Coilover reviews? Hks, Tein, Tanabe?

[10Stars]

Originally Posted by CSG David

Think of features vs. budget. The more features on the same budget, the crappier they are (strong correlation). They don't have slaves to build them and test them...

I'll keep that in mind.

Ok so in your opinion what would favor me? Right now I have it as:

1. KW v1
2. ST Xta (love the included top hats but im scared of the rust protection).
3. Hks hipermax gt iv/sp
4. Tein street flex (was gonna get the mono sport but you swayed me towards street flex)

Originally Posted by Trmx2

No problem man! I have done a lot of back and forth research and have read countless and countless threads filled with nothing more than opinions it's frustrating because I want the best info I can get.

For those wondering, I chose the HKS SP. I believe it will be better than what CSG and RCE have mentioned and I will post a long detailed thread of my install, impressions, and perceived performance.

I'll let everyone know how it goes in the next few weeks!

I'll be waiting

[CSG David]

Originally Posted by 10Stars

I'll keep that in mind.

Ok so in your opinion what would favor me? Right now I have it as:

1. KW v1
2. ST Xta (love the included top hats but im scared of the rust protection).
3. Hks hipermax gt iv/sp
4. Tein street flex (was gonna get the mono sport but you swayed me towards street flex)



I'll be waiting

1 & 2: Simply street coilovers. Stick to DD activities and they'll be fine.
3: Again, no experience on the FRS platform, but based on the design and specs, they are designed for comfort, not performance.
4: Street Flex is probably more of a competitor with SP. Street Flex is actually pretty impressive for what it is. Definitely not a track coilover, but it's close...which says a lot (positive things).

[fatoni]

Originally Posted by Trmx2

No problem man! I have done a lot of back and forth research and have read countless and countless threads filled with nothing more than opinions it's frustrating because I want the best info I can get.

For those wondering, I chose the HKS SP. I believe it will be better than what CSG and RCE have mentioned and I will post a long detailed thread of my install, impressions, and perceived performance.

I'll let everyone know how it goes in the next few weeks!

So you have read countless opinions and come to the conclusion that you have more information than people with actual first hand information and more importantly the experience to assess these things?

[CSG David]

Originally Posted by fatoni

So you have read countless opinions and come to the conclusion that you have more information than people with actual first hand information and more importantly the experience to assess these things?

Can't provide much argument here. He probably got them for an insanely good deal from a specific dealer trying to offload them off their shelves.

We've tested so many different kits it's very easy to pick out what's good and what's not really that good.

[10Stars]

Originally Posted by CSG David

1 & 2: Simply street coilovers. Stick to DD activities and they'll be fine.
3: Again, no experience on the FRS platform, but based on the design and specs, they are designed for comfort, not performance.
4: Street Flex is probably more of a competitor with SP. Street Flex is actually pretty impressive for what it is. Definitely not a track coilover, but it's close...which says a lot (positive things).

OK So the Hipermax IV GT were built for comfort/street driving right? So based on your experiences from the s2k world the Hipermax IV SP is a suspension setup that sacrifices ride quality for a more track/street setup? I'm guessing it may be the same with our platform?

If for whatever reason I do decide to get the Tein Mono Sport over the Tein Street Flex, How much ride quality will I be sacrificing between the two? I know you said that the Mono Sport will have similar feel to the SP but I just wanted to clarify. Perhaps if I could get your Pro's and Con's between the Street Flex and Mono Sport?

[xero404]

i have the street flex. Did more street driving than track so comfort for the wife was priority. Besides my driving skills are so low that I couldn't use either's full potential. Much better valving choices than the flex on my miata and twin tube is pretty tried and tested. EDFC active makes it a breeze to adjust when its time for track and the GPS auto tuning is pretty awesome for the togue. Less bumpy than the monoport overall but they are more performance oriented and use newer technology. If they made a mono-comfort i'd probably would've gotten that. I just like the fact that TEIN products are still made in japan although the steel tophats are kindof a letdown. Someday this car will be a track toy and i can put the spine crushing SRCs on lol.

[Shinchu]

would you consider RS*R Sports-i Moto spec?
seems you want the same thing he uses them for, and i have trusted Moto P's advice for over 10 years now. not to mention his involvement with the FR-S planning, development and testing, i would really at least look into what he is running. i mean, they made a spec named after him!

DISCLAIMER: sorry i dont have any actual experience with RS*R or... really ANY coilovers for the FR-S. heck, i dont even own the car yet. so you can totally take any of the above with a grain of salt. just thought i would mention them since i havent seen that mentioned yet. sports-i was close but the moto's just might be your cup o'tea.

