I've been interested in the Tein Monoflex since their introduction - unfortunately I didn't make up my mind to purchase them before the price increase... Recently I started looking into them again, but the best price I could find was $1700 shipped I am still considering them, although the PIC Select P3's are looking better and better after each positive review posted. Along with their customer service, they seem like the right choice.

So, I guess the purpose of this post is to find out if the almost $500 difference is worth it for the Tein's? I'm not about "JDM Bling"...just quality parts that perform. The car isn't a daily driver, it's mainly used for spirited weekend driving. I have searched for first hand reviews of the Monoflex, but they seem to be limited to the NSX, 350Z & S2000 - from what I've read, the general consensus is that they are worth it. It's been difficult to find Monoflex reviews for the Civic or Integra - any help would be appreciated!

 

I dont know anyone with the Tein Monoflexs. I do know people with Tein Basics which are nice but I like my Ksports better. I do have a friend with Pic Selects on a EM1 and they handle and ride like a dream.

 

dont know to much about the Teins, but i have a set of the PIC apex P2's on my sol, and i love em. Customer service top notch, rides amazing, great for the price. Just give jim or al a call tell what you want to do with the car and they will point ya in the right direction.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chrome Pipes &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm not about "JDM Bling"...just quality parts that perform. The car isn't a daily driver, it's mainly used for spirited weekend driving.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Can you be more specific?

I know of a few other options I'd rather take if I was willing to spend up to $1700.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by evokidvii &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just give jim or al a call tell what you want to do with the car and they will point ya in the right direction. </TD></TR></TABLE>
the really cool part about PIC, they will recommend someone else's product if they feel it will fit your needs better.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Targa250R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Can you be more specific?

I know of a few other options I'd rather take if I was willing to spend up to $1700.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Basically to give a little background on the car, it has always been a weekend driver with the occasion trip to the local drag strip. Proper suspension upgrades have always taken a back seat to trying to extract as much horsepower out of the stock internals with the goal of hitting 11's. By the time the car finally started hitting 11's, it wasn't competitive and other priorities in life took over (read: getting married, buying a house, so on..) So now I'm at the point where I have set aside a few dollars to put towards a decent suspension upgrade.
The local track where we used to drag race (Etown Raceway Park, NJ) has opened up a 1.35 mile road course, which I would like to use to get my feet wet in hopes of attending future sanctioned events. I was leaning toward the Monoflex because of Tein's new "MSV" technology...which to my understanding aides in low speed damping - according to their website. Gimmick? Maybe, but seems like a decent street/strip coilover to suit my needs. I realize there isn't really such a thing as a "dual duty" coilover set, but I am willing to sacrifice some comfort on the street for something which will give me a wide range of adjustments once I get acquainted to how the car responds to a road course.

Thanks for all the feedback - I tend to try do as much research as I can prior to making a decision. I don't post much, but I am on H-T pretty much every day. Sorry for rambling, but I'm open to other suggestions...let's hear your thoughts!

 

I bought the monoflexes but haven't put them on my car yet. (eg4) Nobody really rocks them, so I said what the hell, and bought them. Ill post up my car when its done next year.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BRNRone &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I bought the monoflexes but haven't put them on my car yet. (eg4) Nobody really rocks them, so I said what the hell, and bought them. Ill post up my car when its done next year. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Please post your reviews. Thx

 

i have tein monflex on my 98 civic coupe. the suspension is extremely comfortable for the high rates and the dampening well accommodates the rates. the ride is great for daily driving and the handling characteristics are pretty perfect.

i just got outta class and im extremely tired, i live in Chicago and im sure you know about the craziness here last night. if anyone cares to know my say something and ill check back and get into it more.

but i will say that my civic on monflexes and my friends nsx are on monflex, and anyone who knows me and ill photography (AJ) knows we have purpose built cars.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by touchmyHONDA &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i have tein monflex on my 98 civic coupe. the suspension is extremely comfortable for the high rates and the dampening well accommodates the rates. the ride is great for daily driving and the handling characteristics are pretty perfect.

i just got outta class and im extremely tired, i live in Chicago and im sure you know about the craziness here last night. if anyone cares to know my say something and ill check back and get into it more.

but i will say that my civic on monflexes and my friends nsx are on monflex, and anyone who knows me and ill photography (AJ) knows we have purpose built cars.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks for the feedback!

 

The monoflex is an easy 500 dollars more, but what are you paying for? It can't be higher quality because PIC is about as quality as it gets. Neither damper has seperate rebound and compression dampening, although PIC has just rebound and Tein has rebound and compression combined. I can't find a shock dyo for the monoflex, but it doubt their 16 way adjustments are as evenly spread (and thus as easily discernable when changed) as the ones from the PIC selects. You can see a PIC P3 shock dyno on the sticky at the top of this forum.
And unless they changed it, the only spring rate offered for the monoflex is 14kf/8kr. That is not a FWD track oriented setup at all, those rates promote understeer as is. With PIC you can pick your spring rates from 6kg/mm to 18kg/mm, front or rear. In your case, with you using this car to drag and to road race, a stiffer rear rate is better in both cases. That would be to reduce squat for launches and to promote oversteer on the road course. It's your decision what rates you want, something like 12k/f 14k/r would be good, but you may want to go one step down because of this being a weekend toy on the street.
Also, this is your first time doing road racing so there is really no need to spend over $500 more for the teins. You would make much more improvement spending that money on better brake pads and track fees, for example. It takes a lot of track time to get to the level where the next best thing to improve upon are your dampening adjustments.

 

I decided on the Monoflex. I bolted them up this past weekend and all I can say is wow - absolutely love them. I only had time to take the car out around town and for a short blast down the highway. I didn't really push the car hard at all. The low-speed damping (30 mph) handles bumps and road imperfections without a problem. Very smooth ride, even at the stiffest setting. On the highway, it feels like a completely different car, extremely stable at speed.

Thanks for your feedback, if anyone has any questions about them I will do my best to answer.

 

What are your spring rates on monoflex?

 

14k front, 8k rear

The rears come with helper springs

 

I look for that info on different sites (in japan) and allways come up with different information - once 10k/6k, second 9k/7k and now you said 14k/8k. (I am looking for dc2R model). I guess there is more than one option...

 

In the US this is what is offered "off the shelf" - unless you specify that you want different rates, which I believe costs extra:

http://www.tein.com/price/acura.html

http://www.tein.com/tech_info/h96.html

DC2 Monoflex application is listed as 14Kf/8Kr on Tein's US website