Which Coil overs to choose?

[redpanda13]

Well in about a month i'm planning on picking up some coil overs. I want them for drift events as well as daily driving. I had my heart set on Tein HE, then a friend told me Tanabe's are really good as well as JIC and HKS. Let me know what you guys think.

[Dousan_PG]

i like the search mode best
do some homework.

[dct223]

BE A MAN, and make ur own decision....

just stay away from D2, ksport, and JIC's

[XxJaPxOxNeEs23xX]

get sealazone or crux or apexi.

[nehoye]

go kEI OFFICE

cant go wrong with that

[KaFkA]

dct223 what's up with JICs...? People like em..

[Shin_Kudo]

I've been dissappointed with my HEs. I'd avoid them. Additionally, TEIN is phasing them out, in favor of the (hopefully superior) Super Drift.

The Buddy Club coilovers seem very nice, good build quality and design. I haven't driven on them, but I've heard good things from those who have. Certainly, inverted monotube and seperate compression and rebound adjustment are great for the price.

In the lower price range, people seem to like the KTS quite a bit.

[DJPimpFlex]

KTS YAY! Splparts.com

[dct223]

dct223 what's up with JICs...? People like em..

people DID like them...

my friend has the fla-2's on his S13 now... the build design is really stupid... when we were swapping the fla2's on his other s13, on the rear coilovers... when we were tightening the coliloveders on, the stud was actually getting loose.... so we had to take apart the pillow ball, and use hex keys to make sure the studs were absolutely tight so they wouldnt loosen when we tightened on the nut when it was on his car...

also there are stories that they like to break in half... and finally GL trying to get JICs rebuilt... could take weeks to months, or not even happen..

[TurK]

Kei Office=d

[Shin_Kudo]

Yeah, the main complaint with JIC seems to be the service and support. I know a guy who has a similar setup to me, except for FLT-A2s, and he likes the way they handle. The Teins I have, as I mentioned, are a bit rough. The quality just doesn't seem up to par. The edges are a bit rough, they don't seem to fit together perfectly, they're 16 way adjustable, but there's not enough difference between 1 and 16, and the valving is a bit rough, it really feels like too much fluid trying to fit through too small of a hole.

[jaja]

I just put in a pair of Tein SS's on my '93 vert and I love it. Wife hates it. It was a pain to get in because I was a klutz, but they run fine. Only comments I have are that the instructions are pretty crappy, and I have a squeak coming from one of the rear shocks. (probably a loose nut that I'm to lazy to tighten)

As for the adjustable control - I disagree with Shin - I did feel the difference esp on the 405 today... I had 4 clicks softer than center and I did feel a bit softer... or who knows it could be that I WANTED to feel that way...

[brainfood]

kei office, I have kei office xr's and they are amazing ride quality is stiffer than stock but so much smoother. I love them and everyone that rides in my car is amazed. Plus they handle so good and are very controlled. If you dont want to spend that much $$$ the lower kei offices the xt's I believe are still amazing and ride just as good just dont get the monotube fronts still get hieght adjustment seperate of preload I beleive. My friends s13 with them rides very nice and handles good. In my opinion I have not seen a set of JIC's that I have liked for any car even other than a 240sx teins are good and cheap but the he's are pretty stiff and ride is a little harsh and flex's are undersprung but ride nicely. my opinions from what I have seen and all I can say for sure is the kei office xr's kick a$$

[Colorado S14]

I have JIC FLT-A1s and my buddy got the KTS and they feel better than mine.

[007jpang]

gp sport and zeal are good too.

[wootwoot]

For entry level I say KTS from SPL

[TK]

i'll let you know next month how the apexi n1 exv's are

[MasterOFDrift]

coilovers are overated

if you get anything
get kyb agx and eibach pro kits that will definitely outperform any coilover out there...

[Jdotsturn]

What about Silk Roads RM A8s im about to get me a set of those.

[Var]

master of drift..you forgot the sarcasm tags in your post.

RM A8's are good. One of the few coils that offer a 8/7 rate which in theory should provide less understeer. Also they come with an eccentric bolt you can use to push out more camber if the camber plates aren't enough for you.


