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Old 01-04-12, 03:28 AM
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Max coilovers

I'm looking at these MAX Coilovers cuz I don't want crappy Godspeed ones for my 86 N/A. Does anyone here have these on there car. I don't seem to remember ever seeing round ends on the any of my struts on my car just the squared out boots. Will those bolt up ??

http://www.gtfactory.jp/cms/page.php?9
Old 01-04-12, 05:21 AM
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I don't have these, but judging by the pics they are crap. If you look at the front strut's top mounts they have the "slot" for the strut and adjuster screws at an angle, so basically if you tried to adjust the camber you'd end up not making much camber change but a bunch of castor change (probably not what you want to be doing to the extent you would be). Also, those are some very stiff spring rates and look like they have a very short stroke (travel is important to proper handling). Just my observations, YMMV.
Old 01-04-12, 06:14 AM
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See the bottom of this page about what constitutes "crap":
http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets6.html

ISC Racing modifies Bilsteins to fit the FC RX-7.
http://www.iscracing.net/2nd_gen_rx7.html

You can get good Koni inserts from the following:
http://www.mazdamotorsports.com/wcss...rtsprogram.htm
http://www.ground-control-store.com/...hp/II=41/CA=23

Any decent racing shop will help you choose spring rates for your application.
Old 01-04-12, 02:52 PM
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Thanks for the links Evil;. I really like the ground control link. Question now is what struts to go with with that combo. Also do you get everything that is in the picture?
Old 01-04-12, 05:55 PM
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Originally Posted by blk87Turbo2
I don't have these, but judging by the pics they are crap. If you look at the front strut's top mounts they have the "slot" for the strut and adjuster screws at an angle, so basically if you tried to adjust the camber you'd end up not making much camber change but a bunch of castor change (probably not what you want to be doing to the extent you would be). Also, those are some very stiff spring rates and look like they have a very short stroke (travel is important to proper handling). Just my observations, YMMV.
I think you are looking at the first picture, which is for the 240sx coilovers lol. FC's have 4 strut perch mounting studs that go through the shock towers. I'm sure a company that makes replaceable damper cylinders would get their camber adjusters right. I wouldnt consider any parts that JTP put on his car to be from a company who makes "crap".

I've heard some complaints on here about the ground control sleeves, as far as ride quality and adjustability goes. But it all depends on what you're looking for. Look at Maxx's page layout: all drift cars. Other brands, maybe Tein for instance, might offer a more forgiving set of coils or lower spring rates, something more suitable for you personally.

Search around, you'll find something you'll like.
Old 01-04-12, 07:35 PM
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Thanks for the info guys. I'm really not worried about ride quality. I want to be able to drift this car. I had seen another forum recommending the MAX's over godspeed so I thought I would check out the MAX's they looked pretty nice to me.
Old 01-04-12, 08:09 PM
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http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets6.html

I read the whole above article. Hands down, my "crap" teins were the best $1200 I have ever spent on my car. Made a complete personality change.

I agree with the author on all of it, but how much faster will spending $3800 more on suspension make my car? Exactly.

I WANT the spendy custom stuff but its not gonna happen.
Old 01-04-12, 10:29 PM
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PBM (powered by max) is a good brand...much better than that godspeed crap. as said before, they cater really to the more drift oriented enthusiast rather than ground control or konis who cater to more of the weekend spirited driver.

as for shock travel, i believe they are independent height and preload adjustable. meaning you can lower it to the max and spring preload and shock travel will not be shortened. many other coilovers compress the spring to go lower, but PBM dont. you can have 0 preload springs with max lower and no loss in shock travel...

blk87Turbo2, maybe your definition of "crap" may just come from simply because you have not heard other popular brands...seeing as how you have KSport coilovers, you probably dont know quality :P
Old 01-05-12, 12:06 AM
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Originally Posted by GregW
http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets6.html

I read the whole above article. Hands down, my "crap" teins were the best $1200 I have ever spent on my car. Made a complete personality change.

I agree with the author on all of it, but how much faster will spending $3800 more on suspension make my car? Exactly.

I WANT the spendy custom stuff but its not gonna happen.
Obviously tripling your spring rate is going to change the handling.

The article is about the quality of the shocks, not whether commercial-available coilover kits will improve handling.

I wonder how HKS, APEXi, STANCE, Buddy Club, etc etc would do, though.
Old 01-05-12, 12:44 AM
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Originally Posted by calpico
blk87turbo2, maybe your definition of "crap" may just come from simply because you have not heard other popular brands...seeing as how you have ksport coilovers, you probably dont know quality :p
Burned
Old 01-05-12, 12:48 AM
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the max coil overs in my experiance and research will drop your car down the most. if that is what you are after that is and with all coil overs it will be stiffer. i have had max, cusco, d2, tein, ksport, and the new zealand equivelant of godspeed kinda (basicly cheapos) in the end i built my own out off the shortst dampers i could get my hands on i think they are 2nd gen d2 dampers and just used the cheap locking rings, top hats, and base mounts and camber plates. for what you pay max are the best and if you want softer spring rates they have 8kg fronts and 6kg rears witch is what i have my car sits stupidly low..but thats how we like it over here. get the max's bro

Last edited by nvmarx; 01-05-12 at 12:52 AM.
Old 01-05-12, 01:26 AM
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The article called my current suspension crap. My point is they are pretty damm awesome for crap shocks.

