Upgrading shocks/spring from stock. My friend recommended

Bilstein HD Shocks Struts and H&R Springs.

Anyone has experience with this combo? How is it?


Is there a better combo out there?

 

Always a better combo, but really, it's all about what you like. I personally am running tokico blues with tein s-tech springs. It's a stiff ride, but handles nice.

If you're looking for the best, look at coilovers, but be prepared to drop a fair amount of coin on them.

 

I've got the same setup, tokico blues and s-tech springs in a vert. It is stiff but it's much more predictable than my dying OEM shocks and stock springs. The only thing I don't like about the s-techs is the height. It's probably partially due to me having a heavier vert, but I get tires rubbing. I have the stock BBS rims and I think they are either 210 or 215. The car is going to be sitting for about a month or so while I rebuild then engine. I'm hoping after the rebuild I have the funds for some RB vert springs. Other than the tires rubbing I'm happy with the springs.

 

I love my KYB AGX and RB springs.

Though, I wish I would have saved a little more and gone the coilover route.

 

my car does ride much lower, but i get no rub, so it must be a vert thing.

 

yea, mine too... i got tokico blues and tein s springs. dont really like the drop, i kinda prefer the stock springs... but i kinda recommend spacers, like 5mm spacers for the front. the rears are fine.

 

Those are really good components, but I think the Bilstein HD front struts do not fit the FC RX-7 without professional modification, and I am pretty sure H&R does not make a spring set for the FC RX-7. If your friend can make them fit, then it sounds like a great setup to me.

Better for what?

ISC Racing sells a very nice Bilstein setup that is competitive in SCCA IT and EP racing. Other common brands include JRZ and Koni Yellow/Eibach ERS coil-overs. If you are interested in actual racing, then you should give ISC a call rather than listen to the peanut gallery on this forum.
http://www.iscracing.net/2nd_Gen_Parts.htm
For racing, also see here:
http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets6.html

Common street/autocross dampers for these cars are the Tokico Blue non-adjustable, Tokico Illumina, or KYB AGX.

Show/drift cars tend to go for the shiny Japanese coil-overs from Tein, HKS, JIC, etc. Few real race cars use these brands, but a lot of people are very happy with them, and they are a lot better than the cheap Chinese components from Megan, K-Sport, D2, etc.

If you just want something for the street, you can order anything from Racing Beat and it will work well. You will see a lot of people on this forum who want coil-overs for their street cars, but this is a waste of time and money unless you just want it for looks (nothing wrong with that).

Make sure you replace the 20-year old suspension bushings along with the springs and dampers, or there is a good possibility of the worn bushings destroying your brand new suspension components. Besides, there is no point in upgrading your springs and dampers if the suspension still has major slop due to worn bushings. Yes, it is a major pain to replace the bushings yourself, so unless you are a good mechanic I recommend that you have a professional auto shop perform that work, and they can install and align the new components for you at the same time.

 

Get coilovers, its 1000 times better than any random spring/strut combo that you can get.

 

This just isn't accurate. You can easily come out with a shittier setup by using cheap coilovers. If you are going for looks only, then $900 coilovers will do the trick, but for racing on a budget, you should also be looking at stock-type springs and components.

 

+1 on that ... I love the AGX and RB spring combo.