Coilovers. GC vs Tein vs RS*R vs KW etc.
 

After doing some homework I have been convinced coilovers is the right route to go for my car, seeing as it will see a mixture of street, track and spirited parking lot driving.

I'm only looking to the lower the car 1" so that is not a concern with most kits.

Unfortunately, I am new to the car scene and unfamiliar with the reputation and track record of most of these brands. What are the pro's and con's of each? Money is an object for me, however I will always pay for quality and a product that won't need replacement or upgrading down the road.

I apologize if this thread has popped up before (share the link if it has!)

From the list you provided i would go with kw or gc. IMO the lower end tein is not as good. Never seen or driven a car with rsr so no comment on them. When you start a thread like this be prepared for most of the answers to be what people bought for their car and not what's best for you. If you can get a set of kw v3s get them i don't think you will be disappointed

I agree with that statement. I would just like to get a general feeling for how each brand is perceived etc. Each company seems to sell varying street/track/full race packages. I am particularly interested in hearing from those have experience with multiple brands. :thanks:

In order of priority, what do you want to see your car used for and what kind of goal do you have in mind? Price range? Our track setup on our shop car is also a very fine daily warrior, however, we have experience and knowledge of setting up daily warriors to become good track demons. :thumbup:

You are only comparing brands which,in my opinion, is not the correct way to be looking at this. Each brand makes different dampers. I am suggesting a $800 set of Tiens is not the same as their $12,000 dampers. Which KWs are you referring to? V3, or Clubsport? You have already stated what you intend to do with the vehicle (which is a good start) but you haven't given a budget which will determine what options are available to you.

My 4 & 1/2 cents.

I've owned KW's Teins and GC's for this car and know plenty of people with the RS-R's

What's your max budget and planned use for the car?

Thanks for the feedback.

I'll elaborate slightly on my plans for the car. I would say 90% daily driver with 5-10% track time as of now. Track time, drifting, etc. is something I do bi-monthly now but intend to do more often in the future.

It is very important to me to obtain a more aggressive looking setup (i.e. 1-1.1" of drop) without sacrificing performance nor driveability on a regular street. As far as a budget goes, $2K-2.3K is where I draw the line for the entire setup.

If you're not at the track all the time, I'd recommend the KWs. They are great quality and a lot of guys run them.

I'd also consider the Eibach Multi Pro R1s and R2s. I'm waiting to receive my R2s, but the R1s are a great entry-level feature packed coilover.

Everyone's application is different.

Do you have a specific model in mind for each brand? How much track experience do you have?

Keep in mind, most "track cars", including our shop BRZ, see mostly street use. I'm currently daily driving the BRZ while getting some work done on my S2k (the bosses at CSG have graciously loaned me the shop car for my personal use). The car is currently at 22k miles, and I can assure you that it's not 22k track miles.

Damping *quality* is the largest factor in ride quality, not spring rate, which is what most people look at. We had a rather large crowd of FR-S/BRZ at the track this past weekend, and the most common observation was that our car rode the smoothest on track (and conveniently, also faster than RS-R and KW equipped cars; we've yet to see a GC equipped car at the track). Keep in mind, this observation was made by a crowd of people who have generally never been on track before!

We have Tein SRCs on our car, but can provide any quality coilover of your choice. (Sorry, we don't carry BC, Stance, YellowSpeed, etc.)


I've personally driven on RS-R "Moto-Spec", KW V3, Tein SRCs, and will be testing the Eibach R2 in the near future. As of now, the Tein SRC is my choice (and the reason it is on our shop car). If you're local to me, I'll be more than happy to take you for a ride on the roughest road we can find and show you how great damping affects ride quality and grip.

A common misconception is that the more expensive the coilover, the harsher the ride. This stems from the fact that the $1000 coilovers ride like crap, while the $2500 coilovers ride even harsher, due to trying to maximize performance for the price point. Once you get to the $3000+ range, ride quality continues to improve. I'd love to have a set of JRZ RS-PRO on the shop car...


My belief is that you should prep a car for the harshest condition you will expose it to. You don't want to be on track, and have your brakes fade on you because you have pads suitable to the other 95% of your use...

The more information you can provide me, the better I can make a recommendation for you.

The specific models I was looking at brand-wise are as follows:

RS*R iSport
Tein TFlex or Flex Street
KW V3
GC Sport FRS Coilover Kit
Eibach R1 (R2 looks to be overkill?)


My goals are as follows, 1 being the highest priority:
1. Improve suspension performance vs. stock
2. Improve ride quality on normal everyday roads
3. Help make the car easier to handle on the track
4. Aid in dropping the car approximately 1".

As far as racing experience, mine is very limited and I am definitely a novice. I have no intentions to compete on a regular basis, however I do like to attend the occasional autocross or open track day. It is important to me to do this right the first time and not be kicking myself 1K, 10K, or 50K miles down the road and shelling out another $3000.

If it helps having an overall sense of my plans for the car, I intend to upgrade the suspension, sway bars, wheels, tires, exhaust and that is about it. Trying not to upset the amazing package the stock car already offers.

From that last? KW V3. Why? It's the only 2 way adjustable system you listed. If the Eibach R2 is overkill, so is the KW V3.

My recommendation would be to choose 1 "baseline" system, and then look at all of its competitors. If the KW V3 is the baseline, I would also consider the Clubsport, Tein Monoflex/SRC, and Eibach R2. There are no other suspensions that offer 2 way adjustability that I would recommend at this point that fit into your approximate price range.

Are your goals in order of importance? What is your driving experience (canyons, tracks, autox, etc.)? Do you have the ability to adjust your own dampers and ride height?

Do they make KW V2s for this car? They are probably a good option if you go the KW route.

Nope. Not sure if it's in the plans either, my guess is no.

To the OP, what kind and what size tire do you run or plan to run?

- Andy

As I mentioned, my goals are in order of importance to me. I do not have the means to adjust the suspension within my own home, however a good friend has a garage and the know-how less than a few blocks away.

My driving experience to date has been lots of canyons, 2 open track days and 1 autox since purchasing the car a little under a year ago. Coilovers are something I'm looking at investing in within the year however I am not in a rush.

I agree that I should not rule out certain kits at this point and I need to establish a baseline for comparison. It looks to me as if avoiding the $1000 entry line kits is a good choice? The next tier being $2-2.5K and the final packages $3.5K and up.


Still shopping around for the specific wheel/tire/size combination. However, I intend to run 18x8 or 18x8.5 (square setup) with unknown tires at this point.