choice of coilovers

[shawn_16]

i'm stuck on getting powertrix coilovers or the megan racing coilovers
anybody have experience with the powertrix coils and how do you like them?

[ranisron]

dig up the reviews using the search function. I remember a member did a full review on PowerTrix coilovers... I think he gave good words for the coilovers, too.

[Ian]

Personally, I'd say go w/ MR

Powertrix isn't height adjustable are they?

[aa87]

coilovers are all height adjustable. The powertrix and megans are in different catagories, as there is a 200 dollar difference, and i imagine the shocks int he powertrix are much better than what megan has in theirs.

[SR240DET]

i imagine the shocks int he powertrix are much better than what megan has in theirs.

how did you come up with that? is it because it cost more? if that is so... then this isnt a valid answer... shock dyno... somebody needs to put them on a shock dyno to give a good answer.....

[wanganwonder]

i'd go with megan

at least you know it's solid

[REDSH!FT]

Coilovers can be height adjustable in different ways...

Some coilovers, namely older ones and entry level ones from big name brands, are only height adjustable by changing the static spring height (preloadng or dropping the spring lower) while most new coilovers and generally ALL expensive coilovers are height adjustable by a threaded lower perch as well.

D-Drug coilovers I believe do not have a threaded lower perch.

[North240]

KTS=Powetrix the midpriced ones, unless the valving is completely different (which i highly doubt), so go to SPL parts and check their KTS shock dyno. KTS get my vote, price is right on par with powertrix, and i like dealing with kuah.

[i8yourfwd]

I have the Megan's and I'm happy with them. For the price, you can't really lose... I know there's a full review on them aroundhere somewhere.

[Edgar]

Ive heard nothing but negative about the Megan coilovers but I cant vouch for that since I havent been in a car that has them How much are you looking to spend?

[sLiDewAys]

My Personal vehicle

Tein HE
KTS
GP Sport

Friends Personal vehicle
HKS hipermax s14
Tein He
Tein Hr
Tein Ha
Tein basic
Tein super street
JIC flta2
K sport
Tanabe DD
Zeal
Silk Road
Megan

-Zeal - ( stiff, firm valving with adequate spring rates for a comfortable stiff ride)

-hks hipermax - ( from the passanger seat if felt verry firm. Not super rediculously stiff springs like most who companties who fail to match this up with an adequate valving for such springs. verry comfortable ride quality but a tad softer than the zeals)

-Cusco - ( Only had one chance to ride on from my friends car before he sold it. good overall impression with these, they seemed to do much r&d to get the " just ride" appeal but to me it seemed to be missing what the hipermax and zeal offered which is comfortable ride w/ firm valving and adequate springs which can accompany smoothe ride BUT performance race coil over)

-gp sports - ( id purchase these over teins or silk roads anyday of the week, Firm valving and stiff springs w/ semi rough ride. I felt that unlike the hipermax and zeal these were not made to appeal to many different types of drivers. more of a DRIFT coil over rather than a coil sold for a wide variety of usages)

-kts - ( i love these coilovers. And i got a verry good impression on them which has me sold much more than when i first purchased my tein he's. Same spring rates at most of these compaties so spring rates arent discussable. But the valving was verry firm BUT non rugged like the he's. my car seemed to go over bumps rather than bounce over tham and all the road pot holes. So overall id have to say adequate valving on a generaly common used spring rate made good quality coilover for both firm drift and smoothe gripping.)

-jic flta2's - (TYGMA where are you at. i did not get much of an impression on these coil overs besides these things were STIFF AS HELL. he sold them for tanabe DD's but the flta2's to me seemed to be much firmer and ideal for an all out drift coilover. Firm valving and stiff springs made for STIFF HARD RIDE)

-tanabe dd's - ( alast, the replacments, cannot remember the spring rates on these but the valving was VERRY SOFT and to me felt like an ideal track/grip or touge coilover for s-chassis. not at all comparable to the hipermax, cusco, zeal or gp sports units.)

