I haven't seen any coilovers with spring rates that low.

So far I am leaning towards the JIC FLT-TAR because the specs are pretty much identical to the KW v3 for only $1580 new.

I can't find a new set of KW's under $1900.

One question, which will help the op and i.

Are the megans > stock.

will they handle better than stock form on the track?

just a simple yes no. they are cheap, they lower, aren't too harsh. what i'm looking for too.

i don't want to lower the car and lose the performance, if i wanted that i would chop my springs in half.

So I just realized the first question to ask yourself is:

1. How much do you want to lower the car?

2. What is the priority? Ride quality, Performance, Style

3. Ride Quality is very subjective so it can only be evaluated on an individual basis by establishing that person's suspension experience for comparitive purposes.

4. Keep in Mind, 90% of the guys out there probably haven't tried all the coilover options so take each opinion with a grain of salt.

5. BEST THING YOU CAN DO IS RIDE IN A LOCAL PERSON'S RX8 WITH GOOD CONGIDITION LOW MILEAGE COILOVERS. MAKE A LIST OF

LIKES AND DISLIKES

Post up the list and it will serve as an extremely useful tool to isolate what's best for your needs.

6. MAX BUDGET, OF COURSE YOU WANT TO SPEND THE LEAST POSSIBLE BUT SET YOUR MAX BUDGET AND GET THE MOST VALUE OUT OF THAT.

Rishie

I will tell you in terms of ride quality I don't think there is better than the Teins entry level stuff dollar to dollar comparison.

I've been in RX8's with

Tein, Zeal, HKS, Greddy, Megan, Stance, JIC

I believe all the inexpensive coilovers, aside from Tein, will ride better than stock in certain conditions. It will not ride better than stock over expansion bridges, or possibly at slower speeds. High speed freeway is real nice. AMAZING RESPONSIVENESS TO STEERING INPUT. Linear spring rates will assist in predictable weight transferance and responsiveness.

Rishie

I have the racing beat sways and endlinks in front and no rubbing. Like topgear said... it only rubs if you have the pt adjustable sway and setting it full stiff.

Just installed the Bilstein pss9. I can't imagine anyone needing a softer ride. Big handling improvement over stock without a harsh ride. With revalving options should you get more serious into racing.

http://www.bc-racing.co.uk/vehicle-check.asp?manID=8&modID=37
 

what about these?

used set of KW V3s for sale

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-parts-sale-wanted-44/sale-polaks-part-out-189332/

the specs are only 10% of the story

nobody will criticize you for not being able to afford better, but you'll leave yourself open by rationalizing it with BS

the large RB endlinks are a waste of money, you don't need larger endlinks

thanks what i needed to know.

nice knowing im buying performance and bling

Not saying you should but the tein basics are good for the money and do improve handling, ride height adjustable as well. I used to have them and had put about 20,000 miles on them with no issues. After a while they do start to feel softer but never close to stock.

Awesome feedback on the Basic.

And as a reminder I have one set of Tein Basic on clearance from last year's xmas special.

Rishie

I think the short answer to this is "almost certainly, yes." The stock dampers are quite soft, and probably at least partially worn out on your car. Installing Megans gives you fresh dampers, lower ride height, and higher roll rate (i.e., less body roll) which will almost certainly yeild greater mid-corner speeds than a stock setup, as long as you don't go too low. Also, you will be able to dial in more negative camber than stock, and that helps as well.

Now, a more realistic question is wether or not a set of Megans will outperform a set of Koni yellows on stock springs w/sway bars (I think these two setups are price-comparable). I'm guessing the answer is still yes, although over imperfect pavement (i.e., street situations) the Konis may have the upper hand due to superior damping. I say "may" because I've no experience with the Megans.

The only way to know for sure is to setup two cars and compare. It would be an interesting test.

Why stock springs? Tein S-techs are commonly paired with the Koni yellows and can be gotten for $180. You'd be looking at $1k for the Megans on average, and $780 for the lowering springs + Koni's (throw in $300 for those sways if you want to even things up).

^Reasonable point.

I would guess that besides ride quality comparison between a spring and shock combination and the coilover, you'd have to consider any other features the coilovers provide too. The Megans are height adjustable (according to their specs anyways), which may appeal a lot to some drivers. I personally would just leave the height alone in a car (provided I am not too low), but that's something that should not be discounted in comparing these suspension parts.

A disclaimer to my statement is that I do not say having adjustable features automatically makes it better. I've seen many people say Bilstein shocks are very good shocks and are very well made. After all, having adjustable shocks/coilovers that do not have good quality control would end up making things worse.

