Best coilovers for a street driven rx8
 

I figured a set of Tein Flex with EDFC was a safe choice but I just wanted to make sure.

Any info is helpful. :icon_tup:

JIC Magic FLT-A2...great for the street and track.

stock?

tein basics?

springs of your choice + koni yellows?

if its just a street driven rx8, coilovers are overkill and really only for e-peen.

Tein basics don't go low enough, thats why I decided on the flex.

I want to have it low enough to get one finger between the tire/fender.

If its not driven on the track. Get some Megans. They are cheap, shitty coilovers. But they will slam your car down low and you will be happy with them.

1,050 for shitty coilovers?

For $400 more I could get a new set of Tein Flex from AutoRnD. Then I could get more money for them when it comes time to sell off my parts.

^If your not on the track, or have no performance driving experience. You won't notice a difference between Tein Flex and the Megans.

Tein's arent even that great of a coilover.

Stay stock for street. We already have nice "coil-overs."

Really what he wants to do is lower the car. Why don't you just do that with springs and shocks?

Because I drive my car in the winter so I need to raise it back up when the snow falls.

This is honestly the first time I hear negative comments on the Tein Flex coilovers.

Because everyone who has them drives on the street and don't race competitively.

I have tein flex and love them. I have used them on the track and aggressive driving and they have performed very well.

I have JIC and I love them. I have mine with a little less than a finger gap and they go can considerably lower.

For a purely street driven RX-8 that isn't going to see much (or any) track/autocross time, I'd look at a coilover system that has good high speed damping (to soak up bumps/road imperfections), and spring rates that aren't super stiff.

Something along the lines of the Bilstein PSS9's or H&R Coil-Overs would probably work just fine. These kits typically cost between $1,160-$1,460 from places like the TireRack. FWIW, TireRack lists both of these coilovers for the RX-8 under "Premium" and "Performance Street". Both kits allow ride height adjustments.

Like topgear said Meagan's sound like they are the best best for you. They go low, and super cheap, you can get them for under 900 if u look around.

You should also look into sprint springs, they might drop you in the range you are looking at.

our cars are already pretty low stock compared to other cars....

^ the rears maybe, definitely not the fronts though.

^agreed.

Stance GR+ is also a good choice. A bit cheaper than the flex and youll get a better drop variance with those.

ive got tein basics and cant get a finger between my tire and fender at all. i also daily my 8 and they are great coilovers for street use.

tein flex is valved like crap, combined with stiffer springs its nto that much better than a cheap spring + shock combo, i wouldnt even use it for track either

edit: i'd say if ur not gonna track it just get something cheap if u want to go low

I really wish coilovers would have performance specs that we could compare instead of comparing opinions. lol

most companys dont really release their shock dynos, but its not like most people really know how to read them either,

alot of suspension tuning has to do with opinions and preference, if you really wanted performance coilovers be prepared to fork out at least 4-5 grand for "entry level" products

$4-5K?

The mose expensive ones I can find are the Ohlins DFV @ $3,000.

Ok so we have established that the Magan and Tein flex are crap.

The Stance GR+ are reasonably priced. What other coilovers compare to those?

someone above mentioned h&r and bilsteins, these are decent choices also, not sure how much they lower tho, i like the bilsteins because they would be easily expandable should you decide to start tracking and you wouldn't need to spend a whole bunch more money on a new set

Stance are great for the price and it will drop you like theres no tomorrow

Would the Stance be too harsh for the street?

No.

Well then, I will give them a shot!

Thanks guys!

I did some reading on the Megan and Stance coilovers and noticed that you owned both.

Could you give us a quick write-up on the differences? :bowdown:

Then you're not looking very hard. J/K JRZ and Moton make a set for the 8 that run between 10k-15k USD. When I worked for ROAR Racing we ran JRZ's until the Koni adjustables became mandatory. We have a couple sets left now that the team is no more, if you're interested. :)These are definitely not entry level.

WOW. That would be retarded for a street car though.

I want a coilover system that has adjustable shock bodies. That way adjusting ride height has no effect on how the suspension travel is divided between compression and rebound. Which is to say, you can go as low as you dare, or as high as you need to, and you don’t need to worry about running out of travel, either in compression or rebound.

So far the Stance GR+ fit the bill and I found a brand new set for $1235.

@i8u, how much would u sell the JRZs for? im curious haha, tho i'd probably never be able to utilize it,

just found this, pretty good read

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/art...king-behavior/

Another bonus for the stance is that there is a complete DIY for those specific coilovers ;)

Link?

