Nicebiscuit 655 Report post Posted February 21, 2016 Post here what you've got, and share any useful info... Springs, shocks, coilovers, whatever. Technical info, driving impressions, photos of how damn awesome your car looks now - all welcome. Share your suspension related wisdom, so that others can read and learn... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lauren 2259 Report post Posted February 21, 2016 I've got Tein coilovers of the Streetflex variety. I run 5kg front spring rate and 6kg rear. I also have my rear dampers uprated 20% after some initial testing felt that the rear damping need to be increased a little. I worked with Tein UK and Fensport with two others that went for this setup back in April 2014. The Teins normally come with a 7/7kg spring rate but most are ordering 6/6kg setup as this is a little easier on UK roads. I went for the lower front spring rate as I wanted the car to move under braking and let me use that to rotate the rear when I'm trail braking and the like. I've tried the 6/6kg setup in other's cars. The 6/6kg setup seems to be a 'safer' option as it tends to bring in a little understeer, whereas the 5/6kg setup makes it a little more lairy though this is a matter of personal taste of course. With an appropriate geo setup I find I get very little or really no understeer at all, the car is quite pointy with a very good turn in. Obviously with the slightly lower spring rate on the front compared to the rear, it allows me to rotate the rear a bit more on turn in and this is great for being quick of course. I also have the TEIN EDFC Active Pro which I had fitted at the same time as the coilovers. This enables me to set the damping force according to lateral and longitudinal G-force as well as enabling me to change damping force according to the speed I'm travelling. There is quite a lot you can programme in here and to a point it's fairly complex. I guess the big advantage is I can have the damping force set low around town and then as I speed up it increases. This helps to give a decent ride but means that as soon as I push the car into a corner, it stiffens up instantly and gives me the control I need. I have run this setup for two years now and have fine tuned the parameters to set the car up how I like it to handle. To be fair it's a great system that has been totally fault free in over 50,000miles. I've done two seasons of sprinting and it's a real doddle to adjust your setup with just a couple of presses of the button rather than having to go round the car twiddling knobs! Incidentally the 5/6kg setup has I've been told by TEIN UK become known as the 'Lauren spring rate'. so if you fancy that, you know what to ask for! Overall I've been very impressed with it, it doesn't have that annoyingly bobbly ride you get with the stock setup and paired up with some very lightweight wheels I've transformed how my car handles. Some pics of my setup being setup! Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr EDFC Active Pro display: EDFC Active Pro by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr Front pillow ball mount with EDFC stepper motor on top: TEIN suspension 2 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr As they came out the box: TEIN suspension by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr TEIN suspension by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr TEIN suspension by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr At RRG after installation, ride height reduced somewhat! TEIN suspension 2 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr 2 MangoNo5 and Nicebiscuit reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deacon 1357 Report post Posted February 21, 2016 I've had a few set ups - AST/CG lowering springs, Meister R GT1's, Meister R Zeta's and now Tein Flex A's. I've also got whiteline rear adjustable camber bushes, whiteline front and rear adjustable anti-roll bars, whiteline front and rear adjustable drop links, whiteline rear anti-roll bar braces and a set of whiteline front castor bushes waiting to be fitted. These are complemented by front and rear carbon strutbraces and a TRD door stabiliser kit. Suspension preferences always seem very personal but if anyone's got any questions about any of the bits I've got or ran previously I'd be happy to answer. 1 Nicebiscuit reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AJ124 118 Report post Posted February 21, 2016 Deacon, can you sum up your reasons for changing from the zeta r to the Tein flex A and how you feel they differ? They are my 2 main options. KW or ST, bilstein b14/16 and the Tein flex Z are the others. