Redbul

iTrader: (26)

Someone else mentioned above. I have these on my car. Was a big improvement over my 99 base coilovers. Price seems pretty fair for a factory upgrade adjustable strut.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Mazda-genuin...4AAOSw1a5fdtIT

Lupin3rd

I recently changed to the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S from the Falkens were on the car. Ride and grip were both improved.
Interested to see what Dale comes up with, I have stock springs on oem replacement springs. I would like to get some comfortable coilovers without breaking the bank too.

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

Can you elaborate on what you didn’t like? They’re all anodized aluminum, billet where applicable and height-adjustable. A wide choice of rated Eibach springs are available as are shocks. And quality made as far as my experience. I’ve never had issues over nearly 20 years. And at least locally, still pretty popular with autocrossers. No ‘wow’ factor but seems to be a great value. Making the right choices, and I get decent ride quality. Probably close to OEM on 255/40/17’s. If I have one gripe it’s a little nvh that I perceive to be from the lack of isolators like some of the others use.
From there I would consider some of those Tein choices.

Now...spending $3400, or about $850 a corner? Well I guess I’d be hard pressed to think anything but positive about that decision too.

Neo

iTrader: (4)

the bushings were completely replaced on everything. Due to the fact I went to some “unobtanium” bushings. That’s a double edge sword. The handling went thru the roof. Talk about instant inputs. You have no idea how much give there is on a stock bushing. Even if it was upgraded to harder rubber than OEM. That being said, everything was crazy good till about 2-3 months down the road. The creaking and moaning from the metal on metal was too much for street use. It sounded as if the car was from the 20’s or 30’s. Of course we tried relubing them, and that did the trick, till about another 2-3 months. Suffice to say I got tired of that really fast. So in went some mazdaspeed bushings (yes, they are actually stiffer than OEM...). The only poly bushings I left were on the diff. I love hearing the gear whine. It’s not crazy loud, but you can definitely notice it.

So yeah, it’s been maybe 13-14yrs since I’ve done it. Mind you, the car only sees sunny days and has been regulated to this type of running for the past 10yrs or so. I only managed to drive the car as a daily (with the exception of the winter months) for its first 3-4yrs of ownership. I picked her up when she had 48k km’s on the clock. I think I managed to do the whole suspension when she hit 98k? I covered a lot of ground early in the ownership. In the past 22-23yrs I’ve owned her she now has 160k on the clock. Which isn’t all that much considering her age. Nowadays if I manage to cover 700-1000km’s a year, that’ll a lot! 😂

I do a thorough check on the entire car before the new season regardless. So the suspension is good. I double checked it again 2yrs ago when I installed the ap racing bbk from sakebomb...

she just rides really stiff. I don’t really mind because I know she’s my nice weather car. In truth though, just to update it a bit more, I wouldn’t mind getting the ohlins.

c0rbin9

iTrader: (2)

The stock wheels are 16" and lighter than pretty much any aftermarket wheels, both attributes that contribute to ride quality. Just sayin'.

speedjunkie

iTrader: (3)

I have Ohlins DFV with Swift springs 9k front and 8k rear and I really like it. I usually have the damping at about half way stiffness (14-16) and it rides pretty nice. It's still not a perfectly soft ride, but it's much nicer than even the 11k springs they come with, and way better than the old original Stance with 12k/10k.

mecman

iTrader: (11)

I am finding this thread interesting. Years ago I switched from stock suspension to Tokiko adjustable shocks with Eibach Pro-kit springs and could not believe the ride improvement! That combined with Good Year Eagle tires not Firehawks. But even my set-up is aging technology so since many people have praised the Olin coilovers so I started to consider them. I have always appreciate the opinions of the other forum members especially Dale's as it has been invaluble to me so keep the comments coming.

david93fdr1

Hi Dale, my 94 R2 has Fortune 500 coil overs, 18" wheels w/ Proxxes tires, stock bushings and sway bars but spherical ball links on the rear. It rides very nicely, much better than I remember my '93 Touring on stock wheels and suspension that I had 20 years ago.
Dave

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

Well, first off, I finally figured out I have Tein Super Street coilers on my car. Springs are 12 front/ 10 rear according to Tein's website, there's no marking that I saw on the spring with a rate. These use the stock rubber mounts at the top instead of a aluminum plate at the top, I think partially to be softer, partially to save money. They were a good priced "value" coil over back in the day.

