Eibach, Tein, Tanabe or Mazdaspeed??
 

I've heard alot of good things about all of these springs, and the prices are generally in the same area. I was wondering if any1 on this forum has experienced these different springs and can tell me what you think of them. Thanks

i have been an eibach dealer for years, and have had nothing but good experiences with their product. i haven't had any experience from the others, but from what i understand they all make good product. i personally going do the eibachs myself.

love the teins, perfect amount of drop and definite difference in handling.

What kind of difference in handling? I want to keep my 8 streetable, but also lower it.

check this out.

Should've posted a poll with this. I'd be interested in what others opinions are between the five.
Personally I like the Tein S Techs . Tanabe are good too. I see you didn't have Racing Beat in there but their good as well. I have some friends that don't care for the Eibach and have switched them out. I've even read on this forum where some have complained about the uneven drop of the Eibachs.

C'mon, tiggerlee... ya know what yo momma sez, "if you don't have anything good to say then STFU". :D :D :D

Seriously though. The proof is in the pic.

Oooppps! The last pic is my girlfriend...j/k

I'm just brutally honest some times :D

Wedge you've got a nice set-up there. I was just repeating was I was told and read. :D

I have the Eibach springs and am very satisfied. Lowered it just enough to even up the gap in the front and make the rear nearly flush. Gotten lots of compliments on it and it does make the stance more aggressive. Of course you can get whatever you feel like. But every brand drops it differently so make sure you look at pics before you decide. A simple search should yield some good results with pics. Also keep in mind that a LOT more negative attitude is expressed on here than positive. The few that have had problems are just that.....few. Eibach backs their product and will replace it if is not up to your standards.

Also be aware that if you go with the Mazdaspeeds, you HAVE to get the MS shocks. With the stock shocks the ride becomes lousy & unpredictable. I have the Racing Beat & I love them.

^ What the Fanman said.

We're of the opinion that with ANY aftermarket spring on the RX-8 you should upgrade the shocks, but you'll be better able to 'get away with it' with about any spring but Mazdaspeed. The MS springs are notably higher rate than the rest of the aftermarket, being roughly 70-80% stiffer than OEM. That will kill the OEM shocks in a hurry, and will generally make for a very, very underdamped and bouncy car.

Tein, Eibach, Tanabe, RB, etc. all run in the range of 15-30% stiffer than OEM (generally speaking), so that's a little more reasonable for the OEM shocks to handle. The car IS underdamped from the factory though, particularly in the rear, so eventually you'll want better shocks. But it seems many have success on OEM shocks with the springs listed in this paragraph.

All that said, we like Tein. And we sell all of them except RB and MS. Tein are inexpensive and work very well. Eibachs in general are more expensive, but also work very well. I've had Eibach springs on four of my personal cars over the years and have never found fault with them. Tanabe also makes good stuff, we just haven't done a lot with them.

People seem to overlook Tein H-tech (for the more aggressive S-tech), despite the H-tech being a better match for OEM shocks (about 15% stiffer than OEM springs rather than the 30% stiffer that S-techs are). We have H-techs and Konis on one of our cars, and it looks great and handles amazingly well. I'll see if I can come up with some pics. For around $175 shipped for H or S techs, you really can't go wrong. And I of course have to mention that we have them both in stock, as well as the Tanabe GF210 :).

I have Tien S tech springs and couldn't be more satified. Great drop, not that much of a difference in stiffness (the harder ride is only noticeable on very rough roads), handles the same or a bit better, and are inexpensive.

You won't regret going with the Tiens.

Yea, my friend just got s techs on his sti and i love the ride. Of course, his car will feel much different anyway being it is all wheel drive...anyway the point is i like them. Those are the ones i'm leaning towards at the moment. I think the stance with the tein is just so sweet looking :)! But, for the most part a spring is a spring and it seems like most of them get the job done. I think as of now though, the teins would be the way to go.

Glad I came across this thread. I'm currently learning about and researching springs for my 8. The main purpose is to give the car a bit more agressive look by lowering it. Up until now, I was really only looking at the drop rate, and not the 'stiffness' factor. Because of this, I was going to go with the MazdaSpeed springs as the drop was listed as .75 - 1.0 inch. I felt this was about right for me as I really want to avoid any 'bottoming out' problems. RB springs only list .5 inch and most of the others (Eibach, Tein) list 1.25 - 1.5 inches. Now, with the possible issue associated with stiffness and shocks, I have to re-think all this......why does it seem like everything mushrooms into soooo much more that anticipated? But, thank god for this forum! Anyway, does anyone know of bottoming out problems and the longevity associated with some of the other springs listed above?

