Looking for coilovers- which ones should I buy?

jefersun · 11-23-2004, 06:06 PM

I'm planning on getting me some coilovers soon, partially because i broke and bent a few things on my car rallying it at my friends ranch. Still was the most fun i've ever had

... Anyways...

I've been doing some research on coilovers and all i could really find were JIC's and Teins, both around the same price.

Could someone educate me on what i should be looking for? What i want are racetrack/auto-x level coilovers, ride is second in my opinion. What about spring rates? What are the benefits of higher spring rates in the rear or front? Anything else i should be looking for?

I hope this question isn't too broad, as i never really have come in this part of the forum (usually am around the power/technical sections)..

Thanks for the help..

* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.

Hyper · 11-23-2004, 07:15 PM

the JICs are great, but the new Teins would go better for your purpose hence the new valving/spring rates

plus I went Flexes partly because of EDFC

jefersun · 11-23-2004, 07:47 PM

Something i found....

This guy, afpdl, had the weld break on his JIC...

http://conecrazy.org/forum/viewtopic...&highlight=jic

What about these.... http://www.4apc.net/home.htm... Anyone have any good experience with APC?

Anyone else?

HongKongBeef · 11-23-2004, 07:52 PM

i hope u dont plan on taking an autox/track prepped car rallying. that would be painful on your lower back. haha

dont forget Cusco, Zeal, Zerosports, Prova, JSpeed, and Ohlins coilovers.

jefersun · 11-24-2004, 12:42 AM

Anyone else have any input?

Heres a link to a bunch of coilovers..

http://www.racecompengineering.com/coilover.html

RaceComp Engineering · 11-24-2004, 01:50 PM

Let us know if we can be of any help.

944 turbo guy

Myles Williams
www.racecompengineering.com

sales@racecompengineering.com

Racecomp Engineering LLC.
9123 Old Annapolis Rd. Suite 103w
Columbia, Maryland 21045

410-730-RACE
410-730-5503 FAX
410-707-0108 mobile

ButtDyno · 11-24-2004, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jefersun

I'm planning on getting me some coilovers soon, partially because i broke and bent a few things on my car rallying it at my friends ranch. Still was the most fun i've ever had

... Anyways...

I've been doing some research on coilovers and all i could really find were JIC's and Teins, both around the same price.

Could someone educate me on what i should be looking for? What i want are racetrack/auto-x level coilovers, ride is second in my opinion. What about spring rates? What are the benefits of higher spring rates in the rear or front? Anything else i should be looking for?

I hope this question isn't too broad, as i never really have come in this part of the forum (usually am around the power/technical sections)..

Thanks for the help..

It would help if you said wht you were using them for

DrBiggly · 11-24-2004, 03:39 PM

That was my thought too; what are you going to be using them for specifically?

If you want rally, you need something like the Tein HGs or DMS 50s. Rally and street coilovers are quite different. There are quite a few street coilovers; most of them can probably handle whatever you need unless you are a top-level competitor. Of course in that case I doubt you would be coming to us for advice.

jefersun · 11-28-2004, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrBiggly

That was my thought too; what are you going to be using them for specifically?

If you want rally, you need something like the Tein HGs or DMS 50s. Rally and street coilovers are quite different. There are quite a few street coilovers; most of them can probably handle whatever you need unless you are a top-level competitor. Of course in that case I doubt you would be coming to us for advice.

Yea sorry... What i'm gonna need them for is road racing and auto-x.. I've seen the Zeals before, who has experience with them?

Who is happy with their coilovers and why?

RaceComp Engineering · 12-01-2004, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jefersun

Yea sorry... What i'm gonna need them for is road racing and auto-x.. I've seen the Zeals before, who has experience with them?

Who is happy with their coilovers and why?

Some reviews have been posted...heres one.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...ighlight=zeals

Let us know if you have any questions.

944 turbo guy

Myles Williams
www.racecompengineering.com

sales@racecompengineering.com

Racecomp Engineering LLC.
9123 Old Annapolis Rd. Suite 103w
Columbia, Maryland 21045

410-730-RACE
410-730-5503 FAX
410-707-0108 mobile

WRXdriver04 · 12-02-2004, 01:21 AM

i also am in the market right now for coilovers.. what is everyones opinion on H and R coilovers for the wrx?

Apex Rex · 12-02-2004, 02:16 AM

Note the pics posted earlier in this thread. Those coil-overs are awesome.

I know of one person who has H&R coil-overs, but he's just into show competition. No idea of how they would hold up in a competitive environment.

WRXdriver04 · 12-02-2004, 03:39 PM

the reason i specified H&R is because i can get a slightly used set of them to my door for 1k. i saw pictures and they look brand new.. they run for around 2k new (not including shipping). im just wondering if its worth it or not...

