Coilover reviews? Hks, Tein, Tanabe?

[xero404]

oh also i didn't do lowering springs, straight to coilovers bc im lazy lol.

[CSG David]

Originally Posted by finch1750

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).

Sport-i has a slightly more refined ride quality compared to the Street Flex. Both are street oriented but can hold their own in spirited driving purposes. The build quality on the RS*R is also a notable feature as well. Both kits are priced exactly where they are supposed to be.

You'll need to figure out what your specific goals are. Our sponsored driver used to use RCE Yellows, RCE T2, and now he is on RS*R Club Racer Sport-i. He is currently winning his class right now. It's not to say the RCE wasn't good, it just didn't work as well for his specific goal and setup. Granted the "Club Racer" edition is slightly more aggressive on the street than the standard Sport-i, but that doesn't mean the Sport-i isn't a good performer. Just a different setup for different goals.

Originally Posted by xero404

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.

Revalving the Mono Sport is certainly an idea we would like to work with, but keep in mind each revalve we do in order to refine the curve is $175/corner for labor + parts. The Mono Sport also features a..."double inverted tube" strut up front...it's like a triple tube. LOL

[10Stars]

Originally Posted by 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. Attachment 96092

Dude you're awesome...the car looks fantastic! I think you just made my decision.

Btw is the pic above using the recommended drop from Tein? Any other pics?

[10Stars]

Originally Posted by CSG David

Sport-i has a slightly more refined ride quality compared to the Street Flex. Both are street oriented but can hold their own in spirited driving purposes. The build quality on the RS*R is also a notable feature as well. Both kits are priced exactly where they are supposed to be.

You'll need to figure out what your specific goals are. Our sponsored driver used to use RCE Yellows, RCE T2, and now he is on RS*R Club Racer Sport-i. He is currently winning his class right now. It's not to say the RCE wasn't good, it just didn't work as well for his specific goal and setup. Granted the "Club Racer" edition is slightly more aggressive on the street than the standard Sport-i, but that doesn't mean the Sport-i isn't a good performer. Just a different setup for different goals.




Revalving the Mono Sport is certainly an idea we would like to work with, but keep in mind each revalve we do in order to refine the curve is $175/corner for labor + parts. The Mono Sport also features a..."double inverted tube" strut up front...it's like a triple tube. LOL

Damn...now i feel like i should pay extra and just get the sports-i for a more refined experience

I'm pretty set on the Tein Street Flex but I got some thinking to do.

Thanks everyone

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by CSG David

Our sponsored driver used to use RCE Yellows, RCE T2, and now he is on RS*R Club Racer Sport-i. He is currently winning his class right now.

To be fair, Bob was still on his RCE T2s for one of his last 2 back to back wins. The RCE Yellows though were never going to keep up in his SM class, but he's a good driver and his car has come a long way.

I'm really curious to try the RS*R line. Do you know if they will be at PRI?

- Andy

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

To be fair, Bob was still on his RCE T2s for one of his last 2 back to back wins. The RCE Yellows though were never going to keep up in his SM class, but he's a good driver and his car has come a long way.

I'm really curious to try the RS*R line. Do you know if they will be at PRI?

- Andy

I don't believe so, but if you're ever in SoCal, I can arrange for you to drive their demo car

The balance is on the pushy side for me, but for 98% of the drivers that mainly drive on the street, it's confidence inspiring.

[CSG David]

Originally Posted by 10Stars

Damn...now i feel like i should pay extra and just get the sports-i for a more refined experience

I'm pretty set on the Tein Street Flex but I got some thinking to do.

Thanks everyone

Whenever you're ready, let us know.

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by CSG Mike

I don't believe so, but if you're ever in SoCal, I can arrange for you to drive their demo car

The balance is on the pushy side for me, but for 98% of the drivers that mainly drive on the street, it's confidence inspiring.

Cool, thanks!

- Andy

[xero404]

Originally Posted by 10Stars

Dude you're awesome...the car looks fantastic! I think you just made my decision.

Btw is the pic above using the recommended drop from Tein? Any other pics?