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deacon 1357 Report post Posted February 22, 2016 9 hours ago, AJ124 said: Deacon, can you sum up your reasons for changing from the zeta r to the Tein flex A and how you feel they differ? They are my 2 main options. KW or ST, bilstein b14/16 and the Tein flex Z are the others. When I had the GT1's fitted I didn't know they hadn't been fully developed on the 86 platform and they basically didn't work well at all - they had a really horrible bounce like the front and back dampers were not working together well. I took the car back to B.A.D who developed the GT1's with Meister a couple of times but they still couldn't get them working properly so they put a set of the Zeta's on to get me home. I ran those for about a month. I found them to be quite harsh and have a slightly brittle feeling - similar to how some lowering springs can feel. I swapped to the flex a's as I was intrigued by the hydraulic bump stop and had read that tein were on their 3rd gen of development with the 86 platform. I have found the flex a's to be excellent. I haven't had standard suspension for a long time but other members who have have ridden in the car with me and suggested it rides better than stock and this is with it being lowered approximately 45mm. Hope that helps but if you have any more questions please ask. 3 MangoNo5, Nicebiscuit and AJ124 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AJ124 118 Report post Posted February 22, 2016 Thank's Deacon, what spring rates did you settle on with Tein? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deacon 1357 Report post Posted February 22, 2016 5 minutes ago, AJ124 said: Thank's Deacon, what spring rates did you settle on with Tein? The standard tein rates (6/6) - I figured they've developed them with those rates and so I'd give them a try. They seem to work very well. 1 AJ124 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
S18 RSG 429 Report post Posted February 22, 2016 I also stuck with 6/6 on my Teins. I find there is enough adjustability in the damping to tune the car more towards under/over steer depending on your preference, so stock spring rates work fine for me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nicebiscuit 655 Report post Posted February 22, 2016 Interested in anyone's experience with updated shocks only. Given that my car is very much road/daily driver focused I'm not sure I particularly want it lower, thus coilovers may be overkill. But car as standard feels a little underdamped. Considering Bilstein B6s or similar. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paul 442 Report post Posted February 22, 2016 Got the Tein Flex Z's with standard springs and I changed to 18x8.5 wheels on 225/40/18 tyres at the same time and had the car lowered 20mm. Car feels much more planted, ride is slightly harder than stock but not uncomfortable, deals with bumps pretty well and the cornering is now even better than stock, plus you can still throw the car around with the assists off. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
S18 RSG 429 Report post Posted February 22, 2016 8 minutes ago, Nicebiscuit said: Interested in anyone's experience with updated shocks only. Given that my car is very much road/daily driver focused I'm not sure I particularly want it lower, thus coilovers may be overkill. But car as standard feels a little underdamped. Considering Bilstein B6s or similar. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk A decent set of shock absorbers (like the Bilstein's) are gonna set you back close to £500. For that price you could buy the basic Tein coilovers, which I have tried, and are a noticeable upgrade in handling while maintaining, or even improving the standard ride. You don't need to lower the car to crazy lengths either. I'm fairly sure you can lower by as little as 10mm from stock on most coilovers, some possibly even offer stock ride height. There are a few guys on the US forum running upgraded dampers, but most also do the springs at the same time, so you may struggle to find too many people with that setup. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nicebiscuit 655 Report post Posted February 22, 2016 Granted, it's in other applications - but received wisdom in some quarters is that expensive dampers can be better use of cash than cheap coilovers. The B6s are designed to work with stock springs. For a more track biased car I'd expect the additional adjustability of coilovers would win out every time mind. I don't particularly want different - just 'better'. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
S18 RSG 429 Report post Posted February 22, 2016 Oh absolutely, cheap coilovers are best avoided, but I wouldn't class Tein products as "cheap". I certainly wouldn't put £200 eBay coilovers on the car, which was commonplace in the VAG scene. It's all a matter of pros and cons. On the one hand, you get dampers which will do their job better than the coilovers, whereas coilovers give you more adjustability and upgraded springs which may be a better all round package. Given that suspension quality is determined by both the spring and the damper (and obviously countless other things) you may find that the better dampers are balanced out by worse springs. I don't know, just spitballing really. 1 Nicebiscuit reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Varelco 211 Report post Posted February 22, 2016 What's an upgraded spring? A spring is a spring, it's functionality is simple. The damper which is setup to the spring its mated too is what matters. If you do not need adjustable geometry and various changes in ride height then you are better off spending your money on the best fixed damper/spring set up you can afford. This set up will be better than "basic" coilovers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
