I've been looking online recently, trying to get rid of my coilovers (good suspension, but just not what I want for a street driven car) and I've noticed, I can't seem to find a complete set of shocks *anywhere.* I can find rear's all day, but no matching fronts of the same brand, nor the boots, mounts, etc that I'd need. I've checked everywhere, and the only place I can find that has fronts and rears in the same brand/model is Tirerack.

Can anyone point me in the right direction of buying some brand new shocks, as well as bushings/mounting hardware?

 

Bushings and hardware, Mazda.

I don't know if Mazda still has the OEM shocks, they may be pretty pricey.

Really, I'd think about getting the Tein Flex Z's. I have a thread called "old man suspension" talking about it, I LOVE mine. The car still handles well but is VERY comfortable and not harsh to drive. Also you can set the ride height to a reasonable level so you aren't scraping on things and the ~$800 price is VERY competitive.

Most aftermarket shocks (like Tokico) are going to be stiffer and more harsh IMHO. Also the car stock didn't have the smoothest ride.

Dale

 

By the time you replace the shocks, springs, upper/lower isolators, etc, you are at the price of a halfway decent coilover. As mentioned the Teins ride well for the price. My personal choice is to get into a set of Ohlins and be done with.

 

My vote is with the Ohlins, but they are pretty pricey. I love being able to adjust the suspension on the fly depending on my preferences. I can't imagine stock suspension being better than any available option on the market these days. Definitely look into Dales thread regarding old man suspension, very informative regarding the different suspension options.

 

Shocks have been impacted by the supply chain issues. Especially Bilstein and Koni since they are mostly made in EU and they were hit hard with shutdowns due to covid.
Id either wait a while longer or follow Dale and Ihor’s suggestions

 

Another alternative is to have shocks rebuilt - assuming you have a set of tired old shocks. I have an old set of konis but they definitely need a rebuild

 

My issue is the car came over from Japan with a set of CST (Circuit Spec Tune) Coilovers. looking them up, they have about a 10kg spring rate front and rear. Waay to aggressive for me for street driving. I'd have to source new shocks and factory springs. I'm not even sure what other OEM components I would need as far as part numbers go (mounts, bushings, etc) that should be replaced at the same time. I'd prefer a decent set of shocks and something that rides about oem level.

Edit: Looking at the Tien Flex Z's, the spring rates are 8k/10k, so would they really be that much different than the CST's I have now?

 

Hear me now and believe me later, the Teins are the way to go.

The big change is the design of the shock to smooth out the ride.

I'm SUPER picky about this kind of stuff and I have been nothing but pleased with the Teins. Also you can add the EDFC Pro to dynamically change the shocks as you drive - so soft comfort for cruising and stiffens up immediately when you take some corners. It does it all automatically.

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-gen-gene...nsion-1149308/

Coilovers for YEARS had pretty harsh shocks. I had the Tein Super Street coilovers before this and they weren't great on the road - real bouncy, you felt every bump. The Flex Z's are damn amazing.

Dale

 

Given your experience and time on the forum, I'll take that suggestion. Anything you recommend purchasing to change out while I'm in there? (mounting bushings for the coilovers, etc?)

 

When I looked into it a few years ago, it was either the rears or the front shocks that were no longer available from Mazda.

 

Just googled for those CST coilovers and they sound like some entry / low level coilovers. Which means that the shock technology and tuning probably aren't very good.

Given your starting point, the price of going to shocks and springs vs coilovers will be similar. The upper shock mounts are something like $80 each from Ray Crowe, add lower spring isolators, shocks and springs and you'll be close in price to the Teins and a little bit more of a stretch to the Ohlins.

Just make sure you get the right Teins as the shock valving differs as Dale's thread shows.

 

If you google just CST Coilovers, it pulled up a bunch of truck suspension. I had to search for the full name "Circuit Spec Tune Coilovers" One of the results is from EvoloutionM, it provides a link, they were apparently sold in the us by Tanabe. The link is down but the web archive has it, they were $1,500+ USD. As for quality, there's a motor trend article that should be the first google result.

That aside though, I'm assuming if I get the Tein's, I won't have to worry about replacing any other OEM bushings, mounts etc that directly effect the coilovers, will I?

 

I did. I didn't think either of those links were particularly useful in judging prospective quality of the shock valving. Especially when reading results further down the list.

 

I am very pleased with my Fortune Auto for an alternative to rest. I love them on the street and only ran them on the Oval track for about 25 laps and experimented quite a bit with them. Made in Merica. ... well, I should say assembled in America.

