Bean Bandits Levin 'Globetrotter'

[Bean]

Ok went ahead and did a write up - footage will follow:

It's been a while but finally found the time to collect my thoughts and write them down in a hopefully condensed matter

Facts first
Spring rates: 6kg front and 4kg rear (5kg rear available)
Dampers: 12 steps adjustable front (inverted monotube) and rear (combined compression and rebound)
Camber adjustable top mounts and spring independent height adjustment (bottom mounts)
New very beefy spindles included
Price AUS$1800 (without VAT/GST/btw/MwSt or whatever it's called in your country) not cheap but not expensive either for what you get

Product and Installation
The coilovers arrived well packaged and despite the fact the box wasn't handled gently by the local delivery agents nothing inside got damaged. The suspension itself is very sturdy, especially the new included spindles and everything is either anodized or treated in another way to keep things healthy for a long time. The top mounts use quality bearings as do the upper spring perches. This makes adjusting the height once installed a brise. On the rear space is a bit of a premium and as they are setup like stock with separate springs and dampers, the spring adjustment is a bit hard to get to but still possible even with the car jacked up on the sills.
Installing was very straight forward, the height adjustment allows almost stock height to pretty low - I haven't made any measurements but it's more than 50mm if I remember correctly. Depending how low you go the rear bumpstops need to be cut shorter.

Driving impressions
my previous setup were APEX springs (30mm lower) of unknown rates (even APEX couldn't/wouldn't tell me) with Tocico adjustable long stroke dampers (HTS 112). This was an acceptable setup overall but slightly too harsh (dampers set to full soft) on bad roads and too soft on track (unless you set the dampers to hard, which made the car jumpy over small bumps).

With the Shockworks set on full soft I'd be happy to drive even long distances as they are almost as comfy as an AE86 can be (I drive an LS460 as a daily so comfort is always relative - Mercedes E-Class taxis are rather harsh in comparison).

I didn't get the chance to try them out on a track as there aren't any here (apart from a Go-Kart one which I haven't been to yet) but did some spirited driving and the turn in and feedback is just phenomenal. I might need to mention here I run 205/50R15 Toyo R1R all round on 8" Rota Grid-Vs and wider lower arms up front and 25mm spacer on the rear. They handle bumps really well and I haven't had the feeling yet that the tires are losing contact with the ground going over bumps and potholes at any speed. After the holidays I'll play with my camera equipment and try to make a short clip of the front suspension at work - just need to find a good way to mount it all in a secure fashion and get enough light under there.

I could go on but this already looks like plenty of text so I'll stop here but am happy to answer any questions if I can.