How much would it be to get a shop to install springs for you? Or do you think this is a job that isn't too hard to do yourself?

Never had problem with bottoming out. However, I have the shinka edition which came with 14mm dampers instead of 12mm for the stock 8 so I can't say mine is typical.

You can DIY but it is fairly intensive and unless you have confidence in your skill or some experience then it may be over your head. I spent about $380 to get them installed in a reputable shop here. I have heard people quote paying $200 and less here in the forum but at expect at least $300.

If you do it yourself, be sure to get a spring compressor. It is almost impossible to do it without it. Unless you have a bunch of really heavy guys that can lean on it for you. Not the most elegant solution.

New lowering/different rate springs without new shocks is always a compromise, get a good set of matched springs and shocks at the same time and in the long run you will be happier and save money as you will have to tale everything apart again to install shocks later...

then you might as well just get the tein basic coilovers, which i may do


anyone have a pic of their car lowered with tein s-techs? I find it odd that eibach drops 1.2/1.2 but the s-techs lower it 1.4/.7 It just seems like the car would look weird/uneven with the s-techs

also, on the tein basic coilovers it drops like .1 - 1.3 in the back and 1.3 - 2.x in the front. I have to ask why?! Didn't Mazda keep the car level from the factory? Does Tein see something that Mazda didn't?

Remember they are all coilovers including the OEM, the only difference with some of the aftermarket ones is that they are adjustable coil-overs...

toe-may-toe, toe-mah-toe

very streetable, tighter corners. I have no data to back that up but the weekend after I had them put on we had a club run through some of the twisties just outside of town and I kept finding myself going about 5-10 mph faster through the turns than when i was stock, it didn't even occur to me until a little later on in the drive I was thinking"holy crap, I just took that turn way faster than last time, it just got more and more fun after that as I really started getting used to them on the way back :D

if you look at your car's fender gap you'll notice that the front is greater than the rears. A lot of cars (and SUVs) has this feature and is not exclusive of Mazda. The claims made of lower fronts than rears on most spring is done to address this issue and make the car look "more even".

BTW, on Eibach's they claim an even 1.2 drop but my fronts went lower than the rears after settling.

Could the fact that the Renesis is lighter than other engines and sits further back
also contribute to this uneveness in the 8's stance?. Maybe?

NO! Just look and you'll see that the front fenders are cut higher than the rears. This is for wheel clearance in case you turn tightly at speed or while braking. However, as long as you don't lower too aggressively then lowering springs should be ok.

Heres a pic of my 8 lowered with Tien S tech springs. The numbers aren't exact...at all. I have the S techs and from what i see they are perfectly even. Maybe the front is a tad lower than the rear, but thats ok it looks good to me :)

And most people don't know, but their are Tien H tech Springs which offer a smaller drop than the S tech's, and feel the same as the stock springs in terms of stiffness and ride. I think the drop on the H tech's is comparable to Racing Beat springs or MS springs. One of the mods around here has them on.

So don't forget about those H techs.

clean,
very clean, damn you and i am a sucker for white cars. must not by new car.

damn you.

beers

Does anyone have/know the spring rate for Eibach Pro's and the oem set-up? I've been able to find the rates for Tein (S-Tech = 207lb/in front and 145lb/in rear) and Tanabe (GF210 = 179lb/in front and 146lb/in rear) but can't seem to find the others.

Here is a drop with Tein basics; height is set for looks and drivability.
Had H&R before but was way to low....

H&R's
 

Don't forget H&R Springs... one of the best companies in the business. Lowest stance I've seen on any RX8 and quite a firm ride. They claim 1" drop and it is at least that. Very planted with the stock shocks, with just a little too much rebound if you want to be picky. That's due to the stock shock being a little too soft for this spring. Koni's would finish the ride off beautifully. I'd put the H&R's with Koni's up against the entire Mazdaspeed package and see how they do.

This may sound like a really stupid question, but there was a debate this weekend.

