-I have a few questions... I just got my 10AE, and want to put some rigidity in it, so I'm looking at some Cusco OS strut tower bars, and I found a OS-T bar to turn the rear strut tower bar into a 3-point bar, but I have not found anything in how to install it. Does anyone have any info on that? Or are they even worth it?

-Other question is: with the new seats I'm dropping in, How would I attach the harnesses? Do I need a Roll bar? Or how does that work? If it's been posted, can you post a link?


-Oh yea... And as far as coilovers... I want a rather stiff setup for daily driving with a weekend warrior attitude. I plan on going to the track back home (Laguna Seca Raceway [now Mazda Raceway]) when I get out of the Navy.

-I was thinking Tein Flex, but I have not heard enough about any specific coilover system. Any recommendations as far as that goes? I'm hoping to spend no more than 1600 on coilovers. Also, I would like some sort of remote control for the system (such as the EDFC)

Thanks guys!!

 

the OS-T 3 point bar isnt too hard to install, basicly it has brackets on the top of each one that wraps arround the top of the strut tower, drill two holes and bolt them up (after lining everything up of corse) and the floor mount goes in pretty easily too, the only hard part is getting the bracket on the bottom (underside of the floor) through the holes (if you have skinny arms you might be able to squeeze through the fuel pump access pannel and push it through). just make sure that you do not tighten the nuts too tight, i snapped one off and had to drill it out and use a nut and bolt. other then that all you have to do is cut the carpet so that everything looks nice.

as for coilovers, search, there is a lot of info on here about just about any coilover setup out there for the FC. i have kei office coilovers (no longer made and only sold in japan) and i love them! since you are in the navy, you could get stationed over in japan, there are lots of good deals out there.

 

Tein are overpriced pieces of crap. The dampening is all over the place. You don't need a remote. Do you have a helmet? What type of class do you want to compete in? Koni yellows are nice. Strut tower bars don't help as much as going over your suspension and replacing 20 yr old worn out bushings and mounts. An engine torque brace is nice.

 

Thanks for the help, I Wish I could find a set of Kei Offices'. I freakin LOVE Keiichi Tsuchiya. If those pop up anywhere, I'll jump on those like it's nobodies business.

as for the car being 20 years old, does it matter if the car only has 63k miles? I want to eventually switch all the bushings out with polyurethane ones. I was hoping to find better engine mounts than the stock ones since I hear they aren't designed or built well.

 

You + everyone else.

I love my tein's. They're a helluva lot better than the piece of **** JIC's that I had before that. I drove a car with CUSCO coilovers; those are amazing too. Stiff, but not bone jarring.

**** koni's. By the time you get shocks + springs, you could spend a few hundred more + get real suspension.

As for EDFC, you don't want something like that. Run a few laps, get out + tweak, then run a few more laps, tweak more. If you can adjust it too easily then you will be more tempted to do it on the fly + not really get a feel for what you're adjusting.

I agree with new bushings + mounts too. My stock ones out of my 91 were ripped in half when I did my oil pan gasket. The others are probably in similar condition.

 

Also, does anyone know if Sparco Fighter seats will fit in this tiny-*** car? lol

 

I've heard pretty good things about Megan Racing coilovers, and they are decently priced. I've never acutally used them though. So I wouldn't know first hand, but I have heard a lot of people say they are awesome.

 

I have the Megans..I got them at a good price.
they are my First Coilover set,so I 'have to' like them!..
They really stiffen up the car.I had 15" bbs Vert wheels on and the car would skip across Road divets.I replaced the Wheels with heavier 17" jobbies and that allowed the suspesion to d it's job and Give the car more driveability.It made the suspension Move,as it should.It had no weight before to move(due to the 12 lb BBS wheels on.).Now with heavier wheels on, it soaks up Bumps better.go figure!..

 

OK here's one... What about RS-ONE's GAB suspension? Anyone know anything on that piece?

 

That post is sooo full of fail.

 

What's wrong with a set of revalved Koni's and Ground Control coilover springs? That's as real a suspension as you're going to get.

 

i was looking for new coilovers as well, but just for a daily i saw some K sport ones and they look ok, anyone know if they are garbage should i just go with Tokico

 

I just don't like the fact that you can spend a few hundred more to get some real coilovers. Shocks + springs that were made specifically for each other. Not just some mix + matched set. I dunno that's just how I feel. Plus, wouldn't revalving the Koni's put you in the price range of coilovers?

 

Yes, but you tell the factory to revalve your Koni's based on what your car's weight is and what spring rates you want to run, hence making a matched set, but custom to your car alone. Ideally, you'd have your car on scales with the fuel tank empty and with a 1/4 tank of gas to see the effect of fuel, but that's being too ****. My point ends up being you can have a company match shocks and springs, or you can do it yourself. I prefer the latter.

My set of Bilsteins that I've scheduled for a revalve is priced at either 1340 or 1380 for the revalved shocks plus a set of ground control springs and camber/caster plates. At least I know what data Bilstein is getting when they revalve the shocks for me. Koni's are a more expensive option, but come with a rebound adjuster. Bilstein's are non-adjustable from the factory but you can play around with them and modify them to become independently compression and rebound adjustable.

 

Hmm. That's pretty cool. But that's def. coilover price range.

 

Does the edfc work on shocks and springs vs coilovers.

 

+1

I really really do not understand the Koni hate. What do you think your "coilovers" are? A shock with an adjustable spring perch on it! The only difference is that they are pretty matching colors. You are going to be hard pressed to match the damping quality of a Koni/GC setup with entry level coilovers, and its alot easier to grow the Koni setup along with your driving skills.