I was curious if anyone could explain the benifits of going with a prebuilt coilover ie. JIC or Apexi n1s vs. a good strut like koni with a linear spring that doesn't have the threaded perch. 1. Are there any performance advantages? or are the adjustable ride height the benifit? Thanks ahead

 

Go coilovers!!! Struts and spring get old after awhile. You can alway change your ride height with the coilovers.

 

Ride Height adjustments...

 

Coilovers are not only for ride height adjustment though. You can use them to stiffen or soften the suspension too. I wonder why no one mentioned that already. Of course even on the softest setting it's still going to be stiffer than any regular linear or progressive spring.

 

linear(track springs) is a lot stiffer than progressive(street springs).. So on the softest setting its stiffer than a linear spring?? If so, the car will ride like ****.

 

What "settings" on coilovers are you referring to?

Changing spring rates (not just a setting) will change how stiff or soft the suspension rides.

If you are referring to the settings on shocks/struts that is not a very effective way to change the stiffness of the suspension. The shocks should be valved/set to a particular spring rate and condition of road to dampen the oscillations caused by the springs. If you use the shocks/struts to make the suspension seem like it is stiffer then you are using them wrong and loosing performance because the springs are not doing what they are there for. If you lighten the dampening force of the shocks/struts they will just allow the springs and suspension bounce but at that point the softness of the suspension is dictated by the springs and you have a bouncy uncomfortable ride.

 

Here's the difference. The systems like the N1 and FLTa2, etc.. will all come with pillowball mounts and are monotube dampers. Koni yellow, KYB AGX, tokiko illumina, etc.. are twin tube dampers. An inferior design but more likely suitable for the street. Something we sacrfice driving an RX7 regardless. The dramatic potential of handling with this car after suspension mods denies us the ability to want a factory ride.

So that's two things, pillowballs included and damper design. Also range of damping adjustment. Then there's the other real big factor. At least for me.

The high end coilovers allow you to drop the car without losing any suspension travel, hence no sacrifice in ride quality. REgardless of where you set the ride height the car will ride the same, assuming there is no preload on the sway bars at these different heights. lol. But you know what I mean.

Instead of dropping the spring to a lower position on the strut or shock, you actually raise the lower shock braxket to a higher position of the shock. Therefore not even touching the spring/preload side of the system.

Lastly, the thing to look at are your functions. Most high end systems with these features are quite stiff. The Apex i is most likely the stiffest, with HKS right there, then Tein RA, then JIC FLT-A2, then Tein Flex. The flex being the one twin tube system that has independent ride height and spring preload adjustments.

 

JIC FLT-A2: Monotube: street, track




Tein RE: Monotube, Circuit Racing


Tein Flex: Twin tube

 

so when you purchase coilovers you can choose what you want your spring rate to be?? whats the best street/track spring rate???

 

There is no such thing. The car is setup for one or the other or compromised at both.

 

it's a combination of damper, springs, and venue. It it autox and roadrace. If they are spring cores which we have in stock then we can switch them out. If preordered you can pick the spring rates if not too far off the standard ones.

i.e. Foko felt that 14kg and 12Kg worked best for him roadracing. Had to up the rates to reduce scrub factor on his massive cooper fitment. So we bought new fronts and took the old fronts to the rear.

Rishie

 

i just got my jic flta2 set up maybe i'll put them in tomarrow.

 

Sweet. Make sure you set the preload properly. Basically loosen the spring up. Flip the coilover upside down. Then begin tightening that lower spring perch collar. Once it touches the spring and you feel a decent tension. Just like "Finger tightening" something. Then you take the wrench and turn it a quarter to half a turn more.

The height is the worst part of doing it. The way I do it is measure the floor to fender height. If you want a one inch drop then subtract that figure from the first measurement.

Next, jack the car up until suspension is fully expanded, tire still touching ground, and measure the ground to fender distance. This is the third measurement.

Now remove the stock dampers setup and measure it's distance between the mounting points. Take M3-M2 and that is the distance you want to set the mounting points apart on the JIC coilovers.

If you draw a picture it will make total sense and is a major time saver. This is how we do it and the right way to do it. From this point on you can make minor adjustments with it on the car.

Do remember to take measurements from each corner. For desired M2 meausrements you may want to take them with you sitting in the car. Might need a second person. lol.

Later, Rishie

Just wanted to give you this in case you weren't told.

 

Another way to do this is to measure from the center of your wheel to the fender. This is particularly useful if your car is on a surface such as gravel or dirt. One place this comes in handy is at a Road Race track where the pit area usually is not paved where you park your car.


You should also take your car for a drive and let the suspension settle a little bit. After you let it settle then you should go back and make sure everything is still tight and check the height at each corner again.

- Cody

 

Yup exactly, or that too. Thanks cody.

Rishie

 

i wish i read this before i put them on. i left the spring where it was from the factory. i just set the height. i have to adj the height a bit more. well anyway they feel great compared to the 10yr old struts i took out. do i have to disconnect the bottom of each shock to adj the height or am i missing something here? the entire base must be turned accordingly to raise or lower the height.

 

It's faster to remove the bottom or you can twist the whole body by keeping the mounting points attached.

Bro, please readjust the preloads on all four corners. The factory settings are not consistent.

thanks, Rishie

 

alright will the ride get better?

 

what else do i have to know about these things?

 

Rishie,

The right height adjustment formula you gave me is not correct on mine. It became too short, I guess because I have tokico and eibach spring.

What I ended up doing is adjust the height from center to fender lip distance to make it the same as what I have before.

I found out that under load the JIC would compress about 2.25 inch. So just measure the center to lip minus 2.25, it will be your ride height.

I ran about 2 fingers front and 2.25 fingers rear. Went to autocross today. to try all different setting. I can't really tell which is good, my street tires just scream all the time. I think this proves that the suspension is good and working the tires to its limit. Now all I need is 18x10 all around with Hosier or Kumho...

Reza

 

Nice thanks a lot Reza. When we install we just hit it. Sorry about the approximations. There must be an error in my thought. The center of the wheel is the best way to do it. This eliminates the different tire height variable for the most part.

Wow 2.25" ok, I didn't plan for that. Thanks for the info.

hehe. Cooper fitment.

Later, Rishie

Come by De Anza tommorrow Reza. call my cell on the card. We will make some food while hanging out.

 

Thank you Rishie for getting me that FLTA2.

I ran with my friend Calvin(nick calsonic) today.
The car ran good. He is surprised with the performance, and like it a lot.
So you may have another customer coming your way.
He is trying to do profesional drifting, thus he drift in my car a lot today. He is looking for some form of sponsorship, perhaps you can help him. I know he is planning to get suspension and some volk racing. I will post his car for you to see.

My car feels very stable during drift, controllable, it can wait for driver input before just snapping into spin. Basically it has expand the limited and narrow drift window for FD. Now you have more words about JIC

On the grip side. I just need tires...hmm..perhaps if I can run softer spring rate in the back. What are my options?

Reza

 

 

Nice. I'll work something out for him but it has to be soon. I have two sets left that I'm willing to work with on sponor deals if interested.

thanks for the added input too. I'd suggest wider tires in the rear. What are you running right now Reza? Tires and wheels.

Thanks, Rishie

 

stock wheels with 245/45/16 Yoko ES100.
Not soo good to try catch people with hossiers.