[10Stars]

Originally Posted by xero404

i have the street flex. Did more street driving than track so comfort for the wife was priority. Besides my driving skills are so low that I couldn't use either's full potential. Much better valving choices than the flex on my miata and twin tube is pretty tried and tested. EDFC active makes it a breeze to adjust when its time for track and the GPS auto tuning is pretty awesome for the togue. Less bumpy than the monoport overall but they are more performance oriented and use newer technology. If they made a mono-comfort i'd probably would've gotten that. I just like the fact that TEIN products are still made in japan although the steel tophats are kindof a letdown. Someday this car will be a track toy and i can put the spine crushing SRCs on lol.

Awesome thanks man! How much of a drop does the Street Flex offer?

Originally Posted by Shinchu

would you consider RS*R Sports-i Moto spec?
seems you want the same thing he uses them for, and i have trusted Moto P's advice for over 10 years now. not to mention his involvement with the FR-S planning, development and testing, i would really at least look into what he is running. i mean, they made a spec named after him!

DISCLAIMER: sorry i dont have any actual experience with RS*R or... really ANY coilovers for the FR-S. heck, i dont even own the car yet. so you can totally take any of the above with a grain of salt. just thought i would mention them since i havent seen that mentioned yet. sports-i was close but the moto's just might be your cup o'tea.

I'm actually really considering it. Right now I have it as:

1. KW V1
2. ST Xta
3. Tein Street Flex
4. RS*R Sports-i Moto spec/Black-i(Maybe)

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by 10Stars

OK So the Hipermax IV GT were built for comfort/street driving right? So based on your experiences from the s2k world the Hipermax IV SP is a suspension setup that sacrifices ride quality for a more track/street setup? I'm guessing it may be the same with our platform?

Different car...but...at home I have a shock dyno comparison of stock 2015 STI vs. HKS SP. The stock STI actually has MORE low piston speed rebound damping than the HKS SP. The HKS SP also had a lot more high speed rebound. Basically they sacrifice both handling AND ride quality (though you do get stiff springs so they probably feel sporty to some).

- Andy

[xero404]

I initially slammed it to the max drop at -2" but I scraped everywhere and decided I wasn't about that life anymore lol. I'm now at the recommended drop at their website -1.26 and -1.3 at the rear.

[CSG David]

Originally Posted by 10Stars

OK So the Hipermax IV GT were built for comfort/street driving right? So based on your experiences from the s2k world the Hipermax IV SP is a suspension setup that sacrifices ride quality for a more track/street setup? I'm guessing it may be the same with our platform?

If for whatever reason I do decide to get the Tein Mono Sport over the Tein Street Flex, How much ride quality will I be sacrificing between the two? I know you said that the Mono Sport will have similar feel to the SP but I just wanted to clarify. Perhaps if I could get your Pro's and Con's between the Street Flex and Mono Sport?

Just look at spring rates: 6k/4k. It means the spring rate is compensating heavily in the rear to soften the ride. We run the opposite stagger for performance reasons. This is a GT setup and setup to be extremely safe for the newbie driver as well.

Mono Sport will be a little rougher. We've explored the idea of creating a CSG Spec on the Mono Sport, but the price point would punt it out of the "reasonable" range. We've spent quite a bit of time refining the CSG Spec SRCs and that was a 1.5 year endeavor on our end. The result is a suspension kit that rides and performs at a higher level than the JRZ RS damper kit. We have sufficient data on multiple road courses, back roads, and construction sites to provide some pretty great news.

Originally Posted by xero404

i have the street flex. Did more street driving than track so comfort for the wife was priority. Besides my driving skills are so low that I couldn't use either's full potential. Much better valving choices than the flex on my miata and twin tube is pretty tried and tested. EDFC active makes it a breeze to adjust when its time for track and the GPS auto tuning is pretty awesome for the togue. Less bumpy than the monoport overall but they are more performance oriented and use newer technology. If they made a mono-comfort i'd probably would've gotten that. I just like the fact that TEIN products are still made in japan although the steel tophats are kindof a letdown. Someday this car will be a track toy and i can put the spine crushing SRCs on lol.

SRCs out of the box ride better than 98% of the coilovers out on the market. 10k/12k spring rates sound rough, but valving is superior, therefore, ride quality is substantially better than you can imagine.

Originally Posted by Shinchu

would you consider RS*R Sports-i Moto spec?
seems you want the same thing he uses them for, and i have trusted Moto P's advice for over 10 years now. not to mention his involvement with the FR-S planning, development and testing, i would really at least look into what he is running. i mean, they made a spec named after him!

