iamcanadian

Hi all, I need to order my suspension and was hoping to get some feedback from anybody out there with Tein Coilovers. It is unlikely I will ever get to the track so all I need is height adjustment, so the new Basics are what I am looking at. I was going to order the Mazdaspeed spring/shock combo until someone suggested the Teins for the same price. I have already exchanged PM's with a bunch of you about the Mazdaspeed suspension, thanks for the responses. I want to swap springs and matched shocks at the same time so I have ruled out Eibach, H&R, RB etc. Any advice, experience or recommendations will be greatly appreciated, especially with regards to Tein coilovers generally! Cheers.

M

epitrochoid

also check out HKS, JIC, and Zeal. it all depends on how much you want to spend. tiens are the cheapest coilovers out there, but they offer the least adjustability...but if you're not going to track the car, that doesnt really matter

Fanman

If all you are worried about is your ride height & are never going to track the car, honestly, why are you going for the whole coilover package ? You are better off getting a set of Tein S Tech springs. Lower your car about 1"+ and be about 1/5 the price.

iamcanadian

Thanks for the responses. For one, Coilovers would allow me to adjust height if I don't get a dedicated winter car that I do not have to share with the wife. Then I can get a little more clearance in the winter. More importantly, I want springs with mated/tuned shocks. I have done the spring only install before 2x and while the ride is firmer my experience is that it never compares to a tuned shock/spring combo as far as lifetime, consistency and performance go. I know everyone has their opinion on this topic, and I can respect that.

epitrochoid

i've had both springs and matched coilovers and dampers. the latter is much much better, especially in the long run when your OEM shocks weaken from the low ride height

army_rx8

does anyone have teh tein basic dampeners installed? i knwo a few have the tein flex coilovers, but i can't really justify paying that much for the moment.

Fanman

Cool, just as long as you realize you will be paying 6X-7X as much for the convenience. I have heard some amazing things about the HKS Hipermax setup.

iamcanadian

A few people have them, but not many. velocityredRX-8 has a post running with info and pix. That's why I was wondering if those with the Flex's or who have had other experience with Tein have had any issues. I am wondering about quality versus the MS Suspension.

iamcanadian

I think it is more than convenience. I was thinking of just doing springs and then uprating the shocks when the stocks die, but experience tells me to get a fully tuned combo right now. I only want to spend in the range of the MS combo so JIC, HKS, etc are out plus I do not need that level of adjustability.

Red Devil

For a comparison on their spring rates:

Mazdaspeed Spring:
F 280 lb/in
R 190.4 lb/in

Tein Basics:
F 448 lb/in
R 336 lb/in

more can be found in this thred:
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...t=spring+rates

Renwar1

I have the Tein Flex coilovers with the Electronic Damping Force Controller (EDFC) option. First the price! For the Flexes I paid about $1500 and the EDFC was $450 adding labor for the install came about $2300. Personally, if you get the Flex you might as well get the EDFC to maximize your investment. So it's pretty expensive when you look at it. The EDFC has three settable settings that you can program yourself. For example , you can set one setting dedicated to highway which is 14 front and 11 rear for me which is stiffer. You can change one setting (like 14 front / 11 rear) to another (4 front / 2 rear) with a push of a button either moving or unmoving. Now you cannot use the EDFC to adjust ride height, you have to manaully do it yourself, duh. :D Ride and comfort wise, I feel that the drive got more feedback and responsive. When I go over a bump, I really feel and hear it. During those instances of free spirited driving, the Flexes really shine. We all know the 8 has supreb handling. With the Tein you can push car harder and it will stay on where you want to go. Given you have the driving talent. Although this is just my experience. Now you have said adjustablity is not important thus the flexes might be not for you. :p Oh yeah, it does drop about a inch or so with the Tein factory setting.

Since you've stated what you want out of the 8 (ride and comfort), I'll throw in mine to contrast the reason why I bought the Tein suspension kit. Basically comes down to piece of mind and my plans to take the 8 to be my track car.

Lets be realistic here, the RX-8 is a sport car (even though some might argue it otherwise) so the idea of it being a daily driver is sure stretch. The gas mileage can attest to that. We lack in power as some us have known and found out. You've could've just bought the Z's, Evo's and S2K's if you're power and straight hungry. I'm guessing most of us bought the 8 for the handling and yeah those 2 extra seats in the back, I think. But back to handling, this is the prime talent of the 8. The ability to out handle other cars in the same price range and catergory. So when you're upgrading its best ability, the suspension, personally speaking you might as well go all the way. So thats for the piece of mind blah.

