i guess i'm the only one who looks to see what suspension setup they have. true the teins are cheaper than HKS apex'i and JIC, but its tough to compare them since the HA and HE don't have a height adjust and give up a few points of ride adjustibility to the others.

 

Please do not give out misinformation like that... Teins ARE height adjustable. Also, how do they give up ride adjustability? Do you have any personal experience? Please explain. I don't think they would be much inferior than others since HEs and HAs are 16 way adjustable.

 

EDIT: Double post owns me

 

i apologize, i went to the site and they are height adjustable. my mistake

 

the hks does offer 30 levels of damper adjustment vs the tein's 16, thats what i meant by the ride adjustibility

 

If I'm not mistaken, the K2RD race car has two seasons on their coil overs and expect another season or probably two. Pretty damn good. With real coil overs(TEINs included), you can expect a shorter lifespan, a severely shortened lifespan on the street, not to mention the TEINs are known to leak, have had issues with the adjustable bits being "frozen" and aren't that great of a step up. Great introductory coil overs for sure, but so are the K2RDs. AND they'll survive the road. If your car is being built for the track only, then I could see justifying the TEINs, but otherwise, forget 'em.

Steve

 

The HA's are discontinued by the way.

 

HA's are only special order from japan...its the SS that are now the new entry coilovers for tein(in the US). i would rather get tein.i believe theyre the best bangforbuck true coilovers.

 

To me, those bazillion adjustment ranges don't mean crap.  Those adjustments allow for very fine increments, but most of you can't tell the difference between setting #10 and setting #11.  The "drift" cars I help, one of the runs Teins, and we're adjusting then in jumps of 4 or 5 clicks at a time.  If you've ever seen the KYB AGX shock dyno sheets, each click moves damping in a very WIDE range - wider than Illuminas and anything I've seen on a "street damper".  I'd prefer a damper with a very wide range versus one with a baziilion amounts of adjustment.

With that said and done, you want to concentrate damper adjustment to rebound and not much to compression.  ALL of those dampers mentioned adjust both rebound AND compression at the same time.  Only custom Koni's are available with independent compression and rebound adjustment in this price range - almost any serious SCCA Pro and Club levels racers use them; almost none of them run Tein/Cusco/JIC/ etc. rainbow anodized "fashion" shock systems when racing - think about it.

I can understand buyers of these particular brands will get very defensive about their purchases, as this stuff will easily cost over a grand for a set.  Please people, don't confuse what real race equipment is.


-Ted

 

Go with the JIC FLT-A2.

 

I'm with TED,
Who among you has had one set of coilovers and can honestly say that you found sufficient differences between brands to warrent changing to something else?
Another question:
What adjust ment is really necessary for your street cars? Get it set where you like it and leave it there for how long? Is anybody really futzing with their ride height on a weekly basis? How adjustable does it need to be?
I figure there must be a lot of people justifying their large $ expendature by assuming brand loyalty.

CW
has never had coil-overs.

 

if you are a daily driver...stick to shox/springs. if you like to take your car autoxing then coilovers would be really convenient.of course daily driving,there wouldnt be any need for hieght and damper adjustment.but lets say you wanted to go autoxing..if you had coilovers,you can lower your car and stiffen/soften up your suspension just for that particular event.if you ask anyone that has coilovers now and recently owned shox/springs setup(tokico,kyb,entry koni shoks,and whatever springs),theyll tell you theres a big difference between the two.

 

the shock has to match the spring, theres a window where the shock is matched, any stiffer and your just bruising your kidneys. so theres no real need for adjustment once you get it in the right range, or change springs

 

Thank you Ted, for the most objective opinion i have seen in this entire thread.

KYB has been developing dampening systems for decades and have probable some of the most thorough research and most up to date quality manufacturing facilities...they also carry several patents on valving and check valve designs to ensure reliable operation.

A company that offers rebuilds and necesitates the need to open up a rebuild facility in the US screams of unspoken quality control issues-- a good coilover will not be requiring frequent rebuilds...

These people aren't seeing through the green danpachi marketing lenses to realize that TEINs are just an average system that is produced in Taiwan and Korea. Not very highly regarded in Japan...I can't wait until one of the magazines over here does a suspension shootout using an actual suspension dyno...it will finally show everyone what actually performs.

I think a lot of people get suckered in to the "30 way adjustments"

the "adjustments" are a simple valve that opens and closes-- one equals fully open, the other fully closed.

This is why most major suspension manufacturers only offer 4-8 settings because all others, as ted and j9 have stated, are quite pointless.

8 = closed, 100%

36= closed, 100%

to most people, the bigger number would seem better, but in actuality, it is no different than the smaller number.

 

well put! thats why im going with a ZEAL setup better than TEIN and an actual coilover.

 

very nice! Btw I saw your car sitting at Jeff's shop a few weeks ago

 

JIC ?

 

that must of been when i was getting my new clutch put in EXEDY BABY!

 

Just wondering for those considering coil overs or those who have them. Have you or will you have your car corner weighed. And then adjust your coil overs to even out the weights?

James

 

Which one? Hyper Single? Twin plate?

 

none of that hardcore stuff yet, all i got was the single plate organic. 37% increase is good enough for now, untill i get upgraded turbo and whatnot..

 

JDM KDM QVC STD. Who F'in cares? If you really care about stuff like that then don't ask what set up to get, just pay someone lots of cash and be happy in the knoledge that everyone who doesn't know anything will be REALLY impressed with your nice expensive paperweights. The Teins or any other off the shelf coil over are matched damper and spring rates but you get what they give you. The K2RD set up is made here meaning if it doesn't fit right or you have a problem you can actually talk to someone who can help you. No long wait for the slow boat, and person to person help with selecting spring rates and settings for your needs. How do I know? Well I used to run GAB SPORT coilovers and camber plates on my 91 TII, not because they were JDM but because I thought they were good. And they were, untill they bent and the bearings on the hats blew out. After installing the K2RD setup my car handles great at the track or on the occassional mountain run and even though I run her hard so far The K2RD stuff has outlasted my GABs. Despite my constant annoying questions there was always some one available to help me dial her in. As for the "Bling" factor? Well, why not take the money you save over the other brands and put it aside to buy some pretty JDM wheels that people can actually see when the car isn't on a lift or fliped over at the track?

 

I should clarify that I agree most people without tons of experiance and or a data logger with suspension sensors can't begin to use 60billion way adjustable suspension even if it does work. There is no "Uber" suspension, just some that work better for certain applications and budgets. If you want something that is proven to work on the track or the street and wont break the bank my vote is for K2RD.

 

Way to go, you resurrected a thread that's over 5 years old reccomending a no longer available setup from a company that, as far as I know, doesn't exist any more.

For the record, you can get most Teins rebuilt and re-valved in the US (of shocks that'll work with the K2RD setup, only Konis and Bilsteins can boast that too), they'll sell you additional springs to change the rates and they're quite durable. They've also got some pretty good damping characteristics (as seen from the many shock dynos I've seen of them) and they have independent shock body length adjustment, which is a good thing. No they're not the best, but for the price, they're a very good setup. I've got Tein Flex and am very happy with them and they handle track use very well.

 

Jesus I was a ******* n00b then. :shame: