scsi

what exactly do you mean by plenty of play? like, do the springs still sit snugly even at that height? or are your springs free to move around?

thanks!

XDEEDUBBX

sorry, i worded it wrong. By play, even at my height adjusted like that I can still go much lower, or I can even bring it back up to stock height. If 30 is the softest i have my hipermax II's set at 20 in front and 18 in the back even at this setting, it is still very streetable.

Babo4u

oh, of course i prefer quality over buttons also :P
nevermind what i said then :P

RoXanneBlack8

i am a little biased, so ignore me if you want, but if a big complaint is monotube vs twin tube, and ur gonna be street driving it most of the time, u wont feel the diff. if u were some hardcore track junkie and the 8 enevr saw the streets then u wouldnt be considering the type flex anyway, ud have been lookin at the more expensive monotubes that tein offer compared to the monos of hks. the mere fact that one compares flex with rs or II is bc they arent going on the track ALL THE TIME.

these certain coilovers are for the blend, street and mild tracking. in which case, mono means little. tein offers other coilovers at more $ and they r mono if u need it so badly

I AM THE RED WORM

ewwww...

GeorgeH

iTrader: (2)

The advantage of a system that uses adjustable shock bodies, like Tein Flex and JIC FLT-A2, is that 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.

A system that does not have adjustable shock bodies, and it appears that nether the Hipermax RS or II has adjustable shock bodies, does not have this flexibility. Generally speaking, such a system will have a targeted ride height, from which you can deviate to a certain degree, but go too far either up or down and you risk handling problems.

The HKS systems say they come with shortened shock bodies, which is good assuming you want to lower the car. This means that you can set a lower ride height without running out of bump travel. However, set it too low and you will be on the bumpstops too soon. Set it too high, i.e. OEM ride heights, and you risk running out of rebound travel, which can be even more problematic (i.e., lifting a wheel mid-turn when you hit a dip). Somebody will probably tell me this is hooey and they can set their HKS to any ride height and they will work perfectly, but you can’t escape the basic geometry of the situation.

As I stated above, the main advantage of adjustable shock bodies, other than potentially super-low ride heights (which brings on it’s own set of problems, so most people probably won’t go there) is that you can choose how the suspension travel is distributed between compression and rebound without affecting ride height. For example, after I installed my JICs on my Miata, with zero preload, I decided I needed a little more rebound, or jounce, travel. So I raised the spring perches 3 turns and lowered the shock bodies 3 turns. Voila, no change in ride height or alignment settings, but I picked up a bit more jounce travel. It’s a useful tuning aid if you understand how the variables interplay. It’s especially useful if you intend to swap spring rates as you learn more about setting up your car.

I’m not saying the HKS systems are bad. I’m not making any kind of unsubstantiated quality comments either way. Adjustable shock bodies are not a prerequisite for a good performing system. All I’m saying is that adjustable shock bodies give you more flexibility than a system with fixed shock bodies.

Whether or not you care about this is up to you. Most people will just lower the car and never touch it again. I’m sure if you install the HKSs using their recommended ride heights (or something close) it will work wonderfully. But if you go too low, you start to compromise bump travel. Go too high and you loose jounce.

FE3P

Good write-up George! For those who prefer an adjustable shock body, HKS also offers the Hipermax Performer for the RX8.

scsi

thanks george that was great! my worry though is that i used to have a Jetta with Bilstein PSS-9, no shock body adjustment. at the height i wanted to be at (actually still a little higher than i wanted) the spring was completely loose. my worry is that this will happen if i got HKS, the drop wont be low enough. if i do get a set of coilovers without shock body adjustment, i want to be sure that the spring sits snugly even when the strut is fully extended. if i understand correctly, this is true even at XDEEDUBBX's height, which looks fine to me. next question for myself is do i want to spend the extra couple hundred dollars? and also, how is the ride comfort of the hipermax rs compared to the flex? im in hawaii, and our only track on oahu closed in april

FE3P

I have the Hipermax RS on my car and adjusted the ride height about 2-3mm lower (front & rear) than the factory preset settings. At this height, I have had absolutely no problems with the springs when fully extended.

The roads in Oahu are just as bad as the roads in L.A.! hahaha With the 30-way dampning adjustments, you can adjust the suspension to your driving tastes and road conditions.

BTW- I'll be in Oahu on Friday... too bad I can't bring my car!

scsi

where is the cheapest place to purchase the HKS Hipermax RS?

awesome! i agree, too bad you cant bring your car, it looks pretty damn sick in your sig!

