R32 Coilovers?!?!

[Jack_Sky]

Hi All,

Bought my 32 gtst a month or so ago and my rear left koni shock has blown. so im looking to get some coilovers as a replacement/upgrade from the koni shocks and springs. My car is primarily used as a drift car and to go up in the mountains... Its NOT a daily.

I was originally just going to get some second hand tein hr's for around $700... however they have been on a track car, and are old, and have no history, spares, tools, etc. and im not a close friend to this guy, so i dont know there condition.

So to play it safe, ive been looking into getting some brand new coilovers. The more expensive option obviously, but im sure more worth while.

So far im looking at these Teins...

Tein Super Streets with pillow ball upper (height adjustable, damper adjustable, camber adjustable, steel construction, etc.)

or

Tein Type Flex (more height adjustable, damper adjustable, camber adjustable, teflon and anodized so they wont rust) $500 more than the streets

or

Tein Super drifts (roughly the same specs as the flex's, but more aggresive i think) $600 more than the streets

My questions are...

Would it be worth me spending the extra $500-600 on the better coilovers? main reason being they have much more rust prevention, more adjustable, and are more aggressive.

What is the main differences between the Type Flex's and the Super Drifts? it seems that the flex are more all rounders, and the super drifts are more aggressive coilover.

Should i expect these coilovers to last a LONG time?

I just want to get some opinions and answers...Any other info would be good tho...

I havnt looked at much else but am open to some other options provided theyre not chinese shit!

thanks.

[_Ryan_]

Hey mate,

Pop by TopPerformance in Vermont, they can rebuild and revalve your Koni's to suit any rate you want.

Choose come custom springs, Brown springs in thomastown will do a custom set of 4 for 260.

That would give you a decent setup, and would re-use what you have.

I have type flex, they are decent, But I had Koni's in my datto and they felt "nicer".

I assume you have yellows in the car?

You won't get coilover camber adjustment in a Double Wishbone car, this is only on MacPherson strut car, your front and rear camber is adjusted by your Upper Control arms.

-Ryan

[32_Dave]

do they have to be tein? why do all skyliners think they have to use tein... look into other brands, hsd, n1 by isc, jic's heaps of brands tein aint the ducks nuts, also u'll need to at least get rear camber arms as skyline coilovers do not come with camber tops as rb_ryan mentioned. go for a 8 fr 6 re spring ratio.

i run the N1 coilovers 8-6 spring rate, very nice unit with base height dampening etcc.. and there cheaper then tein and before you say there Chinese do ya research.

[_Ryan_]

do they have to be tein? why do all skyliners think they have to use tein... look into other brands, hsd, n1 by isc, jic's heaps of brands tein aint the ducks nuts, also u'll need to at least get rear camber arms as skyline coilovers do not come with camber tops as rb_ryan mentioned. go for a 8 fr 6 re spring ratio.

i run the N1 coilovers 8-6 spring rate, very nice unit with base height dampening etcc.. and there cheaper then tein and before you say there Chinese do ya research.

Why do you need base height and damper adjustment?

Research would suggest all the brands you suggested are average

Teins might be better.

Koni's are at least easily rebuildable, working with what you have could prove to be the cheapest way to go, and easiest to rebuild in future, Koni's are well supported, not sure about other newer brands...

Bilsteins are far better in regards to reliability and consistency.

Ohlins, Sachs, Pensche, MCA,and maybe KW are another step up.

[mystery_kid]

just fyi none of those coilovers have camber adjustment as it is seperate arm on r32 skylines as oppose to dirty s13's

definitely wouldn't go the super streets the spring rates on them are pretty soft for a primarily drift car probably would say the same about tien flex's

my greddy type s have 8kg front/6kg rear spring rates and they are just bearable on the streets so if it's purely a drift car/mountain runs try and get something like that or higher spring rates again

and also get aftermarket sway bars they will be your best friend for drifting

Edited January 17, 2010 by mystery_kid

[_Ryan_]

just fyi none of those coilovers have camber adjustment as it is seperate arm on r32 skylines as oppose to dirty s13's

definitely wouldn't go the super streets the spring rates on them are pretty soft for a primarily drift car probably would say the same about tien flex's

my greddy type s have 8kg front/6kg rear spring rates and they are just bearable on the streets so if it's purely a drift car/mountain runs try and get something like that or higher spring rates again

and also get aftermarket sway bars they will be your best friend for drifting

those rates and higher would be too stiff for vic mountains IMO. 27/24mm swaybars with 6/5 springs would be fine for drift IMO.

Have seen R32 drivers do fine without bars with soft coils in a 32, but i feel that swaybars would be worthwhile.

[mystery_kid]

yer i suppose

depends if he's leaning towards more track than mountain

if it's just going to mostly be a track car you'd pretty much just go for as hard as you can get

[_Ryan_]

if it's just going to mostly be a track car you'd pretty much just go for as hard as you can get

Why?

Wouldn't you want a full package that works well?

You could get a custom stupid rate set of springs made, but thrown in with nothing else done they will make the car a slow bucket of shit to drive.

[Roy]

For the money i think you will be hard pressed to beat the Tein Super Streets. Been in plenty of cars running them and they are nice things. I used to run off the shelf Bilsteins and frankly they need to be valved by someone that knows what they are doing to be as good as the Super Streets.

[mystery_kid]

Why?

Wouldn't you want a full package that works well?

You could get a custom stupid rate set of springs made, but thrown in with nothing else done they will make the car a slow bucket of shit to drive.

he said it's going to be a drift car... he doesn't care about driving his gf to the shopping center

and i was also the first one in this thread to mention sway bars..

there is a bit too much throught going into this especially for primarily a track drift car imo

you want hard suspension basically.

