Yes, I have searched....


I have an 05 I would like to improve comfort, not lower my ride. The stock springs are way too harsh.


What's the best combo for doing this? What kind of cost?

 

The best shocks/struts to have for comfort will be your stock units. The TRD's are much stiffer and valved for stiffer rate/lowering springs. You could go with the adjustable Tokico's and set them at their softest setting. But those retail over $500 for the set.

I have the Tein s-techs which lower the car 1.7 front 1.5 rear. The comfort of the ride has increased dramatically. It feels smoother on the street, yet still has a nice tight feel.

The Tein h-techs don't even lower the car an inch, and supposedly offer increased comfort as well. I'll let those who have these speak up.

Also, the Tein basic coilovers have dampers supposedly valved for comfort. I haven't seen much on these, but from what I've read from Tein's site they offer increased comfort and won't jar you around like typical coilovers valved/sprung for competition.

 

keep driving and your springs and shocks will settle better and be a little less harsh as time goes by.

 

the tein h-techs lower ur car 1 inch, but its supposed to give a "luxury ride"

 

I have the H Techs installed for about 7 months, and 10K miles now. I will say that it did soften the ride a lot. As far as luxury ride.... its not a Caddy by any means.

I did notice though, now that i think about it, it look like the fronts have settled in more then the rears. The front actaully looks like the camber is in, and the wheels tuck in at an angle now. Hmmmmm

<== still loves the ride now over the stock springs.

 

I have Tein H-Techs with the stock struts. The ride is better than stock if you are looking for comfort. They do not get rid of all the bumps but they help. Here is another thread talking about them. https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=31186

 

I have the H-tech's installed on my wife's car now and she enjoys her daily commute much more now than with the stock springs installed. You can definitely tell a difference, the rough roads are much softer now and they won't knock your fillings out. As for the drop, the site says it's 1.1F and 0.9R (in inches) but I have to disagree because an inch would barely be noticeable, however everyone we knew could tell right off the bat that it was lowered when they saw it. It really was that noticeable. I didn't measure the height before but my best guess is because she has an auto tranny it's weighing it down and making the drop more like 1.25 or 1.5 instead. The body roll was sacrificed a tiny bit but I installed a strut bar for her and it seems to back to stock handling w/o the bumpiness. Everyone that has rode in it with the old springs did mention that the ride is much more comfortable now. :D

For the softest possible ride, I think these are it for now, because they have the lowest spring rates of all aftermarket springs for our car so far. As for coilovers, price becomes a real big issue and I've actually asked the question before to Tein Sales team via e-mail and even though I was ready to buy a set of SS coilovers they still recommended me to get the H-Techs for her. They said the coilovers, even though adjustable, the spring rate is higher than the H-techs so she'll still feel uncomfortable. She only uses it as a daily commute and not for dragging or auto-x, so the H-techs were just perfect for her. However YMMV. :D

 

Wegeee,

Thanks for that detailed opinion. When my wife and I took a long test drive, we both felt the ride was a little too stiff/harsh for our 50 mile each way daily commute. I told her that I'd install springs to soften the ride and also to lower it so it looks better.

From the responses I've seen, looks like the H-Techs are the way to go and the best value.

Thanks.

 

So if I get the Tein S-tech springs, would the TRD shocks reduce the ride harshness even more since it's designed for lowered springs (aka TRD springs)? Thx!

 

I don't understand people who say it is too harsh, stock they ride like frickin Cadillacs. But then again my old car was pretty much a race prepped daily driver, talk about rattles and squeeks.

 

Yeah, the stock suspension has a much more comfortable ride than an EVO.