Hey guys,
it's been a long time coming, but finally over the past few months (basically since Feb lockdown), we've had the time to:
- Update our website (www.ycwsuspension.com)
- Upgrade some key components (both internal and external)
- Revise our offerings; all of our kits are now 100% custom built to your choosing (although default setups are available for those who don't know what to choose). When we say custom built, we really mean custom built. We have options available that no one else in this industry offers
- Our aim with the new YCW Suspension website is to turn the suspension industry upside-down. Those who follow our community will gain knowledge that was previously reserved for suspension specialists, de-bunking common myths and teaching you more about the inner workings of suspension technology. Whether you purchase a coilover kit from us or not, that does not matter; what matters is that when you decide to purchase new suspension (whatever the brand may be), you will be armed with the correct knowledge to make a more informed decision
The amount of information and options we now offer is unheard of in this industry. Suffice to say, there is now so much information that I can't post it all in this thread, so the best place to start would be our Suspension 101 guide here:
https://www.ycwsuspension.com/suspension101/
Rather than my usual sales thread format, I will get right down to the nitty gritty, and leave the parts that most people probably won't read till the end of this thread:
The new improved v3 YCW Suspension Coilover Kit - Starting from $1149.95 + options
Fitments available - Most popular BMW's (E6X Owners - we are working on it!)
If you are interested in our coilover kits and want to see the full feature list and what options are available to you, the direct link to spec your own coilover kit is:
https://www.ycwsuspension.com/shop/d...coilover-kits/
FORUM DISCOUNT - This will be determined on a case-by-case basis, depending on what options you choose. Suffice to say, you will not be disappointed. Go to our website, spec your kit, then PM me and I will work out a special deal tailored just for you!
SPONSORSHIPS - In order to create brand awareness for the M3 (we are already one of the top selling/performing coilover kits for the E8X/E9X/F2X/F3X 135i/235i/335i market worldwide), we are open to sponsorship proposals. If you are interested, please PM me
And just because everyone likes images:
YCW Suspension (new) vs Ohlins DFV Shock Dyno (1 month old. Customer found the Ohlins far too bouncy at softer settings i.e under-damped, and far too harsh at harder settings i.e over-damped. After changing to YCW, the difference was night and day. His wife no longer complains, and his kid no longer pukes on longer journeys). These were taken at middle setting. If you want to see the full sweep of the Ohlins (full soft to full hard) and how bad it is, PM me and I can show you it. I don't want to be seen as publicly bashing another vendors product. If you want to learn how to read the dyno graph, please see here:
https://www.ycwsuspension.com/suspension101/
Customers cars:
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Now for the part that most people don't really read
OUR AIM
Of course, we fully understand that the majority of customers are budget constrained, and those who are not generally prioritise brand over value. It is because of this, we at YCW Suspension decided to design and manufacture a quality mid-range solution from scratch that meets our #1 priority; Value for Money. Whilst there is a large demand for premium setups designed for the high-end race car, our aim is to bring some of the more advanced real-world features from the premium setups, incorporate them into a package suitable for the everyday street car, and offer a 100% Bespoke solution at an affordable price point without sacrificing on technical support and servicing. And so, YCW Suspension was born:
- Designed and Engineered in the United Kingdom by British Engineers
- Offer a 100% Bespoke solution, at an affordable price point
- Offer premium features and technology that is applicable to real-world applications (and not just dedicated race vehicles)
- Utilise premium quality service components (i.e Valving, Oil Seals, Damper Fluid, Bushings and Springs)
- Offer local (European, Australian and Asian) facilities for rebuild and servicing
Please do not compare our premium products to the multitude of budget products currently available as that is not our intended market segment, and our higher pricing reflects this. However, at only marginally more cost than a typical European/Japanese budget setup, you get a higher quality, better performing, British-Engineered, 100% Bespoke suspension solution, unparalleled after-sales technical support and multi-national product servicing. Due to the nature of a customised product, we currently have a 1-2 week assembly lead time. None of the racing dampers we supply are off-the-shelf.
