMPIN]]

Firstly congrats to yet another homegrown full on talent backed with r & d. Up to this point i was giving up hope thinking such breed of ppl exsist no more in bolehland. Perhaps its also a wake up call for everyone else to start having more research backed into the products they sell. Its all well and fine to judge a product based on price alone but living in malaysia, we know that the price often does not rack up to the quality.

Interesting too to see aragostas and the exquisite rana springs ditched for RCS. The point to note here is that everything bought from japan does not work well on malaysian roads. In the case of absorber valving, i have only found 1 which can stand up to the harsh brutal malaysian roads. And pls stop kidding ourselves with national pride saying our roads are good. They are quite simply not. With potholes and gaps and uneven surfaces. A shock absorber has to be built and valved properly for what its about to encounter. Springs also matter, with most of the jap manufacturers offering 'out-of-the-box' rates in excess of 5kg-mm...its never going to work for a road car. Hopefully ppl can be realistic about what they are putting their tyres on. Give local TALENT a fair chance. They deserve it.

Aragosta isn't a Japanese company though.

But anyway, your point regarding Japanese suspension like HKS, etc being too hard for local roads is very much true. Even with adjustable damper there is only so much you can do to offset the harshness.

I might head down to RCS but just to have a look. This is a bit out of my price range :(

 

[NoelE34]

Kudo's for local talent! However, I dont agree what what some people say regarding 'local product should have local price'. A good product deserves what it deserves, regardless of its country of origin.

Back on topic,
Would be nice to try them out after my Koni's have expired. Local (means they would know what our roads are like) + customisable + serviceable and the fact is that RCS has hardware and software (Kinematics Software stated and shown by Tom) is definitely a plus in my book. Explanation back up by numbers +1!

 

[ixeo]

Hey Tom, its bout 10 months now since you posted this review. Just wondering how's the RCS holding up and if there's any shortcomings that you noticed in the context of their street setup. Also, what's the mileage you clocked and how is it holding up in terms of wear and tear?

I don't expect them to last forever, since its a wear and tear part..though I'm curious how's the lifespan like on our roads...and how much it costs to get them serviced.

RM5.5k for a complete custom street setup with data and full measurements is cheap. Very cheap. It's big money for most of us including myself, but for the level of service rendered its damn cheap. If Nanda & co. offered the same level of service done in USA or Europe would easily cost double and more. Props to Nanda for making it affordable for us locals.

 

[Tom]

Hey Tom, its bout 10 months now since you posted this review. Just wondering how's the RCS holding up and if there's any shortcomings that you noticed in the context of their street setup. Also, what's the mileage you clocked and how is it holding up in terms of wear and tear?

I don't expect them to last forever, since its a wear and tear part..though I'm curious how's the lifespan like on our roads...and how much it costs to get them serviced.

RM5.5k for a complete custom street setup with data and full measurements is cheap. Very cheap. It's big money for most of us including myself, but for the level of service rendered its damn cheap. If Nanda & co. offered the same level of service done in USA or Europe would easily cost double and more. Props to Nanda for making it affordable for us locals.

first of all, i wish i had more time with the car. it's been kind of hibernating for the last 5 months or so pending some minor work to it. To be honest, the snippets of the impression i had with the RCS are still crystal clear. One would be the last exit of the Duke Highway where i was blown away by the sudden realization of how well the big BM handled, Finally.

It's almost like being able to see for the first time after being blind for years. that was the first night with new suspension on the car.

I'd be speaking on behalf of people with problems choosing their suspension makers. These are people with older cars, special needs being burnt by and/or those who just refuse to succumb to the worst term ever, "is like that one". Especially blood-boiling if you've just paid for the "is like that one" product.

RCS is a bespoke, personalized, with-your-name-on-it solution.

I've been to RCS a couple of times after that for service also just to fine tune the ride and height to my liking. Being a relatively new company, they are ever-changing. improving wherever they can, replacing whichever parts that is deemed inferior by design. so you can go back to them, they'd happily inspect the faults you have with the system and advice you.

And because they're a couple years young, they are still discovering the perfect blend of cost and quality to build a system that will eventually be bullet-proof. For now, dont expect to fit-it-and-forget-it because you might need a re-visit now and then. After all it's custom built.

