Coilover FAQ

[Philter25]

Tein Basics:
http://tein.com/badamp.html

TEIN Type BASIC damper is for the driver that is seeking high performance with a reasonable price. The Basic damper MSRP starts at $750.00, which includes 4 springs and 4 shocks. Compared to the "sleeve type" coil over, the Type Basic has a more exclusive set up for a better balance of suspension travel and damping force.*

Ride height adjustable, budget choice for your entry-level coilover.
Reuses stock endlink for install, No damper/rebound adjustment

A soft coilover, more of a streetable coilover.
8/5.8 kg/mm front/rear springrates $780ish

Seems to be designed for your budget driver who wants the entry level coilover but doesnt seem THAT involved in performance. At the price and specs, these seem to be a good street coilover but the lack of adjustable dampening would hinder autocross applications.

Stretch's Complete In-Depth Review


Tein SS:
http://tein.com/ss1damp.html

The ride height adjustable system enables you to adjust ride height and 16 levels of damping force.

Cost, Same thing as the basics only with the adjustability.

$1400ish - Sale at CVR for 1220


HKS Hipermax:
http://www.hksusa.com/products/?id=1992&rsku=5884

Ride height adjustable, Hipermax LS/LS+ also come completely assembled for an extremely easy installation. aluminum spring perches for full ride height adjustability, The Hipermax LS have preset dampening and rebound while the LS+ offers 30-way dampening and rebound adjustment.

Rear shocks can be manually adjusted with a knob. Cannot pretension spring, changing car height changes suspension travel

On the Softer end for springs, more on the streetable end, seems to absorb street conditions better than the other upper end coilovers:
8/5.5 kg/mm front/rear
$1600ish +

Stretch's Complete In-Depth Review

H&R Coilovers:
http://www.hrsprings.com/site/index.html

Engineered for street and occasional track use, H&R Coil-Overs feature a fully-threaded shock body (not an imitation sleeve-over) that allows you to precisely dial in height adjustment to achieve optimum weight transfer, or simply get the aggressive look you've been looking for. Featuring H&R's exclusive dynamic damper technology, each shock is engineered to work in harmony with a progressive-rate spring, together creating a finely-tuned suspension system.

$1300ish

Ksport coilovers:
http://www.ksportusa.com/products/kontrolpro.html

36-way adjustable dampening, adjustable spring perch, adjustable body and pillow-ball mounts.*

Firmer springrates:
13/9 kg/mm front/rear - $1300ish

D2 Coilovers:
http://www.d2racingsports.com.au/d2suspension.html

The RS coilover system is a 36 way dampner and rebound adjustable.

Firmer Springrates:
13/9 kg/mm front/rear $1300ish - Sale at CVR for 1133

Stretch's In Depth Review

Mazdaspeed Coilovers
http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/speedDispl...carLineCode=MZ6
Height adjustment. No damper/rebound adjustment, price. Pretty much the same as the tein basics, only they cost a ton more.

Softest springrates, way on the streetable side:
Springrate increase of 50-60% over stock.

KW Coilovers KW Coilovers

The KW coilovers for the Mazda 6 are designed for the sedan and wagon, providing an individual driving setup lowering the 6 by 30 mm to 60 mm front and rear. The Variant 2 is the ideal system for hardened sports drivers who are looking for the perfect driving setup, and need to tune the dampers themselves. The Variant 2's adjustable rebound daming impacts on the car's pitch and roll behavior. This increases the driver's impression of his own driving style, and allows him to tune the dampers to suit his requirements.

Buddy Club Buddy Club Coilovers

$1500ish

Edit: Still updating post with more info and sorting through the pages of crap I have printed out on each one......

Note: The prices listed are JUST to give an estimate for comparison. It allows you to compare quality and options vs rough cost. For actual prices, contact a board sponsor.

[crossbow]

D2 spec's are identical to the Ksports btw.

[BabyBlue M6]

hey phil...i think you enjoy trying to make sticky posts too much!

[Philter25]

Originally posted by BabyBlue M6+Sep 28 2005, 06:47 PM-->

hehe. I didnt want my spring FAQ post to get hijacked, which I was just about to do. I know there are a handful of people in my same boat trying to pick between springs and coilovers and people are asking the same questions over and over and over again.

