i've decided to go with springs and shocks instead of full coilovers. so as of right now, i'm going to get some konis, but i was wondering, which spring is the best to get, for both performance and look. cuz i know racing beat springs are a sure bet, but i was wondering if perhaps mazdaspeed springs or some tein springs would be better. any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

If my spelling is right, eibach. I am looking at koni also. As I have mentioned before I want to hear about Koni-FSD. Another choice is H & R.

 

I tried MazdaSpeed springs with the KONIs and took them back off. If you want MazdaSprings, best to go with the matched MazdaSpeed shocks too. Racing Beat is a better match with the KONIs.

 

i heard eibach are kind of soft. i'm not sure which one lowers it more, sportline or pro kits, but the one that lowers it more is too much for me. i'm looking for one that lowers my car about an inch and work well with the konis. if anybody knows a set of springs that might work better with the konis than racing beat, please let me know

 

you'll be plenty happy with the tein s, can't beat them for the price either.

 

We've had very good luck with Tein H-techs and Konis, and customers report being very happy with S-techs and Konis and Tanabe GF210s and Konis. Others seem to be very happy with RB springs and Konis as well.

In past experience, I've personally had Eibachs and Konis on three of my own personal cars and been very pleased, but for the RX-8 you can save some money by going with Tein or Tanabe.

As far as performance, the rates on the above springs are all within about 15-30% stiffer than OEM, with the Tein S-techs being the most firm and H-Techs being the least. I don't think there's a huge performance difference among any of these springs.

Then as for the drop, I think RB, Eibach and Tanabe all drop the front and rear equally, while Tein drops the front a bit more than the rear. So it kind of depends on the look you want.

And of course we have Konis for pretty cheap right now at $550 shipped, and they're in stock. We also have both types of Tein springs, and the Eibachs will ship within 24 hours too. We'll have more Tanabes in another week or so.

 

alright, thanks alot dpe. i appreciate the info, maybe i'll order some soon. i just heard from some people that it doesn't really matter between the tein springs and racing beat because they have relatively the same stiffness. i just wanted to make sure that i get the right springs with the konis. thanx again!

 

i wasl also wondering, does it affect the performance alot that the teins drop the front alot more then the rear? i was also wondering the quality of the tein springs

 

Is that $ 550 for all four?

 

Sorry for the delay in responding; yes, $550 for all four Konis shipped. We bought a bunch when they first came out (prior to the recent price increase), and thus are able to bring them to you for that price. I've got three sets left of that bunch; when we get down to one set we'll reorder. At that time we'll have to see about pricing, but I suspect it'll go up $20-30. Nothing major, and not trying to scare anyone into ordering now, just laying out the facts.

As far as Tein spring quality, they seem to be excellent. I've yet to have a customer tell me they didn't fit on any car, and the finish on them is at least as good as any other springs we've seen. I know the low price is actually scaring some folks into thinking they are cheap junk, but I can assure you if that were the case we wouldn't be selling them .

 

that's good to hear, the only thing that is bothering me is that some people on the wrx forum said the s techs bounce alot, so i was wondering if it did that on our car

 

no bounces here, even on some of our crappier roads things seem to level out nicely

 

Springs are springs. ANY lowering springs will EXAGGERATE the feeling of road imperfections. It's not the springs fault entirely if there is excessive bouncing. Springs control two things: 1.) Ride Height (obviously) 2.) Ride quality (it takes partial credit in this), however the SHOCKS (struts, or whatever you like to call it) is the thing that STOPS the spring from oscillating.

Conclusion, lowering springs WILL cause more bouncing than stock due to the reduction in TRAVEL, which makes it more difficult for shocks to halt the oscillation by the springs, but with some good healthy shocks or adjustable shocks (even bettert) this ordeal can be dealt with.

I really don't think it's the BRAND of springs that will influence bouncey ride quality. The only thing to really be cautious about is the spring company's rep on sagging. I don't know about Teins, but I know that Eibach has a policy on sagging. So, 5mm or more of sagging and they will replace the springs for you for free.

 

Is it OK to add Tein springs and keep the stock shocks? Seems for this discussion everyone was talking about adding Koni's but is that more of because you have it apart that you might as well do the shocks as well?

 

I thought the konis were only adjustable in the front?

 

Rear also but you must remove them to adjust.

 

Here is some info I've collected online. May or may not be accurate.

Front Lb Rear F Change R Change F vs R F Drop R Drop Notes
Stock 156 113 0% 0% 0% - - Too Soft
Tanabe NF 162 112 4% -1% 5% Too Soft
Tein H-Tech 179 129 15% 14% 1% 1.02 0.31 Too much Drop, over an inch
Tanabe GF 179 146 15% 29% -14% 1.40 1.20 Rear may be too stiff vs front
Eibach 180 130 15% 15% 0% 1.20 1.20 Jut like Racing Beat but too much drop
Racing Beat 187 136 20% 20% 0% 0.50 0.50 ??? Perfect for Road Car???
H&R 195 141 25% 25% 0% 1.00 1.00 Best Compromise?
Tein S-Tech 207 145 33% 28% 4% 1.42 0.71 Too low
Mazdaspeed 280 190 79% 68% 11% 0.75 0.75 May be too stiff (felt great after test drive)

 

You can't just look at springs, you have to consider springs and swaybars as a tuned combination. MS has the stiffest spring rates, but also the softest swaybars, not much stiffer than OE. Some of the softer spring choices offer a much stiffer swaybar package to compliment their ride quality vs handling decisions.