I have had REALLY bad luck with coilovers and I am thinking about just getting some shocks and springs. What do you guys think I should get? I would like dampening adjustable shocks, and progressive springs for a nice combo of aggressive handling and some ride comfort for crappy road conditions.
I am thinking about KYB AGX, or Yellow KONI shocks. And I don’t really know what to get for springs, i have heard good things about Swift springs, but have no idea where to get them or check into pricing and availability.
What do you guys think is good, who has them, all opinions are apreciated.
Thanks
prob sounds like a good idea. I have some coilovers that would work for you aswell. They are Tien HR up front with a helper spring and tien NA out rear. I rode on this in my convertible last year but it was not what I was looking for. I think it will be good for you as you can drive anywhere with these. If you didnt like then I would give your money back. Looking to get $550 for the full set. If you want pictures let me know. They are not leaking and ride fine! If not KYB shocks and pretty much any lowering spring will do for what you need. KYB is pretty good!
garbage…stocks and spring combos bounce too much…try a new set of coilovers…the MEGAN RACE SPEC 32way adj. have impresssed me so far, and at a killer price…
tockido blues and tien stech springs, great feel and u can drive the car year round!
Koni Yellows and Eibach Springs They will actually out perform most cheaper full coil over setups. Eibach does custom springs so you can pick and chose your spring rates. What kind of problems have you had with past coil over setups ?
I also love my new Megan track series.
I have had KYB agx’s and tein s-techs and they are nothing compared to a proper coilover. Also struts and spring only allow a small drop and small wheel fitment.
coils ride waaay smoother than spring/strut.
So you actually get the best of BOTH worlds with full coilovers (vs. lowering springs + adj shocks)? Smoother more comfortable street ride AND better track & autox handling?
So you actually get the best of BOTH worlds with full coilovers (vs. lowering springs + adj shocks)? Smoother more comfortable street ride AND better track & autox handling?[/quote]
It all depends on spring rate and brand but basicly yes. It takes a little longer to PROPERLY adjust the pre-load and ride height but it is worth it.
Want them stiffer than the stiffest damper setting?? Increase preload.
There is alot more adjustablility than most think.
Thats not accurate at all. Its all about making th correct choices when choosing you combo. That said I am running Tien RA coilovers in my race car at the moment.
I had tokico blues + some eibach springs and they rode good for about 6 months. The blues blew after that. LOL! Megan streets were way better. If you really want to get springs/shocks, I would go with koni yellows and swift springs. Zilvia was having a group buy on the swift springs I think.
I looked up the koni yellows, and they aren’t a direct drop in. You have to cut open your old strut and modify it and put the koni shock into it. Seems kind of weird to me, I want something that bolts right in, no headaches, no hassles. I have wasted so much time with my suspension allready I just want something decent to get me by for a year or two, then when I have more money after i’m done school, I can upgrade to something nice and new.
My previous problems are:
car came with HE drift spec, And they were way to hard, didn’t work for me at all. so I traded for some HA’s, and they were blown. had no dampening, were very flat in there response, felt way to hard and they were the “street spec”…obviously not working right. So now I’m sick of dealing with used suspension, want something new with warranty.
Just an “FYI”, pretty much all coils will feel stiff on the street. They are made for the track. If you don’t track your car, don’t get coils. Even something like Tein Flex rides about 5 times as stiff as my spring/shock setup did. KYB AGX if you’re too weaksauce to get Koni’s. Oh, BTW, it’s damping, not dampening… unless you plan on wetting your shocks.
