I like mine have had mine for about 6 months no major complaints with the ride. I had some slight issues with their install instructions not as in-depth as they could be but they might have updated them. Also I wish they had another lock ring on the rears welded to the mounting cup. I have to use a strap wrench when I adjust the height. I did send them a message letting them know what I was looking for and setup a different spring rate than what is default.

 

what spring rate did you go with?

 

What does the softer front and stiffer rear achieve exactly? I see the Annex defaults to 6k/8k. Thanks

 

well there are number of things that play into the science of it. FWD , RWD, AWD, . They all are sprung according to the weight bias front to rear and the shock valving , if the company building the setup is good and not just making off the shelf crap. The idea is a FWD is sprung stiffer in front vs rear because there is more weight in the front and the car is being driven up their as well so you a TQ and HP aspect . Plus the rear end is basically lighter and being dragged around.
Now RWD and AWD tend to still have a heavier front end than rear but more weight in the rear compared to FWD. Plus the RWD car is being driven from the rear.

Road conditions can play into this as well as well as getting the proper front to rear suspension freq for the best handling . Thats some of the more advanced stuff though.

Hence you usually see a somewhat softer rate in front vs rear. AWD cars and in our case with ours can be sprung towards a RWD setup because or weight distribution is closer to that of a RWD even though we are driving our front wheels as well as our rears. Which leads in an off road situation to some spring manufactures going 50-50 . It’s interesting that Ohlins has gone 50-50 on our cars like they did on the GR Yaris and a few other suspension manufacturers did for the GRY as well.



Factory our spring rates are 5k front 6k rear and the Morizo is 5.5 front 8 rear. Annex picked 6 front and 9 rear , Ohlins went 9 front 9 rear I believe . Now some of this can also be worked out with the valving of the damper as it plays a role. No pun intended. This is interesting because it’s exactly the way Ohlins made their setup for the GR Yaris and several other GR Yaris suspension manufactures did as well the some did do the softer front stiffer rear .


Like others have said a lot of these manufactures literally take the concepts they use on other vehicles and make adaptions to our vehicles to make them work on our cars. Not always are these ideal.

Sometimes buyers choose different spring rates to tune to their application aka a certain track or street use or drag or off road etc. The better manufactures actually spend time doing shock dyno testing and making sure the valving is specific for our vehicles and spring them accordingly . One usually pays more for that kind of setup.

So given that your stock front end is already at 5k and the Morizo is 5.5 one could say he choose 5.5 because and I am guessing on this that he felt 5.5 being picked for the Morizo was more suited to what his use was going to be.

So in picking a setup look for the manufacturer that goes the extra mile for our platform and designs specifically for it rather than generically.

In that sense it does seem like Annex is taking the time to do it right but of course one could say that about others as well. Until people buy the particular brand and run them we do not know completely without feedback.

 

I’m also very curious to hear others’ experiences with the off the shelf annex fast roads. Like the OP, I’d be very interested if they make a significant improvement in ride quality. Not looking for lowering or track performance.

Savagegeese on YouTube talks them up on their latest GRC video, but it’s hard to tell if the difference is significant enough to justify the price.

 

I'm sure you can also message them and ask what spring rates they can install for more comfort.

 

Op, did you ever reach out ?

 

I did. I asked if ride quality was the most Important factor would that change their recommendations…

Their response:

Yeah it may. I would want to know what you think of the cars current handling balance and body roll.

We can go softer than stock, and net you a massive improvement in ride quality than factory. This may result in a bit more body roll, which some people may not want.

We can also match stock rates, this retains current body roll and handling dynamics but gains you much better ride quality as our dampers are valved for improved ride quality and performance over factory dampers.

Our default still retains improved ride quality over stock, but we stiffen up the springs a bit to give it a rate closer to the what GR put on the Morizo, for better track performance and handling characteristics when driving on grippier 200tw track tires.

 

I am back to report I drove a GRC with the Annex Fast road Suspension in it on Friday and it rode great and the car felt transformed. I was laughing as I drove it. It was lowered an inch . It did have Rays CE28’s which are lighter than stock with Conti contact extreme sport 02‘s 255/35 , racerx short shifter, Eventuri intake. RK Titanium exhaust , I literally did not want to stop driving the car . I am definitely getting Annex after this experience.

 

Great to hear...after deliberating back and forth between Annex and Ohlins, I placed my Annex order on Friday. I'm also on Continental ECS02 but 245 width. Most likely getting SPL rear arms for camber.