what coilovers are best by experience
 

i just ordered some fn01r-c 17x8 +25, 17x9 +35, i was wondering if any one would recomend a specific coilover setup to use on my 87 gxl. hoping somone has some good experience. if anyone knows of some that might not be worth having please let me know so i dont head in the wrong direction.

thanks

You can't afford the best.
Best = Moton / JRZ


-Ted

You need to give more information, like what's your budget ($500, $1500, $5000?), intended use (street, drag, track, autocross?), what are your priorities and so on.

I suggest Silk Road or Kei Office?

WHATEVR D00D MEGAN & D2 R TEH BEST!! atleast, according to all the JDM tyte driftazz here in ohio. :jerkit:

where are moton and JRZ available (if they're available at all), and how ridiculously far out of my price range ($2000) are they? I was looking at RG but they are like, IMPOSSIBLE to get for the FC so i was thinking about just going with stance...

I guess I'm sort of hijacking but atleast its still on the coilover subject. :)

I looked at JRZs site and didnt see shit for the FC or any mazda, unless I was looking at the wrong site or section

I think JRZ's are in the 5k range? I know of a local with JRZ's on his street car (yes he has money)

daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanggggggg. maybe in a few years haha

zeals.....ask rishie at autornd

zeals for sure :)

I'm buying tien. company founded by rally driver and a navagator. and if i can trust anything it's that people who rally know about suspension.

For what it's worth I have the ground control setup with KYB AGX shocks and I like the setup, a little rough ride but handles well and the price is right.

What is the purpose of reted's post anyway, is that helpful at all?

Kei office, tein and apexi seem to be very good. From experience I'd say tein is best, and they cater to a variety of budgets and uses. They have drift, street, track, basic, and many more.

They are custom made per application.
Last time I checked, it was like $5k per CORNER.


-Ted

sorry it took a while to get back im in the middle of remodeling my kitchen...... my budget will be around 1100-1500.

Bilstein -> http://www.iscracing.net/suspension_2.htm

Ok, that's part of what we need to know to make recomendations. You need to tell us more, like what your priorities are (road race, autocross, lowering, street fun?).

light street racing,little drag and maybe some road race for the fun of it

Thanks Ted ill just put that down on my list of "parts to get for FC when I get a job that makes good money, so I can have money to spend on the car dream list" no really thats its name its on my desktop.

I just got my KTS coilvoers.... although I haven't acutally driven on them yet, they seem VERY nice and great quality. they seem to have all the features of those much more expensive coilovers... but for a good price. I got mine on a group buy for $1k shipped. we'll see how they work once I actually get to drive on them! I think they might be a bit aggresive for a lot of street use(stiff and short shock stroke length), but we'll see!

I think those Bilstein's are just the HD model, which aren't adjustable at all, but are a very good shock nonetheless. They're a monotube and Bilstein has an excellent reputation.

I'd be very weary of getting cheap coilovers from an upstart manufacturer. They may look good on the outside, but it's what's on the inside that really matters.

Valving is very important to handling, and it needs to be the same side to side, and many cheaper ones will differ significantly due to manufaturing inacuracies, poor quality control, poor materials selection, poor vavling, poor adjustment method and so on. There's so many things that need to be done just right to get a good shock. The damping adjustment also should cover a wide range of damping and be reasonably linear in adjustment. Poor material choices and poor manufacturing can give a good shock, but it'll wear out faster, and blown, leaky shocks are very bad.

I just can't help thinking when I look at these $1000 coilovers that have all the features of the reputable ones costing at least 50% more, that they're skimping on quality somewhere, and that's probably on the shock itself. There's a reason why really serious racers buy shocks that cost thousands of dollars each.

I'd recomend going with a known product that's been around for a while and has servicing in north america, because you'll need it soome day (hopefully years away). A popular setup is Koni Yellows (sports) and Ground Control coilover sleeves. Ground control also sells high quality camber plates. Koni's have good stiff valving, are reliable and are servicable in the US. You can also have the valving changed when they're rebuilt. That setup is very popular with the amateur road racers and would be a good beginners setup. Koni's aren't the ideal shock, but they're pretty good, and will likely outlast any of the cheap coilover shocks.

For spring rates, you'll probably want something a fair bit softer than the standard road race rates. 350lb/in front and 225lb/in rear are the rates used with the K2RD setup (they're out of business, is basically a GC setup). That'd probably be a good start.

I forgot to mention ohlins, great shocks. My friend recently got a set with swift springs (yes, the same springs the re amemiya yellow 3rd gen uses) and revalved for circuit racing for 1200 bucks! I´ve also heard a few things about the Ground Control AD coilovers but have no first hand experience.

LOLOLOLOL.... I am in the middle of remodling mine as well. Hey, I have a set if Jic Magic posted in the for sale section. Right in your budget.
Let me know what ya think.