Mrs. Solo · 12-08-2004, 09:40 PM

Buy my Ohlins!!
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...ghlight=ohlins

BHawk · 12-08-2004, 11:55 PM

Drummond Motor Sports check Get Primitive for more details.

Z1 Performance · 12-09-2004, 09:08 AM

Will there be any street use or just road race and autocross?

AdamRX · 12-09-2004, 10:17 AM

Ohlins are awesome...
I THINK a vendor was selling the H&R close to a 1000 shipped

RaceComp Engineering · 12-09-2004, 10:32 AM

CBRD sells the H & R.......talk to him. Extensive knowledge of the product.

944 turbo guy

jefersun · 12-09-2004, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Z1 Performance

Will there be any street use or just road race and autocross?

Yea there will be street driving, but not much of it. People complain about the STi not being a daily driver, its rid is fine to me, doesn't bother me. I barely ever take my car out, and when i do, its for racing purposes usually. The only times i use my car otherwise is going from Austin, TX to Houston, TX like once a month or so or going 1 mile to get groceries...

CTI-Distributing · 12-09-2004, 03:47 PM

The Zeals are excellent coilovers, as are the H&Rs. We have an excellent special on H&Rs right now. It's posted somewhere else and I won't say anything else about that. The Zeals are a complete kit and come with tophats and camber plates. The H&Rs make use of the stock tophats.

IMO Teins are overrated. Only the expensive Teins use monotube strut designs which dissapate heat much better as well as being nearly impervious to oil cavitation. For serious performance driving, monotube struts are a must. Monotube struts are more expensive but allow greater road feel because of increased piston diameter (increased fluid displacement). Some other good things to look for are fully threaded shock bodies (to allow independent height adjustment of the mounting bracket among other things) and inverted dampers (allow more sideways load bearing).

FuJi K · 12-10-2004, 01:02 AM

If you don't do much street driving then may some coilovers with 10K all around would be a pretty good setup for autocross and track. You can dail out some oversteer with an adjustable rear sway bar OR simply run 12k rear rates.

Too high of a rate? Nah.... Like said, auto-x and track car and not driven much on street..... If you want performance you have to sacrafice the smoothness.

I've ridden in an MY00-MY01 RS with 10k f/r JICs at a road race event. The car is pretty flat running on Azenis Sports 205/55/16. With stickier tires, I'd probaly run a higher rate like say 12k's, but this if for track use though. You CAN cetainly run this on the street if you're willing to put up with it. Some 'people' can't put up with it but eh, to each his own.

Z1 Performance · 12-10-2004, 08:32 AM

Like Myles, given your goals I'd highly recommend a set of the Zeal Function V6. Any authorized dealer can helo get you sorted with the proper spring rates and valving to suit your particular needs and desires

While we sell the H&R, I have very little personal experience with it, so it's hard to make any sort of meaningful comparison.

As for the Tein, they are far from over-rated, but given his goals, they are not the right choice.

If it were me (again speaking from my direct experience), I'd look most closely at the Cusco Zero2R and the Zeal Function V6 - both are inverted monotube, dual height adjustable, dampening adjustable, pillowball mounts. The Cusco is more for the person who wants to put it in the car and use it as supplied (other spring rates are offered but not valving changes); the Zeal is for the more hardcore tuner who wants to be able to have their units re-valved to their own specs, etc. Since they offer this service in the US, it makes it really easy to get a sete dialed in perfectly for your intended usage and road conditions

Adam
Z1 Performance
www.z1auto.com

RaceComp Engineering · 12-10-2004, 10:42 AM

We have been working on a proprietary spring rates, and dampening rates for custom Zeal/swift springs with revalved dampners from Zeal for the B6, V6 and S6. We should have these together soon. The various profiles will be for Autocrossing, street-track days, and Time Attack/Race set ups. The spring rates will carry over to the Super function should someone need a serious shock body with separate rebound and compression. I will be in and around the Zeal/ Endless booth next weekend and there wil be product onhand.

For the serious competitor, we will have Moton club Sport version WRX and EVO coilovers available very soon.

Myles Williams
www.racecompengineering.com

sales@racecompengineering.com

410-730-RACE
410-730-5503 FAX
410-707-0108 mobile.

11-23-2004, 06:06 PM	#1
jefersun Scooby Specialist Member#: 37716 Join Date: Jun 2003 Chapter/Region: TXIC Location: Houston, TX (sugarland, TX) Vehicle: 2002 ej257 Black WRX	Looking for coilovers- which ones should I buy? I'm planning on getting me some coilovers soon, partially because i broke and bent a few things on my car rallying it at my friends ranch. Still was the most fun i've ever had ... Anyways... I've been doing some research on coilovers and all i could really find were JIC's and Teins, both around the same price. Could someone educate me on what i should be looking for? What i want are racetrack/auto-x level coilovers, ride is second in my opinion. What about spring rates? What are the benefits of higher spring rates in the rear or front? Anything else i should be looking for? I hope this question isn't too broad, as i never really have come in this part of the forum (usually am around the power/technical sections).. Thanks for the help.. * Registered users of the site do not see these ads.