-tein he's - ( these coilovers had my mind everywhere from the beginning, they were way overkill on teh valving uning a common spring rate. every bump my bounced off instead of rolling over. Verry ahrd rough coilover BUT ideal for sliding 50 mph+:) overall imperssion is that these things are you DRIFT coilover set for that person who enjoys a SMOOTHE firm drift ride but not at all comparable to tanabe dd's in terms of grip ability. they just were not comfortable enough to enjoy the touge)

-megan 8/6 - ( rode in them for 2 minutes trough the city and arround some corners. to me felt like a verry budgeted tein he' but w/o the name to back it up. i have seen their manifold used on sr's and they have really good customer service but they seem to wear fairly fast and their damper adjustment knob becomes too loose and you cannot feel the clicks after a few events. overall impression is good but not at all comparable to the tein he's)

-silk roads - (verry stiff and hard ride but the valving was super soft on these frisko streets. i believe they were on teh verge of blowing so my impressions were not all that good. for the money it was a waste, go gp sports or cusco, even tanabe dd)

-tein Ha's - ( crap and leave it at that, dont buy and save ur money for something worth buying from tein)

-K sport - ( for the money 700.00. shit what the hell. if ur a noob and just want to drift at the events why not? id buy these over strut and spring any day. Semi firm valving and a commonly used spring rate made an okay coilover from k sport give them a 4/10 for trying.)

-tein super street - ( yeah, your going to get flammed so i will not embarass you choice or pocket for buying these. WEILL NOT COMMENT ON)

-Tein Basics - ( ok you've done it, C.R.A.P unles you just jave a show s13 and want to lower your car and how off your teins sticker!. do not buy and stay away from. ride heigh adjsutable from spring perch??? so lets soften up spring rate and lower my car with teh same valving YAYYY. stay away from and save your 800.000 for some k sports and cheap RUCAs from deluboz parts on ebay HAHAHHA) there you go, i redid my list. where are my kuddoz and reputation shoot im on -21

[SoSideways]

Slideways, which GP sports coilover are you talking about?

The GR-6?

Or the G-Max one that just came out not long ago?

I was gonna go with KTS, for it's decent valving and features versus the price, but the GR-6 aren't that much more, and if those turn out much better than KTS, I'm going to have to fork out the extra dough for some.

Scooter, how are the GR-6 compared to some other coilovers for S14s in your opinion?

[sLiDewAys]

gr-6. the gr-6 were much better than the kts in terms of quality made product but its downside is rebuildablility. when your strut goes down who is going to replace it and how long wil it take for that particular item take to be replaced. kts are strut inserts. if you are framilliar with ae86 suspension you will know what i am talking about. its a 30 minute process to swap out a strut isnert from the casing. to me customer service + quality made products = what will determine best bang for buck. becasue to me there is no sens eto buy quality product w/o fast replacment or repair. would you trust toyota selling you a 600hp car for 40,000 w/o a warranty?

[TurDz]

slideways,

your hierarchy of coilver ratings confused me. You first said that you'd list on ride quality, but it seems all over the place. When you say ride quality do you mean NVH? or do you mean road holding? stiff coilovers can still follow the contours of the road if damped correctly...overly stiff coilovers should stay on the track.

it's cool to see someone who's ridden in so many setups, please contribute more.

[jessfx]

you didn't say anything about the rma8's

[SoSideways]

Well, the GR-6 seems to hold up pretty well, seeing as Scooter aka Panda aka RBS14 has those on his super slammed S14, and they seem to be holding up just fine still.

Even if I need them rebuilt, I have a Japanese friend who can probably help me out. If not, I can bring them bitches with me when I go visit Japan (I'll make a trip of it, since it'll make a good enough excuse to go over there right? hahaha).

[sLiDewAys]

TuRDs - yeah i understand what your saying. but im judging each but not only ride quality( even though i stated differently) i kind of got carried away with personal opinion and did not stick to my own guidlines. so, i will redo.:) with my overall impression on each.

Jessfx - i cannot comment on the silk roads. when i rode in his car the frisco streets had already torn his coilovers down in less than 2 months so my overall expression was VERRY BADD! ill let u know if i run accross anotehr chance to give you a full opinion.

SoSideways - gr-6. if this is what you want ( like all things that are manufactured) BUY IT. Too many times i see ppl post here on zilvia about a part and want everyones overall impression and want them to give their opninion if its god or not. I was on aforum where a lot of the pink godzira guys post and alex phifer was on there dogging every single US manufacturer for rear links for S chassis cars, he specifically dogged on C-tune and said their products were c rap (tc sportline). directly after his post charlie ( driftheaven) believe hes s13 charlie here, stated that hes been on the same rear link set from tc sportline/c-tune for 2 years. he didnt state his over all impression or opinion but that pretty much settles anyones questions about durrability on these rear arm sets for c chassis. i hear all this ranting about " oh thesae links sucks, and these squeek too much" but then i hear that kazzama and cusco and tanaba ones all do the same after time. grese your joints and get some dust boot covers n call it a day. then it goes in zirc fittings and how they suck n blah blah. Bias tuners stick to what their money seemes worth spending on which is usually the quality NAME BRAND product when TO ME is not always THE BEST QUALITY! but i do appreciate those companies for actually going thru R&D to make a good quality part. you make, you test, you use and then you destribute. this is the only wai i can see it done if u want my money!:)

