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Here is a table I made with JDM and USDM Part Numbers and Atxxins recent listed prices:
Negative. I usually order everything through Ray and cannot recommend him enough; however, I just did all of this work and you can save some money in the aftermarket world with some quality stuff. Juan with j-auto.net sells his own pillow ball kit. It is less money and the same quality as OEM Mazda. He also sells sway bar end links that cost the same, but are adjustable. I personally bought my front end links from rock auto. They were ~$2 a piece vs the $100 that Mazda will charge you.
I just did everything in the rear and used J-auto for everything. Poly where needed and the lower arm articulating bushing with new oem ($85 each).. J-auto pillow ball bushings, and his toe links and lower control arm. All nice, quiet, and tight.price wasn't too bad. What a difference!
Now I just have a couple more weeks and should have my Fortunes to install. I would call Juan @ J-auto.
Checked the J-auto site. Price is as Dale mentioned above.
I am confused about the "lower arm bushing". Did not see mention of that.
MIne is looking ghastly.
As far as I know, none of the poly bushing companies sell a bush for the rear lower control arm, so you have to buy OEM. J-Auto has them on their page right above the Super Pro bushings.
All this talk of old man suspension is making me SERIOUSLY consider selling off my set of HKS Hypermax Pro's in favor of the Ohlins... I plan on doing track days, but I also don't want to need a mouth guard to drive along poorly kept streets.
You're going to need matching "don't break a hip" M150 maps to go with that Big Daddy Warbucks Motec setup too. <duck>
I'll ask Shane if that's an option! 🤣
Originally Posted by Carlos Iglesias
Embrace the suck!!
Penske Special FENDAMONKEY Ed. "Hip Snapper" suspension
The back roads around me are fun, but the aren't perfectly kept. If a slightly softer suspension will allow better road contact, then it'll also mean better/safer handling
OK, so this weekend I met up with a good longtime RX-7 friend who has owned a pile of FD's and has used most every suspension out there, from low end to JDM exotic super high end.
He says for a street car, Tein Flex Z's hands down. Good price, great ride, and it is serviceable if you have problems.
The real kicker here and why he's big on Tein is the new EDFC. I had to read up some on this since this has changed in the past few years -
Basically, you have 4 motors that install on the top of each coil over. He said the wiring was very easy - the 2 front controllers wire to 1 box that needs power and ground, same for the 2 back controllers. They talk to the control unit wirelessly.
The control unit taps into the ECU speed signal or uses a GPS sensor. It has an accelerometer to see how the car is pitching, yawing, etc.
As you drive, the EDFC will dynamically firm and soften the shocks at each corner for driving conditions. He said it's a HUGE difference and VERY noticeable when driving. So you can have the shocks comfy driving around, but when you lean it into a corner hard it tightens up dynamically.
That's really intriguing to me. Regardless, right now I'm leaning towards the Tein Flex Z, need to do a test drive before I commit.
OK, so this weekend I met up with a good longtime RX-7 friend who has owned a pile of FD's and has used most every suspension out there, from low end to JDM exotic super high end.
He says for a street car, Tein Flex Z's hands down. Good price, great ride, and it is serviceable if you have problems.
The real kicker here and why he's big on Tein is the new EDFC. I had to read up some on this since this has changed in the past few years -
Basically, you have 4 motors that install on the top of each coil over. He said the wiring was very easy - the 2 front controllers wire to 1 box that needs power and ground, same for the 2 back controllers. They talk to the control unit wirelessly.
The control unit taps into the ECU speed signal or uses a GPS sensor. It has an accelerometer to see how the car is pitching, yawing, etc.
As you drive, the EDFC will dynamically firm and soften the shocks at each corner for driving conditions. He said it's a HUGE difference and VERY noticeable when driving. So you can have the shocks comfy driving around, but when you lean it into a corner hard it tightens up dynamically.
That's really intriguing to me. Regardless, right now I'm leaning towards the Tein Flex Z, need to do a test drive before I commit.
Dale
That's basically as close as you can get to being "active suspension". That's really hardcore. You need that level of control for the street? Or are you going to be hitting up the track alot?
Personally the car is for spirited street drives and a once a year rip through the Tail of the Dragon.
I probably don't need the new EDFC but damn that's cool. It also offers up a good "Old Man Suspension" option - you could even have a comfy street car but still capable on track without having to do anything.
I've had my eye on EDFC for quite some time now but I have Ohlins, so I was trying to figure out if there's a way I could make it work. Originally, the only EDFC I saw only had 16 settings, so I figured it wouldn't work. Then I saw they made one with 32, and then I saw that new EDFC Active Pro and it reignited my desire for it lol. I haven't figured out how to get the adjustment cap off the Ohlins yet though, or haven't dared to try it yet. I've seen some pics of the EDFC to see what the actual attachment looks like, and it looks like it's basically just six sided. No idea what size though.