[Jack_Sky]

do they have to be tein? why do all skyliners think they have to use tein... look into other brands, hsd, n1 by isc, jic's heaps of brands tein aint the ducks nuts, also u'll need to at least get rear camber arms as skyline coilovers do not come with camber tops as rb_ryan mentioned. go for a 8 fr 6 re spring ratio.

i run the N1 coilovers 8-6 spring rate, very nice unit with base height dampening etcc.. and there cheaper then tein and before you say there Chinese do ya research.

Like i said, im open to other options, these are just the few ive looked at. but will look for some more now...

just fyi none of those coilovers have camber adjustment as it is seperate arm on r32 skylines as oppose to dirty s13's

definitely wouldn't go the super streets the spring rates on them are pretty soft for a primarily drift car probably would say the same about tien flex's

my greddy type s have 8kg front/6kg rear spring rates and they are just bearable on the streets so if it's purely a drift car/mountain runs try and get something like that or higher spring rates again

and also get aftermarket sway bars they will be your best friend for drifting

Sway bars will come after coils...

From what ive heard 8kg front/6kg rear is the way to go... but i dont want to go too hard. I'm unsure what spring rates are in the Koni's but they are too stiff for mountain driving, the car just bounces all over the place and looses traction and cant get power down(in a bad way).

yer i suppose

depends if he's leaning towards more track than mountain

if it's just going to mostly be a track car you'd pretty much just go for as hard as you can get

Like i said... its used for both.. I want something that is stiff enough for drift and will also give me alot more traction in the mountains than these koni's.

Are we all agreeing on 8kg front and 6kg rear for the spring rates???

[badhairdave]

No, 8/6 is too stiff. Been there, done that.

i'd be looking at around 6-7 front and 4-5 rear max. The higher rates would work ok with semis on a track. The lower rates are more appropriate for hills driving. it's a compromise.

Get some sway bars sooner rather than later.

Just a comment on the current setup. Make sure you don't have the rebound adjustment on the konis too high. It makes the car act like it has more spring and may contribute to your lack of rear traction. Konis typically have a bit over 2.5 turns of rebound adjustment. If you go past 2 turns the rebound goes through the roof. You want it somewhere between 1-2 turns.

[Jack_Sky]

No, 8/6 is too stiff. Been there, done that.

i'd be looking at around 6-7 front and 4-5 rear max. The higher rates would work ok with semis on a track. The lower rates are more appropriate for hills driving. it's a compromise.

Get some sway bars sooner rather than later.

Just a comment on the current setup. Make sure you don't have the rebound adjustment on the konis too high. It makes the car act like it has more spring and may contribute to your lack of rear traction. Konis typically have a bit over 2.5 turns of rebound adjustment. If you go past 2 turns the rebound goes through the roof. You want it somewhere between 1-2 turns.

Ive had ppl say 7/5 is too soft tho.... i suppose tho if i get 7/5 and get phat sways itll be fine for drifting.. and 7/5 will be better in the hills too..

Anyone in melbourne got a 32 with these spring rates(7/5) or (8/6)???

[White GTS-T]

Good discussion. I have the Tein SD's with spring rates of 7/5kg and 24/22mm swaybars. I bought them new and have had them for about 18 months. The car is still a daily but i attend as many Winton drift meets as my budget permits. If i had gone softer springs i would have run thicker swaybars.

Here's a video of the setup. (White 32 with black gtr bonnet)

[Jack_Sky]

Good discussion. I have the Tein SD's with spring rates of 7/5kg and 24/22mm swaybars. I bought them new and have had them for about 18 months. The car is still a daily but i attend as many Winton drift meets as my budget permits. If i had gone softer springs i would have run thicker swaybars.

Here's a video of the setup. (White 32 with black gtr bonnet)

yeh looks alright.. but you can see it body roll a little bit.. not too bad tho

how does it go in the hills with those spring rates???

and how are the SD's???

[Habler]

Sydney Kid would have a heart attack if he saw this thread

[White GTS-T]

yeh looks alright.. but you can see it body roll a little bit.. not too bad tho

how does it go in the hills with those spring rates???

and how are the SD's???

I have the front swaybar on soft and run the front damper pretty soft but that just suits my driving style. You could run thicker sway bars but i think they would be overkill with 7/5 kg springs. At the end of the day harder equals slower. The SD's are a bit rough for daily driving, but i don't mind/notice, as they come into their own at the track and they're awesome through the twisties. If you're looking at getting the SD's look into getting them from Japan as a $400-600 saving can be had.

[Jack_Sky]

I have the front swaybar on soft and run the front damper pretty soft but that just suits my driving style. You could run thicker sway bars but i think they would be overkill with 7/5 kg springs. At the end of the day harder equals slower. The SD's are a bit rough for daily driving, but i don't mind/notice, as they come into their own at the track and they're awesome through the twisties. If you're looking at getting the SD's look into getting them from Japan as a $400-600 saving can be had.

hmmm... so youve got 7/5kg SD's with 24m sways... id probs run something like that or possibly 8/6 with the 24mm sways would be abit more suited to my car because its primarily drift, i dont drive in the hills too often.

how much did a set of SD's cost in Aus???

[RBLUV]

theres a nice set of cuscos for sale, flame_this i think his username is

[_Ryan_]

Ive had ppl say 7/5 is too soft tho.... i suppose tho if i get 7/5 and get phat sways itll be fine for drifting.. and 7/5 will be better in the hills too..

Anyone in melbourne got a 32 with these spring rates(7/5) or (8/6)???

Pretty sure my flex are 6/5, I wouldnt go stiffer for hills, welcome to come for a spin(guessing that was your next Q with your melbourne mention). Sways are a good idea. 27f, 24r selbys would match.