The Aragosta coil over shocks arrived as scheduled today. Nice big box which was quite heavy to my surprise. Ran it back to the photo department where my co-workers all guessed the box contained as I slapped it on the light table and tore into the packaging. "Car parts" they stated without even asking. One of these days I'll surprise them and order camera equipment.

Anyway...shocks were heavier than I thought they would be as they are monotube, all aluminum in construction with aluminum pillow ball upper mounts. I'm sure lots of the weight is in the springs themselves. Some of the Porsche guys run Titanium springs now. Someday.

The shock body is quite large as they use 50mm pistons. They're at least 12 way adjustable with positive, long throw click stops. I haven't actually checked the number of clicks. As you can see from the pics, they're adjustable via a single collar, much easier than the dual collar arrangement. I'll have to compare the height to my Teins when I get them off as the car was corner weighted with the Teins on.

My only worry is the pillow ball upper mount. It looks like they'll transfer quite a bit of noise. It doesn't look like I can replace them with the stock mounts.

Unfortunately they didn't arrive until late this afternoon so no chance to put these puppies on. I'm really expecting a much more compliant and well-damped ride over the Tiens. The green brand is fine on the street and highway but doesn't react to really sharp edge bumps well.

Aragosta is a danish company who pillaged engineers from Ohlins way back when. Really quality stuff. Shocks typically run from the mid $2,500 range to well above $3,000 for a set. They're the preferred shock for the FD in Japan and won a shock shootout performed by RX7 Magazine Japan over Ohlins and everything else bolt-on that's offered in Japan. Aragosta does have facilities in the U.S. so I should (fingers crossed) be able to have them rebuilt if ever needed. AFIK, I'm the only one in the U.S. to have a set of these for the FD.

 

Nice! I haven't heard about an update in awhile Michel.

 

Hey Dom, are the new Zeal double adjustables coming out for the FD? Saw the new lineup on the Endless website a few days ago but couldn't 1)wait for them to arrive 2)pass up the Aragostas!

You lost me on the update part?
Michel

 

I just haven't seen you post an update in awhile...that's all.

Hmm...regarding the Endless. I don't know. Haven't talked to those guys in awhile. ARD T2 will know. But those Aragostas sure are nice. Hmmm...I'm going to have to fly out to Florida some time.

 

Those Aragosta's are too nice for words!! Congrats man! You're the first with those, and I was the first FD with the Zeal Function-X (at the time). Very very nice bro!

Haha, sorta like a small victory, but I love being the first to try new things Glad mine was a gamble that worked out for the better as opposed to some of my other business ventures.

 

Hoping to get them on today. They're 15 way adjustable and yes, it's somewhat cool to be the only one in the country. Unless they suck!

Dom, new house will be done in September (assuming we're not plastered by 4 hurricanes again) so feel free to come on down and experience the land of humidity and "god's waiting room". Actually, we're only a short trip away from South Beach which isn't too bad

 

Managed to get the Aragostas on after work today. Took me a bit over 4 hours. Nothing really difficult but not fun either. I can't feel a thing in either arm. I may not be able to move tomorrow I did have to massage the lower mount on the front shocks. They were a bit too wide and needed some filing.

I'm not sure which direction to turn the adjustment **** for either firming them up or softening the ride. I just adjusted each counterclockwise to the last setting which would be full soft on the Teins. Might be in for a rude surprise the first time I take her out!

The ride height is a bit higher than with the Teins (they're adjustable of course) even though the shock body is actually shorter. This threw me at first but instead of making adjustments off the car, I left them as they were set. I have a hair more wheel clearance. A test ride tomorrow will determine if the height needs to be altered.

Overall, the Aragostas are slightly thicker than the Teins and slightly lighter but not by much. Overall, the Teins are decent shocks and they served me well. Not a bad purchase for the money IMHO. Since the spring rates are identical (Aragostas are a little softer in the rear) I should be able to make a fair comparison between the two. Other than the ride height, the only other change was setting the rear sway bar to it's softest setting. The car was a bit tail happy before.

 

Please do post your results, as I am quite interested in the Aragosta's. I only see Quantum and Aragosta on the hardcore track FD's in Japan, so that right there says something

My Function X was a huuuuge improvement over the Koni/Eibach combo I was running. The car just feels much more predictable when taking a corner at speed. I'm not sure if it's because of the X-coil on them, or coilovers in general (never driven another FD with coilovers). I just need more seat time on track than I currently have, because I still have yet to actually push the car harder with the new suspension. Who know's, if the hurricane's don't pound us like last year, maybe we can meet up at a Nasa road race event, and trade cars for a lap or 2

If all goes the way I plan, I should be getting a promotion soon, and move down to Orlando by August. . . . ::crosses fingers::

 

If you're in Orlando, that'll make getting to the NASA events much easier. We go to Sebring, Moroso, and Homestead. I try to avoid Moroso like the plague. Corner workers are all very nice but the management there, well, to put it mildly, they're simply ignorant and unprofessional.

I've had the Koni/GC combo and the Teins were far superior to those. The Konis are "weedy", about 39mm whereas the Teins were in the mid 40's for a piston width with well defined damping adjustments and a much wider range. I'm sure the 50mm Aragostas are even better yet.