So the 12's and 10's aren't helping things.

I did see that I have a stock suspension of some kind in my attic - I need to see if it's all stock or if it's my old suspension which was the R2 shocks with Eibach springs. I may swap those on to do a comparison.

I did meet up with Steve (SuzukiSteve on the forum) this weekend - he was in the midst of a water pump replacement that I lent a hand on. VERY clean '95 with Fortune Auto 500 coil overs, probably next weekend we'll get together and do a comparison. I need to find a test course near my house with repeatable bumps and whatnot.

One of the other guys here (Jon) has the Apex'i N1 EXV coil overs, which I believe have 12/12 rates. I'd like to add that into the testing mix too.

I'm interested to see if spring rates or the damper makes the biggest difference in daily street driving.

Dale

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

Was doing a little reading and remembered about the HKS Hipermax IV GT coil overs -

HKS Coilovers (93+ RX-7)

They have 8k springs all around and are designed for street comfort. Price isn't too bad, around $1400.

@Banzai-Racing I think has talked about them on the forum, would love to hear if they have any feedback.

Dale

madhat1111

I was curious about those as well - I figured there's a reason BR still sells them, but I hadn't seen them ever discussed

K!NCH

iTrader: (2)

I saw you mention Fortune Autos in one of your comments. I had a set on my FC when they first came out and they were awesome. Had the standard rate with the Swift spring upgrade and their was a night and day comfort difference between them and the Tein Flex I had before (changed the springs to 8/6 tho). I'm considering them for the FD eventually but for not much more ($400 I think?) you can get a set of Ohlins which are well proven.

twinturborx7pete

iTrader: (3)

Dale, I completely recommend the Ohlins DFV coilovers. After I installed them on my RZ, it was a much better ride. The ability to adjust these is great and they are not harsh at all.

gracer7-rx7

iTrader: (16)

I've heard good things about the HKS shock valving fwiw

Regarding the super streets you have, using the stock upper shock mounts helps with ride comfort / harsh driver feedback on some of the harshest conditions like a sudden expansion joint. That is why I kept them in my build using the revalved Bilsteins. SakeBomb mentioned seeing a lot of hysterisis on the shock dyno when using the rubber tops and Ohlins iirc. The Bilsteins might not have that level of precision compared to the Ohlins...

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

We still need to get together one of these days, I'd love to do a test drive!

My car has been all about finding that sweet spot - the best part for the best price. If the HKS coilovers can do the job for $1000 less, then there you go. Also I don't want to drop $2500+ on suspension and then realize it's just OK or I'm in the same boat. I agree that there's too much agreement that the Ohlins are awesome, that is a given, but is it a lot better? Little better? $1000 better?

Dale

iceman4357

iTrader: (2)

I too switched from the RE Amemiya coil overs to Fortune 500s. The RE setup was extremely harsh drift setup. I believe it was 18k and 16k rears, might as well been bricks I was riding on. The Fortune Auto 500 I did 8k front and 6k rear and it is so much nicer. Its still stiff and honestly still really sticks to the road very well. I believe the Ohlins are 11k front and rear. They do get really great reviews, but still will probably be harsher than the Tein you have setup currently. I think the Fortune setup was $1200 all in and I am happy with them so far.

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

Wow, 16k is no joke!

I'm thinking Fortune Auto may be a contender for sure.

Dale

DaveW

What does anyone think about keeping the front stock and just modifying the rear to make it less harsh? I think the front is fine, but the rear does have harshness - I do have stock R1 rear shocks on it because the OE rear base shocks leaked.

iceman4357

iTrader: (2)

A second thought....if the actual shocks themselves are not worn out or do not need a rebuild, you could simply swap the springs for softer Swift or Eibach. I read through a handful of messages, but admittingly not all if someone suggested this already.