MANUFACTURING
United Kingdom- All of our prototype mounts are, in collaboration with our partner facility in Preston, designed and machined in the UK by British engineers
- All of our prototype components are designed in-house using Solidworks 3D CAD software by British engineers
- All of our racing dampers exclusively use Silkolene RSF 2.5w damper oil. We do not use the cheap “Italian/Spanish Racing Damper Oil” that all the budget suspension setups use. An oil comparison sheet can be provided upon request
Japan- All of the coil springs we use are supplied by Tokyo Hatsujyo Manufacturing Co.,Ltd (Swift Springs). We do not use the vastly inferior Yang Min Enterprise/Triple S springs that the majority of the non-European suspension manufacturers use
- All of our self-lubricating teflon-lined spherical bearings are supplied by NSK
- Our optional premium mounts use genuine NMB Spherical Bearings. The cost of these alone are more than what some full coilover kits sourced from Taiwan cost
Taiwan- All of our aluminium-based development mounts and components are machined in-house at our Taichung facility
- All of our steel-based development mounts are manufactured for us by our partner facility in Taichung
- All of our SS304 stainless steel shims are manufactured for us by our partner facility in Taichung
- All of our damper bodies and piston rods are machined in-house at our Taichung facility, then shipped to Australia for proprietary ceramic lapping/finishing
China- All of our Polyurethane, Rubber and Teflon/PTFE components are manufactured in-house at our Shenzhen facility
Misc- We use genuine Viton Seals (Dupont) imported from the USA
- We use genuine Swedish Sandvik 20C carbon steel to machine our valving shims
TUNING & ASSEMBLY
Unlike the majority of our competition, we at YCW Suspension like to keep things transparent and go against the grain when it comes to telling the truth about our assembly processes. All of our suspension tuning and assembly methodology is freely shared on our website as we actively encourage our customers to learn and apply the techniques themselves
Tuning:- All of our valving is calculated from a DOF (Degrees of Freedom) model that the customer chooses and their desired natural ride frequencies. Unlike our competition, we do not use generic valving profiles
- Each and every individual damper is pressure-tuned using our MTS Roehrig 3VS Shock Dyno to ensure the absolute minimum amount of hysteresis (valving lag), chamber pressures (rebound, compression & gas) and gas spring pressures (damper lag). This technique is unique amongst suspension specialists (hence why most companies won’t know what pressure-tuning is), takes several times longer to build a damper (hence why even if the company knows what pressure-tuning is, they won’t spend the time to do it) and can only be done on dampers that use a schrader valve gas charging port (most companies still use self-healing rubber that requires a gas needle). If a damper still uses old-school self-healing rubber, the damper has not been pressure-tuned. For more details on why this is important, please see our Pressure Tuning guide on our website
- If applicable, every damper pair (left/right) is damper matched on our MTS Roehrig 3VS Shock Dyno to ensure the left/right damping characteristics are within 10% tolerance of each other (typically, the majority of our damper builds are within 5% tolerance). This is important because, unless you are running staggered spring rates, you generally want your left/right damping characteristics to be equal
Assembly & QC:- Each and every single component after coming off the manufacturing line is subjected to stringent QC checks on our TESA Micro Hite 3D Coordinate Measuring Machine. Only once it passes our checks will the component be used in assembly of our racing dampers.
- Each and every individual damper is vacuum-assembled using our Bleed Station to ensure there is no air trapped under the valving or suspended in the oil. If a damper has not been vacuum-assembled and has only been hand-bled (if you’re lucky enough to actually find a company that bleeds their dampers, that is), it is impossible to bleed 100% of the air from the damper, which leads to valving lag. For more details on why this is important, please see our Vacuum Assembly guide on our website
- As part of our stringent QC testing procedures, each and every individual damper is tested and run-in (10,000 cycles @ variable speeds and side loads) on our in-house Durability Tester. This helps ensure all the seals are sufficiently run-in and performing at optimal before they are installed on your vehicle. A common practice amongst OEM luxury/supercar manufacturers, we are quite possibly the only aftermarket suspension specialist to implement this procedure as standard throughout our specification range. Not surprising, considering this single piece of equipment alone costs a quarter of a million dollars to purchase (to think most companies actually balk at the cost of investing in a Shock Dyno, which costs 15 times less!)
