7+ Best Subaru WRX Coilovers: The Ultimate Guide
Are you looking to buy coilovers for your Subaru WRX?
The Subaru WRX is an ultra popular performance car which is unique in many ways. These cars are commonly used in rally championships worldwide and are very successful because of their 4WD drivetrain system.
Right out of the factory these cars handle and ride great, but they also respond fantastically to upgrades. For owners looking to get the absolute most out of their WRX, a set of coilovers will further improve the handling and really bring the best out of the WRX’s setup.
In this guide, I’m going to give you the best coilovers on the market for the WRX, so that you can pick the right kit for your car.
The Best Coilovers for the Subaru WRX
BC Racing BR Series
The BC Racing BR Series is one of the most popular coilover kits on the planet, and for good reason.
These coilovers are excellent value for money and are the perfect blend of affordability, ride comfort, performance and customization.
BC Racing has taken everything you could want from a coilover kit and put it into one affordable package that has proven itself over and over again on both the street and the track.
The BR Series offer 30-level dampening adjustment from linearly valved monotube dampers designed to be comfortable on the street but handle well on the track.
They also give you a number of customization options so that you can get the perfect coilover to suit your needs, no matter what your goals are. BC Racing will also custom valve the dampers to match custom spring rates, as well as rebuild all their kits or sell you the parts to do the rebuild yourself.
Add the 1 year warranty into the mix and you’ve got yourself a fantastic deal with many happy customers worldwide and is an overall fantastic choice for street cars that will see the track.
Features include:
- Ride height adjustment by the shock body – 1-3 inches on the standard kit, 2-4 inches on the Extreme Low kit
- 30-level dampening adjustment – compression/rebound simultaneous
- Front adjustable camber strut mounts
- Rear camber adjustable strut mounts available for Subaru
- Custom spring rates and valving available
- Swift Spring upgrade available
- Fully rebuildable
- 1 year warranty
(Available for 1997-2021 WRX models)
GET WRX BC RACING BR SERIES COILOVERS HERE
Riaction GT1
The Riaction GT-1 coilovers are another high quality option for around the $1000 mark, featuring monotube dampers with linear valving that use a unique low gas pressure system and CNC machined 44mm floating piston. They offer 32 levels of dampening adjustment.
These coilovers are fully rebuildable and also highly customizable, with Swift Springs being an upgrade option as well as custom spring rates and valving. They can also be upgraded to 2-way dampening adjustment, and converted to digressive valving.
Riaction also have an excellent reputation for servicing coilovers ultra fast (4-7 days), and even offer a lifetime free labor warranty, meaning you only have to pay for parts to get your coilovers serviced.
If you are looking for a high quality set of coilovers primarily for street use and were considering something along the lines of BC Racing, these are another great option at a slightly lower price.
Features include:
- Ride height adjustment by the shock body – 1-3 inches of lowering
- 32-level dampening adjustment
- Custom spring rates and valving available
- Swift Spring upgrade available
- Upgradeable to 2-way dampening adjustment
- Can be converted to digressive valving
- Fully rebuildable & serviceable in the USA
- 2 year warranty
- Lifetime labor warranty
(Available for 1992-2022+ WRX models)
GET WRX RIACTION GT1 COILOVERS HERE
Fortune Auto 500 Series
The Fortune Auto 500 Series is a unique kit that gives you a number of things you don’t normally get with most coilovers.
Firstly, they are designed to be modular, which means that when you decide to upgrade later on, you can send your kit in to Fortune Auto and they will upgrade them to a higher spec, such as 2-way independently adjustable with external reservoirs.
Another thing that makes this kit unique is that they are hand assembled in America, and every single damper is tested on a shock dyno and matched in pairs within a 3% tolerance. This ensures that ever kit that leaves their facility is of the highest standard.
They back this up with a 5 year warranty, which is significantly more than most other manufacturers give you.
If all that wasn’t impressive enough, these kits are highly customizable, with Fortune Auto giving you the option to specify custom spring rates and valving, order Swift Springs as an upgrade, a Super Low kit that goes up to 2 inches lower than the standard kit and more.
These coilovers are designed to be the last coilover that you’ll ever need to buy, and simply upgrade or service them as necessary.