True. It just depends on how well, or poorly, Megan executed on the damper design & construction. I used Tokico D-Specs for several years, and, despite the fact that they have a more simple-minded approach to solving the damping problem than Konis, they actually work quite well, and absolutely should be considered a performance enhancing mod. I see ne reason the Megans couldn't pull off the same stunt, but as I stated earlier, I have no experience so cannot make a direct comment.

But yes, if the Megans (or whatever other brand) can't keep the tires hooked up with the pavement, it doesn't matter what your dynamic negative camber is, or where your CG is - your car will handle like stink.

Hah! I actually really want to get Tokico Dspecs myself, maybe I'll ask you for your opinion privately when I have time. I was tempted to try some of the cheaper coilovers, but even at their cheapest they cannot compare to the price of springs and shocks replacement.

And I think having something that is easily fixed (i.e. I heard Koni's can be sent right back to the manufacturer to be revalved if something goes wrong) would be pretty important if your local roads are complete shit. Even though shocks and coilovers are supposed to last the lifetime of your car, bad roads (like the roads in NY) could easily depreciate that life. I don't know if that's something most people look out for, but I keep it in my mind.

I can easily endorse the D-Specs - I used them with stock springs. 4 or 5 turns back from full stiff and they have a great ride/handling quotient on the street - you car will have less roll, dive, and squat, and will almost feel like you have stiffer springs installed but without a ride penalty. At full stiff they could easily handle full-on R-compounds while autocrossing.

This is always worth considering - both Koni & Bilstein are rebuildable, which you might do for maintenance or performance purposes. I think some other brands are as well, such as JIC. D-Specs are not.

In fact, I am currently considering some custom built, double adjustable Bilsteins, made by FatCat Motorsports, to replace my KWs. These are not cheap but I am literally looking for that last 1% of performance at the Solo II national championships this year.

Thank you for this information. I have been comparing D-specs with Koni's and Bilsteins.

i am looking for coilovers but i dont care so much fro the heigt but is important for me to be friendly on the street and i want a good respond in the travk while drifting
I am bettwen tein monoflex Kw v3 and hks hipermax3
does anyone using these coilovers? Or someone to propose any coilover with similar quality ?

^Out of those three the KW's would be your best bet. The others don't even come close.

GeorgeH has the the KW's, he's witten lots of reviews on them, do some searching.

fatcat currently has a set of my Bilsteins getting ready to be re valved =) im opting out of the adjustable option tho, but i am having schrader valves put in so i can have that option in the future

As I've stated in the past, the KWs are a great dual-purpose setup. Fast but not overly stiff. Well made. And there are enough adjustments that you can challenge yourself in terms of learning about setup.

The biggest downside to the KWs is that they do not have a good solution for adjusting the rear rebound damping. They do not have a cable, nor do they have plans to produce one (I've asked). So, the rear rebound is pretty much "set and forget." The good news is that with a coilover setup with appropriately choosen spring rates, the need to stiffen/soften the damping when switching between street and track is less. With stock springs, you use the rebound adjusters to add transitional stiffness, an while it works OK, you do end up in an overdamped state, which is not optimum (usually) for performance. With stiffer springs, you pretty much want to shoot for critical damping and just leave it. Having said that, I did settle into a routine of adding two clicks of rebound at the front while autocrossing, and removing it for street driving. Still nothing like the changes I used to make with the Tokicos on stock springs, where I would add a ton of damping while racing.

However, with the KWs, you can adjust compression damping on the fly, so you can add and remove transitional stiffness between events. It's just a little different approach than with single adjustables.

FatCat makes great stuff too. I just pulled the trigger on a set of their double adjustables to replace my KWs, which I will put up for sale in a few months. This isn't a dig on the KWs, but I am looking for very small margings of improvement now so getting a set of dampers that are specifically valved for autocross is worth the money for me. But even their non-adjustables are good. coldflame, I'm sure you will be happy.

I've drove Lionzoo's car that has a similar setup, we're using 400/280 springs and adding coilover sleeves to them, i would have liked a set of revalved pss9s with custom springs but that was too expensive considering the cost of the revalve. As for adjustability, as much as i like to tinker with the car, i feel for a casual track driver like me its a little bit of an overkill, plus i believe a car thats setup properly with the correctly valved shocks shouldnt need a whole lot of adjusting. I would have settled for non height adjustable as well but its nice being able to corner balance the car. As far as drop goes im probably just gonna lower it 1.5 inches max. As much as i love that slammed look i don't want looks to compromise handling.