i enjoy my GAB struts and Rsr springs 
well HE’s are a killer coilover, they are discontinued now…and HA’s are super old, thats prob why they felt plush…i have the MEGAN RACE SPEC spring rate 12kg/mm and 10kg/mm and am upgrading to a 14kg/mm in the front, because i thaught they werent stiff enough…a coilover that will suit u is something like a TEIN FLEX, they are not harsh at all, u can almost compress the spring with you fingers…give the MEGAN STREET SPEC a try and trun them all the way out…as far as ride quality between the strut vs. coilover, u cannot beat a coilover…the stroke of a strut setup once the car’s spring is compressed is only about 1"-2" of travel…a coilover has the full stroke of the assembly…if u dont believe me, find a rutted road to cross like calgary trail south and whitemud, go over with both setups at 60km/h and tell me which one soaks up the bumps better…
Stiff suspension setups are not designed to run on the kind of roads that we have here… Honestly real race surfaces are extreamly smooth for the most part. That is the reason that they blow out so fast here. Stratotech is kept in extreamly good repair but even places like race city are a joke as far as a properly maintained race track goes. If you want to build a suspension that will last go pick out a set of Moton shocks and find some extreamly well built spings… That test with in 1% of each other on a shock dyno. I was not aware that Koni didn’t make a direct fit for your cars. Its really to bad because its a great product. sil_eightyRPS13 will be running the same rates I run in the race car for his street car it seems… I would say those are to stiff, especially if your planning go on longer drives. The Tein FLEX setup is a great track/street setup. Also remember that you shouldn’t just leave it up to your springs and struts, sway bars, camber, caster, toe, tires, tire pressure, streering rack modificaiton, in your guys case modification of the HICAS systsms in the car are all other elements that will directly affect the way your imputs will effect the car. Once your done doing the modifications make sure you take it out to the track at your next NECC track day and see how your changes really affected the car. The street is not a safe or objective place to test suspension modifications IMO.
That all said I am not a expert when it comes to your cars the majority of my experiance has to do with hondas. Something that I would love to change and if anyone is really serious about actually going out and getting down to tuning a suspension and would be willing to let me come along I would be all over it. By the way I am sure there a lot of spelling errors and grammer issues in that… I have had a bit to drink at its 3am right now. :?
High spring rates and ‘hard’ damping is for super smooth tracks only!
Most suspension textbooks will recommend the lowest spring rate that will keep your suspension from bottoming out and keep the body off the road on the hardest bumps you encounter. Manage roll with anti roll bars, not stiff springs. (Reasoning is that stiff springs transfer more load to the body during a bump and actually accellerate the CG of the car upwards. Once your car is launched skywards, your lateral grip is not as good.)
Adjustable damping is great! You can dial in comfort and performance for whatever you’re planning to do. I was able to dial out understeer on turn-in on the last track day I ran. Cool.
Be careful when you’re choosing ride height. Lower is not always better for handling. If you get too low on some cars the suspension geometry gets silly during bumps resulting in unpredictable or undesirable handling changes. Either measure suspension geometry throughout the range of motion and choose ride height to avoid areas where geometry starts to change faster, or read up on what smart racers have done.
Don’t be put off by your bad experience with aftermarket suspension. Just do your homework and pick something that’s going to work for you.
Cheers,
Dan
+1 to that.
Yeah, I am not saying coilovers suck. just that I am not taking any more chances on used coilovers, and I can’t afford new ones.
And I know you can’t slam your car and expect a decent ride, or great handling. I am not trying to slam my car, 1.5"-2" is all I am looking for, not a heck of a lot on a S13. they are pretty high from factory.
And I definatly want dampening so I can soften it up for daily driving and harden it up for very occasional track days. But daily driving is priority as that’s what I do everyday!! but sadly they also cost more, and I need money for school.
That’s why I was looking for advice on daily drivable shocks and springs. I appreciate the advice about high performance suspension tuning and you shared some good info, but it didn’t really address any of my questions. All I am looking for is suggestions of brands that have proved themselves to be of good quality.
Thanks
Sorry for the miss. :oops: My bad.
I’m running Megan Racing coilovers on my GTR. I’ve only had them for a few months, but they look good, work well so far, and didn’t cost too much.
The spring rates are a bit high from a handling perspective (they feel fine on Edmonton roads, but the car gets out of shape a bit sooner on irregular corners than it did before) so I’m looking into getting some softer springs, but the 32 way damping adjustment is nice.
Hope that helps.
Dan