ride quality with Tien HAs?

[jmillheiser]

anyone on here that has Tien HA coilovers care to share their experiences with them?

how do they handle?

hows the ride quality?

how easy are they to adjust?

[jmillheiser]

thanks for the suit

im not a complete noob. ive posted on NICO and freshalloy for awhile and know excatly what i want out of my 240 (when i get one - they are hard to find around here).

it was an Email from West that get me to check out this board.

this seems to be the first sx/silvia specific board ive found (NICO for all intensive purposes is but they do have other sections that hardly see any traffic).

ive herd good things about the Tiens but nothing specific

[jmillheiser]

it will be mostly street driving with some drag racing and autox.

and maybe a little drifting

[DuffMan]

The main advantage of the Jic, hks, zeal, ect. is that they are aluminum which is lighter and resists corrosion better.

Besides that, its just shocks and springs really.

[s13 Monster]

tein's are a nice set up. i had them on my WRX, and iam getting them for my 240 as well.

[LOwrestling2001]

actually, advantage of JICs to the HA's is better valving...and such...it's not just construction and springs. shocks are very important :)

[DuffMan]

Yeah, i didnt mean that the springs and shocks are all the same. Obviously they are valved differently. However, with adjustable shocks, it almost doesnt matter.


I also forgot to mention adjusting ride height without affecting shock travel.

[sykikchimp]

Originally posted by DuffMan
I also forgot to mention adjusting ride height without affecting shock travel.

I think this is one of THE most important things when making a decision for suspension on the 240sx. It gives you much more control over the AMOUNT of suspension travel you can setup on the car, which is very important when your dealing with a car like the 240 that looses a lot of suspension travel when lowered.

But as with all things.. it is a feature, and one that will probably not be of much use unless you track the car regularly.

[DuffMan]

I agree it is a nice feature, but even still coilovers that don't have it pretty much assume the car is going to be lowered 2in or so and set it up accordingly.

[hashiriya13]

I have used the HA's on my last ride (00 celica) and they were a good setup for a hard driven street car with some track time. But I just installed my JIC FLT-2A and let me tell you I am on the second day on them and I will never go back to HA's. I know they are to differant cars but I really pushed the HA's (on track) and have just used the JIC's on the road since last night and I feel the JIC are allot better coils. But thats just my thoughts. My friends are now using the HA's and the SS's and they are happy but they do mostly drag.

[jmillheiser]

so it sounds like they are decent for an entry level coil over. but that extra 600 or so is very well spent to get better ones.

i am looking at coil overs due to the ability to adjust the ride height. here in wyoming winters can get fierce and being able to raise the car up for winter driving will be a help.

i know with just a spring/shock swap your stuck with the lowered ride height

[hashiriya13]

Yes I think the HA's are a great entry level coilover but if it mostly going to be used for sreet driving you may want to go with the SS. I think they are a little cheaper and they have better corrosion resistance, which would be better for you in the snow. Its the same as the ha but only one spring with a milder spring rate. (little better for street)

[95Blue240sx]

hashiriya13 - i dont think its fair to compare the HA's on your celica and flta2's on your 240. just my opinion though. what makes it seem all that better?

i have HA's on my s14. i love them. no regrets buying them. im looking to get track time this summer. most arguments ive seen is that the HA's corrod and that they lost shock travel when lowering them.

[jmillheiser]

so it sounds like if i want an entry level coil over the SS will hold up better and ride better.

i know that loss of travel kills the ride. ive been in enough imports with lowering springs to tell you how bad lowering springs ride without a shock upgrade.

no wonder honda sells so few of its FP packages (the factory lowering springs ride like **** oh and honda charges 4000$ for springs, side sills, and 16" rims)

[95Blue240sx]

i think that the HA's are a better entry level coilover setup. my friend has them on his and they feel way soft. i think a nice stiff spring rate on AGX's is a great setup. why not try that first?

[orange-grey]

I've had HAs on my S13 for almost a year now. As far as corrosion, I live in California and they havn't had a problem. If I was back east I would get something else. The ride is about as firm as I would want on a daily driver. The guys running around town on 10kg/8kg N1's must have brass cojones. People say that 6/5 is soft, but I have to run the dampers on almost full soft just to get traction at most bay area auto-x sites. If you have slicks or your car is a dedicated drifter they might be a bit weak. And yeah, I can't lower it as much as I want without pounding the bumpstops, which is the main reason I'll say just start off with a good spring/shock combo. Anybody who says you need a set FLTs to learn on must be some sort of trust-fund baby. My HAs cost me almost three months' fun money, and now I regret them. In a year something else might be hot and you'll wonder why you bought JICs.

[jmillheiser]

so a good set of springs and decent shocks should be better for an entry level setup? any suggestions on springs/shocks?

i would probably look at either pro-kits or S Techs for springs.

not sure on shocks

[95Blue240sx]

People say that 6/5 is soft, but I have to run the dampers on almost full soft just to get traction at most bay area auto-x sites.

i know what you mean. right now im on 8/5. it was on 8/6 but then it started to rain and the tail got a little happy. if i go any stiffer in the rear itll slide around too much. maybe im just riding the bumpstops. i find that the 8/5 is pretty good.

look for some springs with good rates. a friend of mine told me that the tanabe super downs had good rates on them. his name is BadMojo on here and trick2fourd on aim. theres a thread somewhere on here about all the different shocks and how crappy a selection we have for the 240. ex. the koni's are good mid priced adj. but you have to take the rear off to adj them. tockico blues are nice but not too stiff. tockico adj is ok but no one has reviewed the stiffness on them. and blah blah blah blah blah.