If you purchase a set of coilover's, such as the teins, or HKS, or any of the true coilovers. Do these just replace the stock shocks, or do you at that time remove the stock springs? Or do you have to buy the coilovers, and keep or replace the factory springs. Suspension is my next big change, and I just want to know exaclty what I am getting into.

Thanks.

All numbers taken either from the manufacturer, or from other posts on this forum. Some we can verify, and a few we can't. Just keep that in mind. . .

Stock 'Sport' Suspension spring rates on the RX-8 are 156/113 (F/R)
Mazdaspeed: 280/190
Tein S-Tech: 207/145
Tein H-Tech: 179/129
Tanabe GF: 179/146
Tanabe NF: 162/112
Racing Beat: 187/136
Eibach: 180/130 (progressive, so this varies a bit)
H&R: 195/141 (progressive, so this varies a bit)


As for the question on coilovers, all aftermarket adjustable 'coilovers' come with a shock and spring. The more expensive ones also come with the upper mount, usually of the 'pillowball' variety (a spherical metal bushing in a metal plate rather than the rubber top mounts that most cars use from the factory). Tein Basics, for example, re-use the OEM top mounts and a few of the small hardware bits. Tein Flex do not re-use any of the OEM coilover assembly. The aftermarket coilovers also come with proprietary springs, so one would never use their OEM springs with their new coilovers. Hopefully that makes sense?

thanks, that is what i thought, but I was being told that I was wrong. Thanks for clearing that up.

DPE - Thank you sooo much for the continuing information. If I'm interpreting all of this correctly,
- H-Tech's are pretty darn close to the OEM rate and provide just alittle drop (mainly in the front - 1.0 fr & .3 rr).
- S-Tech is more aqgressive but still should work well with the oem dampers.....drop is pretty nice with 1.4 fr & .7 rr)
- Tanabe NF's, again, pretty darn close to OEM but provide a bit more drop than H-Tech's (1.4 fr & 1.2 rr)
- Tanabe GF's, Probably a nice upgrade from OEM while allowing for the retension of the stock dampers? and provide a nice front/rear drop (1.4 fr & 1.2 rr)....right?
- Racing Beat, hmmmm....maybe same as above as far as rate is concerned but with almost no drop (.5)
- Eibach, again.....rate very close to H-Tech and should work OK with OEM dampers, right?. Drop is pretty good at 1.2 fr & .8 rr.

Ok...with all that said, my budget does not allow for the replacement of the OEM dampers with the springs.....but....I was kinda wanting to lower the car a bit. I'm 'leaning' towards the Eibach's or the Tanabe GF's. Any words of wisdom with these? OR......am I making the wrong move and should wait till next spring and replace all?

Pardon me for the re-post. I hit 'Submit' instead of 'Preview' on the previous post and needed to do some EDITING. Please see the quote below as it has a couple of edited changes. Sorry.

I went with Eibach springs due to its progressive nature. It's close enough to stock feel during daily driving yet it gets stiffer as you drive the car harder around the twisties.

But then again I'm just another anonymous internet junkie...LOL

BTW, Eibachs do cost more than the Teins and some of the others.

No problem on the info, we're here to help :)! In our opinion, for what you are doing you really can't go too wrong with any of the springs listed above. Except Mazdaspeed, which are no doubt great springs but would no doubt be too much for stock dampers. I'm also not a fan of Tanabe NF springs, as it doesn't make a lot of sense to me to lower a car without changing spring rate at all. Not to say it doesn't work, I just think if you're going with aftermarket springs, get some that will actually enhance how the car feels in a corner. Additionally, I don't think you'll be hurting anything to go with just springs now and then shocks next year. Good way to spread out the cost of parts assuming you are doing the install yourself. If you're paying for the install, you may want to wait since you'll have to pay for it twice otherwise. And I still have to speak the company line that we don't really recommend upgrading springs without shocks on the RX8, but clearly it has been done to good effect by many people.

I also wouldn't read too awfully much into the amount of drop each spring provides. It's an estimate, and the trim level of the car, how much gas is in it, normal car-to-car variation, and the weight of the driver can all make for a different final ride height. It's a good guide, just don't expect the numbers to be accurate down to the mm. Our car on H-techs was pretty close to the advertised drop, but both ends are probably a few mm lower than advertised for whatever reason. Sits really nice though.

