Tein Ha

[95skyline]

I'm just about to purchase some Tein Ha coilovers for a R33 GTSt

My question is simple: Are these just too hard for Australian roads?

I think the spring rates are about 7-8Kg all round and i believe they are Jap spec.

I know they will be great on the track but what about around Melbourne roads.

They will be only lowered around 20mm from factory ride height.

If anyone has run spring rates around the same as this, feed back will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

[GTS4WD]

Im running HSD HR coilovers with either the same, if not a stiffer spring rate on NSW roads..

And I can tell you now, Vic. roads shit all over NSW roads..

Its stiff.. It can get very annoying at times..

But seeing as Vic. roads are much better i think you'll be fine..

Just set damper settings to the softest and you'll be sweet..

[(B1) MR_fanny]

ive got HA's and they are very stiff. expect to have a sore neck the first week or so of driving as your body adjust to all the jarring and bouncing, i did.

got physically tired after say 20mins of driving but you get used to it.

my opinion on damper setting is to not set it at super soft but 4-5 clicks from soft to get some out of the dampers if anything at all..lol guess you'll have to play with it. anyone knwo how to adjust the fronts as mine are missing the knobs.

[95skyline]

hmm , still not sure what to do

Edited August 5, 2008 by 95skyline

[95skyline]

Im running HSD HR coilovers with either the same, if not a stiffer spring rate on NSW roads..

And I can tell you now, Vic. roads shit all over NSW roads..

Its stiff.. It can get very annoying at times..

But seeing as Vic. roads are much better i think you'll be fine..

Just set damper settings to the softest and you'll be sweet..

Thanks for the feed back, I haven't driven in NSW for a while but i can tell you with all the tram lines and pot holes around Melb our roads can't be much better.

[95skyline]

ive got HA's and they are very stiff. expect to have a sore neck the first week or so of driving as your body adjust to all the jarring and bouncing, i did.

got physically tired after say 20mins of driving but you get used to it.

my opinion on damper setting is to not set it at super soft but 4-5 clicks from soft to get some out of the dampers if anything at all..lol guess you'll have to play with it. anyone knwo how to adjust the fronts as mine are missing the knobs.

That gives me a headache just thinking about it. Thanks for telling me how it is.

After driving these for awhile, do you think the trade off in relation to the stiffness vs handling is still worth it?

What I'm trying to say is if you had a second chance would you have gone for a softer spring rating or kept the HA's

Cheers

[GTS4WD]

bottom line is..

How dedicated are you to performance?

If performance isn't a huge thing.. then just get springs and shokies..

if it is.. then you'll get over it soon enough and never look back

[nzm033]

Im no coilover profesional but I have Tein HR's on my car

Apparently the difference between HR and HA is that HA is damper adjustable whereas HR is not damper ajdustable

My HR's a pretty stiff but i like it hard.....urs could be able to be adjusted to be more soft

[(B1) MR_fanny]

handling is great on nice roads, but you'll think twice when your on crappy roads.

The trade off is worth it compared to the stock shocks but if i had the choice again i would have either gotten new ones with EDFC, or the hks ones with lower spring rates, or the sydney kids bilstein group buy which are correctly set for aussie roads. used jap coilovers are hit and miss so make sure you get them tested.

Like i said you do get used to the stiffness, just depends on your comfort threshold and how you like to drive. It doesnt bother me anymore and you just adapt your driving to suit like knowing which lanes to drive in and avoiding bumps and holes.

Dont forget swaybars...they make a world of difference.

[2BNVS]

meh i got h/a's had them for 5 years, u get used to them, i was never sore or tired from driving with them, and have done a few 1000km trips as well...although i would never go into sydney on parramatta rd thats for sure, but anything is bumpy on that road lol

ben...

[95skyline]

I'm getting them next week, only time will tell if the are too hard for me as the car I'm putting them on is a daily driver.

Great to hear people are using HA's for years and not found them too stiff/harsh to have to change them over to softer spring rates.

I guessing i will have to adjust the dampers to a reasonably soft level for around town. Feel free to let me know what settings you are currently running them on for city driving.

The HA's I'm buying are 2nd hand and don't come with the height adjusting tool. I heard someone on this site sells them at a good price, does anyone know who this is?

Very good point (B1) Mr Fanny about the swaybars, I Will definitely have to get some adjustable ones to complement the new ride.

Thanks again everyone for all the real life feed back about the HA's.

[Grunter]

From my experience the roads in melb are way better than nsw,and don't think that stiff

suspension will handle better it couldn't be further from the truth.I had coil overs fitted

to my car I found them to hard,didn't have enough travel,skipped over the bumps instead

of obsorbing them and over all dangerous not only that I found on the road that I normally

do all my testing it was slower.Now its a different story if the car is intented for the track,

a lot of people think a set of coil overs fitted and the car will handle like a dream sorry to

say but it is an overall package.

[Fat_Tony]

They give reasonable grip and handling until the road gets bumpy.

Day to day they're too hard. You get used to it though.

I've got they rears at 340mm from centre of wheel to gaurd. It gives me 2deg of neg camber.

Combined with the hard springs = no traction.

Its fun having a tail happy car though.

[Cubes]

I have a set of Tein HR's on mine. Set @ 360mm all round.

Compared to the std shocks:

- The suspension feels more neutral with a slight oversteer; prior it was very oversteery.

- WOT 300rwkw through the rears in third now holds on perfectly through corners; prior it would snake around.

- Coming off the throttle while on power and cornering the car is now super stable it doesn't budge; prior it felt like it steered the car when jumping off the throttle. :S

The shocks are firm but not too bad. If you have owned a VL commodore with lowered heavy duty king springs and HD shocks in the past the teins are a softer ride and don't jar your back as much. They tend to soak the bumps up nice when hitting them.

Overall a huge improvement over standard suspension. The power gets to the ground better. Most likely because my old std shocks were stuffed and I am now running 12mm of cradle rake so the arse end does squat and force weight over the rears.