Hi,

Unlike lots of you reading this, I don't really have the option of getting many (any?) of the replacement springs you all talk about: Racing Beat, Suspension Techniques or Eibach because they're really, really expensive here in Australia.

The springs I do have access to are basically 3 different sets with different rates that effectively come from the same manufacturer but are marketed under different names. I'd like opinions on the "best" of the three for what amounts to primarily street use with autocross on the side.

Here goes:

One set is linear:
King Standard Height:
F: 150lb/in
R: 150lb/in

And these are progressive:
King Low (1" lower than stock):
F: 75-150lb/in
R: 90-190lb/in

Whiteline (about 1-1.5" lower than stock):
F: 112-185lb/in
R: 75-149lb/in

Shock options are basically limited to Koni Sports (Reds) or a revalved Koni sport supplied by Whiteline. KYBs are also available but only 1 sort.

So, there you go. Anyone with an informed opinion? FWIW, the most "common" choice is King Lows.

 

What if you went with the Whiteline front and the king low rear, and then bought that 1 inch lowering block from racing beat (for the front). That may help launching in a race, but probably not for high speed cornering. My .02

 

Another option is to find out as many specs on the RB springs (or Eibach ) and get springs made to match.

 

According to mazdatrix eibachs are 171 front and 100 rear. They are progressive afaik so I'm not sure what that does to those numbers. Anyway, if i were in your shoes I'd get the king low. While I'd like my car to be lower everything I've read says lowering it (with shorter springs) more than 1" messes up geometry and needs to be corrected with lower plates and all that. I'm running tokico blues with eibach springs, on the street and have been happy with that setup so far. If your going for street use I'd try to copy that setup somehow with teh brands your stuck with. Just curious, why is that stuff so expensive over there?

 

Why is it so expensive? Shipping - we are half a world away from everywhere - and the exchange rate. 1 US dollar will buy you 1.399 Aussie dollars. Or, the other way, 1 AUD will only get you about 71US cents. So, importing stuff from the States to Oz you get burned on the exchange rate and then have to pay shipping and get burned there too.

Racing Beat springs are 184USD for the set, right? From one of the very few places here that sells RB stuff they work out at more like 500AUD. Eibach pro kit is between 540 and 570, according to Eibach. I rang them yesterday and they said that they'd never imported a set.

In contrast, King Lows are about $130 a pair and Whiteline are $290 a set.

Don't even get me started on the sheer impossibility of locating Tokicos at any price.

I don't think the Whiteline lower as much as I said - perhaps also only an inch. I'll probably get those. The rear rates seem to be slightly softer than the Kings.

Fortunately, 1 member of REACT has the Kings+Konis package and 1 has the Whiteline package so I'll get to try them out in the next few weeks.

I'd still prefer Eibachs and Tokico Illumias - but they're effectively twice the price.

EDIT: Can't spell Illuminas.