1FAST7

What are the coilover kits available for the 3rd Gen RX-7? Best for street. Best for track. etc... And shocks as well. To better state it, what would be the best suspension kit for mainly street.

I need info on the Mazdaspeed, Apexi, HKS, Tanabe coilover kits. And the kits that i didnt list. I also need help with the correct spring rate i need?

One more thing... do i need struts if im buying coilover kits such as the mazdaspeed and apexi ones? thanks

1FAST7

inukai

HKS, APEX, Tanabe, Tein ・・・・・　
Every constructor releases several types of coilover kits.
For street, for circle truck, for drug and so on.
As for street only, any will make little difference.
As for circle truck or drug, there is big difference in quality and price.

Where do you run mainly?

RotaryKnight

HKS Hipers are great. I have the Hiper Max II 38 way adjustable.

If you drag your car alot they also have a drag specfic set up that has valving which keeps the rear planted during a run. It is not very streetable but it is an awsome drag suspension.

lone wolf

I say go with GAB coilover, half the price of the HKS. You can also try the Japanese auction. They sell them for way cheap. My brother got 4 Super R's for only $50. I think most coilover kit are like $150-$300. The only problem is most of them won't ship internationally. You never know, you might get lucky and he'll ship it for you.

1FAST7

I am mainly using it for street. Maybe once in a while i might drag. But other than that i need a suspension mainly for street and at a reasonable price. What is the best street coilover kit available?

1FAST7

Johnny

Hey contact Hedgehog---(Hedwig) he just posted his Koni/GC kit for sale...it's got very low miles and price is very right !...

1FAST7

let me simply put it, what is the best coilover kit available?

1FAST7

SleepR1

I need to throw out my philosphy on coil spring-over-threaded-body shocks. It's not a lecture, but it may come off as one, so prepare yourselves

For the record--the stock spring and shock setup IS a coil-spring-over-shock system--we racers just call them "coil-overs" for short. The big differences in the stock versus aftermarket coil-over-shock systems are the coil spring diameters and ride height adjustability.

2.5-inch coil-over suspensions systems were meant for competition use. They allow a tremendous amount of flexibility in helping to tune the car's suspension to suit the track surface, and to help with addressing the car's handling characteristics at that particular racing venue.

The ride height adjustability, was not really meant for creating clearance for taller tires and wheels. It was meant for transferring weight from one end of the car to the other. This is why we racers corner-weigh our cars--to try optimize the amount of weight each corner of the car is carrying through the turns on a road race circuit.

I've been lurking on this forum for a few years, and almost exclusively, FD owners buy 2.5-inch coilover shock systems to fit taller, wider tires inside the wheel wells They take advantage of the 1.5 smaller outer diameter springs to make 0.5 inches more back space clearance, and use the threaded body shock and collars to raise or lower the ride height to make clearance for taller tires WITHOUT any regard to how that would impact the car's handling (from the weight transfers that occur from raising and lowering each end!).

Now to 1FAST7's application.

He plans to mount 245/35-18 tires on 8.5 x 18 wheels for the front positions and 265/35-18 tires on 9.5 x 18 wheels for the rear positions. The wheel offsets for both size wheels are 40 mm.

Anyone who currently owns this setup can confirm that 2.5-inch coil springs ARE NOT NEEDED to make this setup fit in the front positions. The back space for the front positions end up being 6.3 inches, and the front space ends up being 3.2 inches. All you suspension experts on the FD forum will know that the maximum front position front space is 3.5 inches, and the max back space, using the stock diameter springs, is 7 inches. Clearly 1FAST7 will be well within those clearance specs, especially considering the front tire size is very close so the stock overall diameter of 24.9 inches.

The question remains for 1FAST7 is, why buy 2.5-inch coil overs, if all you plan to do is run the above wheel/tire setup on the street? If it's because you have money to burn--then that's cool. Our economy could use a shot-in-the-arm! If it's because you think you need them...see the above!

Depending on your current setup, you might be better off buying aftermarket stock style springs and firmer stock-style shocks. If you have an R1 FD, then you'll just need springs, since the stock R1 Bilsteins are plenty firm to handle the higher spring rates of any of the current OE style springs--H&R, Eibach, Racing Beat, Pettit, PFS

Send a note to the big Rx7 list at Rx7@World.Std.Com In the subject line, type [3] before your subject topic to help people sort through the mess of messages that come through the list.

Get other opinions before you plunk down your hard-earned (or your easy) money for 2.5-inch coilvers.

Peace

RX Steve

I bought the Drummond Motorsports Coilovers with fully adjustable shocks from M2

Steve

SleepR1

Check out http://www.m2performance.com/

I would consider going with the GAB Super R shocks and converting them to 2.5-inch coilovers using M2's Coilover converstoin kit. The total cost of both would run $1494, $901 less than M2's Advanced Design double adjustable threaded shocks.

