Turbo2FC3S

iTrader: (1)

i want to buy some new coilovers and was thinking of, HKS hyper max 2, JIC FLT-A2, or Kei Office GX adjustable coilovers. which ones are better at handling? i dont want to get TEINs cause everyone has them, so i want your opinions, hopefully you have had experience with some of these, i have a FC.

Manolis_D

iTrader: (2)

Are you serious?! how the hell can you claim that you're interested in the best handling, and then state that you refuse to look at the TEINS because they're popular?

...yeesh...

igottafc

iTrader: (6)

chuckle chuckle

Turbo2FC3S

iTrader: (1)

thanx, you guys are very helpfull. Can someone actually give me some good advice on those coilovers, thanks.

Bukwild

I have kyb agx's and RB vert springs now. I am going to throw on a ground control coil setup here soon because I want to be able to adjust the height for larger rear wheel clearance. Cheap and just as effective as something advertised for "drifters" or "JDM" bullshit. You will never be able to outdrive this setup so why pay big bucks for a ricer name

rynberg

You want something that works but you immediately rule out Tein because everybody has them. What a stupid reason to eliminate a potential choice. Did you stop to consider there might be a REASON everybody is running them?

If you are tracking the car, you get the most reliable setup with the proper spring rates with good damping characteristics. If you just want to say you have coilovers on the car, get whatever brand you think is going to impress people the most....

If you show serious reasoning as to why you need coilovers, you'll get a serious response. If you just sound like a mod-list guy, you'll get the responses like the ones you've already got.

Finally, I feel obliged to mention the Search function, as coilovers have been discussed many many times.

Turbo2FC3S

iTrader: (1)

seems like you guys are all in love with TEIN. i dont want to get coilovers to say i have them or because they're "JDM" or because "drifters" have them, i want to get them because i want more performance out of my car. If i wanted to be "JDM" i would just stick to what i have now, RE Amemiya shocks/springs, but i want to get something better and i want to be able to adjust the height of my car. if you guys are just gonna give some smartass response, then dont write anything at all because i'm trying to get as much info on these coilovers as i can. so if there's anyone out there that can actually help me out, please post what you have to say, thanx

rynberg

I'm not in "love" with Tein, there's a few good options to choose from, and guess what? They've all been discussed and fairly recently too, I might add. Even if you don't want to use the search function, just scroll back a few pages, you'll find some threads about selecting them. Ground Control, Tein, Zeal, Silk Roads, etc., all make quality products.

As far as wanting higher performance, I fail to see how springs/shocks are a limiting factor in STREET driving. With properly chosen components and good, wide tires, your car will have high enough limits that you shouldn't be exploring them on public roads. Now if you want height adjustment, that's a legitimate reason to get coilovers. In that case, I would just do the Ground Control coilover conversion and be done with it. Inexpensive with good quality parts and will be more than up to any kind of street driving.

Since you are looking for better suspension, you should take a hard look at your wheels/tires. After all, the suspension is only there to make the tires work better.

Turbo2FC3S

iTrader: (1)

well guess what? who said i wanted the coilovers for STREET use. anyways what does it matter to you if i dont want TEIN or if i want to use them for this or for that. it seems like you think i'm some kind of ricer that just wants to get coilovers to be cool or something and that i dont know that tires are the best suspension mod you can do to your car. Also, i fail to see how you keep going off topic when i escifically asked for opinions on those 3 coilovers i mentioned earlier. ^_^

aznpoopy

wtf?

you never said whether you were track only, autox, road course, drift, drag racing, race/daily, etc. and of course what your budget was.

anyone with half a clue clue would know to at least post the basic information required to to get a basic answer.

you know tein makes more then one kind of coilover, right?

try considering:

what spring rates do you want to run f/r?
compare shock dyno from different coilovers
how much do they cost
how much does it cost to rebuild
rebuild turn around time
availability

based your choice off the above and whatever it is that you want to do with your car.

why the hell does anyone need to tell you anything? because you're too ******* lazy to do your own research? don't flame other people for giving you their honest opinion... especially when you lack one of your own.

artowar

iTrader: (1)

My gut reaction was to post something similar to what aznpoopy just said, but maybe looking at this from another angle will help-- you will have a hard time finding anyone that (a) has the skill and experience to critically evaluate the three sets you are interested in, (b) has completed such an evaluation, and (c) is capable of and willing to articulate a useful answer. So I think that the short answer for you is that you will be lucky if you can dig up a Japanese car magazine with some sort of suspension comparison test for the FC.

Of course, at some point you will also have to quantify what "better at handling" means.

FxF

In my discussion with a very known race car driver in Japan, he told me that the Tein products that are produced for the simple customers are not that high in quality and performance. If someone wants Tein he should go for the firms racing applications (custom?) which means a lot of money.
If your target is in the price range of the mass production Teins add a little more and go for the Apexi N1 or HKS Hipermax.
He really changed my view of Teins because of that and I will go for the HKS setup.

-Fanis

rynberg

RIGHT. Funny how the spring rates for Apexi and HKS are downright TERRIBLE -- unless you are using them for drifting.

Yes, I do, that's the impression I get from reading your posts. Learn how to communicate better so people can help you.

