Suspension thoughts/options

[juliankv73]

Hi

Im looking into suspension options for my Da's 1MZFE V6 MR2. Its needing a suspension refresh as I swapped out his suspension onto my my REV5 turbo (that I sold recently) when I thought the Teins were leaking and slapped on a used set of suspension onto my Dads mr2 to get by. These are now fooked and I need to replace these ASAP.

Im not sure what to do, buy a set of used black suspension or yellow bilsteins, buy a set of Meister R's, and to complicate matters, it turned out the Teins weren't leaking but had oil and grime splattered on the strut (probably from the industrial estate that YVS are located on lol). On looking at the Teins, and rubbing off the oil splatter, the shocks are fine, no leaks at all So now having just fitted these to my Dads V6 mr2, he's finding the ride bone shockingly hard, he's 71 after all. Ive still havent connected the EDFC so that I can set them on their 'softest' setting, so its defaulted to hard lol


My Dads car apart from the V6 lump, its polybushed all round, and has my 17" Desmond Wise Sports alloys on 17" x 8" et35, 2 x 17" x 9" et38. Currently on the Teins its lowered, and Ill need to have the rear arches rolled as theyre scrubbing slightly. But The problem is my Dad finds the Teins too hard.


So using the search function, "race-idiot" seems to precis the options well.


My question is are these options still the case??

Toyota UK spec oem - cheapest option, definitely not designed to work with lowering springs. however with the standard springs the ride is great it just looks like a 4x4

Black Billsteins - These are the standard shocks for tubbies rev2 on, slightly stiffer than the UK spec stuff but not too bad. Also I did run these with lowering springs, but not with a huge drop. However they probably arent going to last if you run a spring that dumps the car to the ground.

Yellow Billsteins - Also known as B6 Sport, these are stiffer than the black ones and designed to be used with lowering springs. However if you match if with a very stiff spring like a Tein, the ride quality will not be good. Currently I use these, combined with TRD springs and it rides well apart from over big potholes.

Koni Sport - Another shock designed to run with lowering springs, is also adjustable! However you need to find some empty strut housings for them as they only come as a damper. If you can get past the faffing i'd say they are the best shock to use with a lowering spring on uk roads. I had mine set on medium, the ride and compliance was fantastic.

KYB Excel g - I've seen these for sale but I havent used them or knowingly been in a car with them. So I dunno! KYB do make the oem uk spec shocks tho, but they are another option.

Another factor that hasnt been mentioned is your antiroll bars, thicker arbs make a world of difference in how the car feels in a corner. Every time I fling a mr2 with std arbs into a corner im suprised at the amount of roll they have!

I currently run TRD antiroll bars and the car corners much flatter than stock. However i've been told that whiteline bars are a bit more street friendly and they are adjustable. Suspension techniques and some other jdm companies make arbs but most people have trds or whitelines.

Coilovers are another option, but personaly if I was going to buy a set i'd want to know whos making what. Most of these low end 600/700 quid ones seem to be made in taiwan/china and dont tend to show any signs of R&D. But people on forums say their fantastic so what do I know? My current car had a set of BC's on it when I bought it and I hated how the car drove, but to be fair the previous owner had literaly slammed the thing to the ground.

Personaly if I felt like I needed fancy adjustable suspension (which I dont because my car is primarily street driven) i'd be going with a company that actualy does R&D like KW or H&R.

This is all opinion btw

So before I put up a wanted ad, what suspension best suits a 71 year old needing to lower the car (to sit nicely with the Desmonds), still be comfortable for daily driving and for the odd spirited run as its a V6 1MZFE mr2 afterall!!

Im thinking of Yellow billies with eibach springs or mesiter R's and sell on the Teins Flex with EDFC (that Ive owned since new lol)

Any thoughts suggestions to steer me onto the right course, as its nearly MOT time ha ha


If anyone has a decent set of suspension, drop me a PM

Thanks Julian

[Nic]

Have you thought about fitting 16" wheels? they would make a noticeable difference to the ride quality. I have new black Bilsteins, Eibach Pro springs and 16" wheels, the ride is firm without being uncomfortable.

[Rob]

Why don't you just manually adjust the Tein settings. On soft they are comfortable.

[jimGTS]

You don't need a controller to set them softer.
Just put to fully hard (clockwise). Then bring it back between 10 and 13 clicks.

Don't go anymore soft than 16, otherwise you'll damage the coilover. (It will go around to like 26 I believe, but 17-26 is servicing settings)

[C35Rob]

what teins are they? have you thought of softer springs? if they're mono's then you've got 5/10kg springs, which I personally think are ideal, but may be too firm for people who want a comfortable ride (buy an LS400? haha!)

don't bin perfectly good kit when they can be adapted to suit..

[juliankv73]

You don't need a controller to set them softer.
Just put to fully hard (clockwise). Then bring it back between 10 and 13 clicks.

Don't go anymore soft than 16, otherwise you'll damage the coilover. (It will go around to like 26 I believe, but 17-26 is servicing settings)

Hi Jim, tbh I put them on as a temporary measure lol.

I'll set them to the softest setting and go from there, maybe my Dad'll get used to them. Personally I like the handling of the Tein Flex. I' think im going to leave them on for the MOT, then remove them again afterwards, give them a good clean up, grease etc and then refit them with coil over socks and then wire in the EDFC

I'd planned not to do much else but maybe I'll fit the Tein tension rods too and PP roll centre adjusters

I'll dig out the instructions, then have another look at settings, cheers Jim

[juliankv73]

what teins are they? have you thought of softer springs? if they're mono's then you've got 5/10kg springs, which I personally think are ideal, but may be too firm for people who want a comfortable ride (buy an LS400? haha!)

don't bin perfectly good kit when they can be adapted to suit..