11-24-2004, 12:42 AM	#5
jefersun Scooby Specialist Member#: 37716 Join Date: Jun 2003 Chapter/Region: TXIC Location: Houston, TX (sugarland, TX) Vehicle: 2002 ej257 Black WRX	Anyone else have any input? Heres a link to a bunch of coilovers.. http://www.racecompengineering.com/coilover.html Last edited by jefersun; 11-24-2004 at 01:09 AM.

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11-23-2004, 07:15 PM	#2
Hyper Scooby Guru Member#: 15822 Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: MOCKBA Vehicle: 1999 WRB GM6 2.12cc V9 Type RA	the JICs are great, but the new Teins would go better for your purpose hence the new valving/spring rates plus I went Flexes partly because of EDFC

11-23-2004, 07:47 PM	#3
jefersun Scooby Specialist Member#: 37716 Join Date: Jun 2003 Chapter/Region: TXIC Location: Houston, TX (sugarland, TX) Vehicle: 2002 ej257 Black WRX	Something i found.... This guy, afpdl, had the weld break on his JIC... http://conecrazy.org/forum/viewtopic...&highlight=jic What about these.... http://www.4apc.net/home.htm... Anyone have any good experience with APC? Anyone else?

11-23-2004, 07:52 PM	#4
HongKongBeef Scooby Specialist Member#: 1574 Join Date: Jun 2000 Chapter/Region: BAIC Location: #finklses @ EFnet Vehicle: 2008 OBXT Black	i hope u dont plan on taking an autox/track prepped car rallying. that would be painful on your lower back. haha dont forget Cusco, Zeal, Zerosports, Prova, JSpeed, and Ohlins coilovers.

11-24-2004, 01:50 PM	#6
RaceComp Engineering NASIOC Vendor Member#: 54202 Join Date: Feb 2004 Chapter/Region: MAIC Location: Elkridge, Maryland Vehicle: ASK ABOUT NEW RCE SWAY BARS FOR STI	Let us know if we can be of any help. 944 turbo guy Myles Williams www.racecompengineering.com sales@racecompengineering.com Racecomp Engineering LLC. 9123 Old Annapolis Rd. Suite 103w Columbia, Maryland 21045 410-730-RACE 410-730-5503 FAX 410-707-0108 mobile

11-24-2004, 03:39 PM	#8
DrBiggly Scooby Guru Member#: 11482 Join Date: Oct 2001 Chapter/Region: South East Location: Winston-Salem, NC Vehicle: 02 WRX Acute Stickeritis	That was my thought too; what are you going to be using them for specifically? If you want rally, you need something like the Tein HGs or DMS 50s. Rally and street coilovers are quite different. There are quite a few street coilovers; most of them can probably handle whatever you need unless you are a top-level competitor. Of course in that case I doubt you would be coming to us for advice.

12-02-2004, 01:21 AM	#11
WRXdriver04 Scooby Newbie Member#: 72560 Join Date: Oct 2004 Chapter/Region: SCIC Location: LA soon to be La Jolla Vehicle: 04 WRX (stg. II) java black prl	i also am in the market right now for coilovers.. what is everyones opinion on H and R coilovers for the wrx?

12-02-2004, 02:16 AM	#12
Apex Rex Scooby Specialist Member#: 63218 Join Date: Jun 2004 Chapter/Region: Tri-State Location: NJ	Note the pics posted earlier in this thread. Those coil-overs are awesome. I know of one person who has H&R coil-overs, but he's just into show competition. No idea of how they would hold up in a competitive environment.

12-02-2004, 03:39 PM	#13
WRXdriver04 Scooby Newbie Member#: 72560 Join Date: Oct 2004 Chapter/Region: SCIC Location: LA soon to be La Jolla Vehicle: 04 WRX (stg. II) java black prl	the reason i specified H&R is because i can get a slightly used set of them to my door for 1k. i saw pictures and they look brand new.. they run for around 2k new (not including shipping). im just wondering if its worth it or not...

12-08-2004, 09:40 PM	#14
Mrs. Solo Scooby Newbie Member#: 55253 Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Cupertino Vehicle: 2004 WRX Silver	Buy my Ohlins!! http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...ghlight=ohlins

12-08-2004, 11:55 PM	#15
BHawk Scooby Specialist Member#: 61860 Join Date: May 2004 Chapter/Region: MWSOC Location: Mid-Mo Vehicle: 2004 WRX STi Aspen White	Drummond Motor Sports check Get Primitive for more details.