1. What are your realistic intended uses for your car?
2. What is your budget?
3. If you say track use, how much track experience do you have?
4. How much power do you have?
5. What other suspension or wheel modifications do you have?

Start by answering those five questions honestly. Then we can help you.

To answer your three coilover question:

Kei Office -- no US support. Personally I wouldn't buy a product like a coilover with no local support. The coilover dampers will require regular rebuilding -- no US support means shipping them to Japan to be rebuilt -- AFTER you figure out how to do that.

JIC FLT-A2 -- well designed coilover with high but good spring rates. However, build quality seems to be a little on the poor side and US support has declined in the last few years.

HKS -- I have yet to see an HKS coilover with anything resembling proper spring rates for an RX-7. That and I believe that the Hipermax II is discontinued.

Like I said, answer the five questions above and we'll be able to give you better direction. However, the companies with the best support/spring rates are Tein, Zeal, and Silk Road. For street/track use, you are going to want something with 8/6 spring rates or so.

FxF

HKS Hipermax Performer
For FD3S
spring rate
F8/R8

HKS Hipermax DRAG
for FD3S
spring rate
F6/R4

for FC3S
spring rate
F3/R3

HKS Hiper Max II/Street Spec
for FD3S
spring rate
F8/R8

for FC3S
spring rate
F6/R5

HKS Hiper Max Pro/Circuit Spec
for FD3S
spring rate
F14/R14

I think rynberg that HKS has a setting for every application.

-Fanis

rynberg

All of those spring rates suck. You do NOT want equal-rate front and rear springs. So, yep, HKS has a shitty spring rate selection for several different setups.

FxF

Hahahaha Thanks for the thumbs up. Can you tell me why please?

-Fanis

aznpoopy

FR + noob driver + equal springrates = much more oversteer then he can handle

FxF

I don't know what spring rates the FC has from the factory (not that it matters after all these years) but a 50/50 weight distribution car, must have equal spring rates front and rear. Am I correct?
And I am sorry but I don't care about the noob driver.

-Fanis

rynberg

No, the WHEEL rates should be pretty close, but due to suspension geometry differences, the rear spring rates should be lower than the fronts to avoid oversteer. I don't know the exact ratio on the FC, but the FD came with a 1.4:1 ratio stock -- front spring rates are 1.4 times the rear rate. A stock FD has equal WHEEL rates front/rear of 106 lb-in. Judging by the better coilover spring rates for the FC, it looks like the FC has a similar ratio.

Read some posts by Howard Coleman regarding spring rates, he is a 20+ year SCCA racing veteran and has written some extremely nice posts on the topic.

Turbo2FC3S

iTrader: (1)

you're saying i started flamming on everyone? you guys started flamming on me. And you're right, no one has to tell me anything and if they dont tell me, then oh well, it's not like i'm gonna know that they didn't want to tell me. i also don't see how my budget makes a difference when i asked for opinions on those 3 coilovers, you should already know what my budget is if i'm asking for those coilovers by checking how much they cost. as for suspension, i have tanabe sway bars (F & R), crappy ricer megan front strutbar (it was cheap on ebay so meh), RE Amemiya shocks/springs, and i have alright tires (falken FK-451), but in a shitty size (205/45/16). the type of driving i do is mountain driving, i was thinking that 8K/6K spring rates would be pretty good for that type of driving. i still think you guys were being jerks, cause i was asking for people's opinions that have had experience with those coilovers and you guys start saying all this other crap. Now if you guy would help me out on those coilovers i would greatly appreciate it.
Oh yeah, stock FC spring rates are: SE - Front and Rear 1.9K (106 lbs) GXL/TurboII - Front and Rear 2.1K (118 lbs).

FxF

Thank you for your answer.
The person that told me his opinion on the Teins, has been racing RX-7s from the 80s at least and I value his opinion deeply. It was a great honor meeting him.
Please let me know how to find the posts of Mr. Coleman. Should I search with his name? I am interested to know more about the subject.

-Fanis

rynberg

Well, don't forget that the setup of a pro-racer is going to be different than a street setup for a "non-pro racer". I'm not dissing the racer you talked to, it's just he is most likely coming from a racing point-of-view (where he probably gets custom spring rates) instead of an off-the-shelf using them on the street/occasional track use point-of-view.

I'm not saying that Tein is the best, they've had quality control issues as well, and many of their coilovers also have terrible spring rates. But they DO have US support for rebuilding/revalving, which most companies don't have. They also offer coilovers with good spring rates, unlike most of the other companies. To be honest with you, it looks like Zeal has the best US support and spring rates, but they cost significantly more than Tein.

FxF

I understand your point, but the reason I asked him this question was to have the racing point of view of a an experienced RX-7 race driver.
Well my trip to Japan made me rethink many things. Brakes, turbo setup, fuel injection, engine managment. As they say, you learn as you live...
Probably I will go for the HKS Hiper Max II/Street Spec
for FC3S
spring rate
F6/R5
Maybe the low spring rate will suit my steet driving (bad Greek roads), but what happens when I go to the track? Could I just adjust the shock stiffness to extra hard? I need more researching on this.

And I found Mr. Coleman here
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...2&page=1&pp=15

-Fanis