While they are designed primarily for street use, they will handle track duty and upgrading them will turn them into a more track-focused kit.
Overall, the Fortune Auto coilovers are one impressive kit, and isn’t even that expensive compared to other high end coilovers, especially when you take into account the customizability and the option to upgrade.
Features include:
- Ride height adjustment by shock body – 1-3 inches lowering on standard kits, up to 5 on Super Low kit
- 24-level rebound dampening adjustment
- Aluminium camber adjustable strut mounts, rear camber adjustable strut mounts available
- Monotube dampers with high flow digressive valving
- Synthetic damper oil
- Modular – upgradeable to 2-way dampening adjustment with external reservoir
- Fully rebuildable and serviceable in USA
- 5 years warranty
- Swift Spring upgrade available
- Custom spring rates and valving available
(Available for 1997-2021 WRX models)
GET WRX FORTUNE AUTO 500 SERIES COILOVERS HERE
KW V3
The KW V3 is a very highly regarded coilover kit that is well known for providing a great balance of handling performance while retailing ride comfort, and it’s extremely high build quality and resistance to corrosion.
Made from KW’s signature INOX-LINE stainless steel, these coilovers can withstand the harshest weather and will not corrode. They have been salt spray tested for 220 hours without corrosion, meaning they will last in the harshest of winters.
Combined with the special composite spring perch, you will never have to worry about these coilovers seizing, and KW backs this up with a lifetime warranty.
KW also fine tunes every model specific to the car, and do extensive testing to fine the very best setup for the particular vehicle.
The V3 kit not only gives you height and dampening adjustment, but the dampening adjustment is 2-way independently adjustable, meaning you can adjust the rebound and low speed compression separately.
If you are looking for coilovers that will give you a great street ride while also want a kit that will handle track use, these are a good option.
Features include:
- Ride height adjustment by spring perch
- 2-way dampening adjustment – 16-level rebound and 12-level low speed compression
- INOX-LINE stainless steel shock bodies that will never rust
- Composite spring perch that will never seize
- Specifically tuned for each vehicle
- Lifetime warranty
- Rebuildable by KW
RSR Sports*i
The RS-R Sports*I is an extremely high quality kit from Japan.
RS-R are very particular about how they make their parts, and only make parts for a limited number of cars to ensure they are of the highest quality.
Luckily for WRX owners (08-21 models), they make this kit that will fit the car.
The Sport*I coilovers are RS-R’s sport focused model that is still made for street use, yet offers extremely responsive handling and a substantial increase in performance.
They have monotube dampers with special oil that RS-R has made to offer incredible consistent damping in all conditions and temperatures. The dampers are also designed to have optimal stroke rate, which increases grip, driver feel and comfort.
The springs used on these coilovers are a special Titanium compound that RS-R designed, which makes them incredibly light and super resilient.
Designed for use both on and off the track, these coilovers are a fantastic choice if your WRX will see regular performance driving and you want one of the highest quality kits on the market today.
Features include:
- Ride height adjustment by the shock body
- 36-level dampening adjustable
- Monotube dampers hand assembled by RS-R
- Titanium Ti2000 springs
- Special damper oil designed by RS-R
- Camber plates
- Pillowball upper mounts optional
- Roller bearings on MacPherson strut mounts
- Made in Japan
- 1 year warranty
Silvers Neomax
Another hand assembled and highly customizable kit, the Silvers Neomax is an excellent value for money option if you want to get the Fortune Auto 500’s but can’t quite afford the price tag.
These are actually rather similar to the Fortune Auto’s, with the biggest difference being that these are assembled in Taiwan.
However, Silvers have their own facility in Taiwan which allows them to have very strict quality controls, and like Fortune Auto, test all dampers on the shock dyno to ensure they are within a 5% tolerance. Any that are not get scrapped.
All their kits are hand assembled and built to order, and Silvers boasts the fastest turnaround times in the industry, even for custom kits.
Also like the Fortune Auto’s, these are able to be upgraded to 2-way independent dampening adjustable with external reservoirs, and are also very customizable.
They don’t have quite as long of a warranty, with Silvers giving you 18 months, which is still longer than most other coilover companies.