12-09-2004, 09:08 AM	#16
Z1 Performance Former Vendor Member#: 9327 Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Z1Auto.com	Will there be any street use or just road race and autocross?

12-09-2004, 10:17 AM	#17
AdamRX Scooby Specialist Member#: 67601 Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Phila, PA Vehicle: '02 RIP	Ohlins are awesome... I THINK a vendor was selling the H&R close to a 1000 shipped

12-09-2004, 10:32 AM	#18
RaceComp Engineering NASIOC Vendor Member#: 54202 Join Date: Feb 2004 Chapter/Region: MAIC Location: Elkridge, Maryland Vehicle: ASK ABOUT NEW RCE SWAY BARS FOR STI	CBRD sells the H & R.......talk to him. Extensive knowledge of the product. 944 turbo guy

12-09-2004, 03:47 PM	#20
CTI-Distributing Vendor Member#: 72424 Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: SF Bay Area Vehicle: 04 WRX STi WRB	The Zeals are excellent coilovers, as are the H&Rs. We have an excellent special on H&Rs right now. It's posted somewhere else and I won't say anything else about that. The Zeals are a complete kit and come with tophats and camber plates. The H&Rs make use of the stock tophats. IMO Teins are overrated. Only the expensive Teins use monotube strut designs which dissapate heat much better as well as being nearly impervious to oil cavitation. For serious performance driving, monotube struts are a must. Monotube struts are more expensive but allow greater road feel because of increased piston diameter (increased fluid displacement). Some other good things to look for are fully threaded shock bodies (to allow independent height adjustment of the mounting bracket among other things) and inverted dampers (allow more sideways load bearing).

12-10-2004, 01:02 AM	#21
FuJi K Scooby Guru Member#: 3687 Join Date: Jan 2001 Chapter/Region: MWSOC Location: St. Paul, MN Vehicle: MY99 GF4 JDM 6spd NF Performance	If you don't do much street driving then may some coilovers with 10K all around would be a pretty good setup for autocross and track. You can dail out some oversteer with an adjustable rear sway bar OR simply run 12k rear rates. Too high of a rate? Nah.... Like said, auto-x and track car and not driven much on street..... If you want performance you have to sacrafice the smoothness. I've ridden in an MY00-MY01 RS with 10k f/r JICs at a road race event. The car is pretty flat running on Azenis Sports 205/55/16. With stickier tires, I'd probaly run a higher rate like say 12k's, but this if for track use though. You CAN cetainly run this on the street if you're willing to put up with it. Some 'people' can't put up with it but eh, to each his own.

12-10-2004, 08:32 AM	#22
Z1 Performance Former Vendor Member#: 9327 Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Z1Auto.com	Like Myles, given your goals I'd highly recommend a set of the Zeal Function V6. Any authorized dealer can helo get you sorted with the proper spring rates and valving to suit your particular needs and desires While we sell the H&R, I have very little personal experience with it, so it's hard to make any sort of meaningful comparison. As for the Tein, they are far from over-rated, but given his goals, they are not the right choice. If it were me (again speaking from my direct experience), I'd look most closely at the Cusco Zero2R and the Zeal Function V6 - both are inverted monotube, dual height adjustable, dampening adjustable, pillowball mounts. The Cusco is more for the person who wants to put it in the car and use it as supplied (other spring rates are offered but not valving changes); the Zeal is for the more hardcore tuner who wants to be able to have their units re-valved to their own specs, etc. Since they offer this service in the US, it makes it really easy to get a sete dialed in perfectly for your intended usage and road conditions Adam Z1 Performance www.z1auto.com

12-10-2004, 10:42 AM	#23
RaceComp Engineering NASIOC Vendor Member#: 54202 Join Date: Feb 2004 Chapter/Region: MAIC Location: Elkridge, Maryland Vehicle: ASK ABOUT NEW RCE SWAY BARS FOR STI	We have been working on a proprietary spring rates, and dampening rates for custom Zeal/swift springs with revalved dampners from Zeal for the B6, V6 and S6. We should have these together soon. The various profiles will be for Autocrossing, street-track days, and Time Attack/Race set ups. The spring rates will carry over to the Super function should someone need a serious shock body with separate rebound and compression. I will be in and around the Zeal/ Endless booth next weekend and there wil be product onhand. For the serious competitor, we will have Moton club Sport version WRX and EVO coilovers available very soon. Myles Williams www.racecompengineering.com sales@racecompengineering.com 410-730-RACE 410-730-5503 FAX 410-707-0108 mobile.