- For our assembled coilover kits (Reference valving and above), where the chosen fitment matches one of our in-house development cars, we can also do additional QC testing on our in-house shaker rig to ensure optimal damper-spring frequency matching. Like with our durability testing, we are quite possibly the only aftermarket suspension specialist to implement this procedure as standard throughout our specification range (we are well aware that a lot of high-end suspension specialists and professional race teams also have their own in-house shaker rigs, but none of them implement this into their standard QC testing procedures)
WHAT WE ARE NOT
Disclaimer: YCW Suspension feel no ill-regards towards any of the mass-market manufacturers and do not look down on their products in any way, shape or form. We understand there is a huge demand for their low cost product, and that they are simply filling a need in the market. It is always the consumers responsibility to do their own due diligence on the quality of the parts that they purchase
Although there are a lot of mass-market (i.e budget) coilovers available, aside from a few aesthetic changes, they are all based on generic designs, generic technology and generic assembly practices introduced over the past 15 years or so. Infact, the top selling mass-market coilovers that are currently on the market are all manufactured from the same technical drawings originating from Taiwan! Colloquially known in Taiwan as the Taichung-gang, the mass-market designs can be traced back to the original company; Taiwan Bor-Chuann (BC Racing). From there, 2 of their engineers left to startup their own companies; D2 Racing and STD (Standard Tuning Design) respectively, from which then spawned a countless number of coilover companies around the world
In this day and age, it is indeed very simple and cost effective to have basic structural components manufactured from aluminium or steel. Provided basic manufacturing standards are adhered to, there is no difference in quality between an aluminium or steel component manufactured in the USA than one manufactured in Taiwan.
Unfortunately, whilst the basic structural components are often of sufficient quality, the nature of mass-market manufacturing often means poor quality service components being used (i.e Wear parts, such as Shims, Oil Seals, Damper Fluid, Bushings and Springs), a lack of proper quality control during damper assembly (the majority of these companies do not have an in-house shock dyno, durability tester nor shaker rig. Most of them have never even heard of vacuum-assembly nor pressure tuning before) and, more importantly, a generic off-the-shelf valving profile that was not tuned for your specific requirements (certain companies may say their products have “custom valving”, but is it really custom if every customer gets the same “custom valving” and is just mass-manufactured for them on an assembly line from one of the Taichung-gang?). Whilst we understand the budget constraints of most consumers, all we suggest is that if you do decide to go down the budget route, please do your due diligence in advance
A simply analogy would be: An off-the-shelf suit vs a custom tailored suit. Whilst the off-the-shelf suit can be good quality (relatively speaking), they will never match a higher quality, custom made tailored suit. Put simply;
you get what you pay for
SWIFT SPRINGS
MFactory Competition Products / YCW Suspension are proud to announce our status as a Master Warehouse Distributor for SWIFT Springs in the US, and exclusive distributors in Europe & Asia (we are Swift Springs Europe and Swift Springs Asia)
We have available their full range of products including:
- Sports Springs / Spec-R (To be used with stock dampers)
- Replacement Coilover Springs (Upgrade your sagging coilover springs)
- Assist/Helper Springs (Setup the droop on your coilovers)
THE SWIFT ADVANTAGE:
When drivers look at a set of springs, they concentrate mainly on the rates, but the material and manufacturing process is equally important. Most enthusiasts will tell you that all springs are the same... we asked some professional drivers for their opinions:
- I just replaced my springs to Swift Springs with same spring rate, and somehow the car behaves totally different now.
- Since I've swapped the springs from another brand to Swift, my lap times became very consistent throughout the entire race due to cooler tire temperatures, which saves tire wear.
- We have tested our Swift-equipped race cars on a shaker rig, and the Swift Springs have a lot less harmonic vibration.
- My car is a lot smoother with Swift Springs even though same spring rate were chosen, especially on bad surfaces.
The many positive comments Swift Springs receive would have you believe that Swift Springs is surprised to hear such things in the first place, we are simply getting confirmation that our engineering not only works on paper, but is also proven through use in the field (track). Now, allow us to provide a few reasons as to why we get this kind of feedback from our users.
PRIORITIES THAT WE ALWAYS HAVE IN MIND WHEN WE DEVELOP SUSPENSION SPRINGS:
Surely you have read some spring manufacturer's catalogues before, and you have read that they all claim to have the 4 factors listed below.