S18 RSG 429 Report post Posted February 22, 2016 You realise that springs have different "spring rates" right? That is, a stiffer spring requires more weight (or load) before it will be compressed a certain amount. Thinking about this logically, a stiffer spring helps "support" that load, and keep the car flat and level through a corner, meaning more even distribution of load between left and right wheels, and therefore more grip overall. The stock springs that come on this car are 3kg/mm (I believe), whereas a stiffer spring could be something like 6kg/mm, meaning that twice the load is required to compress the spring the same amount, resulting in flatter cornering. I think it's up for debate whether a fixed damper/spring combination is better value than a similarly priced set of coilovers, as we really don't have enough evidence to support either opinion, but we can at least agree on the facts here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rich 378 Report post Posted February 22, 2016 It's a trade off though. Stiffer springs reduce body roll which is good for cornering as you lift the inner wheels less, and thus they have more grip.But at the same time, when travelling over bumps you want softer springs as they allow the wheels to follow the road more closely, resulting in better grip. Racing cars have mega stiff strings because tracks are smooth so they don't need to worry about hitting potholes, for road you definitely want a softer setup. So stiffer might not necessarily be better. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
S18 RSG 429 Report post Posted February 22, 2016 Yeah, of course, that's what I was getting at with my last reply (pros and cons). An uprated damper on a stock spring will improve ride, no doubt about it, but won't necessarily give such noticeable improvements in cornering. At the end of the day, a stock spring maintains it's spring rate no matter what damper it's attached to, so under load it will still compress the same amount, resulting in body roll, and therefore less precise cornering. An uprated spring will help maintain a more flat body under load, but mated on a stock damper will be more "crashy". I think we're all in agreement that an uprated damper/spring combo is the way to go for handling, as you get the advantages of both, and that can be achieved with coilovers or separate damper/spring units. If all you care about is comfort, then you probably bought the wrong car when you drove out in a GT86 but on a serious note, damping is the most important upgrade in that case. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nicebiscuit 655 Report post Posted February 22, 2016 Not just comfort... On the god-awful roads we enjoy in the UK, there's something to be said for softer springing as it enables more consistent tyre contact. Surely a fast road set up would have more in common with rally than race car suspension. Hence wondering whether stock springs and Billys might work well. I'd like to keep the suspension travel and spring compliance. I'd just prefer a little more control. I'll happily sacrifice looks and track performance for that. I've owned cars before with overly firm suspension and they were crap on B roads because they would just be a handful if you hit mid corner imperfections (well usually bloody great craters these days) Anyhow - perhaps I shall be the Guinea pig on this one... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MangoNo5 55 Report post Posted February 22, 2016 Hi I had the Tein Flex A's fitted on Friday with the 7/7 rate and dropped 30mm by the Fensport boys. I have to say the kit is much better than OEM and I would think getting the EDFC kit like Lauren would give the best of both worlds, adapting where needed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tareim 343 Report post Posted February 22, 2016 6 minutes ago, MangoNo5 said: Hi I had the Tein Flex A's fitted on Friday with the 7/7 rate and dropped 30mm by the Fensport boys. I have to say the kit is much better than OEM and I would think getting the EDFC kit like Lauren would give the best of both worlds, adapting where needed. did you specifically ask for 7/7 or is that the new standard rate? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AJ124 118 Report post Posted February 22, 2016 7/7 is the standard rate as far as I'm aware. Most UK owners spec 6/6 from the research I have done. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deacon 1357 Report post Posted February 22, 2016 6/6 is standard for the flex a's as far as I know? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AJ124 118 Report post Posted February 22, 2016 20 minutes ago, Deacon said: 6/6 is standard for the flex a's as far as I know? Just checked Teins website and you are correct, i'm sure it used to be 7/7 but I must have been mixed up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deacon 1357 Report post Posted February 22, 2016 8 minutes ago, AJ124 said: Just checked Teins website and you are correct, i'm sure it used to be 7/7 but I must have been mixed up. I think on their old suspension line up (pre flex Z and flex a) it used to be 7/7 but changed when they revamped it. 2 Lauren and AJ124 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lauren 2259 Report post Posted February 22, 2016 Ah, that's good to know, Jeff. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
