Shocks
 

I purchased a RX8. The car had Megan Shocks on it. I checked the forum and they do not get positive reviews. How bad are they? Does anyone have any experience with actually using them? The car is going to be a track dedicated.

Do you mean Megan coilovers?
I have no personal experience, but they're just a basic one-size-fits-all coilover. Your car won't explode, but expect a bouncy ride and less than ideal grip in race conditions. Before you dive into replacements, do a few track events, get a feel for the car and solve problems from there.

That goes for any new track car. The suspension may not be the thing holding you back ;)

Do you actually want to be competitive or are you just tooling around at HPDE/PDX events?

well why didn't you ask in one of those threads instead of starting a new thread on cheap, crappy shocks in the race forum area? There are plenty of shock threads in here where people have numerous reviews and you should be able to assess rather quickly who's using what successfully.

Guess what; it's not those shocks. That said anything will get you by for the short term.



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The most important question you can answer is you skill level. If you are relatively new to the track, Megan "Racing" will be fine for a year or two. If not, read on.

If you want a competent hybrid coilover, look at Bilstein PSS or PSS9 or Ohlins DFV, depending on your budget. Bilsteins are good shocks that will give you solid performance and communicate their limits. PSS9 has a "rebound" adjuster that is little more than a gimmick. The collective verdict on Ohlins is, that they are great shocks that will make you feel like Superman, and cause to to tend to want over-drive the limits of your setup, because you feel like the car should be able to do even more than the more they granted you. The shocks are so good, you will basically over-drive your spring rates and roll stiffness. That's not a bad thing, just something to be aware of.

If you want a dedicated track setup, look at Penske, MCS, Ohlins Track, Feal, and Fortune, in that order, with appropriate spring rates, also depending on your budget.

Virtually everything else is junk.

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Sorry Yes megan coilovers. I guess that's going to be my approach for now until I can sort all the other problems with the car. It seems every time time I turn a bolt I need to replace some part on the car.
I know there is no substitute for track time, but I do eventually want a competitive car. It's not in me to just tool around.
I realize they are extremely limited (mono shock / damper adjustment only), but i'm just trying to get a feel for their short coming and see if I can make it thru a few track days.
Appreciate the feed back

You'll be fine on them while you're getting used to the car but if you want to be competitive, you'll want to change them out. IMO, any coilover costing less than $2k is a complete waste of money for track use.

I like my KW Variant 3's (normally ~$2500) but only because I got them lightly used for $1500. If I were paying full retail, I'd have gone with Ohlins DFV or just gone straight to Shaikh at FatCat Motorsports for a non-adjustable setup.

All of that said, I have a friend in an RX-8 who did a ton with his Stance coilovers. They aren't well-liked here but he says they have great customer service. He used to autocross in STX but migrated to NASA TT and does very well. Well, he DID very well until he flipped his car at Autobahn Country Club.

I had a set of the now discontinued 8100 series Penske coilovers on my previous car. They were great easy to service and Penske was helpful. I checked the forum but haven't located anyone running a set. I guess it's due to high costs.
Do the KW or Ohlins have remote canisters?

A few people have the Koni 2812 race shocks. There are quite a few sets out there due to the Koni Challenge Series (formerly Grand Am).

KW has extra oil capacity in an outboard canister, but it is not remote. Ohlins does not. I know several people who run KW V3, and they all ended up buying 2 sets, as they are in frequent need of repair.

KW doesn’t offer revalving on V3s, rebuild only.

Advantage of the Koni 2812 is dual independent adjustable with no need for a reservoir. By inverting the rear shock both adjusters are easily accessible at the bottom mount, and at the top in the front

I'm running these. Not enough track time on them yet to have an informed opinion but they are well respected among racers. Only complaint is that they leak often.

AC

Make sure they’re not using the low friction shaft seals because that’s the rub on those. Also need to make sure there’s no side loading on the shaft; free-rotation sphericals on both ends solves that. The seals are designed to use pressure to seal also; some people make the mistake of trying to run lower than the minimum recommended nitrogen pressure. Who’s working on them might impact that some too in my experience ...

I had the very first set for an RX8 made in early 2006; used them several years, sold them, then bought them back several years later. So they’re over 11 years old now, though a lot of parts have been replaced over that time. You can service them yourself by investing in a few special tools, but the issue with that regardless of which brand/model shock is being used is having the ability to dyno check them to ensure they were done properly.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Just had them serviced at ProParts.

https://propartsusa.com/pages/shock-services

AC

You should also consider Shockwears or something similar to keep the abrasive grit around the shaft/seal to a minimum

Late Model/Modified | Shockwears

I like the current suspension in my 2010 GT. Should I go OEM or is there a batter value in the aftermarket for cost and logenvity?

My 2010 GT - with 51K miles - driver side rear shock damper went from fine (last week) to leaking oil status. What should I do: OEM damper replacement (Mazda part F197-28-700A listed as two parts short and large (Bilstein)) or is there a better alternative out there today in 2019? I really liked the stock setup. I see from searching ahead of time that the Bilstein PSS9 is highly recommended (for track/racing).

Off the shelf Bilstein shocks are quite nice, and are an improvement over the factory shocks. They also last forever. If you want to stay similar to stock, Billies are an easy decision.

If you want to go to coilovers and are considering PSS9, look at PSS instead and spend $500 less. The shocks are much better without the gimmicky adjuster, which does nothing useful.

I wanted to confirm that the Bilstein equivalent to the Mazda F197-28-700 part is the B6 (Bilstein's site will not accept the Mazda part nor MY info - seems like their product page isn't working on 3 separate browsers). They do recommend the B12 and PSS - but I know that's not the OEM replacement. It's because their site can't give me the shock for a 2010 GT - but I can see the 2006 RX8 items - they list several B6, B8s.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...7a1ed834e8.png


In addition - while I'm in there - what other parts like absorber/gaskets shall I also replace as preventative maintenance?

For OE replacements, the S1 rear shock perch position is different than S2 and not interchangeable, but the fronts are the same and interchangeable. There were some variations of specific models too; Shinka, 40th Anniversary, R3 which I think were OEM specific Bilsteins. So you need to keep that all in mind.

the rubber pieces in the top mounts should all be renewed. That should cover it for installing OE-replacement shocks only.

if you get an adjustable coilover kit instead then they’re all the same for S1and S2 models since the ride height is adjustable. So the rear shock perch thing goes away.
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I assume that when I go to order, the online parts places like Summit or Tire Rack will be able to lookup the exact OEM replacement for perfect fit.? when I give them the Y/M/M as 2010 Mazda RX-8 GT. It makes me nervous that Bilstein's site cannot give me the OEM replacement for the 2010 Mazda RX-8 GT.

I had the same problem and was under the impression they might not offer an S2 OE replacement. IMO you should contact Bilstein direct before trusting those other places.

I somehow missed that you have an S2. In that case, you have to replace the springs with S1 parts to make S1 shocks work, although that has yielded unexpected results for some people. Honestly, your best bet is a set of PSS, which are guaranteed to work with S2 cars.

I was surprised that RockAuto doesn’t offer any shocks at all for the S2 models

alternatively, you could put a set of Koni STR.T shocks on it, which are their newest non-adjustable OE replacement type, though with upgraded valving over OE. They do have a specific S2 listing.

2009-2012 Mazda RX8
Front 8250-1040
Rear 8250-1042

Looks like Koni has a replacement set for the S2 rear: https://shop.koni-na.com/products/8240-1280sport . Anyone tried these?

Anyone with a Series 2 running Koni Orange STR.T 8250 1042: https://www.fitmentindustries.com/st...rand%20Touring