After a lot of study I'm opting for Tein Basic coilovers because they have a good reputation and also -an adequate amount of rear drop adjustability.


This thread is for peeps like myself wanting to learn all the ins/outs of Tein Basics
NB: The xB kits have been recently revised by Tein USA to employ different spring rates than kits shipped a month or so ago

to the few newbies other than myself: This genre of coilovers allow you do set the amount of drop. Other makes include H&R and Tanabe. Tein Basics are height adjustable about 2.5" front and rear. H&R, by contrast are not. If you need the greater range of drop in the rear, then Teins appear to be the brand to buy.

-Aim: To lower the front about an inch and a half. And lower the rear fully 2.5"

-My ride is an RS2 stripped of rear seating and has no weight in it other than myself as driver. I like the go-kart feel of the car running light, and on small-diameter 195/50/15 Goodyear F1 tires on the sturdy stock steel wheels.

-The tire/wheel combination already gives me a half inch of drop.

-----When I get this kit in a couple weeks or less I'll begin building into this new thread some of my thoughts and reactions and photographs of the parts, etc.

Any review will necessarily have to be subjective. We all like different things. I'm confident that I'll love these Teins.

I buying mine today from the company mentioned in the quoted posting below from the Tein polling thread.

Why am I getting an "xA" set? The quoted post explains why. I -think- my planning is sound. We'll see how it drives later.

 

Google image search turned up a BIG picture of a generic Tein Basic kit.

clickable


When I get my kit in a couple of weeks I'll take pics of the product details and post the pictures here.


-Intend to update this thread later on with notes about the installation (I've never done one before) and about driving impressions.

Add in your own thoughts as you like

 

cool keep us updated and take many pics, im stilltrying todecide between bags and coilovers

 

OK, I now ask the folks who know: Are BAGS a performance device, or more like a ShowLow system?

I suspect that bags are not performance so much as a mondo-cool wowsir toy.

Either way, I do like the look of an xB dropped to the pavement in a parking lot, and bags are the only practical way to do that. Adjustable coilovers are not really meant to go up and down easy/fast. They don't!

Gravel marks on many elbows prolly prove this a fact.









I suspect driving an xB bagged- low may, however, make for less body roll and very flat cornering.






Ha ha I joke again.


reid

 

Ill have to add to this thread:

Tein has FANTASTIC customer service when it comes to warranty issues or if you need replacement parts for your kit. A friend of mine bought a set of Tein HA's and there were a few parts missing and cracked. Tein shipped him out replacement parts (CHEAP) within a few days.

 

Super info, Brian. How about some more?
Tell us more about what bags do. Does a bagged car handle as well as a sprung car?
Or are these just totally different aims?

thanks!

reid

 

low doesnt necessarily equate good handling. if your spring rates are low, the car will still dive and squat and have significant body roll in corners. or if the spring rate is too high for the dampers, the ride will be bouncy and the wheels wont stay planted over bumps.
the trick to a great handling setup is finding a set of springs that are stiff enough to prevent dive, squat and roll without lowering the car too much (a arms past parallel) matched to a good set of dampers.

now, honestly i've never read/seen any shootouts between aftermarket suspension setups on this car. but when it comes to the manufacturer's aftermaket / racing division, they tend to beat up on all the other suspension setups when it comes to handling. quick example, nismo s-tune suspension on the new 350z; this setup just owned tein, eibach, h&r etc when it came to skid pad, slalom, track times. i would imagine the TRD setup is one of the better available for handling.
basically i comes down to this: comfort, handling, or looks. pick one.

 

i got my basics!!!



now i just gotta find time to put them on =(

 

Air bags are not performance-oriented at all.

I am very torn between the performance aspects and low maintinence of coilovers versus the fun and looks of bags.

 

thanks for these new inputs!

Hey, as I get sucked deeper into this money extraction process I am quite sure I want to top off the Tein Basics with a pair of Cusco camber/pillowblock uppermounts.

Who knows where to get the best price for Cuscos?

In the sticky thread is some data from a firm that makes really superior camber plates for Mustangs... all steel and -caster is adjustable-.

This is fun. Green turns to yellow (car)

 

SciFly;
make sure they re-valve the shocks for that spring rate... I have gone thru 8 sets of suspension on my echo and 7 sets of springs from Tein to get the ride height just right and thats including playing with spring rates...

My suspension is now complete ... I'm running Tein SS which was re-valved, de-stroke for 7kfg in the front and 8kg in the back. The head R&D guy from Tein de stroke the front xb coilover from 150mm of stroke in the front to 83mm of stroke ... And he destroke the rear from 180mm to 140mm of stroke...

 

SciFly,

I have the TEIN Wagons which are originally for the bB. I have since replaced the springs for better spring rates. You may want the rears stiffer than the fronts.

Why?

The same reason you want a stiffer rear bar and hardly any change to the front bar.

To keep the wheels that drive the car in contact w/ the pavement.

They are also shorter in height so I can lower my car another inch than the Wagons should I choose too.

 

so you cant just install the basics, get your wheels aligned and roll out?

 

humor for the guy who's just begining to see the dawn of...



DUM de DUM DUM (dragnet theme!)

Friday: Yessir, you can install the basics. You can align and roll. And you'll always be looking over your shoulder. You'll be looking behind at every bump and thump in the night. And you won't know. You just won't know.

DUM de DUM DUM Daaaaaah

 

Wraith and squirrel, thanks.

Wraith: Please explain to me (to all, really) why stroke is adjusted to various spring rates? This is fascinating. The dampers -should- be valved for the xA kit's supplied spring rates; that's why the kits are application specific, designed by Tein USA for our market. I figured to start with an xA setup (224 front, 160 rear) because my xB is so stripped down.

Like, the original xB basics kit, as was shipped up to about a month ago, had a 179 front spring. Now it's been upped to 224.

Q: Why do I see two kinds of numbers in the JDM ratings. Say, "224" and also say, "7kG". What is what and why? (thanks)


Squirrel: I figure this weak rear rate is a starting place and if I later go on to the very stiff USA-philosophy rear spring, good! I'll have a reference point all right by having biased, firstly, in the JDM way of stiffer front and much weaker rear.

My ride is weightless at the rear. I -think- I'll be adding a sway bar and -then- try that for a while and -then- evolve to a stiffer much stiffer rear spring set on the basics...very likely end about where you are, rate wise. But is your wagon stripped of rear weight?


Wow.. This thread is getting more and more instructive for me. Thanks all!

 

224 lb/in is equivalent to about 4kg/mm. (Just divide by 56)

 

SciFly, I have a 10 inch woofer in an Audioformz enclosure and two amps in the rear.

I you plan on rolling in a lowered state the whole time, revalving IS a good idea.

If I want to track my car, then I would of had the front struts and rear shocks modded w/ new struts for EDFC. But I'm not and happy w/ the new spring rates, especially in the rear.

The Wagon settings for the bB are softer all the way around.

7kg and 8kg, front and rear, respectively makes for a very firm ride. If not for the wife and kids, I prolly would have gone 5kg, and 7kg, respectively.

 

Brad, do you remember the spring rates for the Tein Wagon?

 

Rico, I know they were softer than HKS and Cusco coilovers. Somewhere around 2.2 or 2.5 kg up front and 2.8 or 3.0 kg in the rear. It was pretty balanced all around.

 

Claro Rico, I get it now. I'll quote kg/mm figures from now on because they are a lot more sensible to work from.

kg/mm instead of lbs/inch for me now.


rhetorical for sport drivers (joke):


2, 4, 6, 8... how do you bounce when hiting humps..
when you stiffen up your rates, you jump