I did a title search for "stance" and could not find any DIY threads.

I'll second this. I'm not sure how low exactly you want to go but i cant stick my finger in between the tire and fender either and i have like a half an inch to go until they're completely slammed.

I've also had multiple track day and autocross instructors compliment me on how good the suspension feels when they drive my car.

They're great for the street and good on the track. They've treated me very well but i'll definitely be upgrading to get more adjustability and higher quality dampers now that i at least kind of know what i'm doing out there ;)

I don't think anyone has them but I plan on giving the eibach multi-pro r1 a shot. 400/275 linear springs with helpers front and rear. Monotube with 46mm piston. Adjustable damping (compression and rebound together.) stainless steel. And can be had for around 1300. Sounds like a great street setup to me, and from a reputable company. And I also read that the dampers are made by KW

^interesting, be sure to give us feedback. Lionzoo, a member here developed his own coil overs based on revalved bilstein shocks and used 380/280 f/r springs with tender springs. With the right valving on the shocks his car wasn't harsh at all, felt pretty much stock but firmer. I drove his car a couple of times and now i am going down the same path. Before that i was looking at Ohlins coil overs and they were also using the same spring rates.

They can only lower the car 1.8" though. :dunno:

My pick would be... http://www.tanabe-usa.com/s0c.asp?id=6

For a finger-gap all around, you only need about 1" rear and about 1.6" front. Depends on tire size obviously, but that was for 245/40/18 or 275/35/18.

That's more than enough. You don't want to go to low either. You throw your roll center off when you got too low. Before you know it your roll center is underground and you need super stiff springs or sway bars just to keep body roll in check.

Of course for most people it won't matter, but if you're after every ounce of performance you can get out of your suspension 1" is as low as you should go. And really it's closer to .5-.8 in actuallity

^True.

Be careful with the Eibachs.

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-racing-25/info-eibach-multi-pro-r1-coilovers-170004/

I almost went that way. Ended up with the KW V3s. Excellent units - adjustable, comfortable, fast. Not an adjustable shock body length, but then I get more droop travel than an adjustable body-length system would.

We still havet determined what coilover system would be best suited for the street.

I guess its safe to say any coilover system with low spring rates would be more comfortable.

I just want adjustable ride height while keeping the feel stock and the option to stiffen the dampening.

Just came back from some crazy mountain fun... and the stance handles like a dream (Been there before with stock suspension and this is the first time taking the 8 up there with stance installed). The difference between stock and stance is a crazy night and day difference. And just a heads up, the stance are kind of harsh and you will feel the road.

Deciding what coilovers you want based on finger width of fender gap and "how slammed" you want to be is the most retarded way to select a suspension system possible. Unless you just want to trailer your car around to car shows that is.

your choice though. :dunno:

If you want something that you'll enjoy driving as well as improved performance how about you read up on all the great threads in this suspension forum that have some great information on how and what to look for in a suspension instead of starting a useless thread that no one can ever provide you with the right answer for?

Search eric meyer's threads and then come back and ask us some intelligent questions.

Still harsh on the softest setting?

The roads here are pretty rough. Damn winters!!!

Well they are 10k front and 6k rears and have 15 clicks. I usually do 9 clicks front and 5 clicks rear daily driving (from softest to stiffest). That is already pretty stiff and I can feel almost everything on the road. The road aint that rough, but once in a while there would be some bumps and I can definitely feel that my car is like a go-kart (stiff and bumpy).

IMO if you are looking for comfort, a great amount of drop, and not much of a fan of handling... Then go for something more basic like the tein basics or megans. I have a friend with tein basics and it actually rides pretty comfortable, but performance wise... not that great. (he said he had a hard time keeping up, but he was also driving something else lol)

But overall they are great coilovers for the price if you dont mind the stiffness

KW Variant3, but it will cost you somewhere between $1800 - $2000, and yeah real racing coilovers will start around $5000+ complete

otherwise if you're too cheap to buy anything with real valving you might as well just stay with the OE suspension or go buy a Honduh because all that cheap sh-t is just that, cheap sh-t. That's why they can mount electric controllers on top because they aren't anything more than simple needle valves which are total crap for valving adjustment, but it sounds cool and is simple with numerous click settings that all the poseurs think make them fast just because it rides hard when they turn the knob up ...

Why don't you just order 2 sets of D-Specs, and 1 set of lowering springs. They will cost you less, and you can re-use your stock spings on the second set. They are adjustable, and they won't break your pink piggy bank!