I'm running Stance coilovers on my TurboII, picked 'em up from my homies at Touge Factory. They're awesome btw. www.stancesus.com

A good coilover system is the TEIN Type Flex. You can pick them up brand new for around 1700, or used for probably about 1400. Very good all-around system. If you'd rather spend less though, and are a beginning racer, I'd go with a cheaper setup. If you don't have much experience in pushing your car (on a racetrack, this is the only place you can really push it), then definately go with a twin-tube setup. They're cheaper and until you get very good at piloting your car, you won't notice the difference between a good-quality twin-tube and a monotube. Twin tubes are also more resilliant to outside damage (if this is going to be driven on the street) due to the piston housing tube being protected by another tube. KYB AGX are good twin tube units, and they're 5-way adjustable, making re-sizing the valves during a rebuild unnecessary. Tokico Illuminas are supposed to be good too, but having no experience with them, I really couldn't make a recommendation.

As far as springs/coilovers go, I'd go with Ground Control or some equally reputable company. If you're just going with springs, then Suspension Techniques makes the GF-210, which is among the stiffer street springs available for the FC. Racing Beat also makes some softer springs if you want a smoother ride.

For Camber Plates, up front I'd go with Ground Control definately. They are the undisputed king of the Camber Plate world. In the rear, use MazdaTrix (I think) individual rear camber adjusters, or the single-piece adjustment bar.


Just my 2 cents

From everything I've read the best stock type replacement shocks are Koni yellows. I've read many good things about the Trin Flex, and they can be bought new for under $1400. One thing to be sure of is that you get them from an actual registered dealer, that way getting them serviced will be easier and warranty claims will be honoured.

It's worth getting adjustable shocks, that way you can tune the car to different conditions. Also, for stock style shocks, the sdjustables can handle much stiffer springs than non-adjustables.

Wow, the replies are mind boggling...

Tein Flex...
These used to be "comfort" coilovers from Tein, and they were the softest rates / valving they have released out of their different models.
I find it funny that people claim they are good for track use, when Tein did not design them to be.
All those adjustments is really a waste of time on a "street", "comfort" damper.
I hate these things with a passion, but the U.S. market has embraced them as a "performance coilover".
Add the EDFC controller, and you got an "adjustable" suspension that guys go ga-ga over...go figure.
This goes to show that marketing can sell anything.
If you want serious coilovers, go with the RA's.

Twin-tube versus mono-tube...
Ask any serious racer who knows their dampers, and they will tell you straight-up that a mono-tube is usually better.
The mono-tube is usually stronger due to the larger piston area inside the damper.
Due to this larger piston, greater control of the damping is possible.
Also, superior cooling is better with the mono-tube.
All high-end racing dampers are mono-tube design.
The twin-tube case has nothing to do with protection of the internals - if you're worried about rocks and debris hitting your damper, worrying about twin-tube versus mono-tube is the last thing you should be thinking about.
Funny, the Koni yellows are twin-tube. *shrug*
The twin-tube damper is usually less harsh due to it's design - I dunno what the details on why this is true.


-Ted

Superior design?
Yes.

Made for the FC?
NO.

One of my biggest gripes with the POS GC front camber plates for the FC is that they are NOT made for the FC.
They are made for a damn VW GTI / Rabbit.
The holes happen to get real close to the FC front strut bolt pattern, so GC decides to market them as an FC application.
The instructions even tell you to drill / file / grind the hole(s) to fit the camber plates.
BULLSHIT.

K2RD made the best front camber plates, when they were available, cause they were DESIGNED to fit the FC, and not some blasted abomination stolen from some damn VW.


-Ted

word

That's definetely a hit against the GC camber plates, but at least 90% of the camber plates out there are just a simple pillow ball system, where the vertical loads are on the pillow ball, whereas the GC ones use a torrington bearing to take the vertical loads, so that part of the design is better. Is there anywhere where you can get an FC specific camber plate that uses this design?

not that i know of..but GC is a 2 piece system...it wouldnt be hard to redesign the bolt holes on the bottom piece to match up to the FC...the second piece (with the torrington) is the same for everything...all thats different is the baseplate

Fixed a broken smily :(
 

I'd like to second the Stance from reputation alone...Rishie at AutoRnD speaks very highly of them, even in comparison to Zeals. I think that's what he's going to be putting on one of his FCs. And they run about $1300, I don't think you'll find too many coilovers that allow you seperate spring loading and height adjustment in that price range.

I'm running GAB Revolutions, but they're not available in the US so you'd have to get them from Japan. Pretty inexpensive if you manage to get a set, and mine have done me good at several track events.

If I ever manage to get my store up I'll probably carry the Stance, I want to upgrade to those :)

Tein actually lists the flex as a dual purpose setup, suitable for street and light track/autocross use. Which sounds like exactly what the original poster was looking for. Are they as good as the RA or HA for hard core track use? No, but those setups would be hard to live with on the street for most people.

fn01r-c 17x8 +25, 17x9 +35

5zigen rims?