My New Tein SS!!!

[Brett_MX5]

Nice Brad, I've had mine for about 1000kms now and I'm very happy with them - even happier cos I also got the EDFC controller as well

I didnt get a hat tho

[Brad]

Brett, I'll swap you the hat for the EDFC

What are your thoughts on the EDFC, worth the money, around $700 aren't they? I would consider it at some point but not right away, I've got other things to buy yet like the rest of the exhaust and get some panels repainted.

I'm hoping they'll be a smoother ride than the Bilsteins but also reduce body roll.

Have you got any pics as I'd like to see how low someone else's sits and compare that to the reference height they come at. From what they say they are set to 100mm ground clearance, however I'd like about 120mm. I was going to install them and see how they sit out of the box, though a reference would be good.

[Brett_MX5]

The EDFC is great, I dont think I could live without it Just the fact you dont have to stop, get out of the car, pop the bonnet/boot and fiddle around with the settings is enough for me to consider it a wise investment.

Haven't got any pics yet, should have some this weekend (I'm getting the car polished - got some scratches I cant get out by hand)

The Teins are softer than the PSS9 setup I drove on another car - which I thought was way too stiff

Body roll is almost non existant for me, I already had Whiteline Swaybars fitted before I got the Teins - just gotta get the shorter front links, I noticed when changing the front pads they are hitting the upper A arm on full compression

[Fra66L]

Cal,
Good call on the carpet mate! Once carpetted a mate's double garage when we used to build escorts and dattos and such. Scored 5 large rolls of used office carpet for $40 and used the rest to carpet my (large) back patio for a large party. You have no idea how nice it is to be changing a diff while lying on carpet. The stray bolts don't tend to run too far when you drop them either...

Good luck with the Teins Brad. May be moving to the dark(green) side myself soon....

Cheers,
T

[JBT]

Looks like a really great set up Brad

Questions:
1. Where is the shock rate adjustment? On top?
2. Please explain how the ride height can be adjusted yet still retain full shock travel. I can see that the perch is adjustable and I guess the lower ring is a lock ring. But I cannot get my head around how lowering the perch still leaves full shock travel.

[Brad]

Looks like a really great set up Brad

Questions:
1. Where is the shock rate adjustment? On top?
2. Please explain how the ride height can be adjusted yet still retain full shock travel. I can see that the perch is adjustable and I guess the lower ring is a lock ring. But I cannot get my head around how lowering the perch still leaves full shock travel.

1. Adjustment is on the top, under the little rubber boot.
2. SS's can only change spring perch height, therefore the lower you go the less travel you have. The Tein Flex allow seperate adjustment though http://www.tein.com/flexdamp.html

I understand though that at factory setting they have similar travel to standard, though not positive. I'll take pics of the install and have them up next week.

[Cal]

The stray bolts don't tend to run too far when you drop them either...

Not to mention you can just let the diff oil soak into the carpet. Bet Brad's Mrs would be happy about that on the Gucci sh*t they have in the NewFarm appartment.

Cal.

[Juffa]

Looks like a really great set up Brad

Questions:
1. Where is the shock rate adjustment? On top?
2. Please explain how the ride height can be adjusted yet still retain full shock travel. I can see that the perch is adjustable and I guess the lower ring is a lock ring. But I cannot get my head around how lowering the perch still leaves full shock travel.

1. Adjustment is on the top, under the little rubber boot.
2. SS's can only change spring perch height, therefore the lower you go the less travel you have. The Tein Flex allow seperate adjustment though http://www.tein.com/flexdamp.html

I understand though that at factory setting they have similar travel to standard, though not positive. I'll take pics of the install and have them up next week.

I have the Tein Flex on my NA. The ride height can be adjusted and retain suspension travel as the lower shock body can be raised or lowered independently of the spring perch, as the threaded portion screws into the lower shock body. So now I don't bottom out like I did on my previous Koni/Eibach combination.

J

[JBT]

Thanks for the replies Brad and Juffa. I get it now. Need the Flex for height adjustment and full travel. Suppose they cost a lot more than the SS?

[Cal]

As an alterative, got a price on the AVO coils today = $283ea.