I like the idea, I'm not sure about how effective it actually is. Reading about it you need to remove the strut bars and any covers. Also, how fast does it react? It's not a predictive system so it's only so effective and depends on how fast it can adjust to changes.
Got my car back with these installed, today. Although similar to my prior set, there was a marked improvement in ride feel. More firm, but more forgiving, if that is possible.
Also had parts of the suspension replaced with some not-so-used spares I had from a "92 JDM Type X (70,000km) chassis.
Did not change out the lower control arms, which was my priority, as parts were not yet available (see next post).
Also I had a "Recaro Speed" seat installed and had the bushings on the shifter replaced.
All and all. the car is very much more a pleasure to drive.
All that is missing is the "new car smell".
Shop set the rear height at 25.5 inch, and front at 25.0. How does that look? Shocks can be adjusted 20cm down or 5cm up. Too low would attract roadside attention from the wrong folk.
As discussed above, I will likely go for the J-auto pillow ***** and the OEM replacement bushing for the resolution of my clunky RLCA .
However, I see (on ebay) an after market replacement RLCA marketed by several different sources referred to P2M Phase 2.
These may be a lower cost alternative, and it seems it would involve a simple swap out.
I am a typical highway cruiser taking the long sweepers up to Whistler (and beyond).
Are the P2M worth considering?
With the other changes I just made to the suspension, the loose RLCA are not that noticeable. But I would look forward to seeing what the replacement would bring.
Last edited by Redbul; 02-02-21 at 11:52 PM.
Reason: spelling correction
I like the idea, I'm not sure about how effective it actually is. Reading about it you need to remove the strut bars and any covers. Also, how fast does it react? It's not a predictive system so it's only so effective and depends on how fast it can adjust to changes.
That's a good point about reaction time, I hadn't thought of that. But I don't see why you'd need to remove strut bars or covers. On the front, there shouldn't be any issues with the strut bar being in the way. And on the rear, maybe the covers fit too close to the top of the strut to allow enough room for the motors, but you could run the wires inside the plastics so that shouldn't be an issue.
Even without using the Active or Active Pro, it would be nice with the old system to at least be able to adjust damping from the driver's seat.
I was just doing some searching and came across this. Looks like EDFC responds pretty quick, 25ms. This guy likes them anyway lol. Although that's on actual TEINs. Not sure if they'd even work on other coilovers, or how well.
The friend's car I saw with EDFC had strut tower braces, fit just fine with them. It's just a small box that attaches to the top of the coiler in the engine bay/hatch.
Unfortunately the car wasn't where I could drive it and test it out. But, he's done a lot of track days, mountain roads, etc. and has been around FD's for 20+ years and owns multiple FD's. He said that it made a dramatic difference in cornering and you could really feel it working.
I would probably do this in stages - get the coil overs first, get comfortable with them, then go for the EDFC. Also space out the cost a bit.
The friend's car I saw with EDFC had strut tower braces, fit just fine with them. It's just a small box that attaches to the top of the coiler in the engine bay/hatch.
Unfortunately the car wasn't where I could drive it and test it out. But, he's done a lot of track days, mountain roads, etc. and has been around FD's for 20+ years and owns multiple FD's. He said that it made a dramatic difference in cornering and you could really feel it working.
I would probably do this in stages - get the coil overs first, get comfortable with them, then go for the EDFC. Also space out the cost a bit.
Dale
Not sure if you were aware, but Fortune Auto has a product like the EDFC. They call it Remote Damper Control. Probably isn't advanced as their new adaptive product, but seems like it has pre-sets for various conditions.
The friend's car I saw with EDFC had strut tower braces, fit just fine with them. It's just a small box that attaches to the top of the coiler in the engine bay/hatch.
Unfortunately the car wasn't where I could drive it and test it out. But, he's done a lot of track days, mountain roads, etc. and has been around FD's for 20+ years and owns multiple FD's. He said that it made a dramatic difference in cornering and you could really feel it working.
I would probably do this in stages - get the coil overs first, get comfortable with them, then go for the EDFC. Also space out the cost a bit.
Dale
...and just when I thought I was happy with my Fortune setup, you had to show me a cool new toy for a different coil over setup. This does sound like a perfect setup to balance soft, but will tighten itself down through turns. If you end up going this route, which it sounds like you should, please keep us updated. I might have to swap mine out if its really worth it.
01-29-21, 11:37 PM
Rear Lower Control Arm ("RLCA") Replacement