Here's Max Cooper's website link on how to use M2's coilover conversion kit. It's very a good resource in showing you what's involved with M2's coilover conversion kit:

http://www.maxcooper.com/rx7/how-to/...coil-over.html

Good Luck!

1FAST7

I thought i need 2.5 coilovers for my setup. Well, if i dont then i wont get any right at the moment.

another thing. should i keep the 245/35 or 235/45? for the front?

1FAST7

SleepR1

SleepR1

We've been through this with the last thread, remember? We couldn't find the S-03s availabe in the 245/35-18, which is why we went with 235/40-18.

I wouldn't get Falkens--show tire--no real performance comparison with the S-03s.

Declin and Hedgehog have both mounted too tall a tire on their front wheel positions, which is why declin is suggesting the 245/35-18. Declin and Hedgehog's bad experience with too tall fronts came from tires that were ~1 inch taller than stock. Yours will be ~.4 inches taller than stock, which really means 0.2 inches taller sidewall.

PLEASE READ THOSE POSTS IN THE LAST BEST WHEEL/TIRE COMBO THREAD YOU STARTED. THERE'S A TON OF INFORMATION SHARED THERE!

1FAST7

i know this is a little off-topic, but....

If the Bridgestone Potenza S-03 arent available in 245/35-18 then I will go with a different tire. I want the best fit and dont have to worry about anything. I went a little searching and came up with two tires that are available in 245/35-18 and 265/35-18... The Pirelli Pzero Asimetrico and the Toyo Proxes T1-S. Which tire should i go with? Is there a better tire for ultra high performance/max performance for both wet and dry?

thanks,
1FAST7

1FAST7

If the bridgestone potenza s-03 are better than the toyo proxes T1-s and the Pirelli asimetricos then i might go with those becuase .4 taller than stock isnt too much... any suggestions?

1FAST7

1FAST7

so which way should i go?

thanks,
1FAST7

SleepR1

If the Pirelli P-Zero Asimmetricos come in 245/35-18s, go with them. I have personal experience with these tires in 225/50-16. They're outstanding road and track tires. I would go so far as to say the Pirelli P-Zeros are better than the Tah-Yoh (that's how we Hoosiers pronounce Toyo) T1-Ses, without actually having tried the T1-Ses.

The Bridgestone S-03 and P-Zeros would be a toss-up in the dry, but in the wet, the edge would go to the S-03s, especially once the tread depth starts to wear down. The Pirellis wet performance really suffers at that point, so the S-03 would win in the wet because of the S-03's exposed softer rubber compound layer.

Happy New Year.

Beers are on ME

:1party:

1FAST7

I'll go with the asimetricos... btw, does anyone have experience with the Toyo Proxes T1-S?

1FAST7

SleepR1

I would rate them with Bridgestone's RE730. Great performing tire for the money, but not to the S-03 standard of dry and wet performance.

hapa

I think there have been some excellent posts made, and here's my input. First the entire suspension system works together, so, it's important that the spring rates match the valving of your shocks. Hedgehog made an excellent point that the Koni sport yellows do not have the rebounding valving to handle the Ground-control coilovers. I really like the GAB/Ground Control setup that M2 offers, but for $1500 I'd be more comfortable investing in a full set up like the Advanced design/M2 or the HKS hipers, or the Apexi N1 setup. Also to note the stock R1 shocks are NOT Bilsteins, they are made by a Japanese company. Keep this thread alive guys it's excellent info.

eric

inukai

Street Coil Over kits


GAB Revolution Stroke 2 140,000JPyen twin tube 4-adjustable
Front 14.0Kg/mm Rear 12.0Kg/mm


HKS Hyper Max 2 178,000 JPyen mono tube 30-adjustable
Front 15.4 Rear 14.4

SleepR1

Agreed! I think M2 matches spring rates to shocks based on your road or track applications.

Personally, I've found the R1 stock shocks to match up wonderfully with the H&R springs. The old Tokico Illuminas and Racing Beats were also good, but the RBs spring rates limited the adjustability of the Tokicos from 3 to 4. Settings 1 and 2 were too soft, while 5 was too stiff!

Thanks for the clarification on R1 shocks. The yellow shocks in the Yamaguchi book had mislead me to believe the R1 shocks were Bilsteins painted black?

m0t03

If I am going to run a8x9 in the front an 18x10 in the rear do I need aftermarket springs or suspension. That is if I have sidewalls of 35 an 30 in the back. These are the best tire sizes right?


Mike

1FAST7

yes, 245/35 for the front and 285/30 or i think it was 280/30 are the best tire sizes available. Near perfect to stock size and REVs per mile.

1FAST7

HedgeHog

Doesn't 18x10 require the M2 Trailing Arms also? These are offset towards the center of the car thus providing more clearance to the wheel.