they are so stiff they might as well be welded solid. I have no traction at all. if im cruising in 3rd gear and give it too much throttle, the ***-end will break loose and get sideways.

can I put softer springs on these and keep the struts, or will the valving in the struts, be screwed up with the softer springs?

 

And what made you think spring rates of 16kg/mm & 16kg/mm were going to be fun on the street?

IMO, I would just sell the coilovers and buy something a little more "useable" for your needs.

 

the guy I got my 7 from had them installed right before I bought the car. I havent had too much luck finding info on the RA model. how much do you think I can sell them for?

 

Here's some info on them: Tein RA

I'm not sure how much you can get for them. Have you tried softening up the dampers?

 

I havent messed with them. I just assumed the springs were too stiff.

I'm going to try adjusting the dampers soft as possible. thanks for the info.

 

i wouldnt be surprized if the previous owner tightened them right up on you.

 

At 16 kg/mm, shock damping is not going to help much. Those are absolutely crazy rates for the street.

 

thats what I thought. I think the only thing absorbing the shock, is the tires.

 

I've used Type Flex's on both my FD's; they're "only" 10kgf/mm front and 8kgf/mm rear. I'm currently not adding any additional preload to the springs, and the ride is tight and very well controlled yet comfortable enough to take girls out and still have them say "You have a really nice car" instead of "ow, my butt hurts." Actually, the second part, they say later in the evening.

Butt yeah, I can only imagine the ride and induced chassis flex with those drifting springs. Maybe you could just order some softer springs and swap them out.

Good luck.

juicy

 

that was my original question, I wanted to know if the softer springs would work with the RA struts with out any negative side effects.

I'm defintely going to research this.

 

It's more than likely that the damping was set up for those unbelievably stiff spring rates, meaning that even dialing out the damping as much as possible will result in the damping overpowering the springs.

 

theyre crazy rates on any surface

 

I can see why the guy sold you the car, he was afraid it would kill him!
Didn't you test drive it?

 

Or he dialed up the stiffness so he could say "This car's so powerful I can break the tires loose in 3rd gear."

Tim

 

I've used the RAs before and yes they are stiff but the car should be very easy to control. They take an immediate set.

If you decide to sell them I'd be interested just send me a pm.

Thanks,
Fritz

 

Heh...under your skilled hands/feet on the comparatively smooth surface of a racetrack, sure. On the imperfect tarmac of public roads (and note that I'm not talking about raging around at the same pace you'd try on the track), I'm not so sure.

 

What are you doing sticking your thing in her butt?? An *** is still an *** no matter if it's male or female. Female is just more attractive

 

I have no problem controlling the car when it breaks loose. I just just dont like the fact that a honda civic will probably out accelerate me, cuz I just spin wheels.

the car was blown when I got it, so noone got to feel the suspension.

I just read a post by Howard Coleman that makes me believe I should be fine just swapping the springs with the softer FLEX/HA springs.

 

I haven't read the whole post but i also suggest selling them and getting other coils.

1. Even with softer rates it won't be soft enough, it too soft the damping won't be suffice.
2. RA does not have independent preload and ride height adjustments

That's about it for me. Those two reasons do it all.

 

I doubt that TEIN would simply match monster-stiff springs with soft damping rates. You need to understand the relationship between damping and springs. The damping is there to control the spring force; if the damping is inadequate for the spring rate, the spring force continues to run through the chassis until it bleeds off (this is why you see cars with totally worn-out shocks continue "bouncing" after they hit a bump-- the energy released by the spring unloading after being compressed continues to flow through the suspension into the chassis and back again). With such stiff spring rates, Tein surely made the damping rates pretty darn stiff to match. Springs by themselves do not determine how "stiff" the overall ride is; their primary role is ride height, not bump absorption. By fitting softer springs, all you'll most likely be doing is mismatching springs to the overly stiff damping rates, resulting in a ride that will be just as stiff (if not stiffer) than the stock RA dampers/springs.

 

drifting springs??? lol.

10/8 is 100x more a 'drifting' pre-packaged spring rate than 16/16

 

Tien RAs would make a stock FC chassis more like a go-kart than a race car...

in which there's basically no suspension and the only thing controlling your roll rate is your chassis flex

 

I don't know where 16KR/16KR rates are coming from.
I do not have the actual rates by TEIN but im getting different rates:

I have TEIN RA. I drive my car everyday. It's ok. It's stiff, but it's not really that bad.


SPEEDMACHINE

87GTRs TEIN RA


MINE
He says it's 12k/9k
Mine was "rated" 10K/8K
But I don't think it's 16K

 

http://www.upgrademotoring.com/suspe..._sus_Mazda.htm

Look at the FD3S rates, not the FC3S rates.

 

Having ran my FD with Tein Ra's with the 16kg/16kg on the track, I can say this, they are stiff. They do however provide an advanced driver with alot of suspension. I mean they could easily handle the grip of wide r-compunds or slicks.

However, they are way too much for the street IMO.