As the title says im interested in people's actually experience with these 2 coilovers on track and street. I've searched and read up on the specs/pros/cons of each. However, I couldnt find a direct comparison between the two.

My evo is a street driven car. Currently it is not my daily driver but will be in the future. Therefore ride quality is up there but not the #1 issue, as long as im not bouncing crazily like a bobble head doll im okay. (I am currently riding on Tein SS on my celica turned 5/7 f/r clicks from hard and like the ride, keep in mind its a 2500lb car so despite the lowerspring rates of SS it bounces still, thats y the flexes sound good for the evo to me) I will track the car (only gone to 1 autoX event and damn I love it, therefore goin to go back) both autoX and road race, only a few times a year say, 3-4 times. Basically I want a set of coilovers around the 1500 for spirited driving and occasional autoX/roadracing. Sorry guys for the long text

-minh

 

bump... no one?

 

I'd personally skip the bouncy JDM stuff and stick with something much more liveable.....say Bilstein PSS9's. With or without an aftermarket rear sway bar, you'll be set for the street and track. The valving on the Bilsteins is just so advanced....does not feel like anything you can get from Japan (or Taiwan....)


any reason you decided on Tanabe or Tein?


- andrew

 

I have both, The Tanabe, havnt ridden on them yet, (car not done) options are a softer spring and harder spring depending on what u use them for.. I use the Flexs and are great for street my daily is very comfortable.. When u compare the 2's construction the Tanabe is built better than the Tein it seems... The controller is better than the EDFC too... The Tanabes seem to be more for track, the spring rates are harder even on the softer version, but they look more rugged too... So yes i havnt ridden on the Tanabes yet but i have Teins, both seem great. The Tanabes are on my "NOT daily driver"...

 

GTWORX-
The reason I think I will like the teins is because I have/had the tein SS on my celica and my recently stolen integra. Both are/were great, rides great and very minimal body roll, grips great with good set of tires and bars. The next "logical" thing would be Tein Flex for the Evo cuz of the weight increase. The tanabe is something new, get good reviews, both on and off track. Has a wider range of dampening, supposedly.
The reason I havent considered bilsteins, is because whenever I think of bilsteins, I think of mushy yellow and blue shocks. My family has a Tundra with bilsteins, doesnt really support the truck well. From ready some reviews, they were soft for racing applications.
The main reason I want coilovers is to eliminate the most body roll with out killing my back and neck, a light massage is okay =). Basically, I want it to ride on rails like my celica GTS when it had a "full" suspension setup.

EVO8 WHOA-
Thanks for the info, now im leaning towards Twin SS a lil more due to Tanabe being not daily driver friendly.

Assuming a track car and weekend spirited driving car, what would you guys recommend? (Daily driver will stay the Celi)

Thanks for all the info guys.

 

I'm in the same shoes as you are right now, but you mention earlier that your budget is around $1500 right? Isn't the Sustec Pro 7 more then that even without the dampening controller. Last time I saw it was $1700 or $1800 without the controller.

If you're planning on spending that much for the Sustec, why not wait for the Tein Mono Flex. Their more aggressive then the regular Flex plus it comes with Mono Tubing design. I know that the Flex right now is dual tube designed, and I read it somewhere that the Sustec are also Dual tube designed. Currently the Mono Flex are going for sale in Japan for 180,000 yen, that's about $1715.

It also seems like you want the suspension with the Electronic Dampening Adjuster, so just stick with the two. Don't need to give yourself more option and be confuse right? Good luck bro.

 

im in the same boat as you, and have been debating between the two since i heard about the sevens.

Well...the sevens seem like a better daily driving choice because of the automatic dampening controller. At low speeds, the dampening will be soft..which is perfect since i dont drive very fast when not on the track...ive grown up a bit. The Flex's are a good choice too, but i too have heard about the construction quality of the Teins, and was even more dettered when i heard about s-tech fakes floating around..

After a good calibration of the different settings, i suppose the Flex's would be good. However..on the fly, would you have enough time to switch settings when going over a twisty bumpy road? I would be too concentrated on steering input, brake, and throttle techniques to go over to the unit and press that damn macro button.

Thats why im leaning towards the Seven setup.. it supposedly changes as you slow down or speed up by reading inputs from the speedo sensor...I also read that article floating around here..its really impressive.

 

Admittedly, trucks are Bilstein's money pot in the US like you said.....but when i think of Bilstein, i think of a 911 GT1 at Le Mans.....




Anyway, it sounds like you are looking for something a little more track capable then the PSS9's. IMO, they are the perfect compromise street/track coilover at a great price, but they do indeed lean towards the street side of things. I still think they don't get enough credit though, with a nice set of swaybars you have a fantastic all around set-up....but thats my opinion. I may just be a Bilstein fanboy .

Something a bit more track capable while still being very streetable would be the KW Variant 3's. Great ride quality, many great reviews, tons of flexibility due to being a true 2 way adjustable shock. Nothing like it in it's price range. Custom rates recommended.

A lot of people are realizing that once you ride on a Euro style damper where great valving is a priority, it's very difficult to go back to the alternatives.


- Andrew

 

GTWORX thanks so much for the info, youve been a great help... since u've admitted to being a bilstein fanboy i'll admit it also, "My name is Minh and I am a Tein fanboy" hehe =)

Yeah, ideally... I would love the KW Variants 3... When i first bought the car, I was set on getting me a set... however, after adding in the cost of new camber plates thats way over what I want to spend. The Sevens and flexes ive seen go for 1500 shipped, both of which come with camber plates as well. The PSS9 after further research seems like the next best thing to KW v3 but after adding up the cost for camber plates and coilovers, its still way out of my budget =( Also its not as trackable. Yeah I know bilstein makes some crazy stuff, most suspension companies have flagship products that perform great, but for common folk like you and me some companies just throw something together to have something for that specific market.

I am not goin to buy the computer thing that sets ur dampeners. Basically I will be running 2 settings, 1 for regular spirited driving and 1 for track.

Any other suggestions on other coilovers around 1500? reviews?