Hey all

I need some help selecting some coilovers for my 93R1. I've done searches and researched but am still questioning myself. Here's what I'm looking at, I'm open to other options as well.
Fortune Auto 500 series (swift spring upgrade?)
Stance XR (AutoRND Rishie spec, swift upgrade available)
HKS Hypermax 4 GT or SP (SP has 16K spring rates & pillow *****, to aggressive ?)
Tein Street Flex. Seems well liked until upgraded to something else.
I know Ohlins DFV are highly praised but not in the budget at this time. I'm not sure if the ones I mention above are mostly the same , they seem similar regarding spring rates but know there more to them then that. I have upgraded the rear suspension to superpro and replaced the differential mounts, those made a noticeable difference. My car is street driven and will likely not see any track days, I would like something that is similar to my R1 suspension but not overly harsh either. Thanks for you help.

 

What are you looking for with the change?

Hard to beat the bilstein or koni yellow shocks without spending a lot of money (like the Ohlins).
Combine one of these with some sport springs if you want a little lowering.
But, as you go lower you need to raise spring rates proportionally, which makes it stiffer.

 

Thanks for the reply. I'm mostly looking for adjustability and a quality suspension without messing up what the R1 suspension package was. I figured by the time I do Koni, bilstein or similar with new factory rubber parts I'm close to the price of coilovers.

 

I agree with your approach, new bushings, but honestly you could get away with just new shocks and reusing the stock springs. I know coilovers are tempting but the R1 rated springs are pretty good for a street car.

I am not a huge fan of linear rate damping on the street.

The stock dampers aren't too bad and they offer a lot of damping force, I liked the approach Mazda took with the car, softer rate springs but not too soft, higher damping to control the springs, and they used big sway bars stock.

I drove a stock R1 suspension and it wasn't bad at all. You could up the spring rate a little with some lowering springs to gain a little more control of the body, reduce settling time.

I am on 8/6 rate springs with Ohlins DFV damping. They are good and I enjoy them, I had 8/6 springs on Ark coilovers (STP) and they were alright, I made them work at damping turned to 4 clicks from full soft on those rates, the issue I had where high speed large bumps, the car jumped over them instead of glide over them. most everywhere else they were fine.

If you do go coilovers I would probably look into the tein flex Z, I think they have good spring rates (hair stiff for street) but the damper isn't bad at all and the pricing is great. Perhaps drop the spring rate to 8/6 or 8/7 and see if you like it more. look for some used Swift coilover springs from some web forums.....that is how I acquired mine. 9/8 rates are the upper limit for the street for me.

 

Koni Yellows/HR springs

 

I'm going to be running 255/40/17 +45 wheels all around. If I go with Koni Yellow/HR springs will I have rubbing in the front. It looks like the HR springs drop the front & rear 1.25" I assume I'd run on the top perch on the Koni ?

 

I run 235/40/18 up front and it fits. 255 though, you will rub.

 

I had the 255's with Koni's and HR's, and got mild rubbing even with a fender roll. And yes, top perch.

I'm now running 245/40-17's with Ohlins at the same ride height. The only rubbing noted is under extreme conditions - like the bumpy uphill turn 1 at Sonoma Raceway.

 

Thanks everyone you've been a great help so far.
I'm leaning towards the Tein Flex Z and doing the 8/6 or 8/7 spring swap. Running the wider 255/40 tires I'm hoping I can adjust the height enough to not rub and be close to the 25" floor to fender height. I could not tell, but do the Flex Z come with OEM style rubber upper mounts or are they a metal pillow ball type? Also was looking at PAC springs but don't hear much about them. What I have read though is that they are comparable to Swift, anyone have info on PAC springs?

Thanks all