 

$150 for a set of 4000km bathurst coilovers:
https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp...on/q1017709159

 

My biggest concern is ride comfort overall. I'm not expecting it to ride like a cadillac, but I definitely want something better than what I have. I'd think that the Bathurst coilovers would probably be just as if not more rough, but I could be wrong.

 

I will let you know how they feel when i get them, and try them. From what i have read, here they are similar to the R1 stock setup.

 

TEIN Coilovers (93+ RX-7)

They have the Flex Z. As far as I know there's only one version.

You don't need to do anything else suspension-wise while you are in there.

It is worth measuring the ride height before and after, and also getting the ride height set up with the new coilovers. Mine had some minor variation from "perfect" - like a quarter or a half inch. Get them installed then drive around the block to settle in the suspension. Measure. If it's, say, a half inch off on on corner, jack up and remove the wheel and use the provided coilover wrenches to raise or lower the coil over a half inch. Drive around the block again and double-check everything, when it's where you want go get it aligned. I also set my shock settings to the recommended settings in the included manual, SUPER happy with it. They also have a recommended ride height in the manual as well but you can go up or down if you want.

Dale

 

Hey Dale, I think you sold me on the Tein Flex Z's. The more & more I've been driving my FD this year, the more I find the suspension being too harsh, and a bit too unpredictable on some of the bumpier twisty roads we have around here. Hell, there's a simple 90* right turn into my street that you enter on a slight downhill and exit on a slight uphill that always seems to bottom out my left front tire, and make the car feel very discombobulated exiting that apex - my FC handles that same stupid corner at higher speeds about 100X better! I've read your "old man's suspension" thread, and like you, my use case and performance criteria is about the same. My current setup that I inherited from the PO's is basically some Tein springs (of unknown rating/part #) and the adjustable Tokico dampers, and what looks like Racing Beat front & rear sway bars. All the bushings appear to be OEM, and overall everything is in pretty good shape, but I'm thinking I'll want to refresh the suspension sooner rather than later.

With that in mind, besides the Tein Flex Z set, and perhaps some new OEM bushings to replace the most tired/critical ones, what else should I consider while I'm at it?

 

I was going to go with the Tein Flex Z's after reading that thread too but ended up going with Ohlins. Probably can't go wrong with either, every one who runs them seems to like them.

For the more experienced members with coilovers: i just installed my ohlin dfvcoilovers last week and have driven it around sparingly. The guy who rolled my fenders during my new wheel install said he suggested not lowering the FD to my desired height for a week to let them 'settle in', do you guys reckon I would be able to lower them to my desired ride height before taking it in to get balanced? Wonder if folks here provide lifetime tire alignment services

 

@Pete_89T2 I had Eibach springs and my R2 shocks at first, I bottomed out a few times with that setup. Never had problems with my old coilovers and haven't pushed the new ones enough to compare but I'm confident they will be fine. How well my RX-8 handled bone stock and how well it rode is what convinced me to look for new options - the old coilovers were an older design and were just too damn harsh.

The only bushings I've done on my car is the rear trailing arms, diff mount, and the bushings that wrap around the steering rack. Oh, the sway bars have aftermarket bushings. That's it.

There's really not much "while you're in there" with swapping shocks/springs to coilovers.

@Jatt you will want to have the car where you want before getting aligned. If you lower or raise the coil overs that will change alignment. I don't think it takes a huge amount of time for them to "settle in", they aren't on any sort of soft bushing or something, just a drive around the block will settle them. I set mine to 25" from the fender lip to the ground all the way around, I think that's a good height that looks good, will handle well, but won't be so slammed that you scrape on everything and can't pull in a parking lot.

Dale

 

How about AutoExe? Anyone try those?

They seem to offer 2 types, Street and Street Sport.

 

I think one of the Greek guys tried them. Not sure about the verdict.

 

Big thing for me is suspension isn't a one-and-done deal, it's a wear item. You get some exotic suspension and in a few years it starts leaking, what do you do?

The Flex Z's have parts easily available from Tein USA. If the shock starts leaking, they will sell you the shock assembly and you just transfer the springs/perches onto it. I think the new shock is like $150 or something very reasonable. Some places have you send in the shock to be rebuilt, which is fine as well. The Flex Z's aren't rebuildable but are obviously replaceable, they designed them like that to keep costs down.

AutoExe has nice parts but a lot of them IMHO are overpriced for what they are, they are kind of a "fashion" brand, nothing wrong with that, but you are paying for the name for sure.

All that said I haven't heard of any first hand experience with that setup.

Dale

 

The AutoExe site says they are meant for JDM cars (and there are probably some counterfeit products out there), so I'd go with North American products: https://www.autoexe.co.jp/?page_id=120