cmartin240
02-28-2017, 02:25 PM
I do not normally write comprehensive reviews of car parts, but after installing the Tein Street Basis GSP04-1USS2 on my 91 Nissan 240SX I felt compelled to share with the community. Most people will probably wonder what the attraction to an “entry level” and comparatively affordable set of coilovers is. Let me start with what suspension I have experience with on this chassis. In my earlier ignorant days I tried some coilover sleeve springs off Ebay, which insecurely sit atop the OEM struts. They road like crap and the sleeve was too tall so I bottomed out frequently. I quickly ditched those for some Tein S-Tech springs on the OEM struts. I also installed set of Suspension Techniques sway bars, Whiteline TC Rod bushings, polyurethane rear sub-frame inserts, new OEM front control arms, overhauled the rear lower control arms with ball joint and poly bushings, Megan Racing tie rod ends, and rear adjustable toe and camber arms. The springs rode very nice and gave a mild lowering without eating up much suspension travel. After a couple years I noticed a rear shock started to leak so I decided I wanted coilovers.
I looked at Megan Racing Street coilovers in 2007 as they had a good price compared to the Tein Super Streets, but had the same features such as independent height, preload, camber plates, and adjustable dampening. They were also rumored to be rebadged Apexi N1 coilovers so I assumed the quality would be fine. I had these coilovers on my car for 10 years and I just recently sold them to a friend. Granted they never saw winter weather, I don’t take the car out in the rain, I only had the car lowered 1”- 1.25”, and I auto-crossed with them maybe 6 sessions, they were in fantastic condition. The paint was still fine, the seals weren’t leaking, the threaded sleeves weren’t rusty, and the spherical joints still moved freely. So for anyone that slams Megan Racing quality, my 10 years of experience with them says they are well built.
My only complaint with these coilovers is the ride quality. In an attempt to soften them up, I moved the rear 6KG springs to the front and bought Eibach 5.3KG (converted from pounds) for the rear as this was similar to the spring rate Dave Coleman ended up at on his Project Silvia and was within tolerance according to MR. Springs unfortunately have less of an impact on ride quality versus the damper. I know I shouldn’t be complaining about ride quality with coilovers, however I never did before I moved to Houston, TX. I have had my car for 14 years and I have lived in the suburbs of Chicago and Kalamazoo, MI and driven it all over those states, never encountering the piss poor excuses of roads they have in Houston. Supposedly it gets so hot here that the pavement buckles. Maybe its poor construction. Either way I have had my ass lift off the seat cruising at 50mph on some roads and I’m 180lbs. Some bumps are so hard it feels like I hit the bump stops (which won’t happen sitting as high as I am). My friend recently purchased a 2017 BMW M3 with magnetic shocks and adjustable dampening. Even in Sport + (most aggressive setting) the car rides firm, but not harsh. It doesn’t feel like your spine might snap on roads with any sort of texture. That’s the ride I wanted. I wanted the ride quality of a factory tuned sports car.
Think M3, Corvette, STI, EVO, Z, GT-R, etc. I didn’t want a freaking “race car on the street” ride quality anymore. It is counterproductive to traction on public roads (and some tracks for that matter). “Stiff” does not equal “better handling”. “Rubber BAD, solid metal GOOD” is what we are lead to believe. With a RWD car, you want a little bit of weight transfer to stick those rear tires into the pavement (drifting being the exception, but I’m not getting into that). High spring rates and hard dampeners doesn’t make a coilover “high quality”. I would say coilovers are “high quality” when they perform well in the condition they are designed for. I have my car on the street 95% of its life, so that’s what the coilovers should be designed for. I think a lot of people, myself included, overbuild the suspension on their street car and either regret it, or don’t realize they are sacrificing grip and stability due to the track-oriented parts they installed.
In my search for “street-friendly” coilovers, I wasn’t left with many options. Megan Racing has the “EZ” line, but they have the same spring rates as their “Street” series and they still use aluminum upper mounts. If the spring rates are the same, the dampening is most likely similar. Tein has a good reputation in quality and performance from what I have researched so I wanted to give them a shot. Tein has their recent “Basis” series, which is an updated version of the “Basic” coilover they had out several years ago. They describe it as a coilover which is acceptable for a daily driver. I was torn between the Basis and Street Flex however, since I didn’t like the idea of giving up independent height, preload, camber plates, and dampening adjustment. The spring rates of the Flex and aluminum upper mounts lead to me believe they would ride just as hard as my MR Street coilovers I just sold to my friend. I talked with Tein about camber angles with the Basis (since there is no front OEM adjustment) and had them email me the installation manual so I could see exactly what OEM parts are reused. They use OEM upper mounts and bushings (rear) for several reasons: 1. They reduce NVH. 2. This reduces cost. I took a gamble and ordered the Street Basis.