Other great instances were the drives up Genting Highlands. Truly transformed the way the car behaves. I felt the 4 corners of the big bm for the first time. I was able to turn through the tight twisties with zero drama for the first time. I shall return with a good footage when the car comes back

 

[aarion]

Dear Bros,

Any update so far on the RCS products? Would love to hear more from the current users.

 

[cfa]

just visited their website, seems they are more to Motor Sports these days than doing upgrading suspension for normal Road Cars. Could be wrong. If someone had recent review, it would be great.

Also, do u have to leave your car there for 2-weeks? Would be challenging for ppl with only 1-car.

 

[^pomen_GTR^]

just visited their website, seems they are more to Motor Sports these days than doing upgrading suspension for normal Road Cars. Could be wrong. If someone had recent review, it would be great.

Also, do u have to leave your car there for 2-weeks? Would be challenging for ppl with only 1-car.

the tom's car was road car for road use....


its just because motorsports is their main bussiness and product....but as tom said, they can almost precisely calculate and design your suspension to suits your preference no matter for road or race use.

*still minor tweak/retune might be needed but its no more guessing work since all baseline already calculated using their own software

 

[Jonnip]

Hi

1. They have moved to bukit jelutong
2. You take your car and they will asses it if they already have done your car before it doesn't take that long but if it's a new car for them it will take all day for them to finish. I have taken 2 cars to them the first one was a bit older and as well as measuring and weighting the car they also went through with me visually all the worn bushings and mounts that would be beniftial to replace. It's worth pointing out that after they have put the car back together they do send it for a four wheel alignment and a test drive.
3.after the first day you take your car back and wait 2 weeks and then you go to have it fitted.

HTH

Jonni

---------- Post added at 11:56 AM ---------- 6 hour anti-bump limit - Previous post was at 11:54 AM ----------

Sorry and yes they do do road cars. My two cars both road use.

 

[ixeo]

Hi

1. They have moved to bukit jelutong
2. You take your car and they will asses it if they already have done your car before it doesn't take that long but if it's a new car for them it will take all day for them to finish. I have taken 2 cars to them the first one was a bit older and as well as measuring and weighting the car they also went through with me visually all the worn bushings and mounts that would be beniftial to replace. It's worth pointing out that after they have put the car back together they do send it for a four wheel alignment and a test drive.
3.after the first day you take your car back and wait 2 weeks and then you go to have it fitted.

HTH

Jonni

---------- Post added at 11:56 AM ---------- 6 hour anti-bump limit - Previous post was at 11:54 AM ----------

Sorry and yes they do do road cars. My two cars both road use.

Hi mate, mind to share the cost and the car?

And of course, your impression.

 

[Jonnip]

Hi

The first car unfortunately caught fire so no tales of joy on that one.

Im currently waiting to fit my set to my Mazda 3. Im working overseas and as soon as I get back I will happily let you know im booked in for March 5th (they are already built and waiting)

I got the suspension and also the pillow ball top mount for 4800.


As a European used to European service and standards I will say they are top notch and very refreshing for a local company to provide this level of service.

 

[ixeo]

Hi

The first car unfortunately caught fire so no tales of joy on that one.

Im currently waiting to fit my set to my Mazda 3. Im working overseas and as soon as I get back I will happily let you know im booked in for March 5th (they are already built and waiting)

I got the suspension and also the pillow ball top mount for 4800.


As a European used to European service and standards I will say they are top notch and very refreshing for a local company to provide this level of service.

Sorry to hear about your loss. Will wait to hear your impressions.

By the way do they advise you on the settings, e.g. damping rate, spring rate, why this rate was chosen etc.

I feel the usual customer response of "I want it to be comfortable as hell and hug corners like a track" to be an impossible feat. And by having a better understanding on how suspension works and how car handles it would help us to identify what is truly achievable.

 

[^pomen_GTR^]

Sorry to hear about your loss. Will wait to hear your impressions.

By the way do they advise you on the settings, e.g. damping rate, spring rate, why this rate was chosen etc.

I feel the usual customer response of "I want it to be comfortable as hell and hug corners like a track" to be an impossible feat. And by having a better understanding on how suspension works and how car handles it would help us to identify what is truly achievable.

by using their tuning software...

input of vehicle weight/corner weight, wheelbase etc etc, stock ride height etc etc...and kaboom...the value came out....