planning ahead-coilovers.

[BMR2L]

Ever encountered a brang called Largus?
They seem to do a set of coilovers for a MK1 for about £800.[/url]

I was interested in a set of those too since they started appearing on Yahoo auctions about a year ago. But after reading the various threads here I've come to the conclusion that they'll be horribly hard as the spring rates are even harder than K-Sport's. Pity, as decent stuff like Koni isn't available locally.

Interestingly those RHD guys are about a mile up the road from me.

-Alan

[crazybrightman]

got to admit my d2 coilovers arn't brill, great in the dry (on track only!) but as soon as its wet the over hard springs and poor damping control make it like driving on a knife edge.
if i was to do it again id do weld on coilover sleeves and fit the hard kyb shocks. the part numbers are on here somewhere.

[vashy]

I had LEDA coilovers on two MR2s - one standard(ish) weight and one v. lightened. With the former and the spring rates LEDA specced it was more comfortable on a lower setting than the 'standard' Koni, 30% uprated spring type set ups I had on several MR2s. It was perfectly acceptable for daily road use.

I find the same with mine - the ride is fine for use every day (in fact I do). I use 4 clicks for the road, turn in and responses are sharp, you can feel the road detail precisely, but it's not harsh at all. That's with 225lb/in F 375 R springs, slightly stiffer than Leda's recommended rates if I remember correctly.

I know they have indiviual bump and rebound damping, because you can specify whatever bump:rebound ratio you want.

I've had my LEDAs since about 80,000 miles and I'm now on ~117k. Oh yes, on track, with the damping turned up, they're brilliant (:

[Lauren]

Leda's work very well having driven Dgh's car on track many years ago.

[Fab4MR2]

There is a Japanese branch of Aragosta (if I remembered the name right) that offers what looks like a decent setup for the AW11. They list them on Yahoo Japan, and can be set up however you like, but of course, you'ld probably need to speak Japanese to close the deal and have them made properly. I used Babel to translate the pages, in order to get an idea of what they are like, but I doubt that would be sufficient for purchasing.
I believe they run around $2,500 US.
Their European models have aluminum billet bodies, but I think the Japanese versions use steel.
Another decent coilover for the AW11 would be the Toda Fightex, which can be custom setup for your car. The good thing about them is that they have English speaking reps (at least in the US). They are not cheap though, and are also over the $2,500 US range (about $2,700 US I believe).