Cal.

[Juffa]

Thanks for the replies Brad and Juffa. I get it now. Need the Flex for height adjustment and full travel. Suppose they cost a lot more than the SS?

I got mine, brand new out of the trading post for under $1800. Someone on the forum was bringing them in from Japan and selling them for around $2200. Expensive......but very nice. Mine did not include the upper pillow mounts, which adds $200+ dollars

[Philip Lee]

JBT, if you're not going to slam the car too low, u don't really need the Flex.

with my current ride height, i never bottom out.

i'll be dropping 15mm all round and will see how it goes with the travel.

[Brad]

As an alterative, got a price on the AVO coils today = $283ea.

Cal.

Avo shocks only I expect. You need to add $80 for a coil on top of that, being $363/corner, and $1452 for a set. Then add $200 for strut tops. Still very good for an adjustable setup.

[Brad]

The Tein's went on the car today with the help of Neil and Cal, thanks guys. It started really badly with a cross threaded wheel nut on the first wheel to come off. Ended up requiring the snapping of the stud, however after Neil's help the hub was taken off and fixed in an hour by Don Lake for a measily $10.

The rears were a piece of cake and took about a 1/2 hour each, however the fronts required the removal of the hub from the top ball joint through same pretty substantial coesion of a rather large hammer. The first front was about a 2 hour job, but the other was about an hour.

I decided to leave the heights at what they came out of the box as a point of reference. Originally the car sat a 345 at the front and 340 at the rear. It's now down to 330 at the front and 335 at the rear after a few hours of settle. To me the rear is sitting about 2cms too high and the rear about 1, though I'll wait a bity to see if they settle any more.

Once they were installed I counted the clicks from full hard to full soft on each corner and found the rears had 25(L) and 26(R) clicks, with the fronts both having 28. This has confused me somewhat as I don't know whether there are only 16 levels, with the extra clicks being at either extremity, or at both, rendering the first 4-5 clicks at boths ends useless, or as the case may be, that there are in fact that many levels of adjustment.

Now for the ride and handling.
I originally set them at 1/2 stiffness based on the mid point of the full range. The ride was much more compliant than the Bilsteins, but over undulating roads at around 60-70km/h it felt under dampened being a tad pogoie compared to what I'm used to. The turn in was much the same as the Bilsteins, however once in a corner there was less roll and tended to want to change direction mid corner better.

I then set them to 4 clicks from the hardest setting and found an immediate difference. The turn in was substantially better, while there was much less roll and less hashness over bumps, yet more control. On the freeway it felt much more direct in lane changes, while on roads I know well it was better at absorbing harsh road grade changes, though still firm. I'd expect if I took them to full hard they'd be somewhat like the Bilstein's in their ride but with even more directness then seen at about 3/4.

So far I've only had it on these settings but will fiddle around for a while and drive it alot more to find a setting I'm happy with.

Fronts


Rears

[Babalouie]

I decided to leave the heights at what they came out of the box as a point of reference. Originally the car sat a 345 at the front and 340 at the rear. It's now down to 330 at the front and 335 at the rear after a few hours of settle. To me the rear is sitting about 2cms too high and the rear about 1, though I'll wait a bity to see if they settle any more.

Mine took a few hundred kays to really settle, so you'l probably find that they will settle at about 320mm each corner.

Once they were installed I counted the clicks from full hard to full soft on each corner and found the rears had 25(L) and 26(R) clicks, with the fronts both having 28. This has confused me somewhat as I don't know whether there are only 16 levels, with the extra clicks being at either extremity, or at both, rendering the first 4-5 clicks at boths ends useless, or as the case may be, that there are in fact that many levels of adjustment.

Whoa there...there is a "stop" at full-hard but there isn't one at full-soft. You can only tell if you are at full-soft by counting 16 clicks backwards from full-hard, and you should avoid going past 16 clicks from hard. (So by the sounds of it your initial run at 1/2 setting was probably just a couple of clicks away from full-soft, rather than in the real mid-point).

The clicks may be a bit hard to feel if you are just twirling the adjuster with your finger, but if you use that hex adjuster-knob-thingy that comes with it the clicks are easier to discern.