Ive driven the hell out of them for like 5 years now, still holding up, still way better than anything else for similar money. With that in mind "crap" is not what I would consider them.

The way I read the article is that unless you spend 5-10k on suspension what you have is crap, I would consider that a load of well, crap.



Originally Posted by Valkyrie
Obviously tripling your spring rate is going to change the handling.

The article is about the quality of the shocks, not whether commercial-available coilover kits will improve handling.

I wonder how HKS, APEXi, STANCE, Buddy Club, etc etc would do, though.
Old 01-05-12, 02:26 AM
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Originally Posted by GregW
The article called my current suspension crap. My point is they are pretty damm awesome for crap shocks.

Ive driven the hell out of them for like 5 years now, still holding up, still way better than anything else for similar money. With that in mind "crap" is not what I would consider them.

The way I read the article is that unless you spend 5-10k on suspension what you have is crap, I would consider that a load of well, crap.
If you followed Evil Aviator's link you would see that you can get coilovers with race springs, camber plates, and Bilstein shocks for about $1500.

Most of the top high-dollar ($3000+) coilovers in Japan seem to use Ohlins shocks.

Penske is for full-on pro racing budgets, though...
Old 01-05-12, 03:22 PM
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Thanks for the debated conversations guys. . Fact of the matter is in my case I don't have a few grand to spend on full out race suspension. I am more of a weekend enthusist. My budget limit is at $1000. So question is since everyone has a diff opinion on what coilovers to get its which "crap" ones to buy lol Cus originally I was gonna buy the Godspeeds cuz it was in my budget and I would save a few bucks. Then I found an article calling them crap and recommending the MAX Coilovers.

http://www.godspeedperformance.com/1...-p-245370.html

http://www.gtfactory.jp/cms/page.php?9


HHHMMMMM
Old 01-05-12, 03:30 PM
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I just purchased my Powered by Max coils and so far I have no complaints. Just went drifting this weekend and they performed as well as I would have expected. I would definitely recommend these to anybody.
Old 01-05-12, 03:56 PM
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Powered by Max is great to drift with, mmm not so much in the rain but definitely the best coilovers for the price as far as drifiting goes
Old 01-05-12, 08:32 PM
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Based on your original post I thought you wanted something that performed well for racing. Crappy coilovers are fine for drifting. Just be very careful if you drive on the street with a drift setup.
Old 01-05-12, 10:36 PM
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Originally Posted by CALPICO
blk87Turbo2, maybe your definition of "crap" may just come from simply because you have not heard other popular brands...seeing as how you have KSport coilovers, you probably dont know quality :P
I have driven on many brand of coilovers. I guess I judge my quality by how well they handle one of the toughest tracks in the world, the Nurburgring Nordschleife. My KSports have held out fantastically on that track, the autobahn and on the street.

I was in the same boat as the OP...didn't have a ton of cash, but was in need of relatively decent coilovers. Would I prefer to have Motons or some similar high dollar setup...absolutely. I did my research and the KSports have worked out great.

Calpico, your uneducated presumptive response is why I hate giving people advice on suspension because everyone starts acting like know-it-all ********. I made simple observations about the suspension based on the pics since there didn't seem to be a whole lot of advice for the OPs specific brand. You are more than welcome to post your opinions on the brand, just don't assume by someone's choice in parts that they don't know what's what.
Old 01-19-12, 11:56 AM
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ISC Bilsteins are unfortunately long-discontinued.


Originally Posted by Evil Aviator
See the bottom of this page about what constitutes "crap":
http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets6.html

ISC Racing modifies Bilsteins to fit the FC RX-7.
http://www.iscracing.net/2nd_gen_rx7.html

You can get good Koni inserts from the following:
http://www.mazdamotorsports.com/wcss...rtsprogram.htm
http://www.ground-control-store.com/...hp/II=41/CA=23

Any decent racing shop will help you choose spring rates for your application.
Old 01-19-12, 12:04 PM
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I bought my ZEAL B6s for 1000 bucks right here on this forum. They were used, but came off of someone's show car and had MAYBE 500 miles on them.

Just putting that out there. Keep your eyes (and wallet) open, and with some patience, you can get a nice set up for relatively cheap.
TheGoat is selling a set of Zeals right now in the 3rd gen parts forum, as a matter of fact.
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