Since the start of this year my passenger side is scraping a lot at fullo turn of the wheel. My friend says i need new shocks. I have 80k miles what do you guys think and what options do i have? i was tempted just to get coilovers but honestly want to save for something else for my 8. So thoughts?

 

Springs determain the ride height. Shock dampen the up/down movement. High pressure gas shocks will give you a little more lift.
I think you should be looking at your springs more than replacing shocks. At 80K, your shock could likely use replacing too.

 

On the RX-8 both springs and shocks play a role in ride height. I know many have stated the springs are solely responsible for ride height but on the RX-8 that is just not true.

I had a similar problem in the rear. I thought it was my Tein springs but they were fine, it ended up being just the shocks. I replaced them with a set of new KYB shocks and all was good. It was such a hassle because I was focused just on the springs based on what everyone told me and everything I read so I removed them and sent them to Tein only to have them test out just fine.

I never considered the shocks initially because they looked fine, no obvious signs of failure but they were indeed bad. That said, if at that mileage it is probably a good idea to replace both. I will have a set of Tein S techs for sale that are only a few months old here pretty soon if you are interested.

 

KYB are high pressure shocks. That is why they "fixed" your problem.

 

The Tokicos were blown either way. I met a guy at the last autox and he explained to me that a shocks rod can fail and the shock can be useless without fluid escaping.

I was a little hesitant about the KYB's but honestly they are great IMO.

 

might want to get this moved to the series I subforum

 

so if iw ere just to go coilover route it would probably be easier right?

 

If you are staying on the street, and occasional track, I suggest springs and shocks, over coil over. I have H-Tech and Tokico D-Spec. Love em, one Tokico is leaking, but that is looking like a warranty replacement. If you are street only, you can just get shocks. D-Spec is best if you want to have one setting for track, and one for street. You can adjust both front and rear while still on the car (need adjuster cable for back).

Probably half the price of coil overs, or at least they were when I got mine, also took care of the front wheel gap.

 

i have s techs already and i have no plans of going on the track though. I just would need to find out if its my s techs or shocks that im having problems with

 

Blown shock(s) or weakening spring(s)

 

lol. My boy here said to take it to tire works they can tell you if its my springs

 

You can send them to Tein and they will test them, that's what I did and they tested fine and they gave me something stating that. I didn't want to wait so in the meantime I bought new springs and shocks and installed them and everything is fine. The S techs that tested fine went on a friends 07' GT and her car is running just fine with those springs and stock shocks.

As for D specs, well many love them but if you search you will find a few stories of them failing prematurely so personally I would stay away from them but that is just my opinion, I personally have never run them. Now that I remember, another local member here had issues with new d specs failing as well.

Coilovers are tricky, there are a lot of fan boi's who are brand loyal and people are quick to call low priced stuff crap. I have read that most of that "cheap" stuff is considered crap if you start looking at shock dyno graphs. But most of the stuff people consider good (Tein, HKS, etc) are also considered crap by some due to the inconsistent dyno graphs. If you search, you will find it is very hard to get shock dyno graphs from most the popular street coil over manufacturers. And often even with good brands like Bilstein and Koni, people by several sets of shocks, shock dyno them all to just get one or two sets that are somewhat equally matched. Although with Bilsteins and Koni shocks, you have the option to have them setup and revalved professionally. You do not have that option with the lower priced shocks. The really good stuff like Penske, AST, etc. are very, very expensive ($3500.00 +) and not necessary to someone who does not track seriously.

I have installed Bilstein PSS9's, Tanabe Sustec's, Stance, and out of the three, the Tanabe's were easiest to install and have held up to serious abuse. The Bilsteins were great too and would be my personal pick for occasional track use but are hard to adjust.

Stance was/is a PIA. I am in possession of Hoss-05's car and installed the stance on his car to find out they shipped the wrong springs with the kit. Replacement springs were sent and they were the right length but wrong spring rate. Then they told him the right ones were shipped last week but the tracking number shows only a shipping label was printed. It's safe to say I won't ever buy Stance and besides the powertrix and other coil overs are exactly the same so it appears the stance are no different than any other rebranded "cheap" coil over. But many have run them on the track and love them so make your own decision.

But if you do not track a lot, the perfect setup IMO is Koni Yellows and Tein Stechs, Eibach pro kit, or Tanabe GF's. Bilstein HD's are also a great shock and are rebuild able.

 

thanks for the detailed response dude, so you think just stick with my s techs and get some koni yellows?

 

I would ^

 

sounds like a plan!

 

You are gonna be sitting a little lower with the Koni's but that's not a bad thing

 

oh really? that makes me want them even more now, do you know roughly how much?

 

lol it's not a whole lot but it's there

 

1/2 an inch would be lovely

 

Quite possible