Any new updates from anyone with opinions on what they think of these coilovers? Especially those with street driving.

 

I've had the Stage IIs for about a month on my street driven FD and I still love em. Not too harsh and response is great. I keep the fronts on a pretty soft setting and the rears a bit stiffer - no complaints.

-M

 

what was your previous setup before the Pettits? How does it compare with that?

 

After reading through this thread and also recently drving my buddes EVO through some curves I decided it was time to address the suspension. The EVO was WAYYY more stable and firm than my FD. I have stock shocks using racing beat lowering springs on 99 spec 17'' wheels.

I got my stage III's, I think, about 2 days after i ordered them. Ive been busy doing a bunch of other stuff to the car lately, includng adding another oil cooler(which lead to a lovely oil spill that would make BP proud, on my garage floor, lol) so i wasnt sure when i would have a chance to install these. So i go home to kentucky to visit famly for my birthday, and next thing i know, i get a text from my best bud back in florida, .... its a picture of MY car on the lift at the dealership where he works, it says "happy birthday!" haha. how cool!!

anyway. hes got them all on and has driven it around some. Ill be sure to give a full review when i get home tuesday.

one question already though, he said he cant lower the rear anymore and its sitting at 26 inches? what might be going on there? i thought a good ride height was 25 all around so thats what he was trying to do. what would keep it from being able to be lowered anymore?

 

I finally had a chance to drive the car tonight. Its a different car entirely. Rides very nicely, and handling has been improved substantially! I have never had coil overs on any vehicle before, so i cant compare apples to apples as far as ride, but it feels great to me.

highly recommend pro trak

 

Tokico 5Ways and Vogtland Springs.

NO comparison - the Trak Pros blow them out of the water.

Honestly, too large of a gap in performance to even come close to comparing.


-M

 

that 3rd pic of cams car ontrack i do believe was taken at the HPDE i went to that he attended. he was only in one session but the car was fast then as well.

 

sorted out a few more things in the engine bay, getting ready for an autocross here in st augustine this saturday. Its on a police training grid, so no cones! Took it for a spin, everything seems to be sorted out pretty well.

anyway, measured the ride height now that it has had plenty of time to settle and its at 26 all 4 wheels. I dont know much about suspension or tires really, just starting to learn, but 25 inches looked like the top of my tire? i dont think i can drop it anymore without sitting right on the tires. I have 17'' 99 spec wheels, does that make any difference?

 

Well autocross complete. Had a great time. I think I got 4th overall, which I am more than pleased with. There was about 30 cars, ranging from a Honda fit to a full race corvette. The corvettes ran in their own group since they were hosting the event.

The pro trak III's performed beautifully! It was a very tight course. Basically just a big S with pretty long straight at the finish, I got over 90 at the end. I can't wait to get out on a road course. Autocross is just too tight for my tastes.

 

I've often wondered the same thing. Especially with a 255, 285 setup. Seems like 25inches would be really tight.

I also noticed that my left front corner is sagging at least 3/4 to an inch lower than all the other corners. And I'm not on coilovers. I'm a little worried about that. I doubt it's frame related but when it comes to this car I always assume the worst...

 

That is normal from what I've seen and experienced with FD's, I think it was Mazda's attempt at corner balancing.

When you use scales to corner balance with adjustable coilovers the driver front corner ends up being the lowest and the opposite (passenger rear) being the highest (approx. 1/2 inch higher). I usually start with the driver front at 25 inch and adjust the other corners from there.

Jack

 

So.....I've had the Trak Pro 2's for about 100 miles and....I can't really tell if they are different from stock because the streets around here are ridiculous right now! Driving is brutal around my part of the Capital Beltway - new shocks or old. It's terrible...almost laughable in that car. And when they get ready to pave the roads too and you get all those rocks kicking around, making all that noise? It just hurts physically.

On that note.....on a smooth street, it feels great. Definitely better than before. Very tight and smooth. So much so that I tried taking some on-ramp/off-ramp loops with them at max speed, but without max ability mind you, and almost wrecked. Would have definitely won a Darwin award for that! Beyond ridiculous. I think I need to hit the track with them.... with an instructor.

In summary, I'm very happy with my purchase and the performance of the Stage 2's. I just hate the streets around here right now. And I cannot drive.

 

Just finished the install of my III's and everything was going great until..........
I lowered the car to the ground.
24 at the front to the fender and 27 at the rear. Anyone else have an issue with the initial installed height?

 

Update:
Got the ride height to around 25.25 front and 26.25 rear and took it for a spin on some back roads. Bumpy back roads.
All I can say is WOW! I don't know what it's going to handle like on track but it's a dream on the street. I set the dampers where I thought they should be for the track and it still rode better than my Teins that were set only a few clicks from full soft. The kicker, the new spring rates are at minimum 50% stiffer than the Teins.

Nice work Cam! I'll report back next weekend after a visit to TWS and let everyone know how they did.

 

Tri-Point sells pillow ball upper mounts for the Koni Setup. They list and show a pic on their website. http://tripointengineering.com/index...83ea83160c26e9 they also sell three different types of Koni Shocks, four if you want to count 30 series in steel and aluminum. All of the Konis can be changed to any spec and valving you want. shorten bodies, shorten shafts, covert to double adj if you only have the 80 series singles"yellows". Plus they are Konis, everyone sells them and parts are available. you arnt stuck going to one shop for repairs or parts.

EB Turbo

 

And your point is?

 

You guys are talking about how no one makes quality upper hats for 3rd gens and how you are looking for shocks that are adjustable and serviceable.

EB Turbo.

 

Coincidentally, I was just checking those out on Tripoint's site.
They look pretty cool.

 

On the FDs where I've seen that, it has been caused by the upper shock mounts being worn out as well as the spring perch rubber.

 

I just switched to coilovers and my left front keeps wanting to go lower (just slightly but it's there)....fyi

 

"Keeps wanting to go lower"...????

Sorry but I don't understand what you are trying to say.

 

that was from your response "On the FDs where I've seen that (sagging left front end), it has been caused by the upper shock mounts being worn out as well as the spring perch rubber."

Your comment makes sense to me. But, my FD has pillowball coilovers and I've adjusted the left front twice since installing them (ride height adjustable) and the left front still wants to drop close to half an inch (over time) from where it was initially...!??
My car hasn't been corner weighted/balanced...could this be the reason for my problem?

 

That is odd. Is there a set screw or locking collar or something to stop the collars from rotating? Most coilovers have something of that nature. Might want to start your own thread on the topic and post pics so as not to take this thread off topic.

 

Howard,

Do you have any more updates on how your testing went? It appears that Petit crew have changed the spring rate of comp setup from 15/10 ro 15/12. So staying inline with the stiffness stock ratio. I really would like to know how much different do you feel between the Stg 3 vs comp. Please shine some light on this if you have a chance.

Sadly Petit crew didn't change price on the Comp version. I want to know if $600 over Stg3 is worth it. Or maybe bring the price of the Comp down to 1600-1700 range. (Petit racing I hope you are reading this and chrismas is around the corner!)

 

I am very curious to hear feedback on the Comps as compared to the stage III's. From reading their website, it sound like it is mainly the spring rates that are different. Is that the only difference between stage II and stage II?