I want to know if there are any bang-for-the-buck drift coilovers for either the FD or FC. I was thinking about getting the JIC Magic FLT-A2 or TEIN, but I'm not too sure about it. And the settings your suspension is set would be helpful too.

 

Tanabe has a coilover specifically designed for drift.

 

I heard alot of great things about the TIEN drift spec system. Im going to order mine as soon as I get some $$
ALI

 

any good coilover will work for drifting

 

****** waste of money...
Koni yellows with any number of coilover kits work for us.
If you want the cool factor and the anodized colors, then take your pick of Tein, JIC, Cusco, A'PEXi, HKS...


-Ted

 

you dont NEED an expensive coilover setup,

but last year me and my freind both had s13's, i had the TEIN HE's the "drift spec" coilovers and he had i think kyb agx with the ground control coilover kit and i noticed a big difference. my suspsension was allooot stiffer and looked like it didnt even budge drifting around a turn on video, looked totally flat haha looked awsome. but didnt feel nearly as rough as his. quality wise also seemed like a big difference. yea there was about a 500 dollar difference but you *usually* get what you pay for.


dennis

 

that helps a lot...only if you have a Nissan S13/14

Tein has the HE (8/6 kg/mm), which is specifically for drift. if you like high spring rates, try the RA (10/8 kg/mm)

Last time i checked, the price on HEs is about $1200
RAs are more like $1400
Both have apps for Fc
Sustec DD/RR doesnt

 

I think Tanabe has dropped all their FC3S application stuff...


-Ted

 

**** them then

 

werd. this especially sucks since my supplier is now direct with Tanabe. They still have downpipes, strut bars and braces though

 

have tried numerous suspension combinations on different cars, and the best setup as yet I have experienced are the Tein Flex Type coilovers currently on one of my FD's, the one I'm selling on this site. The FD deserves a top-of-the-line suspension setup, and with independent adjustment of the spring rate, ride height, AND 16-way dampers, this setup is good for the track or for taking the females (one at a time) out to the club. My FD sits 3" off the ground from the lowest point on the undercarriage, but I have yet to scrape, even on San Francisco's steep hills. The choice is yours, either way, you will get what you pay for. The Flex Types have rates of 550 in front and about 448 in the rear. The next step up is only if you want daily headaches and is the closest thing to a solid-mount setup with rock hard 1000-lb springs front and rear. But I drift just fine with the Flex Types, and even being the extemeophile that I am, going with the full drift spec Teins will make the car irritating to drive. You don't need anything more than the Flex Types. These also come with the upper pillow ball mounts standard, completely replacing the suspension. In changing the front, you need to remove the upper suspension arm in two places. With this extra work, this is something you only want to do once and get it right the first time (just like everything else on a car). If you want what's best for your car, try the Flex Types, and then order the 1000-lb springs if you think you can stand doubling the resistance of the Flex's.

 

Of the 16-way adjustable coilovers, I have mine set at 13 in the front and 10 in the rear, and I lowered the car 1-1/2 in all around. If I wasn't selling the car (and I might end up keeping the Teins because they're so awesome), I would actually take the rear down an additional 1/4 in for a little extra weight on the rear wheels. The car would be perfect then. Right now I have about 1-1/2 degrees of negative camber all the way around. I wouldn't recommend droppiong a daily-driven FD lower than this, but if you did, I'd recomment longer upper control arms to keep the camber to about 1-1/2 degrees for performance reasons, not to mention looks.

 

Try Silk Road Coilovers. They are pretty good from what I hear. DGTrials have them for $1400 shipped for FC3S. I forgot the specifications... supposedly they're supposed to be tougher than Teins. One of the member there had one in his S13 for like 2 years and put shitload of miles on them. It's still good after all the daily driving and drifting Anyway, go to DGTrials.com and do a search on them. They also have them listed in their parts section.

 

BTW, you don't need shitload of mods to drift. It's all driver. Practice, practice and more practice is the best mod for drifting Good drifters can drift any FR with LSD. You should practice a lot and when you mastered the basics and can drift well, then start setting up the car to suit your needs.

 

You do not alter weight distribution of any car by raising or lowering either end of it. You're confused.

You don't need to alter arm length on an fd. There is plenty of camber adjustment in it for any ride height you may choose. If you did something crazy and needed more you could always slot the lower a-arm mounts.

How many times have you taken this car to the track?

 

hehe w3rd. thats what the camber plates are for homes.

 

(snip)

Boy does this sound like a commercial...


-Ted

 

So, if they are so good, why selling them?

 

Hi you guys, I work for Tanabe, so I apologize if this sounds biased.

You do not need coilovers to drift.

We sell a drift specific coilover for the 240sx and have a prototype for Chris Forsberg's Z33, but what makes it specific for drift is that the bracketry, valving, and piston is extremely reinforced for the loads that are demanded of it.

Spring rates are interchangeable on any adjustable coilover suspension, therefore rates on a suspension do not make it drift specific.

The reliability and design of the internal valving and quality of the coil spring is what people should look at to make an educated decision to buy an adjustable coilover suspension. A lot of people tout "600 way adjustable" as a reason why they buy a coilover...what most of these systems do is rely on the valving to do the majority of the suspension work, so in essence, you are using the shock to do the suspension travel-- the spring should be doing most of the work and suspension travel, with the shock only complementing the setup by affecting the speed of rebound or compression, depending on preference. stiffer is not always better

The Tanabe coilover suspension uses KYB Japan as the manufacturer of the strut assemblies, using our own specifications determined by our engineers. KYB Japan is one of the oldest and most respectable strut manufacturers-- they have the quality to be used as OEM on millions of factory vehicles and the technology to actually patent their unique designs. Most autocrossers can attest to the range and reliability of KYB's internal valving.