Initial impression is these are very well built, heavy duty coilovers. The lower front mounting bracket is exceptionally beefy. None of the components were scuffed or scratched due to their packaging regardless of making the trip from Japan. Even the spanner wrenches were near double the thickness of the MR wrenches. I harvested the necessary OEM components from my friends 1993 240SX, which spent all of its life in Texas. Since winter never had a chance to deteriorate anything, the parts were in decent shape. The bearings in the upper mounts were my main concern and they spun freely with no noise. The rear bushings were fine. The only issue I had is with the rubber upper spring seat off the rear shock. A protruding lip is molded into this spring seat to center the OEM spring. Tein’s rear spring is a smaller diameter and requires cutting this lip off so it has a flat surface to sit against. Using a razor blade makes quick work of the lip, but due to age the upper mount did want to tear in areas I didn’t intend. I wanted to see if I even liked the ride quality of these coilovers before I started investing in replacing the necessary OEM components however. (I will tear them down eventually to install new front upper mounts, new rear OEM spring seats 55034-35F10, and rear shaft bushings. They are 23 years old after all).
A couple things I was frustrated with after initially throwing them on the car was the ride height and camber angle. It was sitting too low for me per their instructions (I have rather large and wide tires) and my camber angle was at 0 degrees if not slightly positive. After a quick conversation with Tein, I learned the upper mounting hole on the front bracket is slotted (I didn’t notice) to allow some camber adjustment. To achieve the minimum lowering heights shown on Tein’s website, you must crank the spring collars near the top of the threaded sleeve. To raise the car past the base drop of 1.8” on Tein’s site, you are using spring preload to raise the height of the car. After playing with the position of the collars, I was finally able to achieve my desired ride height of about -1” to -1.25” off factory height. After my alignment, I learned the front camber angles fell in at -1.1 and -1.5 degrees. This is the exact range that I wanted for a street car. You can expect a little more negative camber if you can afford to sit lower than me.
The ride quality is exactly what I wanted. They are still firm, but not jarring like the MR Streets. You feel the road and every little bump, but it is not violent. Vibration is reduced due to OEM rubber mounts. In no way are these comfortable or luxury coilovers. They are what a factory tuned sports car suspension feels like. I do not notice any body roll or brake dive. I am running aftermarket sway bars so this should be aiding in reducing body roll. I am 32 years old and I have been working on this car for 14 years so my tastes and knowledge have changed since I was 18. Younger people may want the “race-car on the street” feeling, but I was done with it. If you want a purpose built race-car, you may want something a little more aggressive than the Basis. However if you intend to spend the majority of your time on the street, I would recommend taking a look at these coilovers. There are not many options for a mild coilover for the 240SX. I wanted to make it easier to look past the minimal adjustability of these coilovers and the use of OEM mounts. It is in our nature to think OEM is “anti-performance” and we need all the adjustability of a professional race car. I am not trying to promote Tein, but I think a lot of people would be pleased with the performance of this kit.
I looked at Megan Racing Street coilovers in 2007 as they had a good price compared to the Tein Super Streets, but had the same features such as independent height, preload, camber plates, and adjustable dampening. They were also rumored to be rebadged Apexi N1 coilovers so I assumed the quality would be fine. I had these coilovers on my car for 10 years and I just recently sold them to a friend. Granted they never saw winter weather, I don’t take the car out in the rain, I only had the car lowered 1”- 1.25”, and I auto-crossed with them maybe 6 sessions, they were in fantastic condition. The paint was still fine, the seals weren’t leaking, the threaded sleeves weren’t rusty, and the spherical joints still moved freely. So for anyone that slams Megan Racing quality, my 10 years of experience with them says they are well built.
My only complaint with these coilovers is the ride quality. In an attempt to soften them up, I moved the rear 6KG springs to the front and bought Eibach 5.3KG (converted from pounds) for the rear as this was similar to the spring rate Dave Coleman ended up at on his Project Silvia and was within tolerance according to MR. Springs unfortunately have less of an impact on ride quality versus the damper. I know I shouldn’t be complaining about ride quality with coilovers, however I never did before I moved to Houston, TX. I have had my car for 14 years and I have lived in the suburbs of Chicago and Kalamazoo, MI and driven it all over those states, never encountering the piss poor excuses of roads they have in Houston. Supposedly it gets so hot here that the pavement buckles. Maybe its poor construction. Either way I have had my ass lift off the seat cruising at 50mph on some roads and I’m 180lbs. Some bumps are so hard it feels like I hit the bump stops (which won’t happen sitting as high as I am). My friend recently purchased a 2017 BMW M3 with magnetic shocks and adjustable dampening. Even in Sport + (most aggressive setting) the car rides firm, but not harsh. It doesn’t feel like your spine might snap on roads with any sort of texture. That’s the ride I wanted. I wanted the ride quality of a factory tuned sports car.