I have all this crap printed out and laying around on my desk so im tryin to compile it into one thread to compare all options, then ill let Stretch go to town and give people advice for what they are looking to get.

<!--QuoteBegin-crossbow@Sep 28 2005, 06:27 PM
D2 spec's are identical to the Ksports btw.

[snapback]520452[/snapback]

What number did I get wrong? They have them listed at 11 and 13 kg/mm for the front springrates?

Edit: yup, 13/9 and 13/9. I guess the australian specs are different?

[Mazda Gremlyn]

Pinned...

[Stretch]

I don't see why this is seperate from the springs thread. Springs and shocks should be discussed together. Coilovers are nothing more than matched springs and shocks; there's nothing that seperates them from buying springs and shocks seperately except how they're packaged. "Coilover" only means "coil spring over the shock", which we don't even really have in the rear.

But, I'll add my obligatory rant:


D2 and K-Sport:

Firm springs but jello for shocks, even on their firmest setting. Rear shocks are worthless and should be junked. Replace with Koni's and you've got a decent package. D2 offers custom spring rates. Use with Racing Beat rear sway bar or order custom spring rates.


Tein Basics:

Soft springs, soft shocks. Made for daily drivers. Not for track- needs more damper control in the rear. A shock can be soft and still have good control; what we have here is a shock that just isn't very high quality. Consider replacing rears with Koni's. Use with front and rear sway bars for best results.


Tein SS:

Haven't tried them, but if the dampers have the quality of the Basics, I think KW will represent a better value. The Teins would be much better if they were firmer, but unless the SS's also improve low-speed damper control, I'd look into B&G or KW instead.


HKS:

I guess you get what you pay for. Low speed damping fantastic even on softest setting. Ride quality ranges from decent to brutal. Rear springs could be firmer- use with RB rear sway. I don't know if these are better or worse than other premium sets such as KW.


B&G:

Lists adjustable shock for V6 and non-adjustable shock for i4. Screw that, i4 owners should buy the V6 version. The way the 4cyl shocks are marketed, they're probably tuned really soft. Since B&G races a V6, I bet they're quite well tuned for the car. Dunno what the spring rates are.


KW:

I like their spring rates, 11kg/mm front and 9kg/mm rear for the 6i. I don't know what the V6 rates are. I haven't tried their Mazda6 application, but they're very popular (and successful) among autocrossers. As are...


Koni's w/ springs:

Koni's are cheap because they don't have all the parts coilovers come with, such as spring perches. However, they work as well as many expensive coilovers. The range of adjustability is collosal. Combine with custom springs to make your own cheap coilover package.


Personally, I run HKS coilovers and love them. I'm not sure if they justify their price, but they're cetainly far better than anything I've tried thus far. KW or B&G might come close because they're more mass-market dedicated shock companies and may have lower costs. I plan to run both the front and rear RB sways, but to do so I want to replace the rear spring with something firmer. I may end up with a D2 rear spring or something custom.


In the future: hope Bilstein makes a spring/shock package. Also hope KYW makes adjustable shocks; they make the OE shocks so they've already got the measurements and parts. Also hope someone like Ground Control starts selling custom spring rates with spring height perches. That'd really improve the quality of the low-cost coilover offerings.

[Philter25]

Stretch,

Since you seem to do this monthly, how is the coilover install?

The front seem extremely easy to install, just a plug and play with the existing spring/shock combo but im worried about the rear shocks. How hard is it to get to the bolt on the top of the rear shocks?

[Stretch]

The bracket takes some time, but it's not hard. You end up turning a wrench about 1/8th of a turn at a time (because that's all there's room for) until it's loose. Pulling the bracket down takes some finesse, but again- it's not hard.

I received an email reply from Tanabe in late September that the R&D for a Mazda 6 version of their Pro S-0C coilovers had been completed, and that production "should begin very soon". Hopefully they will follow through and produce these for our cars. I will keep my eye out for them and post when they become available.

[vtusaf]

Whats up with NEX GT coilovers on ebay. I'm guessing they're crap but its a cheap option. $655 shipped
4 way adjustable but has a note: Not all kits come with upper mounts

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEX-GT-COIL...1QQcmdZViewItem