There is no doubt in my mind that many track guys using an oem style quality performance strut and spring combo can lay waste to guys who are using these aesthetically nice adjustable coilover suspensions by "X" manufacturer.

RETed is right on.

When end users call in asking how to set up a drift car and have thousands of dollars available to spend on the full drift specific line of parts, i tell them to start off with a spring and strut combo and learn their car. Spending thousands on parts does not make someone a better driver...only an experienced driver could extract the full potential of race components...so 'buy wisely'. buying expensive race components for your car usually only serves to slow down the speed that you learn your car/raise the learning curve.


I would like Tanabe to further support the FC3S and I am personally trying to get new parts developed for the vehicle since I am the sole rotary nut over there.

Right now we offer:

Chromemoly Swaybar Front
Chromemoly Swaybar Rear
Front Underbrace (chassis reinforcement)
GF210 coil spring (linear rate type coil spring)
Tower Bar front
Downpipe

The catback exhaust was discontinued due to fitment issues with old chassis' and dual exhaust setups (uneven alignment fitment issues with bumper, this is why HKS has discontinued their dual)

With enough people and support, our factory can and will make the catback, i have the prototype on my car, and I believe they still have the jig.

It may seem counterintuitive for me to promote this after my spiel on strut/spring vs adjustable coilover setups..but...for the track guys and 'drivers' who are looking for more--

I am trying to push our Japan HQ to engineer several adjustable coilover suspensions for the FC3S, but really need to get some support for it before they will listen. If people are interested, we can have one made to spec.

Most likely, the Sustec Pro SS which has been popular on the FD3S can be made. The Sustec Pro DD will need further attention as it is very time consuming and extremely costly to engineer and manufacture.

for those that are seriously interested, please email me. There are not many chances that a manufacturer is willing to work with the public, so do not hesitate to post your comments, criticisms, or suggestions...

mike@tanabe-usa.com

I'd really like this to go through, especially since I'll get to put it on my car. I am happy with my Illumina/GF210 setup, but now I am looking for more and do not have confidence in the coilovers currently available.

Cheers,
Mike @ Tanabe

 

Definitely look for servicablity and customization for future changes made to the setup.

These are super duper important. Make sure the company stocks all internal pieces so that timely overhauling can be performed.

If this is a "drift" car that's daily driven then go for a test drive in a friend's car to establish some baselines for what you do and do not like.

 

Yeah they are awesome! The qaulity is that of Zeals and Arogosta, but the price of Teins. Reason being, they do not waste money in advertising there products, instead they make theres betetr and keep costs down.

Specs for the FC are 8/6kg F/R and FD 10/8kg F/R they are inverted monotube shocks, with camber plates, and 8 way adjustable shocks. I know through DG trials you can only get the stock springs rates, but if you inquire directly to silkroad you can get whatever you want (tahst what I did)...

 

1 - Um, yeah, maybe your car is the one object on this flying rock unaffected by gravity. So you're telling us that if someone was to take a stock FD, raise the rear 4 inches and lower the front 3 inches, the weight distribution front and rear would STILL be the same. Hmmm...

2 - As for the second part, I WAS thinking about something else at the time. Actually not sure which car I was thinking about, it was so long ago.... Kudos to you for pointing it out, but seriously man you made it sound like I insulted your mother or something. I don't think you know me; I'm not like that at all.

3 - However your third point is irrelevant and just another example of senseless all-too-common haterism. Being a Med student, I don't really have the time to schedule a "track" day. What I HAVE done is I've taken a fairly good number of girls for rides in my car through the mountains and to clubs in San Francisco, Burlingame (Blush is da spot) and San Jose and had a lot of fun with them in my car, at the club, AND at my modest crib. I've even let a couple of them drive my FD cuz I think it's sexy when a girl can drive stick well, and it's a fast car -- ahh but you probably aren't relating. The most fun you can have in a car (aside from, well, you know....) is taking a trip with with a beautiful girl riding next to you, just laughing and having fun. To be honest with you DamonB, that just makes a "track" sound pretty weak. You know what I mean?

Chill dude, just chill.... We're all supposed to be cool, ya know man....

 

Um, I sorta mentioned they're *already on the car* ??

In the end, I did decide they're so good, I actually took them off, sold the car with the stock suspension and installed the Flexes on my other/current FD.

Even if I had sold my MB base with the Flexes, I was ready to buy a new set for my silver Touring.

Yeah, BicuspiD, they're that awesome, and they're actually affordable. Suitable for some drifting or some dating.

juicy

 

Ummm, yeah. If you were to put the car on corner scales you could prove that to yourself. You'd think in the past 3 years you might have had time to do that? Hmmmmmm.

Being right= haterism?

...so now we know the reason you want shiny coilovers: to attract girls Do you give them free candy too? You're exactly right. I could never hope to relate to anything you're talking about.

I try, but I could never hope to have as much game as you.

 

Coilovers get dirty fast, they are hidden behind you wheels and they aren't exactly the nicest part of your car so who gives a rats @$$ what they look like.

If a respectable suspension components maker Ohlins, Aragosta, KYB, Koni etc etc made a Pink and Purple coilover that was great but pink and purple and inscribed on it were the words "My car is ugly and I know it" I would still buy it.

I agree with Damon that Ride height has nothing to do with weight distribution.

What you are trying to say is raising lowering your car has effects on the distribution entering a corner?Otherwise I have no clue where you are getting your ideas, put down that GT4 and get to the real world.

If you were to raise the Empire State building by 14 feet would it affect the weight distribution of the building? Don't hate on the older guy because he has more experience/knowledge than you, heck I have been shown everything I know by older guys respect