GeorgeH

iTrader: (2)

I'm sure 2-3 mm lower wouldn't cause any problems. I was referring to perhaps 1 inch lower than reccomended.

scsi, the questions you ask about relative comfort are hard to answer without back to back rides. Even on the Miata forum (where Tein Flex are highly regarded by most), wich is more "mature" than this group in terms of understanding the effects of mods, people still argue over who's coilovers are the best. Matters are not helped in the RX-8 communitywhen you consider we have even more options to choose from.

One thing I will say is that most of the coilover companies, at least the ones we are talking about here, have figured out how to keep the dampers from killing the primary ride quality. Sure, there are almost certainly going to be differences in ride quality between the brands, but if I were looking for a set of coilovers, I'd pay attention to the spring rates, as well as the front/rear bias. Stiffer springs are stiffer springs - there's nothing you can do about that. A system with stiffer springs will hit harder over potholes than one with softer springs. If you are only occaisionaly going to do track days, and you are not buying r-compounds, then the need for super stiff springs is significantly lessened, in my opinion. Use the dampers to tighten up response for track days, but get a system with reasonable rates to keep the comfort up on the street. In terms of "how much is enough" that's a personal choice and I can't help you there.

Also, ask when you buy about getting other spring rates. Most vendors wills sell you different rates if you decide you want more or less, so ask about the cost and availability.

XDEEDUBBX

??

I AM THE RED WORM

just kidding man, car looks sick.

the Hipermax RS are dope, I have no complaints.

RoXanneBlack8

fyi scsi, to save u some research, the spring rates on the TEINs are 590 front and about 304 rear.


and the fact that u live in hawaii makes me very jealous, im stuck in FILTHadelphia, pa

GeorgeH

iTrader: (2)

Actually, the Tein website lists the Flex for the RX8 at 504/392, which is still more than the 392/280 listed for the HKS RS.

scsi

i agree, the lower spring rates is one reason i may be willing to pay more for those HKS. i think it should give a more comfortable ride. we no longer have a track here, plus i feel that the car handles great in stock form. i wish i could go for a ride in a car equipped with these, but theres nobody with them here

i know you all have covered this but i just want to make extra sure, with a YES or NO, will the springs still be loaded at all if im at say, XDEEDUBBX's height? in other words, when i jack up the car, will the springs still be seated, rather than completely loose?

sorry to keep asking, just need to know for sure

THANKS!

RoXanneBlack8

"Actually, the Tein website lists the Flex for the RX8 at 504/392, which is still more than the 392/280 listed for the HKS "


yeah im like 20% dyslexic, i said 590 and 304 or somethin right? oopsy 500 still isnt stiff man. they sell kits for supras and rx7s that r like above 1k

edit, just read the above post, yeah bro the flex are pretty much seated even at full extension. u will know for sure when u pull em out da overly huge and heavy box. if the spring wiggles around, im a liar

XDEEDUBBX

Even at my ride height 5-6 mm lower than the factory settings it will definetly stay seated. I've jacked my car up numerous times and have never had this problem, i'm sure you can ask anyone else with the hipermax coilovers and they will tell you the same. A few days ago i changed my dampner setting to a softer setting, im now running a 24 in the front and a 22 in the rear, and honestly, it's very close to a stock feel, heck i have about 6-8 more settings to make them softer if I wanted to. Unlike many other coilvers you can substantially feel every increment with every dampening change. Seriously, you won't be sorry you ordered them.

lazi

^what deedubb said =)

scsi

so i gotta ask hows that comfort as compared to the flex which has much higher spring rates? i think lazi told me there wasnt much of a difference between the hipermax rs and the flex in terms of comfort, so if thats true i may go w/ the cheaper tein flex

morkusyambo

Has anyone measured their lateral grip w/their new shock/spring/sway bar setup??

Umbra

I normally run my hypermax II's at about 15 front, 15 rear. It's only bad on really bad roads, but I wouldn't call the ride comfortable. There is really only 1 or 2 spots that I cringe at before going over them. Then again I've got racing beat sways on too so that is probably affecting the ride as well. Also tire pressure seems to make a pretty big difference in how the car rides at that stiff of a setting. The car is flat as a board in turns and is very predictable. Right now the tires are the limiting factor.

I guess it depends, if you drive the car a lot I would go with the RS. If your like me and don't drive the car that much and when you are driving the car your pushing it hard I'd go with the Hypermax II's. I can't comment on the tein.

On the last club drive I seemed to be easily outhandling suspension modified 7's.