DISCLAIMER: sorry i dont have any actual experience with RS*R or... really ANY coilovers for the FR-S. heck, i dont even own the car yet. so you can totally take any of the above with a grain of salt. just thought i would mention them since i havent seen that mentioned yet. sports-i was close but the moto's just might be your cup o'tea.

RS*R Sports-i "Moto Spec" is now a standard spec for RS*R. It rides quite well for what it is and it does make the car feel more sporty. The performance level is increased while ride quality is smoother in some sections of road. You will feel the spring on extreme road conditions if you drive fast.

The RS*R "Club Racer" Sports-i was developed to compete against the B16 and Ohlins R&T. I believe they made a very formidable effort in this regard. We were one of the first to test the very first production kits to the market. Needless to say, the results were surprising and we are clearly excited to discuss about the product. If you have more questions on the setups, don't hesitate to contact us.

[CSG David]

Originally Posted by 10Stars

Awesome thanks man! How much of a drop does the Street Flex offer?



I'm actually really considering it. Right now I have it as:

1. KW V1
2. ST Xta
3. Tein Street Flex
4. RS*R Sports-i Moto spec/Black-i(Maybe)

If you care about lifestyle more than performance, go for RS*R Black-i. It's probably one of the only lifestyle coilover I could recommend. Everything else has been terrible...and this is coming from a perspective that ultra high end suspension kits are the way to go.

[finch1750]

Originally Posted by xero404

i have the street flex. Did more street driving than track so comfort for the wife was priority. Besides my driving skills are so low that I couldn't use either's full potential. Much better valving choices than the flex on my miata and twin tube is pretty tried and tested. EDFC active makes it a breeze to adjust when its time for track and the GPS auto tuning is pretty awesome for the togue. Less bumpy than the monoport overall but they are more performance oriented and use newer technology. If they made a mono-comfort i'd probably would've gotten that. I just like the fact that TEIN products are still made in japan although the steel tophats are kindof a letdown. Someday this car will be a track toy and i can put the spine crushing SRCs on lol.

How do you feel the comfort is compared to stock? Where you ever on springs before or did you go straight to coils?

Originally Posted by CSG David

RS*R Sports-i "Moto Spec" is now a standard spec for RS*R. It rides quite well for what it is and it does make the car feel more sporty. The performance level is increased while ride quality is smoother in some sections of road. You will feel the spring on extreme road conditions if you drive fast.

How would you say the Spor-i and Street Flex compare in comfort to stock? How about compared to a Koni/RCE Yellow set-up? I keep going back and forth about running Koni Yellows with RCE Yellow springs vs coils in a regional stx build, but last night got me wondering. I took my stock 2005 MR2 out kind of like how much smoother it was on a very rough road (granted there were other issues that I may PM you guys for eventually even though you don't do MR2s, lol).

[xero404]

Originally Posted by CSG David

Mono Sport will be a little rougher. We've explored the idea of creating a CSG Spec on the Mono Sport, but the price point would punt it out of the "reasonable" range. We've spent quite a bit of time refining the CSG Spec SRCs and that was a 1.5 year endeavor on our end. The result is a suspension kit that rides and performs at a higher level than the JRZ RS damper kit. We have sufficient data on multiple road courses, back roads, and construction sites to provide some pretty great news.



SRCs out of the box ride better than 98% of the coilovers out on the market. 10k/12k spring rates sound rough, but valving is superior, therefore, ride quality is substantially better than you can imagine.

From the standard SRCs that i have sat in and drove they were great at the track and autox, but my car being used 90% for daily the street flex just had that ride comfort i wanted (not to mention wife approved). I'd love to sit in your guy's valving CSG setup at some point. But for now at the driving skill i'm at, no need for the highest tier coilovers. I'd love to see a monosport revalved and possibly resprung that would hit the price point that most people are looking for, Theres an NB miata socal my buddy own with revalved monosports that feel like im riding on glass.

I'm fairly happy with the setup so far and the only upgrade i can think of is getting some swift springs and a custom revalve for the street flex to make them even more comfortable. I got a long way till revalve is needed though.

Originally Posted by finch1750

How do you feel the comfort is compared to stock? Where you ever on springs before or did you go straight to coils?

On the softest settings very similar to stock, i ride them with the rear a little stiffer but with spring rates 7/7 and the valving is very smooth i'm pretty happy with the comfort and performance they provide (TEIN has probably been making twin tube designs before i was born). Your welcome to drive the car the next Dublin meet, I think im the only one running teins and rocking a tein sticker there lol.