Can't go wrong with Tanabe GF or Eibach. I'm more of a Tein fan personally, but only because we sell and use more of their stuff. And I still think folks overlook the Tein H-tech too much, but I'm really biased on that because I've driven our H-tech/Koni equipped car on some gnarly roads in the Ozark Mountains and I'm still coming down off the high from that. And that was a couple months ago :). It's amazing how well the RX-8 handles from the factory, but it's even more amazing how much the right suspension tweaks improve that chassis. But I digress.

Anyway, good luck with your decision!

Went with the Eibachs myself. Actually posted it earlier but so many replies have been added it's probably been lost. I did notice being able to take some turns faster so it made the driving experience better. Can't find my camera right now to take any pics. In the middle of getting moved so it may take a while. Like I said earlier, it's your car, put on it what you think looks good, it's up to you.

If you are interested in Eibach, I have a set coming off of my car next week. Putting on the Tein Flex with electronic controller. Needed more for the many track events that I have been doing. Will make a good deal.

e-mail me directly at: jayg@printwithbudget.com

Also, does anyone have any experience with the flex on the 8 and suggestions for street and track setups.

Jay Goldfarb

one of the gerogia crew runs full soft for street, but i am not sure about track time. his screen name is phlash. you could PM him, I am sure he will tell you. He aslso has the EDFC setup with the Tein flex.

flex tein's
 

thank you for name. I will followup later today. Also found another thread about the flex with controller.

Jay

i have the eibachs, and love them. the wheel gap is gone and the ride is smooth. i think they might be a little of a hastle if you were planing on putting on a body kit at some point. but with the factory aro package its just fine

Here's a marginal pic of ours with Tein H-techs. I'll try to get something better soon, but for now this will give you an idea.

http://home.kc.rr.com/psfsvt/images/rx8htech2.jpg

That is as low as you would want to go, any lower and you will have problems...

The drop with your H techs looks lower than the drop on my S techs. That is weird.

I think the pic makes it look lower than it really is. It's nowhere near being in an 'unsafe' range of lowering; our car on Tein Basics is lower than this one and it works fine. I'll try and get a better pic in the next few days and I think you'll see what I mean. Here's our other car on Tein Basics, a shade lower than Tein's recommended height, and it works quite nicely on the road and track. And side-by-side, it's a bit lower in the front and notably lower in the rear than the titanium car.

http://home.kc.rr.com/psfsvt/images/rx8basics.jpg

This thread needs to be bumped, soo much goood information here.

DPE - the tit grey on rx8 on H-tech Teins... that's with koni shocks too right? On stock shocks it would sit a bit higher yes?

Yes, the titanium grey one is pictured with H-Techs and Konis. There's much debate about whether the Konis drop the car at all, and technically they shouldn't since ride height should be more a function of the spring than the shock, but others say they've seen it happen and I won't dispute that. Phil can chime in and say if he saw a drop when we did the Konis on stock springs, but I don't recall that being the case.

So, assume that the H-Techs with Konis will look more or less like the drop seen in that picture, with the usual caveats of weight and car-to-car differences, and with stock shocks it should be safe to say it will be similar, though some might assert that the OEM shocks will leave ride height a wee bit higher. I just don't want anyone to assume that the ride height will definitely be higher with OEM shocks, because it might (and should) not be. But, hey, your mileage may vary.

As an aside, I've driven that H-Tech/Koni-equipped RX-8 in its element as well (I'm the daily driver of the silver DPE RX-8 with the Tein Basics, also pictured in this thread), and it's a fantastic combination. If you just want the car lowered, try to stay close to the OEM spring rates, especially if you're sticking with OEM shocks. If you want it lowered and want it to make the handling razor-sharp, upgraded shocks are a highly recommended addition to the springs, and you don't really need the springs to be super-stiff to get huge benefit from a spring/shock combination. The Konis do an incredible job of making the car take a set very quickly, and with the Koni/H-Tech combo the car's steering response is much improved, and the car takes a set after initial turn-in much quicker. Basically, everything tightens up noticeably.

I guess the take-away message is that the stiffer the spring rate, the more you'll benefit from (or wish you had) better damping than what the OEM dampers offer.

so the ?? for me is the tien basic or the h-tech and the konis??????

beers