Options for GSX coilovers

[renovatdkitchen]

Isn't there a vendor sale currently on for coilovers?

 

[IIv SHaDoW vII]

So I think I have narrowed it down to 2 choices.
Tein Basics - 690ish
Koni Yellows + GC Coilovers

I didn't think to get a strut/coilover combo.. I was originally aiming for an assembled kit but with so many recommendations to reconsider.. maybe I will go the yellows + GCs.

So for you Koni Yellow + GC owners... Let's see some links to prices. I'd like to assemble a kit to replace the entire stock assembly.. Is this possible or will I need to use some of the stock parts. I also still want to keep the price around 1k or less.
So what else would I need to build my own full kit? Struts, coilovers, and the pillow tops? Is this all?
Let's see some links to these items + anything else I may need.

Here is the cheapest I am finding the Koni yellows:
KONI YELLOW SPORT SHOCKS/STRUTS SET 95-99 ECLIPSE | eBay

$550

 

[johnovision27]

I've rocked Megan street coil overs for 2 years now, rain and snow and SALT and zero rust! All the components move freely to this day and the 32 way damper makes all the difference.

Oh, did I mention the price? Awesome

 

[romeen]

So I think I have narrowed it down to 2 choices.
Tein Basics - 690ish
Koni Yellows + GC Coilovers

I didn't think to get a strut/coilover combo.. I was originally aiming for an assembled kit but with so many recommendations to reconsider.. maybe I will go the yellows + GCs.

So for you Koni Yellow + GC owners... Let's see some links to prices. I'd like to assemble a kit to replace the entire stock assembly.. Is this possible or will I need to use some of the stock parts. I also still want to keep the price around 1k or less.
So what else would I need to build my own full kit? Struts, coilovers, and the pillow tops? Is this all?
Let's see some links to these items + anything else I may need.

Here is the cheapest I am finding the Koni yellows:
KONI YELLOW SPORT SHOCKS/STRUTS SET 95-99 ECLIPSE | eBay

$550

That's a good price for the Konis.

A lot of guys buy the GC kits directly from GC although many other vendors sell them too. If you want you can request custom spring rates. The techs at GC will help you decide if you tell them what suspension mods you have and how you intend to drive the car.

Ground Control - Coilover Conversion kit, 95-99 Mitsubishi Eclipse/Talon

You can reuse the stock upper shock mounts and rubber bushings if you don't want to get pillow ball mounts. Here's a good tech article showing how to install the GC kit:

Ground Control Coilover kit install, 2G

 

[jtmcinder]

...and the 32 way damper makes all the difference.

Out of curiosity, how many of the 32 settings are actually different?

Not that I want to distract anyone from the previous post, which is what I think you all should be reading.

 

[johnovision27]

Well, it's a gradual change from soft to stiff as a rock. You need to play around with it and see what feels good for you. I soften mine up in the winter (32) and stiffen them up in the summer ( about 10-15)

 

[eviltsi]

Does anyone know of a coilover setup for us with an adjustable rebound?

 

[jtmcinder]

Good question. That illustrates the huge difference between all the so-called "Asian crud" that's out there and systems based on Konis. All the single-adjuster Asian stuff is a two-way bleed adjuster, so both rebound and compression damping change together. Even worse, those shocks are never digressive (enough) in compression, so by the time you have the rebound up where it belongs, you are skittering across the track with no grip due to the excessive compression. Konis, in contrast, are wonderfully digressive in bump and the adjuster only changes rebound.

Yes, you can go on up to two-way coilovers and at least have separate rebound control, but odds are the compression damping will still not be digressive. By the time that you finally reach an OTS coilover that is as good as a cobbled-together system based on Konis, you have paid three times as much.

This is why many of us keep saying that nothing comes close to sleeves-on-Konis for 2G DSMs for the money.

 

[jtmcinder]

Well, it's a gradual change from soft to stiff as a rock. You need to play around with it and see what feels good for you. I soften mine up in the winter (32) and stiffen them up in the summer ( about 10-15)

Sorry. My question was too subtle.

Many of the crudier shocks are advertised in a way that jumps up and down about the number of clicks the adjusters have. (By the way, most of the really good stuff doesn't even have clicks; it's a continuous adjustment; but that's a side issue.) When you put these 429-way shocks on a dyno, however, you learn two things: first, more than half the range of settings are all the same; second, the variability between shocks is almost as large as the variability between settings.

It's just a correlation, so don't make too much of it, but it seems to me that the more different "click" settings a shock has, the lower the actual quality is.

 

[cait sith]

Does anyone know of a coilover setup for us with an adjustable rebound?

Nothing decent off the shelf. If you're looking for that kind of adjustment, you probably should look into fabricating your own setup.