Guy with the HE's.. what dont you like about them specifically that you like about another coilover that you've driven with? Most ppl are happy with them around here. My friend loves his set. I even like my HA's except for the soft spring rates. Another guy went from HE's to KeiOffice XR...he said HE's are better worth the money.

I myself was looking at Tanabe DD or anything similar with valving for 10/8 springs. But they are only 4-way adjustable. i guess it doesnt really matter too much but it's nice to have.

[TurK]

hell yeah kyb/ eibach owns :cj:

[MasterOFDrift]

^ wesbouroughpimpizzle

i did forget the sarcasm tags : / meh

anyways like people said before ultimately it is your preference you can't try out every coilover personally so its good to be able to ask other people what they think of certain setups

I personally have HE's and have driven or ridden, and or done research on kyb setup, tanabe dd, kts, He's, HA's, K sport, and megan racing

HE's are great I have no complaints about them they are just stiff enough have adjustability and are durable thus far. Drivin 2 years on them still holding up to my abuse

K sport and whatever other variations of this coilover I would have to say are not worth the time or the money spent on them. I just have seen so many complaints about their craftsmanship and performance I would not bother getting them.

kts are very good coilovers for the money i see them as HE's but cheaper and buffer. Megan racing can fall into this category as well however I have not done too much investigating on these. I like the kts especially because for the price you are getting inverted fronts as well as good spring rates etc.

high end Kei office and tanabe DD's are my holy grail coilovers or apollo or anything like that. the 4 way adjustability is totally practical because the dampening range is still the same as say a 36 adjustable coiliver but who would be able to feel a difference between 1 increment of adjustment personally i think 4 way adjustability is easier faster and more relevent.

felt like i had to contribute because of the retarded post i made earlier

[KaFkA]

What about Zeals... My friend has em on Subaru Sti, and he says they very easy to rebuild.. Got an opinion?

[dvdevo]

ahhah yeah dont get d2's..

[240SXS-14]

I have the Tein Driving Spec Super Street Damper Coilover System on my 240 and it is awsome. You can adjust the damping to pretty much to what ever you want and set the ride height easily.

It handles really nice too.

I would recommend getting a camber kit to be able to align it if you get it lower to the ground.

My tires were wearing out really quick until I put the kit on.

[Dousan_PG]

haha
you dont need a camber 'kit'

you need a fcuking alignment

[lilredstiffy]

right on dousan, and dude its TOE not CAMBER eating your tires, I've had -2 in the rear for years and the wear is pretty even, last long time..

a camber kit cant be anything but a pair of weak eccentric bolts for the rear anyway, hopefully your coilovers have camber plates?

[240SXS-14]

I was talking about the front end and toe is obviously the most important wear angle. Camber is one of the angles that is affected most when lowering a vehicle and will cause the inside of the tires to wear pretty quick in my case. I put on about 80 miles a day.

Yes it has the plates in the back coilovers.

When the car is sitting as low as mine tire wear will become a problem.
I was just saying that this is a really nice kit.

[AutoRnD]

hahahah time for me to interject some info here as well.
all tanabe coilovers are twin tube last i checked. even thier 2000 dollar dd setup..
the tien he is twin tube as well. but is not discontunied for their super drift setup hahaha..
Also.. megan racing / d2 /k sport etc.. i wouldnt buy em.. Not my style.. they a little crappy.. not much service w/ them. And i don't know but are tanabe's serviceable in us?
another thing to note is jic sucks.. their customer service blows... It gives me migranes trying to work w/ them.
also gp sports are hot
silkroad are hot
and Zeal is the shit.

zeals ride sooo good even for high spring rates. they just tune their coilovers very well/.

[TurDz]

zeals ride sooo good even for high spring rates. they just tune their coilovers very well/.

That's why I'm impressed by only a few coilovers. Only a few manufacturers really know how to make coilovers built to perform and ride nicely. Zeals and Kei Office's come to mind. dunno about cusco zero2r's though...

[the head]

I like the Tanabe SS 2s (model with helper springs) on my car they ride firm but my car is all heim joints and urethane so I guess it will always be harsh no matter what coilovers I use

[ZK]

It all depends what you want to do with the car... For street use, street suspension is best, it will absorb the bumps and allow you to maintain control.