Thanks! Yep pics are of the car at recommended height. I guess i dont take too many pics of my car. Mostly been doing autox and driftdays this year but can't wait for MRLS at the end of of december, car is finally where i want it to be for the track (oil cooler, oil baffle for peace of mind).

[10Stars]

Originally Posted by CSG David

Whenever you're ready, let us know.

I most definately will. It will be a while but you definately will be hearing from me. Thanks for all the help

Originally Posted by xero404

Thanks! Yep pics are of the car at recommended height. I guess i dont take too many pics of my car. Mostly been doing autox and driftdays this year but can't wait for MRLS at the end of of december, car is finally where i want it to be for the track (oil cooler, oil baffle for peace of mind).

Looks great. Specs on wheel/tire setup?

[Trmx2]

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?

Well, no where in my comment did I say anything about that. 95% of what is found on here is opinion based. I.e. someone installs a coilover and then says "this is the best coilover" it can be found for basically any part that someone puts on their vehicle. I also find that when someone asks a specific question 9/10 times the question is disregarded and someone will recommend something OTHER than what the OP originally stated, even if the OP has stated "I want no other options than these"

So, I chose to take their advice with a grain of salt and to tailor it to my needs. Do I think I made a poor choice? No. Do I think the recommendations that CSG and RCE gave me are crap? No. I just don't think they were what I wanted for my needs. The TEIN Street Flex are the lower budget version of their Flex series. I was not interested in their lower budget coil, I was however interested in the Monosport which would be similar in performance to the HKS SP.

I went with HKS because it is what I wanted and after a lot of searching and comparison I feel it would be the best for my needs.

[Trmx2]

To add to my comment above. When I posted, I said I wanted UNBIASED reviews on the coils I had selected. CSG has not had any experience with the HKS GT or SP on our platform, so their knowledge on it comes from what people said and tested on the S2K platform. I've read countless Japanese magazines, seen Japanese videos (albeit, they were from the manufacturer so that's definitely going to be heavily biased) and watched review videos from shop installs in Japan. That helped me base my own opinion of what the coil would perform like. I have only heard that people from the S2K crowd complained about ride comfort, people on other platforms have said the coil performs well and is very comfortable.

I considered TEIN too since they have come a long way since they started building suspensions. Once I install these and feel them on my own, I will right up as detailed of a review on here as I can and try to keep it as unbiased as possible.

For instance, I installed the Greddy EVO3 exhaust back in May. For my tastes, I like it, HOWEVER, people sensitive to drone or don't want an exhaust with as low of a frequency might not like it especially for daily driving as it does have a mild amount of drone. I'm fine with it, but others would not be. So I notify things like that in my reviews. As I will when I review the coils once installed.

If my impressions are "they are a bit harsh" I will state that.

[fatoni]

Originally Posted by Trmx2

Well, no where in my comment did I say anything about that. 95% of what is found on here is opinion based. I.e. someone installs a coilover and then says "this is the best coilover" it can be found for basically any part that someone puts on their vehicle. I also find that when someone asks a specific question 9/10 times the question is disregarded and someone will recommend something OTHER than what the OP originally stated, even if the OP has stated "I want no other options than these"

So, I chose to take their advice with a grain of salt and to tailor it to my needs. Do I think I made a poor choice? No. Do I think the recommendations that CSG and RCE gave me are crap? No. I just don't think they were what I wanted for my needs. The TEIN Street Flex are the lower budget version of their Flex series. I was not interested in their lower budget coil, I was however interested in the Monosport which would be similar in performance to the HKS SP.

I went with HKS because it is what I wanted and after a lot of searching and comparison I feel it would be the best for my needs.

Well you asked for advice, got advice from some of the most experienced people around and then did what you were going to do anyway. I don't mean to put words in your mouth but it seems like you were just looking for affirmations about a choice you already made.

[AznKirby]

Sounds to me like he read the advice, took it into consideration, then made his decision.

What's the problem, here?
I'll be looking out for your thoughts on the HKS SP, @Trmx2 !