 

[nickk90]

Nothing decent off the shelf. If you're looking for that kind of adjustment, you probably should look into fabricating your own setup.

Koni shocks having rebound adjustment. So Koni yellows and grond contorls are what he is looking for.

 

[shane90gsx]

I have a set of Megan street as well. 900 shipped after taxes. 32 way dampening adjustable. Hight adjustable separate from spring. Great for street or weekend racer. Not as good as Kw but less then half the price. They are rebuildable, and if you want to take it to the next level they can re-valve them. I have them on my 3s so I have camber adjustability. (assuming your's is a 2g) I have JIC Magics on my 1g. Great for racing....

 

[jtmcinder]

I have a set of Megan street as well. 900 shipped after taxes. 32 way dampening adjustable. Hight adjustable separate from spring. Great for street or weekend racer. Not as good as Kw but less then half the price. They are rebuildable, and if you want to take it to the next level they can re-valve them.

Megan *streets* are rebuildable? Are you sure about that?

 

[RWD4G63]

Or you could send your taiwanese coilovers to www.fealsuspension.com and have all the adjustability and convenience of the cheap stuff with most of the performance of the Koni's.

It's too bad Fortune Auto doesn't make coilovers for the DSM...

NOTE: Edited for correctness.

 

[jtmcinder]

Not to mention Koni yellow's can't really handle any spring rate over 6kg/mm.

And this claim is based on what, please?

 

[snowborder714]

I'd like to know as well since all the springs I'm using on my Koni yellows are above 6kg/mm.

 

[jtmcinder]

Or you could send your taiwanese coilovers to Directory and have all the adjustability and convenience of the cheap stuff with the performance of the Koni's.

I just spent some time looking into these guys (Feal, that is) and I really like what I see. But let's not overstate what they can do. Yes, they can revalve most Taiwanese shocks (hopefully making them much more digressive), but they cannot change the basic design. The shocks will still use a two-way bleeder for adjustment when they are done.

And don't miss the hidden message behind what Feal does. It will cost at least $800 to "fix" a set of Taiwanese coilovers. So, when putting Megans, D2s, K-Sports, etc, up against a system based on Konis, add $800 and some serious downtime to the true cost of the former.

I'm still wondering if they can work on Megan streets, as well as Megan race, but it's much less of an issue to me now. Thanks for the link. I learned something today.

But you're still way off on what Koni Yellows can handle....

 

[shane90gsx]

Megan *streets* are rebuildable? Are you sure about that?

Yep.. Talked to Robert at road race before I bought them. I have them on my 3s... Not Dsm. But I think they are the same valve body.

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[jtmcinder]

Thanks. That makes this an interesting option.

What I'd love to see is a set of football and AFV plots for these or any other Taiwanese coilovers after Feal (or anyone else) is done fixing them. If they can make them digressive and clean up the hysteresis, then this could be a serious option.

Most of all, we wouldn't be answering the "where do I get pillowballs for my 2G?" question all the time.

 

[RWD4G63]

EDIT:

Why don't you guys start a petition to Fortune Auto? Their 500 series dampers have quite a nice plot for a budget damper, and they're very responsive to their customers.

 

[jtmcinder]

Hm.

What a Koni Sport for a Honda can handle is nearly irrelevant. Konis Sports for different cars are different and most Hondas weigh less than a DSM.

Look at it this way. Assume you have 800# fronts on a DSM. What do you want the damping to be at about 2" per second? (Shooting for about .70 critical and using the 2/3 & 3/2 rule.) About 50# in compression and 125# in rebound would be about right. Now guess what a front Koni Sport for a 2G produces at 2" per second? 50# in compression and 100#-300# in rebound.

The only possible defense for the claim that Koni Sports are limited to 400# springs is that they'll overheat. That might be true, but it's very very doubtful. I drove across the country on 850# fronts and had no problems at all.

As to Fortunes: yes, they have now made one shock with decent plots. But that doesn't make up for all the utter crap they have made before. I'd rather wait a bit before inviting them in. Plus, while you might say that they're responsive, all the people with Evo Xs and broken front brake lines might disagree with you. When they finally half-heartedly admitted that it was their mistake, they still made people pay shipping and handling for the new brake-line bracket. That is not what I'd call good customer service.

 

[RWD4G63]

I made the critical error of forgetting that you have what is essentially double wishbone suspension in the front. So.. Yeah... Silly me.

I've seen quite a few broken brake lines on x's with all the cheap taiwanese coils.

My Fortunes rode amazing on my S13. Far better than any of my previous coils (megan, tein, stance), but I think I'll be going with Feal this go-round. I like what he does, and am interested to see how they perform.