Can I assume that most of us who have an RX-8 are pretty well off in the income status? Like being in the middle/upper income class? Unless someone is on welfare and have an RX-8 then that person is GODLIKE! So we all have a little lee-way for spending cash. So moving on, I expect this car to be my daily driver for 3-4 years which at that time it will be transformed as my permanant track car. So I made the move of investing now and buying the expensive suspension kit. Right now, I'm starting my amature/noob track racing career. When contrasting years of motorcycle tracking racing. Cars are safer! :D

So conclusion: Practical wise: I suggest to you go with the Tein basics. It lowers your ride height which is the primary reason to get ne? Or better yet, the Mazda Speed spring set. It does the job and you have some sort of warranty. The kid in you wise: Invest now for a suspension kit and plan the car as a track car. I reaffirmed my belief that I'm not worthy of my car. On my first car track day (recently), I was blown away by the handling characteristic of the RX-8. I cannot compare the stock with my suspension so this is a very biased opinion. I would rather have the 8 with it's forgiving handling than the 350 Z which I cannot even fathom of controlling it's power for my starting track car. Life is extremely different at 120 mph. If you think you're badass at road racing, then take it to the track and drive that 100 mph constantly. Sorry for the long blah blah, but I feel that if you have a great car like the RX-8 then you have an obligation to DRIVE instead of OPERATE it.

Kudos! Renwar1

BTW: I also have the tanabe front/rear sway and Greddy front/rear strut bars. Thus it brings the suspension bill to a whooping $3700 with labor. ($70/hr)

iamcanadian

Thanks, just read the thread. My understanding is that spring rates do not directly reflect stiffness of the ride. This seems a little counterintuitive to me, but I guess the shocks/dampers play an important role in small/medium bumps and rebounding. However, from PM's people have told me that the Tein Basics' are slightly more forgiving than the MS setup but the spring rates don't reflect that.

army_rx8

wierd..guess i'll have to go and research suspension parts and what makes them tick now that you've peaked my curiousity.:D

i woudl love teh tein flex with edfc..but i am poor...adn my baby (the 8) is making me pooreer by the sec. dang revi intake..so nice though. and flywheel / cluthc /pressure plate, and REv8 exhaust. oh and i can't forget teh defi bf link meters. damn i don't wanna knwo what i've spent...thank goodness i installed everythign myself (well except the flywheel didn't have the tools for it). b/c the installation costs will kill you. time to go to school to be a mechanic

cretinx

because without matching shocks he's going to kill his shocks, and lowering the car without new shocks means hes operating outside of the parameters of the stock shocks.

MS shocks + springs cost as much as the tein basics, and don't have as high spring rates or ride height adjustability.

RotorManiac

what exactly did you hear Fanman? I'm curious because I'm waiting for my hipermax II coilovers next week. I hope they're gonna be as good as they say...

iamcanadian

Hey Cretinx, I recall that you got Basics right? Installed yet?

canaryrx8

iTrader: (3)

I didn't think any og the srpings out right now drop the car enough to "kill the shocks", we're only talking a 1" to 1.5 inch in drop, how does that kill the shocks? Now i know the stockers are designed for a certain height etc.., but I don't really think an extra inch will destroy them, now if you were to drop a pickup 3/4 on stock shocks, that's a whole 'nother story :D

Fanman

I didn't say this was the greatest setup. I have the RB springs, which are specifically designed for the stock shocks & have functioned great on my car. The Tein H won't drop the car too bad. I am not a believer that all springs,need new shocks, although I have people disagree with me. Unless a person is tracking the car, the RB setup (springs with stock shocks) is more than adequate. The MS spring units are designed specifically for the MS shocks & a few people who ran them with the stock shocks had some really funny handling behavior. Not really a Tein vs. MS argument for me. I just wanted the original poster to understand that it would be 6X-7X more expensive. Many times we see posters who aren't sure of what they want/need and some posters, or his buddies over prescribe a part. Now that he explained why he wants adjustables, that is fine. If a guy comes on & says he wants to lower a car a bit & won't trackit, there would be no way i would recommend a coilover set. That's all.

Fanman

I've seen a few RX8's with the HKS setup, the ride height is very nice. In talking with the drivers the handling as far better, more neutral, flatter handling than the stock setup without getting much harsher (that you get in a few setups). HKS is definitely known for quality, functional products.

iamcanadian

Here are some addresses for Tokico with some useful basic info for mechanical novices like me:

http://www.tokicogasshocks.com/suspension.html
http://www.tokicogasshocks.com/faq.html

From the FAQ:
Q. Can I use sport lowering springs with my original shocks?
A. Very few original shocks have the damping necessary to properly control sport lowering springs. Even if they work reasonably well when first installed, the higher rate springs will cause the factory shocks to wear much faster.

