Tarmac Zero question / issue

[ryoma]

when people say that a coilover rides "well" it will not be what you think it is. one person will have a different standard than someone else.

as for your problem, it sounds like you just are not used to the T0's and it is too stiff for you. the T2's probably rode better because they are two way adjustable and the owner probably adjusted them to a comfortable setting.

did you get the upgraded springs when buying the T0's or just the softer ones that it comes with?

[df.dima]

From that picture, I see no issue with ride height. I can't imagine that bottoming out, unless you go off roading haha.
Did you get your T0s new? Just to make sure they aren't broken. Who installed them?

[zkv476]

Yes it would be useful to know if they were new or used. I had T0's that rode great until the fronts started making this weird knocking sound, and the ride progressively got worse and worse. I ended up driving on them for a year and they were absolutely brutal. When I finally pulled them to send them for a rebuild, the fronts had ZERO damping. I could push the piston rod all the way to the bottom with minimal force and very quickly.

So in short, if they're blown they'll ride terrible.

I upgraded to Tarmac 2's, and while they're stiffer, they're way more comfortable than blown shocks.

[racecarshots]

I've talked with RCE for a while on the phone, and we are going to do some experimenting to see what's up.

Worse comes to worse maybe I'll ask my friend to get someone at his company to dyno them, haha. I am trying to get them to make dampers for me anyway.

The Tarmac 2's are pretty stiffly set up to work with his Rivals I believe (it is my dad's car).

They were new, I installed them.

Not the first time I've installed coilovers or shocks or anything, had a few Miatas I worked on in the past (ran Koni's on most, but one had Tein Flex with uprated springs, rode great).

[Dembo]

Interesting you post this as I have KWv1 that the T0s are based on (revalved by RCE apparently) and I have the same complaint. In a lot of ways they're very good; the handling is much sharper and they're relatively soft in that you can feel a fair amount of roll in the car. But you do feel the big hits, and it often feels like you're being bashed around in the car. I'm certain it's not bottoming out (I'm about 1" lowered too); it's that initial compression.

I have Bridgestone RE002s and they're very stiff tyres. The ride was still quite harsh on standard suspension with these tyres so I'm sure that's a factor.

I suspect it's simply a case of this is how they're designed. You can't trust internet opinions on coilovers because one person's "as stock" is another person's "OMFG!". With hindsight I wish I'd spent the extra for the adjustable KWv3s because then at least I'd be able to tweak the settings; the one size fits all approach is always going to disappoint some people.