Koni Sports / Yellows with (?) Lowering Springs
 

Looking for a fairly aggressive street setup for my daily driven 2011 Sport. I'll be using Koni Sports with all of these, but I need help deciding on springs!

1) H. Tech Springs - Front - 179 - Drop = 1.0"
H. Tech Springs - Rear - 129 - Drop = 0.3"

2) Racing Beat Springs - Front - 187 - Drop = 0.5"
Racing Beat Springs - Rear - 136 - Drop = 0.5"

3) Racing Beat Springs - Front - 187 - Drop = .5"
Stock Springs - Rear - 113

On top of the .5" drop that Konis give, option 1 is almost too low for me. Option 2 should give the best performance, but I don't know if I can deal with the rear being noticeably lower than the front.

So my main question: Is option 3 idiotic, or can Koni adjustments and different sway bars make it work? If so, what shock settings and sways would you recommend?

On a side note, I'm also looking at getting 36mm fat cat bump stops. If anyone has experience with their bump stops on any of these setups, or something similar, please share!

Fairly aggressive yet you have the least aggressive setups possible. I don't follow. And changing the bump stops? Wtf

Do not get the RB. They are garbage and will blow out your konis. They lower more than .5" anyway and will sag almost instantly. Use the konis with the stock springs.

Good to know, ty Beefy.

Has anyone tried the koni with Mazdaspeed springs on a series 2, is there a better combo? I want to stiffen the car up and lower it a little without messing up the balance

Installed H&R springs last year with Bilstein HD. Really low, but I can still get around on the crappy city streets just fine.

I have a 2010 s2 and am getting some s tech springs but wanted to get some new shocks while I'm at it. I'm having some trouble finding out what shocks would be best with the s tech. I don't want to drop more then 1.5. And any other part advice while him at it would be nice?

Koni Sports / Yellows with (?) Lowering Springs
 

Describe "best". What's best for you may he different for me.
Have you tried reading the new membrane sticky and the intro to moding sticky?

Yes I have read those. I have read the intro to modding multiple times and it has helped alot. I thought about the koni yellows but I've read they drop an extra .5 and that added with the s tech is just to much for me. I don't need the "best" or most expensive but I wanted a quality shock that will work well with the s tech. Can't find any.

Koni Sports / Yellows with (?) Lowering Springs
 

Again, describe best? Do you mean in terms of lowering? Handling? Adjustability?

Sorry. Lowering 1.5 max (s tech). I don't want the shocks to lower if possible. It's my daily driver so somthing super stiff would be rough. Better handling would be great and I don't care if i can't adjust the height much or at all. I'm not tracking it so I don't need coilovers.

You need to be careful with shocks with an S2 car. Koni makes the only purpose-made aftermarket shocks for S2 cars that I am aware of (read: dedicated part numbers). I wasted a lot of money finding this out the hard way. Koni yellows do give you an extra 0.5" of lowering for "free," which does create a dilemma for you. The good news is, Koni yellows are above average shocks. The bad news is, while they are adjustable (a vastly overrated feature in my opinion), the rears have to be removed to adjust them.

Springs are also a problem. Because Mazda changed the rear spring perch location from S1 to S2, most aftermarket lowering springs probably will not give you what you want. I don't really follow the Japanese suspension scene, so maybe Tein has S2-specific springs, and I'm just not aware of it.

The truth is, very few aftermarket shocks are actually an upgrade over Mazda OEM shocks for street use. If you are sure the springs will work, and you really want to replace your shocks, you can try to find used R3 Bilstein shocks or buy them new off the internet. That would be worth doing while you are in there--assuming the spring rates of your new springs are not more than 20% stiffer than stock. Just be aware that shocks have an optimal operating range in terms of piston location, and moving the piston too far down by lowering the car can cause unexpected behavior and/or wear out the shocks quickly.

Otherwise, your sure-fire option is coilovers. There are a lot of them at all price points, so do your homework before buying. Cheap almost always sucks. Japanese almost always sucks. The only thing worse than Japanse is Taiwanese and Chinese copies of Japanese. Bilstein has finally released the PSS coilover to the US market for ~$1000 if you shop around. That is your best bet, really. Cry once or cry twice. Ask me how I know.

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Thanks alot. I ended up getting some koni yellows and tein H tech. Will see if it works out. But again thanks for the help.

follow up
 

Hey Edean, did you end up getting the koni yellows and the h tech set up? How did it work out for you?

Yes I did. It worked out great! Not to low but still a considerable difference. I had them set the yellows about 25% in front and 50% in rear. A little rough ride but worth It.

Good deal! Did you by any chance take a few measurements (front/rear fender gap or clearance)?


Thanks!

No I didn't take measurements although I should have.