PRODUCT DETAILS
BC Racing BR Series Coilovers - 1995-1998 Honda Odyssey (First Gen, RA1)
The first Odyssey barely counts as a minivan, and that's exactly what makes it worth building. No sliding doors on this one. Honda gave it four regular swing doors and a hatch, built it on Accord bones, and ended up with something closer to a tall wagon than the vans that came after it. That distinction matters when you lower one, because a dropped RA1 doesn't read as a slammed minivan at all. It reads like a longroof, and there's a whole crowd of people who go weak in the knees for a wagon sitting right. These BC Racing BR coilovers are how you get there.
Not A Van Build, A Wagon Build
Here's what people miss about the RA1. Drop it and the proportions do something the later Odysseys can't pull off. The lower roofline, the sedan doors, and the long body come together and the thing looks like a factory sport wagon Honda never actually sold. It's the sleeper of the whole lineup. Nobody's expecting a first-gen Odyssey to be the cool one at the meet, and that's before they realize how few of these are still on the road in decent shape.
Getting It Sitting Right
Thirty years on, whatever springs are under your Odyssey now are tired, sagging, and probably sitting the car nose-high and uneven. The BR Series fixes the stance and the ride together. You've got 30 clicks of damping, so you can keep it comfortable with the family aboard and firm it up when you feel like driving. Height comes off the base of the coilover rather than winding the spring down, which means you can sit it low and the shock still has full travel to work with. So it gets the stance without turning every expansion joint into an event.
Why Both Ends Are Sprung Firm
You'll notice the rates run stiff on both ends, 9kgf/mm up front and 8kgf/mm out back. There's a reason for that split. The RA1 carries real weight over the nose, and it's a long vehicle that'll squat in the back the second you load people or gear into it. Softer springs would let it wallow and sag once you lowered it. These rates keep the body flat and the stance level whether it's empty or loaded, which is the difference between a van that looks intentional and one that just looks tired.
About The Top Mounts
This kit uses RS type mounts, so rubber up front and rubber or reuse-OEM in the rear. On something you're still using to haul people, that's the right pick. Rubber keeps the road noise and clunking out of the cabin so it stays civil to ride in. There's no camber plate in the kit, so front camber sits where your factory geometry puts it. Drop it far enough that the camber needs correcting and you'll want alignment parts to bring it back.
Check It Over First
These are thirty-year-old vehicles now, and the ones that survived usually did so because someone cared, but the suspension hardware rarely got the same love. Look at your bushings, ball joints, and mounting hardware before you start, and expect at least a few seized bolts. Rust is the real enemy on an RA1, so if you're in a salt state, get underneath and see what you're working with before you order parts. Once you're in, set the height even across all four corners and put it on an alignment rack when you're finished. Do it right and you've got something nobody else has.
BC Racing has been building coilovers since the early 2000s, and the fact that they still support something as rare as a first-gen Odyssey says plenty about who they build for. The BR Series is the kit that made their name, and it's the affordable, proven way to get an RA1 sitting like it should.
Who This Is For
This is for the person who ended up with a first-gen Odyssey and figured out it's secretly the most interesting one. Maybe it was cheap, maybe it was handed down, maybe you sought it out because you knew what it was. Either way, you want it low, level, and looking like the wagon it basically is. Sort out the old hardware, bolt these on, get it aligned, and go drive the rarest thing in any parking lot.
Fits: 1995-1998 Honda Odyssey, first gen (RA1). Spring rates: 9kgf/mm front, 8kgf/mm rear. Top mounts: RS type (rubber front, rubber or reuse-OEM rear). Damping: 30-way adjustable.
1995-1998 Honda Odyssey