Ok, my situation is that I need to replace my shocks and springs badly. Right now they are rusted stock 87 turbo shocks. I don't want to drive on them in this condition anymore so I started looking at options. I want a setup that is aggressive on the street and that I can auto cross on on occasion. Nothing extreme needed.

I started looking at options and reading posts. I was sure I had decided on KYB AGXs with Eibach Pro-kit springs. But then I came across Megan coilovers for "only" $200 more then I was planning to spend on the other set up. A friend of mine has K Sport on his 240 that he is happy with and said Megan was on par with those.

I started doing research on Megan and a number of people said they liked them, but more and more they were being hated on as I looked deeper. Then this http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets6.html came up and I don't know what to think anymore. Maybe Konis, but they even don't look appealing after that read. Everything that seems highly recommended is out of my range and I'm not sure about getting used ones.

My budget was $700, but I might be able to stretch $900. As a side note I will be getting them professionally aligned when all is said and done. Please help me make a decision .

 

go with coilovers like stance or ksports they are good and reasonably priced. megans have a really bad seal and are know to blow out after just a couple thousand miles. there is also another option from a company called www.poweredbymax.net if you dont speak/read japanese then goggle it they are about 1100 shipped and give you hight adjustability as well as camber caster adjustability that is the beauty of coilovers. i picked up my Ksport control pro's brand new off ebay for 850 shipped so it all just depends on where you look and if your going to be willing to ponnie up a few extra bucks for the better product. if you go the ebay or yahoo actions route than go in with the advent of buy it now or, or best offer. my .02.

 

Cheap, non-adjustable - Tokico HP's + Racing Beat springs
+ Adjustable - KYB AGX's replace the Tokico HP's
These are very good combinations from those starting to get into performance suspensions.

Don't mess with the Koni's - I think they are overkill for beginners, and the variable adjustment (no detents) is just going to confuse you.

If you want performance, stay away from the Eibach Pro-Kits.
These are progressive rate springs that can confuse you when doing performance driving.
The Pro-Kits are designed for COMFORT.

"Entry" level coilovers are mostly all junk.
With the extra money left over, invest in GOOD tires and other suspension goodies like bushings, strut bars, sway bars, etc.

When you get good and want to get serious (i.e. spend more money), we can talk about more upgrades later...


-Ted

 

I'm with RETed on this one, there's no need for you to go the coilover route, it's just overkill, as they're all several times stiffer than stock, and most of the cheap coilovers are total garbage. I wouldn't trust ANY of the sub-$1k coilovers as far as I could throw them. The cheapest ones I'd go for would be the Stance, but then again when it came time for me to buy a suspension, I saved a little more and my business went to Tein and I got their Flex setup, which is a very good entry level setup.

I'd say go the KYB AGX + RB route, then if that's not enough for you, add some aftermarket sways, then later on, if you want to go more extreme you can always just add some Ground Control coil over sleeves onto those shocks.

 

Oh, I know what you went with . Your posts came up a lot in my searching and are one of the main reasons I thought twice about Megans. I agree that coilovers are probably overkill, but height adjustment would be nice since my routes around town can include speed bumps and gravel. I wish I could budget Stance or Tein, but I just can't stretch that far and I need to do something about this now.

So no problem with AGX? I saw it wasn't on that "no **** list" of DGs Autocross. What about Intrax with AGX? Thanks for all the help.

 

jic for me, but thats just preference.

peace

 

Agreed with Ted, don't get progressive rate. It sucks.

 

The AGX's aren't bad, they're not great, but for your purposes they're great. Good value for money.

 

Cool, now I just need to decide on springs for them. Are RBs the best choice spring? Any thoughts on Intrax?

 

you know, the best suspension out of all the 7's ive been in or driven, i loved my setup the most.
tokico illumina on tanabe sustec gf210. loved it till the day i wrecked my car, but im going back to it till i get those jics.

peace

 

Intrax drop too low and don't have the spring rate to keep you from bouncing off the bumpstops, making the ride bad. Be aware that Tein and Tanabe springs do compromise front wheel and tire clearance.

 

I suppose it's Racing Beat springs then.