[SoSideways]

SoSideways - gr-6. if this is what you want ( like all things that are manufactured) BUY IT. Too many times i see ppl post here on zilvia about a part and want everyones overall impression and want them to give their opninion if its god or not. I was on aforum where a lot of the pink godzira guys post and alex phifer was on there dogging every single US manufacturer for rear links for S chassis cars, he specifically dogged on C-tune and said their products were c rap (tc sportline). directly after his post charlie ( driftheaven) believe hes s13 charlie here, stated that hes been on the same rear link set from tc sportline/c-tune for 2 years. he didnt state his over all impression or opinion but that pretty much settles anyones questions about durrability on these rear arm sets for c chassis. i hear all this ranting about " oh thesae links sucks, and these squeek too much" but then i hear that kazzama and cusco and tanaba ones all do the same after time. grese your joints and get some dust boot covers n call it a day. then it goes in zirc fittings and how they suck n blah blah. Bias tuners stick to what their money seemes worth spending on which is usually the quality NAME BRAND product when TO ME is not always THE BEST QUALITY! but i do appreciate those companies for actually going thru R&D to make a good quality part. you make, you test, you use and then you destribute. this is the only wai i can see it done if u want my money!:)

Well, as much as I try to convince myself that the GR-6 is worth it to me, I will have to go against that little voice in my head and go with reasoning.

KTS has recieved a lot of good reviews, and has a lot of features for their price. You said that it rode a little harsh, but you're the first person that I've heard say those coilovers made the car ride harsh. Everyone else said they were smooth. Firm, but smooth.

So yeah, I'm going to get KTS, and with the money that I saved from not buying the GR-6, I can buy some SPL RUCA and their version 2 T/C rods.

Oh, btw, I read up on Ziptied a lot, I just can't post cause I'm not a member, and yeah, it seems that Alex Pfiefer to dog on everyone else's stuff, and he's always like "I'd recommend my own products cause I make sure they're the best blah blah blah." They're not his biased opinions or anything hahaha

[sLiDewAys]

i love my kts's but there ARE 2 different types. im currious to what everyone is buying. i have the 15 way adjustables but there are alaso some 30 way adjustables. they are firm but we arent talking tein HE firm. those things were like bricks on the road and verry uncomfortable.

[mr_240sx]

i got the GR-6 and i totally love them! stiff ride but very comfortable! Definately worth every penny

[SoSideways]

i love my kts's but there ARE 2 different types. im currious to what everyone is buying. i have the 15 way adjustables but there are alaso some 30 way adjustables. they are firm but we arent talking tein HE firm. those things were like bricks on the road and verry uncomfortable.

I'm talking about the kind that is 15 way adjustable, I guess the KTS Betas, that SPLparts.com has been selling since like, last year sometimes.

When I said firm, I didn't mean like over damped. I was under the impression that their valving is actually pretty dang good, ergo the smooth ride that's firm yet not jaring.

On the other hand, I've rode in an S13 coupe with D2 coilovers, and them mofos were bouncy. I've also rode in an S13 coupe with the Megan track coilovers (12/10 spring rate), but I didn't spend enough time in that car to get a feel for how they are exactly.

[Hitawall]

I always go for a cheaper set up , they seem to be more street friendly to me . i have a set of n1's but i run my tein springs and a set of tokico towers for most of the year . so only buy them if you need them , i bought them because i thought it was an important upgrade but i feel thats incorrect now and mine sit there unless i amgoing to a show or something . the rest of your set up is more important so you get more out of spending a $1000 on other parts of your susp. with a good matched set of sprngs/strts just giving my opinion some peeplz feel other ways but i am talking from my expirence

[yudalicious]

JDM companies use the lower bracket so they can use one common same shock body that fits different applications (via different lower brackets) to save money, generally most non JDM coilovers don't use the lower brackets because their shocks are application specific. So the existence of a adjustable lower bracket does not mean the coilover is a high level coilover and the lack of one does not mean the coilover is of a lower level.



Coilovers can be height adjustable in different ways...

Some coilovers, namely older ones and entry level ones from big name brands, are only height adjustable by changing the static spring height (preloadng or dropping the spring lower) while most new coilovers and generally ALL expensive coilovers are height adjustable by a threaded lower perch as well.

D-Drug coilovers I believe do not have a threaded lower perch.