I was originally going to go w/ Tein RA, but finding someone willing to get them for me in a decent time frame has been terrible. I'm not discrediting any vendors, I realize getting exotic parts is difficult, especially w/ the situation of customs these days. I was just wondering if anyone has tried the Fightex suspension yet, or has any input on them. I'm looking at the Fightex now because AKH has them in stock and they're not crazy expensive. I'm looking at the N1 Endurance version (I have an EK) right now; the car is road-race only. Other options at this point are Mugen and HKS. Thanks for the input.

 

Chris,

I think you should look at the Zeal Function S6. I'm sure the AJ Racing boys would have them in stock. I think Dee is running them with 18k/16k SWIFT springs, and he drives on the ****ing street

 

Sorry, I can't say that I've used Fightex suspension before. I imaging they're pretty good coming from Toda. They're also cheaper than the Tein RA's so they may be worth trying. But if you're looking for something in that range, also consider Zeal S6 or something in that line.

What exactly will you be using it for? If you're getting these suspension setups, it probably would be better to keep it track-mainly. These shocks do have to be rebuilt so don't expect them to last a very long time. Personally, I would suggest using custom valved Koni's (sport, series 30, series 28: the latter 2 being more expensive) because it's much easier to rebuild in North America and actually, series 28 and 30 from Koni are MUCH better shocks than even the Tein RA's.

I heard good things about the Mugen N1, but they also cost an arm and leg. I heard from a racer that if he were to buy any off-the-shelf suspension, the Mugen N1's would be the ONLY ones he'd consider for race.

BTW, here's a short description of the Koni lineup...
http://www.tcklineracing.com/OPC/shocks.html


[Modified by jimbob, 11:05 PM 11/1/2001]

 

I have a Quest... Roughly how much mileage/Run time would you be able to get out of a coilover setup (such as the Zeal S6/buddyclub/fightex) before you would have to rebuild it?.. say with a mix of street and track driving?... and what is the cost roughly to rebuild it?

 

Hard to say how many miles... If you only drive on smooth roads and on the street, it may last 10 years, but if it's on rough street roads or running VERY hard on the track going over curbs every turn, it could only last 3000 track miles. There is no answer to the question...

Rebuilding varies between shocks. But I think I heard that Koni's were rebuilt around 70$/shock... That was some time ago, so I'm not sure if it's still accurate.

 

Have fun running those racing coilover on the street and be prepare to rebuild it every year.

 

that is about as unrealistic an answer and talk about being vague. There are multiple ways of going about setting up the ride so it are tolerable even with a stiff spring. This is esp. true with damper kits which offer "stroke adjustability" ....having the mainspring uncompressed goes a long way to reducing the bone jarring ride usually associated with high kg springs.

If you know you will be driving on a freaking piece of **** city road like in Edmonton where they spend a huge chunk of money trying to fix their damn roads every year....then yes I wouldn't recommend running a full out racing coilover. But what exactly does that constitute? Just high kg springs? If that is the case, what's stopping you from buying two sets? Or dialing down the compression or both?

Yeah.... if that **** was really to be rebuilt every year you must be freaking Tommi Makkinen driving a rallyart Honda.....

 

Hahahahaha... Preach on!!

Let's see... I had a set of A'pex N1 99Specs that were set DAMN stiff for the city and they're still running fine in a friend's car for 1.5yrs now. Maybe I should tell him to take them out and send them for rebuilding.

Oh wait, there's also my friends running the "beloved-buy-me-for-$1300-so-I-can-rust-a-hole-in-your-wallet-Tein-HA"... Gotta get them to send the coilovers overseas to Japan for rebuilding too since it's been well over a year of use.

Where's that icon? Oh wait...

 

I just said be prepare to rebuild it every year, and never say you HAVE to rebuild it every year!!

The TEIN NA that I have has spring rate even softer that stock initially and it only get stiff when I push it, but still no where close to the stiffness of those real racing coilover. So I don't think I have high kg spring rate at all!!!

Oh yea, when I talked about real racing coilover, I am talking about the TEIN RA, N1 and ZEAL (The top top model one, forgot the name of it ) and not the TEIN HA or the old Apex'i N1.

 

So tell me, when the A'pex-i N1 2000Specs weren't available, you're saying that A'pex-i never had a racing coilover? And that Top Fuel doesn't truly race their cars because they don't have real racing coilovers? Let's not forget other companys that used the 99Spec N1 coilovers... That's right, they're not real racing coilovers.

I'm starting to like this icon...

 

To me, the Apex'i coilover is more of a street/racing coilover that is build for both street/track use purpose. When I made my statement about rebuilding, I am talking about those coilover that build strictly for racing purpose only and not intended to use on the street at all (Even though a lot of ppl still use them on the street for whatever reason that I could never understand!!). To me, those racing only coilover is like the TEIN N1 and RA, ZEAL superfunction, and the Fightex ST and N1.
IMO, the Apex'i 99spec N1 coilover don't even come close to compare with those coilovers that I listed above.