truejee

so I want to lower my car, and I need your opinions. should I go with tein stechs and koni yellows or coilovers? I'm leaning more towards coilovers but dont know what would be best. im not going to track it, just for show and either the same handling as shock springs or better. I'm trying to get a nice stance for my 8 that would be good for a daily driver. any suggestions on coilovers and why go with that brand verse another brand? you guys have always been a good help, hopefully you can help out again. thanks.

anselm80

I highly recommend H&R coilovers. I used them for the entire last year for daily + autocross. The shock internals are basically Bilstein monotubes rebranded as H&R. The spring rates are 457lbs front and 290ish lbs rear, so they are aggressive enough for competition, yet the ride quality is just superb. (much better than Koni yellows with stock springs) Also, they can be had cheap to compared to other coilovers.

http://thmotorsports.com/hr/hr_coilo.../i-239470.aspx

The only downside is that they are non-adjustable. But then again this is a good thing since you won't have to search for a correct damping rate that matches the springs well.

If you do decide to get them, make sure to raise the front perches almost all the way up, (about 1" away from where the threads on the shock body ends) otherwise you will end up having the car too slammed. You will get 1 " drop in the front, and 3/4" drop in the rear; ride height was about 25 3/4, 26" respectively.

NautyOne

iTrader: (1)

If you're looking for show, get Megan Racing coilovers. Affordable and will get you to your desired stance.

truejee

wow thanks for the info. this is why rx8club is the shizz. idk, i'd like them to be adjustable. but i wouldn't be autocrossing. it'd just be daily driven and for show. i'm thinking of getting new rims 18x9.5 +15 so the adjusting could come in handy i guess.

do you know if the ride quality is good as well?

i3oots

Awesome info , this forum really is great. I don't post much becuase I scour the forums for my answer so I have no need to ask any questions but since I'm here I have a quick question. If I just wanted to lower it ever so slightly but not too much (because the highways here have a lot of debris, I'd be worried about damaging my car) would I just need coilovers? When you say "adjustable" does that mean the coilovers are adjustable? I'm still a noob not just for the 8 but cars in general. I've never owned a car until now that I would consider customizing

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Coilovers are a tricky subject, as are shocks. If you bought ten shocks and put them all on a shock dyno they would come back with different numbers. Brands vary. Some shocks (koni's) will lower the car more than others. and some 8' s just sit lower than others for no reason at all. And on some coilovers the adjustment ***** don't really do anything.

My recent experience with Stance has not been a good one. First they sent the wrong length springs, then the wrong spring rates, then they sent springs with no markings, etc. Right now I think I found the settings (swapped springs and adjusted shock to different levels of dampening) that work but it does take some tinkering and in my opinion if you are not tracking it's a pain in the ***. just get some good shock and a decent set of lowering springs.

Now, if you want real hellaflush type stance then coilovers are a must. But don't get too caught up on brands if you are just looking to go low. For example, powertrix coilovers a just rebranded Stance as far as I can tell and they are much cheaper.

read the articles in this thread:

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ight=coilovers

anselm80

When I say adjustable, I mean that the rebound (and sometimes compression depending on the shock itself) force of the shocks can be controlled. The surface you drive on is never perfectly flat, so there always willl be bumps. Springs allow your suspension to travel up and down so that tires can maintain their contact patch over these bumps. But, springs are oscillatory, so you need the shocks to dampen this motion and restore the spring displacement to the original position. Without shocks, your car will drive like it's on a pogo stick.


Most stock cars, including RX-8 come with rather soft springs. (156, 118 lbs respectively I belive) This ensures that the car to retain good contact patch over big bumps, and improve the overall ride quality.


However, most people who are into motorsports tend to favor high spring rates. The reason is two fold; 1) higher spring rates allow the chassis respond more quickly to varying surface conditions, allowing the drivers to make quicker inputs, 2) it reduces dives, squats, and body rolls, thus improving the grip under braking, accelerating, and quick transitioning. But the springs with high spring rates have higher magnitude and frequency oscillation, requiring a greater rebound.


This is where adjustability comes in, it allows you to match the compression and rebound force of the shocks to the load on the springs. You can play with various settings (soft to stiff) and find a setting where the car settles quickly after you can take a hard corner (low speed damping), but without sacrificing the ride quality or compliance (high speed damping).


Honestly though, unless you are racing, or driving on vastly different surfaces, or have springs and shocks from two different manufacturers, the adjustability on shocks is completely unnecessary. You will probably have easier time with the coilovers with non-adjustable shocks, since the shocks on those are already valved correctly for the springs that come with them.


As for ride height, most coilovers come with adjustable perches that allow you to customize the ride height to your liking. But be aware that even at the highest perch positions, most coilovers will result in the ride height that is slightly lower than stock ride height.

Tai-Stik

I happen to be in a similar predicament.

My right rear oem shock is leaking and needs to be replaced, so I am looking to use this problem to get some proper but inexpensive suspension on the car.

Currently the car is driven daily by my girlfriend who is a bit of a sporty driver, but the car will be rarely tracked. My criteria is as follows:

- Tighter and sharper turn in, less body roll.
- Lowering the car for enhanced aesthetics.
- Decent damping over bumps, easy all condition grip, daily comfort.
- I like adjustability, but I'm not sure if I can afford it!

I've been weighing my options and I'm down to the following:

- Tokico D Specs - I like the softness adjustability but no ride height adjustment is a minor minus.

- Koni Yellows and Tein H Specs - Good serious handling but no easy damper adjustability in the rears, not height adjustable and maybe a bit harsh ride quality.

- Tein Basics Coilovers - Cheap, height adjustable, no damper adjustments.

Can someone make a suggestion for me? How easy/difficult is it to adjust the height on the Tein Basic coilovers? I'm also looking to upgrade to 18x9.5+15 on all four corners so perhaps coilovers might have an advantage for fitting?

THANKS!

truejee

once again you guys are awesome! fizz motorsports suggested not getting meagan racing coilovers but to go with tein's or tanabe coilovers. the tanabe's would run me $950. i'm looking for similiar qualities as "Tai-Stik" dont want any crazy stance fitment. something more simple like Jantzen's rx8. which i think i could get with the use of the tein stechs and koni yellows.

https://www.rx8club.com/members/jantzenrx-8-26284-albums-feb10-photo-shoot-2048/

i3oots

None of the above, get magnet suspension! JK I don't know anything about suspension but I saw something about magnet suspension on corvettes a long time ago, and thanks for the info anselm80.