I picked up a set of brand new tein flex for about half price. long story short my friend was piling up parts then his car was stolen so he made me a great deal.

I know tein is a known name but I was wondering whats out there that you guys can recomend? looking for something between $1-2k. I have driven on tein flex and they were ok. I have a 97 civic hatch and its a weekend/track car so I am looking for something that performs well. the wheels are 16x7.5, tires are kumho xs 215/45/16. also going to be running all new bushings and pci rear rta bushings.

Also looking for a rear sway bar to match the coilovers. I have a ex 22mm front sway in my garage. just wondering what combinations you guys think i should go with? ex; 24mm rear no front sway, 22mm front 24mm rear etc. and what brand maybe progress rear? anything good rear sways besides asr?

 

I would go for the race valved konis. There really isn't anything better until you're well out of your price range.

 

X2 + Custom-rated Ground Controls

 

my vote as well. race valved konis and springs to match the track you're on. ideally you would buy 400, 450, 500, 550, 650, 750 springs and mismatch as needed for the track you're driving.

 

how are the koni's compared to the tein flex and why are they better? does anyone know the exact part number for the koni's your reffering to? koni has a bunch of race dampers. also what company offers the springs? i would like the height to be adjustable.

 

Zeal is supposedly very good, might be above the 2k mark. I've just never heard anything bad about them ever. I've personally never ran Koni dampers nor GC springs so i can't say x4.

I'm running KW V2 and i spoke with the engineer at KW and he said that the V3 can be re valved to fit any rate spring you choose. They will only run you about $1700 i believe on stillen.com

 

I would sell them and either get koni/gc.

That or the Progress CS-II setup.

 

How much does it run to revalve Konis?

 

i think you should look into amr shocks

 

amr is the only other choice besides the koni race shocks. the only real reason koni race shocks come into play is if you go above 500lb/in out back or around 600lb/in up front. under that the regular sports have enough rebound.

 

I have AMRs and I like them. The quality is outstanding for the price. Although I don't use them for race applications, you could have a set built for you for your needs.

I have 14kg/12kg Hyperco springs on my CG2.



Wheels are for sale too!

 

Tein Flex rides real smooth in my friend's 240s and Miatas though. A litttle too soft I guess.

 

What i've noticed is that a lot of the higher end coilovers tend to give yo understeer biased rates. I've never been to a track myself, but isn't that undesirable? Don't you want more rotation? My KW have 350 front and 450 rear the engineer said and that shocked me to be honest seeing how its set up for oversteer.

 

It probably has to do with weight distribution and comfort. If you throw on some stiff springs in the back, where there is far less weight, you'll probably be complaining that your back is broken.

 

comfort and driver skill. if you're in a situation that favors oversteer such as autocross you aren't going to run an out of the box setup. a good track car really should have a selection of rates on the shelf for any given application.

front rate bias is

1. safer on the street
2. easier to control
3. smoother riding

this is probably a lot of why you so it so much

 

i was considering zeal but they are a little too expensive for me.

a little more info about my car like i said 97 civic hatch and inside is fully gutted all it has is 2 bride seats with a emracing rear setup outback. im going to run a cage i just havent figured out which one yet but maybe just a autopower roll bar. also running 16x7.5 enkei racing s on 215/45/16 tires. once i get it done it going to get alignment and a corner balance. the car is NOT daily driven so i dont care about comfort i dont have ac or heater and the interior is gutted. BUT i dont want to feel like my back is broken if i go to a meet. what i want is a stiff coilover setup that performs well if i take it to the track cornering etc. my limit is 2k so you guys can recommend coilovers based on what i have and want.

when you talk to me about getting ex; 600 springs in th front and 500 in the back i know what they are just dont know what combinations are good. thats why I am here to get opinions and learn a bit.

 

i just looked on amr's site and i sent them a message lets see what custom setup they can do for me.

would you guys say amr>progress? if so, why?

edit: what about pic coilovers?

 

I've only ran ksport on my old integra and now the KW on this one. From what i hear though AMR and PIC are both excellent choices. AMR having custom rates i would say nudges them ahead a little. I think theres a thread that compares the two.

 

what is it you need?> i mean are you just buying fashion?

the koni race and ground controls are the most popular in the road race section. that being said what you run on a typical road car is too stiff for the street. AMR can go either way and if you're looking at the 3 you listed, if it were my money, i'd be buying AMR. the customer support if for no other reason. you really really really want a company that can rebuild, change and support their product. this is why koni, bilstein, moton etc are still around while companies fail weekly that sell china specials

back when i was 14, i remember asking a guy whom i was watching just destroy people on the track what the best suspension was since i was building my 1st car. his answer:" koni, bilstein, tokicio, penske, who cares, driven on all of them. as long as i can make the car do what i want and it isn't fighting me when i'm braking or on a corner exit i could care less what sticker is on the shock"

that more or less still sums up suspension tuning.

 

Thats good info right there, but as he said costumer support is a big aspect if you are gonna race with the setup. You want something that can be rebuilt or changed to your liking. With all the different tracks you'll need different springs like mentioned earlier.

 

honestly if i were buying fashion then wouldnt i have stood with the tein flex? anyways....

i know that koni is a stout setup but i dont like the fact that the ride height isnt adjustable and that i would have to figure out what springs to run. being that i am hear asking for advice i wouldnt have the knowledge to choose the correct springs. also dont have the money to "try different" setups.

so i spoke to pic and they recommend select r3 with 12k front 14k rear rates, 26mm front sway 23mm rear sway. only issue with that is only the si/typer have that size front sway which require different front lca. i have full race traction bar for non si lca so i wouldnt be able to run a 26mm front sway.

also what do you guys think about the 12kf 14kr rates? like i mentioned early its mostly a track car but i drive it to the track and also will attend local meets etc. you think those rates may be too harsh?