I acknowledge that Tokico has a vested interest in this position, but it is consistent with everything I have ever read, or been told.

RotorManiac

Thank you, you just made my day

LittleJohn

From what little understand I have of suspension, springs only hold up the car. you need to get springs which are firm enough for the intended application. The dampers or shocks is where all the magic occurs. i.e. the dampers control the motion of the springs. So how it compresses and how it rebounds. Some of the performance models, are both speed and position sensitive. i.e. they have different dampening curves for different positions of the stroke and at different speeds.
An example of this are teh Ohlins TTX40 which have both low speed snd high speed dampening adjustments plus separate rebound and compression circuits.

DPE

iTrader: (1)

Not sure if you've already decided on a suspension or not, but we do have some first-hand experience with the Tein Basics on our RX-8. Our Technical Director drives the car daily, but in my personal experience with them vs. a stock RX-8 I can say the following (This is adjusted to Tein's recommended specs of ~1.6" drop in front and ~.8" drop rear):

- Ride comfort is surprisingly good given the spring rates. I know spring rate isn't a direct relation to ride comfort necessarily, but when you're essentially tripling the rate front and rear we expected them to be pretty harsh. This is not the case. Certainly firmer, but very tolerable.

- Handling is now closer to where it should be. We found the stock car to have a lot of body roll, squat and dive, and in hard driving it always felt a bit underdamped. With the Basics, the squat and dive are almost non-existent, while roll is notably reduced. We'd like to reduce roll even more, and thus will be adding swaybars very soon, but it's already much better. The sensation of being underdamped is now gone as well. The car just feels more buttoned-down; taut, yet not skittish. Handling balance remains similar to the stock car, which we think it good. Also good is that the Teins got rid of the abrupt trailing-throttle oversteer that you get in the stock car when pushing it to the max. We believe the lower center of gravity and the superior body control keep the dynamic alignment under better control, which leads to greater stability at the edge of the envelope.

- Adjustment is quite simple; nothing unusual about it. Just remember to clean the threaded area VERY well prior to adjusting height, and spraying a little all-purpose lubricant (WD-40, or something better like PB Blaster) on the threads on occasion will keep corrosion at bay.

- Fitment is perfect. Install went very well, with no major issues. Instructions aren't pretty, but they are functional and the diagrams showing the order of parts and which are OEM and which are Tein were great. Only negative thing I'd say about the quality is the paint on them. Don't bang the shock bodies against anything, or the green paint will flake off. Seem to be holding up fine under the car, just didn't take kindly to the occasional bang from a wrench handle. In other words, be gentle on the install.

Hope that helps. Feel free to PM me or visit the site and I can get you in touch with the guy who drives on them daily. Just FYI, we've had them on for about 2 months, and they've been through daily commutes, two track days, and the occasional spirited run down a twisty road.

iamcanadian

DPE, thanks for that awesome detailed response! Really helpful and confirms that I made the right choice. My Tein Basics should be here in the next few days so I am pumped especially considering I just put my Volks on this past weekend :D . The Teins sound like they will be perfect for me and I am glad to hear they have performed well for you guys in different conditions for a few months. i will let everyone know how things go.

Cheers.

M

DPE

iTrader: (1)

No problem! Glad we could provide some affirmation for you . I think you'll be happy with them.

Couple notes while I'm thinking about it:
- We did a quick check of toe after we got them on and all seemed to be within spec. We failed to check before so we're not sure how much in changed, but it was still in spec. Camber goes more negative, but not absurdly so by any means. And more negative is better, to a point.

- When we first got them on we didn't adjust them down far enough and the car was essentially at stock height. It rides and handles just fine, but it gets MUCH better once you lower them to the recommened height. Tein's instructions are a bit odd on the recommended lowering; lower each side until you have 1.0" of threads showing from the bottom of the spring seat to the bottom of the threads on the shock body. This goes for all four corners. And this seemed to give us about the advertised drop, too, it's just written a little odd in the instructions. Certainly works well, though. If you wanted to be picky you'd corner-weight the car to dial it in just right, but we don't have scales and the car seems to be set up fairly well as-is.

Do post after you get them on and let the rest of us know what you think. And if you need any install advice, feel free to email or PM us and we'll try to help out.

Regards,