Hi Rob, they're Tein Flex mate, not sure on the spring rates

EDIT: will look for some cheap OEM struts to put on just for the MOT and then look into suspension set ups etc in the summer.

[C35Rob]

tein flex are 4/8kg mate... pretty soft tbh, I'm assuming you've got no preload on the springs? you could go down to a 3/6 set up with the dampers on full soft but it sounds as if your dad wants oem feeling suspension?

fitting the Tein tension rods will only further the feedback/focused feeling of the car..

[QUOC2008]

I really dont understand why people think softer springs is gonna make much difference in comfort. Its not the springs its the damper bleed valve that makes the ride comforty or hard

Oem or meister r is the real options for real difference.

I tried
tein 1st they broke my back.
Bc ok but still harsh on bad roads i really didnt like the way they ride neither really weird responce from road sometimes even changed spring believing that would fix the harshness problem... no.
Meister r just as soft or more soft then oem but firm at the same time.

[Race Idiot]

Im thinking of Yellow billies with eibach springs or mesiter R's and sell on the Teins Flex with EDFC (that Ive owned since new lol)

Any thoughts suggestions to steer me onto the right course, as its nearly MOT time ha ha


If anyone has a decent set of suspension, drop me a PM

Thanks Julian

If you want do go down the std strut style route i'd be looking at black billsteins, or konis paired with either of the eibach springs. Or the black trd springs if you can get hold of them.

Swift and iirc Tanabe also make springs with reasonable rates, but will be harder to come by.

That strut/spring combination should have a nice ride, I wouldnt recommend yellow billsteins as they are more harshly damped than the blacks.

[SonicSW20]

I really dont understand why people think softer springs is gonna make much difference in comfort. Its not the springs its the damper bleed valve that makes the ride comforty or hard

Because it's a combination of the two that defines that.

[Draven]

Yellow Bilsteins with lowering springs..

[Race Idiot]

Yellow Bilsteins with lowering springs..

They wont ride as well as a black bilstein or a koni.

[Harrodbear86]

Bc racing coil overs are good

[CalMac]

I've got a set of Ohlins adjustable shocks and springs which I bought on Ebay a few months ago - will let you know how they feel in a couple of weeks when my car's back on the road. I'm expecting miracles tbh as I've always viewed Ohlins as being high end, but of course they could be a bit tired by now

[Race Idiot]

I've ran both versions of the ohlins, the phoenix power version and the std ohlins version. They arent technically ohlins as they are built under licence in japan by another company.

However the components are the same as the european built ohlins so they can be rebuilt.

As for ride, I would say they were perfect for japans smoothly tarmaced roads and also tracks. Although they were paired with very stiff KG/MM brand springs I dont think they would work with a softer ones without a revalve.

I managed to blow a rear damper in a couple of months of commuting which involved mostly motorway driving and a bit of slowly crawling over potholes/speedhumps in london.

[juliankv73]

If you want do go down the std strut style route i'd be looking at black billsteins, or konis paired with either of the eibach springs. Or the black trd springs if you can get hold of them.

Swift and iirc Tanabe also make springs with reasonable rates, but will be harder to come by.

That strut/spring combination should have a nice ride, I wouldnt recommend yellow billsteins as they are more harshly damped than the blacks.

Update: I've gone down the black blisteins, koni dampers, in fact I've bought the shocks that were originally on my Dads V6 ha ha. Should have left them in there in the first place lol

I had apex springs on standard shocks on jingle old mr2, and found it didn't lower the car much. So should I be looking at 40mm springs, ie PI, eibach, spax etc?

Any thoughts...

Cheers Julian

[Nic]

I had apex springs on standard shocks on jingle old mr2, and found it didn't lower the car much. So should I be looking at 40mm springs, ie PI, eibach, spax etc?

I personally wouldn't lower the car more than 30mm, my car came fitted with Tein S-Tech springs which lowered the car 40mm+, there was very little suspension travel and it would bottom out on the bump stops, which made for a very uncomfortable ride and badly effect the handling.

I now have Eibach Pro springs fitted which lower the car by 30mm and the ride quality is far better.

[juliankv73]

I personally wouldn't lower the car more than 30mm, my car came fitted with Tein S-Tech springs which lowered the car 40mm+, there was very little suspension travel and it would bottom out on the bump stops, which made for a very uncomfortable ride and badly effect the handling.

I now have Eibach Pro springs fitted which lower the car by 30mm and the ride quality is far better.

Hi Nic, thanks for sharing your experience. Had a Google for Eibachs and many rate them, but seems Eibach no longer make them for the mk2, couldn't find anywhere that stocks them either.

Am now leaning to spax lowering springs available in 30 and 40 mm drop.

http://www.dcperformance.co.uk/cheap/30 ... 38032.html

Or lesjofors (sp)?
http://www.mr2-ben.co.uk/products/view/ ... -1989-1999

[Nic]

Had a Google for Eibachs and many rate them, but seems Eibach no longer make them for the mk2, couldn't find anywhere that stocks them either.

Yes difficult to find now, I bought mine second hand from here, perhaps put a wanted thread up.