coilovers, or just shocks and springs?..
 

Well I know coilovers can be quite costly and they have to be dialed in and corner wieghted and everything. I'm trying do decide whether or not to go with a complete coilover system from a'pexi or tien, or just get a set of shocks and sport springs. Take into account that my fd is a weekend car. It may not be driven often but when it is it's driven hard. the cars stock suspension is amazing. But i want something stiffer. I do alot of so called parking lot drifting and mountain road racing so i want something that is going to be responsive as well. Any reccomendations? thanks.

coil overs v springs/shocks.... that is the question.

a majority of enthustiast fd owners.... and who isn't an fd owner that isn't an enthusiast... would be deeelighted with the simple addition of a set of Eibach Pro Kit springs ( around $200) or a set of Tein S or H Tech springs... about the same price.

stock FD springs are 263 front and 195 rear
Eibach P-K is-----------350-------------255 lowers about 1.2 inch
Tein S Tech--------------440--------------320 lowers about 1.3 inch
Tein H Tech--------------390--------------290 lowers about .8 inch

all of the above springs work very well w the stock FD shocks which are excellent shocks as per my shock dyno and seat of the pants experience.

the above combo w the correct suspension settings and tire pressure will TRANSFORM your already excellent handling FD.

you can have 90% of the performance you want with NO uncomfortable ride around town at 20% of the cost of coilovers.

if you want the other 10%, spend another $700 to 1100 and buy a set of coil overs...

there are a couple of keys:

SPRING RATE is #1...
there are some nutzo spring rates on some of the coil overs out there. do not buy anything that is over 560 front 450 rear... unless you are into torture, going slow or sliding around. if you want to slide around then by all means bolt on some 900 pound springs and enjoy. do not expect to go fast. i note that some coil overs now offer a choice of rates. i run 432/378 and consider it optimum for a combo of aggressive street and tracking. of you are looking at metric rates i recommend 8kg/6kg and no more than 10kg/7kg... Tanabe sustec pro has 8/6 447/335 fyi.

NO PILLOW (CONCRETE) BALL MOUNTS is #2
the entire weight of the car rests on the upper part of each spring. mazda wisely added a modest amount of rubber to insulate the NVH. this has NOTHING to do with the suspension geometry which is defined by the A-Arms.

one of the coil overs i unhestatingly recommend is the Tein Flex. other Tein's have huge spring rates so don't go near the RAs ( 900 lbs!!!) etc.. the Flex has 560/450. 16 adj for the shocks and excellent build quality. reasonable price.

now for the setup:

those w coil-overs.... set ride height at 25 inches at each wheelwell.

camber 1.2 degrees negative front and rear
toe in less than an 1/8th inch f&r
zero rear thrust angle
and very importantly.... tire pressures. set 30 front and 27-28 rear cold.

you may reset camber and tire pressures at the track w a pyrometer.

main message of the post: don't underestimate what you can do for $200 and the right suspension adj.

howard coleman

got to be THE best response I've ever gotten on this forum. VERY imformative. thank you so much. I still really have to think and wiegh out the options. I'm leaning more toward just springs. Thanks.

i've got a question. i have eibach pro kit springs, and was wondering if i can put these springs on koni yellows? I want to put ground control coil-overs later on. thanks

sure... set the ride height as close to 25 inches at all 4 wheel wells. low is fast.

howard coleman

well you said you want it to stiffer. I would go with spring/shock combo. I have Tein Flex on my and I love them. They make the ride more confy but at the reach of a button it get stiffer. I planning on tracking my car that's why I went with this set up but I also drive my car often on the streets.