burglar

I am of the opinion that the stock suspension is very good, even for track use. A "budget" option may actually be a downgrade. Either hold out until you can purchase a proven upgrade, or spend that money instead on seat time / tires / or even quality instruction.

You may find that the OE suspension is plenty good for now, or you may get the experience to identify when a particular component of your car is holding you back. Being able to identify a deficiency and have that guide your upgrade path is not a bad way to improve.

Steve Dallas

I paid $1300 for mine with a coupon code and free shipping about 18 months ago. I forget which website it was.

I recently wrote a post about how useless the "rebound" adjustment is on the PSS9. They are still a decent setup for the price and can be turned into a better setup in the future.

Honestly, I would rather have the PSS without the adjuster, but I have never seen them for sale in the US.

Here is what TireRack lists for the S2 RX-8. I had forgotten about the newer H&R coilover. It might be decent for occasional track use. The Koni Yellow shock and H&R spring setup could be interesting too.

Stay away from regular Bilstein shocks. They do not have the correct spring perch location in the rear for S2 cars. Ask me how I know.

hufflepuff

I've heard good things about powertrix coilovers and fortune coilovers. They're affordable, come with dyno charts, have warrantees, and many say they perform and ride decently.

GWR has some ohlins for $2400 right now.

Steve Dallas

^ Several members here have had problems with bushings disintegrating on their Powertrix/Stance coilovers after only a few thousand miles.

Grassroots Motorsports Magazine raves about ISC N1 coilovers, but I do not have any experience with them.

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blu3dragon

iTrader: (1)

Hard to believe anything could be better than my fatcat setup, but I need a fellow track junkie in the same area as me to buy these to compare

RX8Soldier

iTrader: (24)

I haven't installed my Powertrix coilovers, but when I purchased them used from a member who put roughly 3000km's on them, I contacted Charles from Powertrix and he sent me upgraded bushings, no questions asked. Aparently those fixed the issue.

Again, I can't vouch for how well they were before/ after as I haven't installed them yet. But, the customer service was fantastic.

Just my .02

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Agreed. Fatcat slightly cheaper than Ohlins, but gaining their top hats and customized specs vs a more generic that you have to request or send out for.

Fatcat is the choice I want when I can afford it. And I'll be in your area in less than a month. Sonoma is going to be my home track. But I won't be getting Ohlins so a comparison probably won't happen

blu3dragon

iTrader: (1)

You're moving? I think you are going to like your new home track :-)
I'll be there on Nov 22nd...

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Technically I'll be in your area in about an hour. On a flight now, in the area for a week, then sevenstock, then back to PA for 12 days before starting the final drive out west, pausing in Houston for Thanksgiving with friends. I'll be north of SF initially starting Nov 30th, final resting place is undetermined but could happen any time from February on.

Still have to get a track car in hand ... that's actually the part that is bothering me the most. My MSM is going to have to stay in PA in storage until I get a more permanent place, and it is tuned for east coast 93, not CA "91", not to mention permanently missing almost all of it's emissions gear. Even just getting it on track will take at least re-tuning, plus a tow vehicle and trailer since it will never be registered in CA. Permanent location may be OR or WA, with that whole emissions thing as a big motivating reason if I go that route.

But yeah, looking forward to Sonoma, Laguna Seca, and Thunderhill

Steve Dallas

My Bilstein PSS9s have started leaking in the front after about 25 track days. I am contacting Fat Cat next week to start the process of either turning them into donors for an FCM setup or just buying a new setup outright. FCM costs only a little more than KW V3s, and people around me are having a lot of problems with their KWs.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Man, that is a lot of track days. My buddy has had the FCM setup for a few years without issue. The custom coilovers a local member here makes are very similar but very different in that they retain the valving for the RX-8 from Bilsteins. My next set will use R3 Bilsteins, I am curious how they will do versus the standard HD's that he usually uses.

blu3dragon

iTrader: (1)

I believe some seepage is normal and should not be an issue. Some oil has seeped out of my own shocks. Obviously a genuine leak, or an observation that damping is no longer as effective is an issue...

Either way sounds like a good reason to upgrade

Just make sure you allow enough time to get them built - that's the only down side to the custom FatCat path.

Steve Dallas

I run 12 to 18 track days per year on average.

Seepage started last year. I am now into full leakage. I can't really complain. I have pushed these prosumer coilovers beyond reasonable expectations. Many other suspension systems would have failed completely long before now.

Bilstein will obviously service them for me, but I feel I have outgrown them as a driver. Add to that the fact that the adjustability in this product is basically a cheap gimmick, and you'll understand where I find myself.

The driver mod is always the most important, but I finally feel I need help in the grip area, and these coilovers are not poised to deliver. They are great for street/autoX/occasional track use, but I find myself driving my 8 less and less on the street as I spend more and more time on the track.

So, blu3dragon, how long does FCM take to deliver in your experience?

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Steve Dallas

Isn't valving supposed to be tuned for spring rates rather than "Mazda valving"?

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etzilon

Tires dictates spring rates, wheel rates and unsprung weight dictate shock forces.

blu3dragon

iTrader: (1)

24 days on my FCM setup in a little over 2 years. It seemed to take forever to build them in my case, I can't remember exactly, and they may have improved since then, but if you want them for next season I would be talking to them now and getting in the queue...

They are awesome though. I recently made a slight adjustment to the balance via roll bars and helped by having just switched to NT-01 the car just feels unbelievable to drive. Part of this is down to spring rate choice as well as the shocks. Compared to the aforementioned ohlins, I am running very similar front springs, but stiffer rears, with the aim of a slightly higher rear than front ride frequency (around 1.8Hz front and 1.9Hz rear in my case). To get the balance right, I run the stock rear bar, along with an aftermarket front bar. The ohlins do look to have very good spring rates for a street/track compromise running the stock bars, or a bar setup with similar front to rear ratio as stock.

For a dedicated track car, I would like stiffer springs (something to get me closer to 2.4Hz front and 2.5Hz rear), but I daily drive my car and am very happy with the compromise. It is essentially as stiff as I can tolerate for commuting.

blu3dragon

iTrader: (1)

I'm not sure I quite agree. For a given car, the shock valving should be set based on spring rates. Spring rate determines wheel rate.

More grip does warrant the use of stiffer springs, but for anything other than a dedicated race car spring rates are normally compromised to keep some semblance of ride quality and so spring rates are actually set by how stiff you are willing to tolerate for the street.

For a given car, motion ratio and unsprung weight will remain the same, or at least remain close enough to not matter when it comes to shock valving. Actually I'm not sure unsprung weight would change the optimal valving anyway, although it obviously does affect ride and so you might tune the valving to try and compensate in some way.

You can tune shocks in many ways, but it is fundamentally trying to dampen the spring movement and therefore spring rates (taking into account the motion ratio between spring and damper) should form the starting point for the valving. This does not really change even from car to car, although the application (dirt rally vs tarmac vs stock class competition where you can't change the spring rates) will affect your choice of valving.

etzilon

We definitely read different books about suspension.

The most important requirement you are giving is the street-ability of the setup. In this case, yes, choose spring rates based on ride.

Everything else I mentioned still applies. Focusing only on spring rates for valving is not enough.