Unfortunately, my first assignment this morning is just around the corner from my house! I should have some initial impressions by this evening however. I'll try and find an excuse to drive a bit further

 

Really quick review: "Buttery glue". That's the best way to describe the car now. I "hope" I have the shocks on dead soft because the ride is now better than the touring suspension setup. It'd never be confused with a Cadilac, but they are very good on less than perfect roads. Very sensitive damping even at low speeds. The car hasn't lost any feel as I can sense everything I run over, like a bolt, but it's so well controlled and not harsh. The car is also much more planted but I believe this has much to do with setting the ST swaybar on the softer of its two settings. Turn in is a hair slower but the rear end is just glued whereas it was a bit of a handful before as it was very willing to rotate. Not sure how much the ever so slightly softer spring rates have to do with this (7.8 vs. 8.0). Overall, I'm very impressed. The pillow mounts do not transmit any more noise than the stock mounts while driving. If you enter a steep driveway or something with a large gradient change, they do make a discernable noise but it's not intrusive or harsh. I was really worried they'd transmit lots of vibration and noise while driving. Just not the case. I'll turn the shocks to full hard and see what happens
Michel

 

Bottom line on these things...they're f*cking sweet. Totally transformed the ride of the car, and I'm really able to adjust the handling of the car through the damping rates front and rear. So much better than the Tein HA's, but then again, they should be for the money. I cranked up the damping to 8 out of 15 and yes the ride firmed up but it was still better than the Teins. I'll try the 15 setting sometime soon I've settled on 3 from full soft up front and one from full soft out back for the street. I would think that on a smooth racetrack, the Teins would be about 75% as good but the Aragostas have far superior damping and sensitivity. At a track like Sebring, it'd make a huge difference as the tires would stay in contact with the road over the bumpy surface. The rear end is no longer flighty and it sticks like glue. Got them from rzroc550@hotmail.com. Apparently he specializes in used parts from Japan. I highly recommend him as everything arrived as described in a timely fashion.

 

^^ totally hot! Once the hurricane season stops (4 tropical depressions, and the season just started a week ago. . .pathetic!!) or we get a good streak of weather so I can do a little more "driving" I definately would love to hit up some track time with ya, as I have yet to push my coilovers as well.

You mentioned you got them from rzroc550@hotmail.com. What is his name, so I don't sound like a dufus when emailing him Also, does he have a site, or is it just an -email and pay, then hope the parts arrive- type deal? I totally understand how you trust him and all (especially since you spent +2000 on the coilovers) however, everyone has their doubts with online purchases as you may know!

Glad to hear your gamble paid off ten fold

 

How much did you pay for this set? Your description is similar to what I hear from owners of penskes and jrz highend shocks, very smooth and glued to the road.

 

He offered them for $2,200 in the for sale section. His name is Tony Montoya and he has an 800 number: 800-829-1570 or 504-338-5968. web page is under construction apparently but it's www.exoticusedparts.com. I was a bit hesitant as well but several people chimed in to say they bought stuff from him including wheels and other high dollar items. Everything arrived as he said and in the condition stated. They looked to have very little mileage on them.

 

Michel, I'm glad to hear they went in okay and are performing well.

For anyone reading this, and for future reference: one side of the mount in the arm is a sleeve that can slide to make more or less room for the bottom of the shock. Remove the old shock, put the bolt in half-way, thread the nut on the bolt in the middle of the opening, and tap it with a hammer to move the sleeve (nut against the sleeve, pushing it out). It will pinch back down over the shock when you tighten it. Most of the FD suspension attachment points are sleeved in this manner.

-Max

 

That would have been helpful information when installing the shocks Thanks for the info!
Michel

 

Bump for updates.

 

This doesn't contribute much to the thread, but I thought it was funny enough to mention.

Considering the Japanese tuner tradition of naming their products with cool sounding but unusually non pertinent names, these shocks are totally compliant.
ARAGOSTA means Lobster in Italian!

David

 

Shocks are still absolutely fantastic in IMHO. I'm dealing with a little accident I had regarding a large piece of concrete/rock and my Xcessive Motorsports cast oil pan. Let's just say the front bumper and the oil pan came out the loser. So car is sidelined probably until later this week. A-Spec/Sean kindly offered his own personal cast oil pan off of his backup engine to help get me back on the road.

 

Aragosta is a Dutch/Belgium-based company btw.

 

You are 100% right. I obviously did not know that. Thanks for clearing that up.

I ***umed that they were Japanese after seeing these in one of those Japanese FD magazines.

Nice shocks.

 

In the spirit of non-pertinence, I offer this little gem:
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/lobster.php

-Max

 

Max, that was truly F*ucked up. Gave me a good laugh regardless!

The Aragosta shocks are manufactured, well, assembled in Japan using Aragosta parts made to Aragosta Japan specs. Same with the high $$ but not as good Ohlins shocks

Lobster eh?

 

Yes, you ***umed.
http://www.aragosta.ae/
Please hog another thread will you ?


rx7tt95, what is the spring rate for these ? 10/8 or 12/8 ? I know AutoStaff and maybe Knightsports in Japan uses these shocks too. I remember reading them winning all round best street FD suspension in Japan.

 

how do you come across that stuff?