You start sticking race/drift suspension on street cars and you end up with a very rough ride and it doesn't handle well on anything that isn't smooth.

I like my Tein Type Flex - good ride quality, adjustable ride height, travel, dampening and you can stiffen up decent for track use. If I was going all out track I'd get something more aggressive but for daily driver purposes and weekend track it is awesome.

I've driven Tein HAs and HEs. The HA is rougher riding than the Flex and less adjustability, the HE is too stiff for daily commuting and problems with blown shocks.

[MikeFD3S]

make an educated decision on what you need and why you need it. A lot of people want so many adjustments, but they really have no idea what the true use is, or how to properly set it. Do you know how to properly set preload? Adjust stroke and shock travel? Let alone, properly corner weight a car?

Probably not. Adjustable coilovers are very good for those who properly use them and set them up, but if set incorrectly, you car will probably handle and ride a bit worse than before.

A good suspension will handle nice AND ride well. It's a matter of the internal valving and quality of the shock. Don't look at the number of dampening adjustments which is very misleading...many times something that says "36-way adjustable" has 36 increments over only a very small true dampening force range.

You might actually get more dampening force adjustment out of a shock with 4 clicks than you would with one with 16. It's all marketing hype.

Just because it rides stiff doesn't mean that your car is actually handling any better...it usually just means you have a cheaply made shock.

[Phil St John]

Another thing to keep in mind is most coilovers are made in japan. Japan has much better tracks and roads than we do and in keeping with that the spring rates on their coilovers are usually a bit much for a commute across the land of potholes. White Line is an Aussi company and they have roads that suck ass. I cant remember the spring rate but its twice that of stock and far less than other companies. On the other hand you might like a firm ride and you can more often then not order a specific spring rate from the other guys. Remember if you go with a stiff ride your car might not like it either, chassis fles on old cars is common and is greatly increased with a stiff suspention, be ready to brace your car up, wheeeeeeeeeeeee

Also I forgot to mention that there are only a few companies that sell and adjustable height damper, witch may not sound like much but if you dump you car with out that capabilaty you lose much ot your stroke lenth from your shock/strut somtimes to only an inch of travel, not much fun to ride on your bump stops. Its a wondefull thing to have the correct amount of travel in your chit.

[nightwalker]

most people are so caught up in just following what the next guy thinks is cool or what everyone is doing and they forget that they are buying a coilover because "you gotta have the uber tightness to fit in".

Not two years ago, people wouldn't bat an eye at a 1k coilover set. Now everyone wants one. But why? Do you know how to poperly setup the coilover? Are you using the full capabilities of them? preload? corner weighing? front/rear biasing? It's like buying a T.V. and watching one channel.

I see a lot of people with coilovers that don't have them properly installed. Let's not even talk about proper adjustment. A lot of these people would be way better off with a custom eibach spring and Konis with pillowball mounts.

But if you already have your coilovers, hope you have them properly adjusted because the guy with the Koni/Eibach setup is going to blow you away.

[c0ldasice]

A lot of these people would be way better off with a custom eibach spring and Konis with pillowball mounts.



Wouldn't custom Koni Shocks on Eibach springs cost more than some entry level coilovers like SPL KTS'?

[Var]

gc = 400

koni=550 of the shelf + 450 for revalve.(or 800 off the shelf for their new "race" shocks") You're looking at a set of GP-sport GR6 or Tein HE for that price. Whiteline makes coilovers with soft rates so that would be easier.

[AutoRnD]

zeal also makes street rates.. as well as hard rates..
they also make street specific / comfort coils as well a full on double adjustable remote reservoir race coils...
and hey.. why buy fro a company that makes tons of shit when u can buy from a company that specializes in it

[Var]

Josh! everyone would love to have a set of Zeals. I'll take a set on the house :p

[ZK]

Another thing to keep in mind is most coilovers are made in japan. Japan has much better tracks and roads than we do and in keeping with that the spring rates on their coilovers are usually a bit much for a commute across the land of potholes.


Japan has some pretty jacked up roads actually. The highways are smooth but besides that it's pretty messed up. I think they just put up with the rough ride with suspension. And just like in the US 99% of cars are bone stock and people just drive them around town. But unlike the US, not very many people drive - its too inconvenient and expensive.