I ran S-techs before going with coilovers a couple years ago. They will give you a noticeable drop and a comfortable ride

 

imm in your same position bro. I cant choose between stech and tanabe gf. They both drop roughly the same amount except the gf drop a big more in the rear. I think ill go with the GF cause of the lower spring rate which will result in less damage to the shocks.

 

Thanks Pico! I love your photography! I notice the front drops compared to how mine looks now, but i really dont see a difference, my car only has 30k miles on it so its about halfway through its life.

I think i might go with GF too because of the softer spring rate, oem S1 shocks are cheap as fack, my bilsteins are not

 

thanks i appreciate it

 

Ill take a picture tomorrow in the sun, its something thats been puzzling me, i see the obvious drop in the front but i dont see any drop in the back :p

from what i remember i can wedge just about 2 fingers from the tire to the fender. the front of the car is monster truck high though and has space to deliver a baby.

 

I know this thread is god awfully old, but I will add my pics of before and after Tein S Tech.



S-Tech



...and now RS*R which sits about 1/4" lower than the S-Tech's all around.



Now I wonder how much more they will drop with D-Specs? Probably another 1/4" because of the low-pressure.

For the record my shocks wore out quicker with the RS*R which has a softer spring rate than the S-Tech, but they are linear, whereas the Teins are progressive, so I don't think the S-Tech's will kill your shocks too quick, but mine are gone at this point.

 

If you're going with S-Tech's, I would upgrade the shocks at the same time. The stock shocks will blow a lot sooner, and it will be a waste of time and money.

I had my S-Tech's installed on stock shocks that had only 20K KM's on them. On my way home from the install, I hit a small bump on the freeway and blew my passenger-side rear shock.

I ended up ordering some Tokico D-Spec's, which was what I should of done in the first place.

 

i have a set for sale, 160$ + shipping + paypal 4% if someone wants em. im going coilovers. the springs have 10000km on them

 

what sway bars were you all running with the s techs and tanabe GF? I have the agency power 32mm solid front sway bar plus the rear 19mm solid and they are BEEFY. I'm afraid the tein S tech's plus the AP bars could blow out my stock shocks quickly. Or do sway bars not effect the spring forces seen by the shocks? obviously upgrading the shocks as well would make more sense, but I really don't want to do that just yet. a.k.a broke.

 

^ I doubt it. Sway bars lessen body roll. If anything, it might help your shocks as they will compress less when cornering. (I ran with stock sways, BTW).

My advise would be to wait until you get the shocks (recommend Koni or D-Specs), then get it installed all at once. Otherwise, you'll be paying twice for labor like I did, which is a HUGE waste of money. Get it done right the first time, or don't bother.

 

Someone is selling me their tein s tech springs off their rx-8. I'm not sure how much i should pay for the used.. What do you guys think?

 

Great info on this tread, I'm wondering if anyone can comment on their experience of how quickly the stock shocks go with tein s springs? I've read posts saying not to bother changing the shocks and others saying you should. I can appreciate the huge savings on labor if you do both at once, but realistically, anyone have any idea how many kms/miles one could get on the stock shocks? I currently only have 10,000km on mine (only drive it in the summer), so I'm wondering if it is worth buying aftermarket shocks?

 

I have over 30K miles on my S-techs with stock shocks. They were on the car when I bought it too so it is likely much more than that.

 

^ Depends on the current condition of your shocks, how much mileage on them. They *should* be ok if they have low mileage on them.

It's a bit of a ticking time bomb with the stocks as they aren't built for the lower springs rates, and will wear down much quicker.

 

Im still on the same shocks, no issues yet. I bought the car with S-techs installed at 52K miles. The car now has 96K miles, and they were on the car before I purchased it so it would be a bit more. 40K miles is like 4 years of driving for me so, that pretty darn good.

 

Sometimes, yes. Not over normal speed bumps though. Usually in construction zones or something like that. Its also impossible to get into the driveway at my apartment but even my girlfriends stock civic will scrape sometimes. It wont be an issue 99% of the time.

 

^ At 90k, I'd get new shocks as they are more than likely the originals.