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

In my particular case with the Tein Super Street they use weird springs. They aren't "straight" springs, they kind of look like stock springs that are a larger diameter at the top to mate up with the stock rubber strut mounts.

I think with the Tein Super Streets it's less the spring rate and more the dampening is harsh.

Dale

DaveW

Yup - IMO, changing dampers would be my 1st point of attack on a harshness issue. I've put up with rear harshness for as long as I've owned the FD and "solved" it by running low rear tire pressures (Firehawk Indy 500's, OE size 225/50R16 F & R) on the street. This thread is making me think of installing some more appropriate rear dampers than the OE R1's (installed used R1 shocks because the base OE rear shocks leaked) and being able to run the rear pressures closer to where they should be. BTW, the low rear cold pressures (28 psi front and ~25 psi rear) have not caused any issues on the street and it still handles great, but I'd never run them that low on the track.

gxl90rx7

iTrader: (1)

I just swapped the springs on my ksport kontrol pros from 10k/6k down to 7k/5k. waaay better. it felt like it bounced over bumps before, now it absorbs it and feels way gripper. and now the shock adjustment actually does something, before it didnt make much difference full soft or hard. oem spring rates are 5k/3.5k for reference

gracer7-rx7

iTrader: (16)

I think I'm using those same style springs on my car. It tapers from a traditional 2.5" ID at the bottom to something around 5" at top. I got mine from Rishie in 8k/7k

ebrown5686

Hello All!
I can't say that I can fully absorb all the nuances of the fascinating discussion, but it's a lot of fun to listen and learn from people that know their FD's inside and out! But I am a card-carrying old man who lucked into a 29K Touring model a year and a half ago, and fell in love with it. It came mostly bone stock, with one of the big exceptions being a full set of CX Racing coilovers. Loved the car, hated the ride, drive and road feel I was getting. I was lucky enough to get all 4 stock suspension units with the car, and a set of stock wheels and Michelins that by date were probably the original tires!
I also lucked into the RX7 club, and starting trying to absorb what the newbie technical forums were saying about suspension tech. It got into a day by day thing. I talked to my mechanic, who took care of a little fleet of racing Miatas. And we dusted off the old ones, and ordered a set of adjustable Yellow Konis, and 4 13.7 lb. 16x8 Enkei RFP-1's to get the unsprung weight down along with a set of Michelin Pilot Sport AS/3+'s(yeah,I know they're all season tires!).
So we used the stock springs, and mounted the wheels and tires. This is hardly a recipe for performance driving, but I've been really happy with the handling, the road feel, and the reduction in clunking around town. Just one guy's approach. I run the shocks full soft on the back and 30-50% on the fronts and that seems to work well.
While I'm at it, I want to thank Dale Clark and all of the other folks in The RX7 club for your great advice. We've installed a ceramic-coated Bonez downpipe, a Bonez Hi-flow cat, and a Racing Beat dual pipe cat-back. I didn't really mean to do it, but I really like that extra 20 hp too. The FC thermoswitch came next, along with the Lisle air-bubble reducing tool and it all has us running a good bit cooler. I think I'm done for now. Maybe.
Thanks again,
Ed

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

So this weekend I met up with @suzukisteve and we swapped cars around and drove around town.

He has a SUPER clean '95 Montego blue, really solid car. The Fortune Auto 500's are VERY different from my suspension - felt solid and tight, but was never bouncy or harsh. Driving my car it's just so damn harsh.

Also had fun with NO damn traction on my car due to the Pensacola "cold" weather - about 40-50 degrees out and the cold tires and cold road didn't hook at all!

I was really pleased with the Fortune Auto setup. That's definitely a contender. It also proved to me that you can have coilovers that don't ride super harsh.

EBrown, Thanks for the input! I've toyed with doing stock suspension but the rear ride height especially is SO damn high it just kills me. I don't need my car dropped, but I want it even and looking good. If anything with my future setup I'll probably go higher than I am now for some more ground clearance.

Dale