Overall, these are fantastic value for money and are a great choice if you can’t afford to go for the Fortune Auto 500s, or you live outside of America where servicing in the USA doesn’t make much difference to you.
Features include:
- Ride height adjustment by the shock body – 1-3 inches on the standard kit, up to 5 inches on the Super Low kit
- 24-level dampening adjustment
- Monotube dampers with hybrid linear piston and digressive valving for better performance and a more comfortable ride
- Upgradable to 2-way independently adjustable dampening
- Camber adjustable front strut mounts
- Custom spring rates and valving available
- Swift spring upgrade available
- 18 month warranty
- Rebuildable
TEIN Flex Z
The TEIN Flex Z offer incredible value for money and are an amazing quality coilover kit for a very low price.
TEIN are well known for producing high quality coilovers that provide a good balance of street comfort and performance, and these are no exception.
They give you everything you could want from a street coilover include ride height adjustment, 16-level dampening adjustment and camber adjustable strut mounts.
They use a twin tube damper that is designed for maximum road comfort while the damper oil is made to handle intensive driving and maintain consistent damping even under high temperatures.
The dampers are made as inserts that can be replaced, so instead of sending your coilovers in to be rebuilt, all you have to do is order the new damper insert and swap them in – which works out quicker and cheaper!
TEIN will also custom valve the dampers for you to match different spring rates if you decide to change.
On top of all that, TEIN builds these coilovers specific to where they are being sold, to ensure they will handle the expected conditions to the best of their ability – whether that’s harsh weather or rough roads.
Overall, there are very few kits out there than can compete with these at the price level, and the Flex Z’s have been compared to coilovers in a much higher price point. For coilovers under $1000, you really can’t go wrong with a set of Flex Z’s.
Features include:
- Ride height adjustment by the shock body
- 16-level dampening adjustment
- Camber adjustable strut mounts
- TEIN no-sag springs
- TEIN’s patented powder coat and ZT coating for maximum corrosion protection in all weather conditions
- Damper oil designed to handle intensive driving
- Twin tube dampers tuned for comfortable street driving
- Replaceable damper inserts
- 1 year warranty
Godspeed MonoSS
If you are on a tight budget but need to upgrade the suspension on your WRX, one of the best options you have are the Godspeed coilovers.
These are incredibly cheap coilovers that are surprisingly good, and have a decent reputation. They have become the go-to kit for people on a budget, because they offer decent performance and a good street ride.
What’s even more impressive is they give you ride height and dampening adjustability, as well as camber adjustable strut mounts.
If you are really on a tight budget and can afford one of the other coilovers on this list, the Godspeed MonoSS will get the job done and give you a decent street ride.
Features include:
- Ride height adjustment by the shock body
- 16-level dampening adjustment
- Front camber adjustable strut mounts
- Koyo Japan bearings
- “Race” damper oil
- Monotube dampers with “Performance internal piston”
- 1 year warranty
Benefits of Coilovers for the WRX
Installing a set of coilovers on your WRX will give you a range of benefits.
For starters, one of the most popular reasons people install coilovers is to be able to adjust the ride height. Lowering the car not only makes it look better and more aggressive, but it lowers the center of gravity and helps with handling.
Which brings us to the second benefit – handling performance. Coilovers are designed to improve handling performance, reducing body roll and increasing steering responsiveness and tyre grip.
Another benefit to coilovers is they are, in most cases, easy to customize, so you can change things such as spring rates and damper valving until you get the perfect setup to suit your needs.
Another benefit, depending if the coilovers have this option, is the ability to adjust dampening stiffness. This allows you to fine tune your dampers to the exact setting to suit your preference, and quickly stiffen or soften your suspension when you need to – say for a track day.
If you are looking to upgrade your WRX’s suspension, here are the best coilovers currently available.
Conclusion
I hope that you found this post helpful and have been able to select the right coilover kit for your WRX.
If you have any questions or suggestions for coilovers to include in this list, feel free to post them in the comments below.
Cars owned: Mk2 Golf with 1.8T swap, BMW E28 with M30B35 swap, BMW E36 328I Mtech, BMW 750IL, Nissan 300ZX, Honda Civic EF
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