wa22jimmy

ok so first off yes i searched and found alot of good info but it wasnt really helpful enough for my liking. it was alot of useless opinions with a very little amount of facts.

This isnt really based on price so please that isnt a factor in this thread. so i have been looking at spending a good amount of cash on my suspension starting on the springs and shocks/struts.

i have been researching information on alot of diffrent sites and from many sources but would still like some good input for this site since it has the best people and information for my s13.

now heres my personal situation. ive tried to buy coilovers 2 times now and it just hasnt happened. first time it was because the seller of the D2 coilovers couldnt get them shipped to me in a reasonable (45 day) time frame so he refunded me my cash. the second time i was going to buy megan racing coilovers for 900 shipped on ebay which to my knowledge is the best deal out there other than a groupbuy. the seller on ebay "found a flaw" with my set so he refunded me the money also. this has all made me reconsider my choice and rethink the spring/adjustable shock route.

my car is going to first and foremost be a daily driver but i do like to drive my car hard. There is a possiblity of track/drift sessions so adjustability would be VERY nice for that but i dont see that happening just yet. i dont plan to complete in either autox or drift so i wouldnt be out trying to win a thing, just learning. now i know i sound like i made my mind up but heres my pro coilover statments. a good spring/shock combo is going to run me within a few hundred of a decent coilover setup "like the ones ive tried to buy" so that leans me towards the coilovers again. plus i dont want to be re buying parts down the road either.

though i dont see me adjusting my suspension very often while daily driving this car. i do understand the coilovers would be help me find my "prefered" driving setup. in order to fully use the coilovers im going to need a few other adjustable parts like adjustable RUCAs, toe arms, torque arms and some tie rods which i would like to have but i dont see me using them to their full potential either. i also dont see me paying for a race shop to adjust these parts since most alignment shops are incompetent.

ive had a car with kyb shocks/struts and intrax springs that i daily drove and i didnt mind it at all but ive never driven a car with adjustable coilovers. the stiffness of the ride has no effect on my choice. its just about the handling and practicality of the setup.

so with my total situation on the table, please can you guys give me some good advice and possibly personal experience with your suspension setups.


ohh ya sorry for the book.

Jimmy

__________________
NASTY BEHIND THE WHEEL BUT MY MIND AINT STEER'D RIGHT

ultraDorksGarage

im bored so i think ill right a short novel too.

basically im gonna get flamed for saying this but its my opinion. adjustability is wonderful. when u buy a coilover setup the range of adjustability on most coilovers is the same(when comparing similarly sprung coilovers), whether it be 16 way 32 way or 3 way dampening adjustable. its just more or less clicks.

as far as too stiff not being a problem, u should think about that some more. im not talking about for daily driving but for the places u want the suspension to really shine. if u run alot of mountain runs, then too stiff is definately bad. if u are only gonna run prepared tracks then perhaps its not a problem.

im running tein RA's, 10/8 spring rates, basically in the middle of adjustment. for steet i have it dampening tighter, for the touge i have it less dampening. u are gonna ask me now why on the touge attack would i take away dampening... its because of the low speed vs high speed valving.

basically noone ever talks about low vs high speed valving, but i think its very if not the most important. spring rates are spring rates, dampening is the same amount of force just different amount of clicks to get there on different brands.

so heres my feed back on the tein RA's on the street, they are great, so i have the damp. a little stiff to eliminate bouncy feeling(rebound and bound are not independant on RA's) but aside from stiff ride they are not bouncy, and body roll negligible, way better mid speed turning. On the low speed corner exits with high dampening force on the front and 8kgf rear spring rates RA's will never be as good as tein stechs.(thats what throttle control is for) high speed is a little twitchy, but basically the same.

my track setup is same as street setup except i run less damp. on the back by 1 or 2 clicks.

my touge setup is way soft. i run less dampening cuz the high/low speed valving ratio on RA's isnt made for mountain roads. the crazy elevation changes during hairpins and the rough roads create loads of understeer unless u go softer. when the low speed valving is settup for perfect turning, the high speed valving just gets out of hand. i realize this is because RA's are a circuit coilover and not a touge/drift coilover(drift in japan is often on touges, a proper touge coilover should have less high speed damp in relationship to low speed damp compared to the RA's imho)

in the rain the car's valving-needs change, and RA's actually perform very well for the fact that they are pretty decently sprung. corner exits are more stable than when i had s techs with kyb's. braking is slightly more understeer prone, but to be expected.

wa22jimmy

stiffness of the ride is what i was refering to, not the actual stiffness of the springs. im sorry for the confusion.

__________________
NASTY BEHIND THE WHEEL BUT MY MIND AINT STEER'D RIGHT

ultraDorksGarage

another thing is unless u r looking to shave weight through shocks, look for monotube design, it will have better response(bigger diameter piston can be fit in tube, cuz tube is bigger), double tube design can also sometimes have shock "fade", although very negligible, it still exists. (N2 actually is in contact will oil in double tube design)

external resivoir shocks are awesome. basically they are monotube design with external res. holding the floating piston and N2 gas. drool....ohlins.....drool

another thing is nitrogen pressure in shocks is not to add "spring" to shock, its to prevent oil foaming/cavitation. Good design normally, (i stress normally) needs the least amount of pressure. depending on design, the needs for N2 pressure vary with design.

edit: this again is my opinion, many companies like double tube design...less weight...less length...etc etc