- The most consistent spring rate throughout the stroke
- The largest amount of stroke
- The highest durability against loss of spring height
- The lightest in weight
We like to believe that all suspension spring manufacturers try their best to achieve these 4 factors. Top suspension tuners know that these 4 factors play an intricate role when considering the effectiveness of the suspension coil spring.
Our parent company, Tohatsu, has been winding industrial springs since 1924. Tohatsu then decided to get in to the auto racing market in 1996. Based on long-time experience dealing with coil springs, we came up with one goal: "We must make the product that will revolutionize the ones we see on the market now." Keeping this goal in mind, we went back to the basics of coil spring design and asked ourselves what is the most important factor that we need to consider on this new project.
The answer?
MAINTAINING TIRE GRIP IS THE KEY TO FASTER TIMES AND SUSPENSION SPRINGS TAKE ON AN ENORMOUS PORTION OF THIS TASK!
All Springs are not created equal, the diameters and spring rates can be similar, but the process of manufacturing springs plays a huge factor in how they will perform. Through our extensive knowledge in performance springs, we have perfected the process of manufacturing springs that will outperform our competitors.
With this in mind, we set out to produce a new material for coil springs: a proprietary steel alloy we call "HS5.TW". This material was created in order to maintain the 4 factors listed above, as well as achieving the fastest reaction speed possible to get compliance on road surface conditions. Our springs are created with proprietary winding methods, as well as some other trade secrets focused on ensuring our springs separation from the standard market.
In the time since Swift Springs officially opened its doors in 1997, Swift Springs has dealt with many world class race teams in multitudes of different races including road racing, rally, off road, drift, autocross, pavement and dirt oval track, motorcycles, and more. Swift Springs has lifted many racers to a podium finish, and is still continuing to do so. With so much experience behind us, we feel confident that our springs will give you a leg up in any kind of race you participate in.
Try Swift Springs on your vehicle, and experience what many racers are talking about. We strongly believe that you will feel the difference just like every other racer, and you might even wonder why you didn't try it sooner.
THE HISTORY:
The origin of Swift Springs
Swift Springs was founded in 1997 in Tokyo Japan as a motor sports division of Tokyo Hatsujo Manufacturing Co, Ltd. that has been leading the spring industry since 1924
The purpose was to demonstrate our superior engineering in spring by developing the next generation of motor sports suspension coil springs. They had to have the best characteristics of any brand or design in the market, which required the springs to be the lightest in weight and most durable, and to exhibit the most linear characteristics while still being cost effective.
Since the formation of Swift, it has been lead by the former racer and suspension expert, Kei Yokota, and the chief engineer, Yasu Saito.
Their first-hand involvement within the race industry has propelled Swift quickly through the ranks of some of the world’s most reputable races. Swift springs quickly became one of the most recognized and respected name in performance coil springs in many genre of motor sports throughout the world. Being a part of the Tokyo Hatsujo spring corporation. Swift has a large collection of engineering research and development resources. Tokyo Hatsujo springs are used in most light to heavy industries and the dynamic has provided Swift with most advanced spring technologies and innovations available.
In Swift’s impressive motor sports history dated back to 1998, first was with Nissan Skyline GT-R in the Super Taikyu Endurance championship series in Japan. Then Swift got involved with the championship teams in Le Mans 24hrs, Nurburgring 24hrs, Super GT (JGTC), Super Taikyu series, D-1 World Grand Prix, F3, F3000, Formula Toyota, and many other world class races.
In 2004, Team Goh Audi R8 won 1st place at the world renowned Le Mans 24hrs race on swift springs.
VIDEO:
The Philosophy behind SWIFT Springs:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/k6Cl-A9o7d8?rel=0
LOWERING SPRING KITS:
E9X M3 - Front 5K (-25mm), Rear 12K (-18mm) - $314.25 inc free shipping within mainland US (for other countries, please enquire)
COILOVER UPGRADE SPRINGS:
60mm, 65mm and 70mm Spring ID's Available
4" - 11" Spring Lengths Available
3K - 32K Spring Rates Available
Price - $168.30 (pair) inc free shipping within mainland US (for other countries, please enquire)
Dealer/Bulk Pricing
As Swift's global master distributor, we are able to offer the most competitive Dealer and Bulk Pricing. We also have priority access (i.e first dibs) on
ALL stock exported from Japan
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask
