Before anyone tells me to use the search function you gotta trust that I have been for weeks, a lot of information is either outdated or not too useful in my case. I’ve been looking into suspension options for my GXL and it seems it’s a lot harder to find good budget options for these cars than it was in the past. My fc is used mostly on the street and with hard spirited driving relatively often. From what I’ve gathered tein flex Coilovers were the best option but for the past few months I haven’t been able to find any trace of them new or used. I’m gunning for wheels tires and suspension all at once and I’m pretty set on some 16x7 +30s so I guess my question is what’s my best option for under/around $1000? I’m trying to go for good clearance without fender modifications, would KYG struts and a set of springs be a better option or should I just go for some cheap megans or something along those lines? I want a little better performance without killing the ability to drive it on shitty Columbus roads, anything is helpful. Thank you

edit- forgot to mention my car only has around 70k on it and the rubber strut caps are still in usable shape

 

KYB AGXs and some Racing Beat springs will definitely ride better on the street than Megans,
16x7 + 30? Why not something wider? My FC rode on 17x 8F and 9R +35 wheels.. No roll, no pull, no weird camber, no rub ever.

 

honestly great to know, been kinda stressing about fitment so i appreciate that

 

As Natey mentioned, the KYB AGX's are definitely good streetable struts/shocks. Sometimes KYB offers a rebate of $50 to $100 on a set of four. I installed my second set of AGX's in 2020, replacing my first set of AGX's that I installed in 2003. Prior that, I was running the Tokico Illumina's, which I installed in 1997. I think the Illumina's were better shocks, and they are still available through rx7.com, but the downside is that the rears are adjustable at the top versus the side like the AGX's. I'm also running the Tokico Pro-Kit progressive rate springs, but they are no longer available form Tokico. I was running Toyo Proxy II tires on the RX7 turbo 16" rims, but unfortunately one rim got slightly bent due to a pothole, so now I'm back to the stock 15" rims. My S5 handled a lot better with the Proxy's and 16" rims.

 

how much lower do the KYBs drop the car? While I am going more for performance I still wanna fill them wheel wells out of course. And what was the width of your 16s, I’ve seen that strut type suspension has a bit less room to work with but I’m new to working with non-stock fitment so I’ve still got a bit to learn

 

I have read on here that 17x8 +30 offset will fit. I trust it is true as it was posted by a very knowledgeable person on here. Unfortunately, that size is nearly impossible to find now. I looked and looked and ended up having to go with a 17x8 +35 offset with 225/45 tires. They fit fine with coilovers with no fender rolling needed. They may fit the stock struts but it will be tight. worst case you could run 5mm spacers if needed. Also you could run a 235 or maybe even a 245 on the rear with the 8 inch width if needed in the future.

 

Wasn't Sakebomb going to make FC Ohlins?

 

Hello! I've also been looking for a good modern day suspension option for my FC.
Not exactly a budget option, but have you looked into BC Racing BR-series coilovers?
They were recommended to me by a local guy who builds pro drift cars.
They come standard with 10kg/8kg spring rates which he said might be too stiff for the crappy Irish roads where I live,
But you can get custom spring rates. He recommended 6kg/5kg for street use with the FC. He says these rates work really well on S13s which are a similar weight to the FC (~1200kg).
Also interestingly, I think the Tein flex coilovers had this spring rate too, and I think they are known for being nice for street use.

 

I doubt those will fall into the OP's projected budget.

 

BCs are great if you wanna absolutely slam the car for Hella Flush sht. Other than that, they're some of the worst riding coil-overs you can buy. It figures the drift guy would like em, though, because of the stiffness. No fender rubs while sideways!

And you're correct about the teins. The shocks, not just the spring rate, make a huge difference in ride quality.

 

i think if i had to do one (and i do, but it needs to run first), i'd try different levels.
one of the most fun FC's i've ever driven, was just shocks and the rest was stock. it had Tokicos, but i'd run AGX's.
second most fun FC, was on the same shocks and Mazdaspeed/ Eibach prokit springs. i'm not sure what the equivalent spring is today. these springs lower the car 20mm, and its something like 3.6k/3.2k rate

level 3 would be coilovers, in part to add adjustability, the other is to go stiffer with the springs. typically this is 8/6k, but the FC is pretty good, we can go softer and it doesn't really hurt the handling 7/5, 6/5, etc

if it was a race car, we would look at the grip the tires have, look at the amount of roll we can tolerate, and do some calculations, and come up with the spring rates.
on the street its different, cause you really can't hit max grip, and it would be a lot lower

 

The KYB's didn't drop the car any, but the Eibach Pro-Kit springs did. Eibach said that they would lower the car by about 3/4".

 

I very much prefer the Eibachi springs over the RB ones.

 

I'm not familiar with the RB springs, but just curious as to why you prefer the Eiback over the RB?

 

True, but I think the OP's budget is unrealistic if he wants wheels/ tires and suspension for $1000. Cheap wheels and decent tires alone will be more than that. Suspension alone for less than that seems doable with KYB AGX's and springs.

 

about the tires, i ran across an article detailing what Mazda did to the Ifini's and one of the things they did to the Ifini4 was to run 205/55/16's instead of the usual 205/60/16's
this is for sure a budget option.

they also switched to a stickier tire

 

eibachis seems just as firm, but with more give to them. if you look at them, the RB are thicker with less coils vs the eibachis which are thinner with more coils.

 

Thank you guys for all the advice when I said budget of around $1000 I meant just for suspension, my wheel/ tire budget is around 1500. I think I’ve got everything all sorted out too so I’ll throw it out there and hear your opinions, I’m gonna run AGXs with the Eibach coilover conversion kit, one thing about that is I’m not too sure what spring rate I want but I just told them what I’m using the car for so hopefully they can go off that. I’m also gonna snag the RB sway bars and end links while I’m gonna be under there, and possibly do my bushings too, which is a lot more work than I set out for but I miss having stuff to work on so I’m not pressed about it. I’m also looking into either a set of enkei rpf1s 17x8 +35 in the front 17x9 +35 rear, or enkei kojins 17x8+35 all around, leaning towards the rpf1 because they’re lighter and I can run x9 in the back, but I’ve always been a sucker for 5 spokes and the kojins are one of the decent sets in my price range. For tires I’m thinking hankook Ventus v12 evo 2, they seem like good performance for my price range

 

This is almost the exact same setup I was looking to get. I looked around a lot for stuff over the summer and this seemed the best down to the first choice wheels. I did consider the Koning wheels and the other adjustable shocks too, though. The first for me is to get as close to OEM and build from there. It is good to have spare parts if needed. I thought the Eibachs progressives were out of production though?

 

I found their ground control coilover conversion kit for 550 on their website, seems like a great deal

 

the AGX's work well up to about 400lbsin in the front and maybe 350 in the rear? 350/250 is really good.
so like 7/5 in K's. 350/250 = 6/4.5.

its not super important, the ERS springs come in every size you can imagine, and some you can't

 

I had tein flex on my first FC, it was alright comfort wise but I was a much younger man then. Now I got another FC with kyb agx and espelir springs which ride much better comfort wise which is what I use it for. The Espelir down sus springs are a tad too low in the front for me so I added a spacer to raise it. I should have taken pics but it was no fender gap, slightly tucking. The rear was about two finger gap. I would like more height adjustment in the rear like a coilover, but I don’t want the ride quality of coilovers. The springs and KYB’s are plenty sporty for canyon roads.

 

 

I've put around 1000 miles on my PBMs and I love them