Think M3, Corvette, STI, EVO, Z, GT-R, etc. I didn’t want a freaking “race car on the street” ride quality anymore. It is counterproductive to traction on public roads (and some tracks for that matter). “Stiff” does not equal “better handling”. “Rubber BAD, solid metal GOOD” is what we are lead to believe. With a RWD car, you want a little bit of weight transfer to stick those rear tires into the pavement (drifting being the exception, but I’m not getting into that). High spring rates and hard dampeners doesn’t make a coilover “high quality”. I would say coilovers are “high quality” when they perform well in the condition they are designed for. I have my car on the street 95% of its life, so that’s what the coilovers should be designed for. I think a lot of people, myself included, overbuild the suspension on their street car and either regret it, or don’t realize they are sacrificing grip and stability due to the track-oriented parts they installed.
In my search for “street-friendly” coilovers, I wasn’t left with many options. Megan Racing has the “EZ” line, but they have the same spring rates as their “Street” series and they still use aluminum upper mounts. If the spring rates are the same, the dampening is most likely similar. Tein has a good reputation in quality and performance from what I have researched so I wanted to give them a shot. Tein has their recent “Basis” series, which is an updated version of the “Basic” coilover they had out several years ago. They describe it as a coilover which is acceptable for a daily driver. I was torn between the Basis and Street Flex however, since I didn’t like the idea of giving up independent height, preload, camber plates, and dampening adjustment. The spring rates of the Flex and aluminum upper mounts lead to me believe they would ride just as hard as my MR Street coilovers I just sold to my friend. I talked with Tein about camber angles with the Basis (since there is no front OEM adjustment) and had them email me the installation manual so I could see exactly what OEM parts are reused. They use OEM upper mounts and bushings (rear) for several reasons: 1. They reduce NVH. 2. This reduces cost. I took a gamble and ordered the Street Basis.
Initial impression is these are very well built, heavy duty coilovers. The lower front mounting bracket is exceptionally beefy. None of the components were scuffed or scratched due to their packaging regardless of making the trip from Japan. Even the spanner wrenches were near double the thickness of the MR wrenches. I harvested the necessary OEM components from my friends 1993 240SX, which spent all of its life in Texas. Since winter never had a chance to deteriorate anything, the parts were in decent shape. The bearings in the upper mounts were my main concern and they spun freely with no noise. The rear bushings were fine. The only issue I had is with the rubber upper spring seat off the rear shock. A protruding lip is molded into this spring seat to center the OEM spring. Tein’s rear spring is a smaller diameter and requires cutting this lip off so it has a flat surface to sit against. Using a razor blade makes quick work of the lip, but due to age the upper mount did want to tear in areas I didn’t intend. I wanted to see if I even liked the ride quality of these coilovers before I started investing in replacing the necessary OEM components however. (I will tear them down eventually to install new front upper mounts, new rear OEM spring seats 55034-35F10, and rear shaft bushings. They are 23 years old after all).
A couple things I was frustrated with after initially throwing them on the car was the ride height and camber angle. It was sitting too low for me per their instructions (I have rather large and wide tires) and my camber angle was at 0 degrees if not slightly positive. After a quick conversation with Tein, I learned the upper mounting hole on the front bracket is slotted (I didn’t notice) to allow some camber adjustment. To achieve the minimum lowering heights shown on Tein’s website, you must crank the spring collars near the top of the threaded sleeve. To raise the car past the base drop of 1.8” on Tein’s site, you are using spring preload to raise the height of the car. After playing with the position of the collars, I was finally able to achieve my desired ride height of about -1” to -1.25” off factory height. After my alignment, I learned the front camber angles fell in at -1.1 and -1.5 degrees. This is the exact range that I wanted for a street car. You can expect a little more negative camber if you can afford to sit lower than me.
The ride quality is exactly what I wanted. They are still firm, but not jarring like the MR Streets. You feel the road and every little bump, but it is not violent. Vibration is reduced due to OEM rubber mounts. In no way are these comfortable or luxury coilovers. They are what a factory tuned sports car suspension feels like. I do not notice any body roll or brake dive. I am running aftermarket sway bars so this should be aiding in reducing body roll. I am 32 years old and I have been working on this car for 14 years so my tastes and knowledge have changed since I was 18. Younger people may want the “race-car on the street” feeling, but I was done with it. If you want a purpose built race-car, you may want something a little more aggressive than the Basis. However if you intend to spend the majority of your time on the street, I would recommend taking a look at these coilovers. There are not many options for a mild coilover for the 240SX. I wanted to make it easier to look past the minimal adjustability of these coilovers and the use of OEM mounts. It is in our nature to think OEM is “anti-performance” and we need all the adjustability of a professional race car. I am not trying to promote Tein, but I think a lot of people would be pleased with the performance of this kit.