What's the difference?
Main differences?

Educate me, please

 

Basic has only height adjustment. Flex has height and dampering adjustment and heavier spring rates. The Basic requires some of the original parts. The Flex is a complete coilover assembly.

 

What about the SS?

 

Same as the Basic but comes with dampering adjustment.

 

to be more specific basic/SS use the stock rubber upper mounts while the flex has pillowball mounts. and the spring preload can be adjusted indepdent of the ride height, but that's probably not important to you.

 

What are the advantages/disadvantage of pillowball mounts?

 

pillowball mounts are solid and don't flex as much as rubber mounts. this means a) the ride will be stiffer (to what extent I can't quantify) because vibrations are transmitted through the mount but result in b) handling will be better and be more precise since rubber mounts can lead to sloppy turning, while solid mounts give a direct feel. but... this doesn't affect our double wishbone suspension as much because the shock and spring do not affect steering, where as in a mcpherson strut setup like the RSX, this is not the case.

 

does SS's sofest set up = basic's stiffness ?

 

Spring Rates:

FLEX:
F: 783lbs/in
R: 448lbs/in

SS & BASIC:
F: 559lbs/in
R: 336lbs/in

What are the stock spring rates?

 

wut's Prokit's spring rates ?
i never find that out for some reason

 

Stock is 280F, 175R. A-Spec is around 10% firmer than that. Both stock and A-Spec springs are linear springs. That means that all of the coils are equal in terms of spacing and rate. So, for example, if you apply 280 lbs of weight to the stock front spring, it will compress 1".

For progressive springs, rates are a little harder to determine. There was a post showing spring rates for the Comptech 110-155 springs. From what Comptech tells me, Eibach makes their springs for them, and the 155 part # was originally for the TL and was initially spec'd for the TSX as well. I had called Eibach and was told that they never release spring rates, not because it's a big secret but because it is very difficult to state the rate of a progressive wound spring.

With a progressive spring, some of the coils are further apart and have a softer rate than the closer wound coils. So, the amount of weight it takes to compress them the first 1" is less than the amount it takes to compress them another 1", and so on. You can calculate it for any given weight/compression, but it's always changing.





The springs included on the Tein Flexes are linear, and while the rates seem high, keep in mind that the struts are matched to them, and the struts play a large role in determining ride quality as well. I know it seems hard to believe, but the Flexes are not harsh at all when set to the softer settings.

 

 

How long do coilover systems usually last?

Do they last longer than the Eibach Prokit and stock shocks?
xizor replaced his prokit and stock shocks after 7 months

 

for sure it gonna last longer .. ~
i have my prokit for 10 mons .. and it's still doing a good job so far .. ~

 

my shocks still had some life, I just choose to upgrade, but it depends on your area. VA roads are very good and have almost no potholes

 

Forever.

Well, for the most part. The advantage of many coilover systems (especially Teins) is that they are fully rebuildable. Tein performs rebuilds in-house in Southern California for a reasonable price ($100-115 per shock).

Stock shocks are not going to be able to handle the increased spring rate of aftermarket springs. A matched coilover setup is going to last much longer than a mix-match because the shocks are dampened appropriately for the springs that come with them. I have customers that have had Teins on their cars for over 2 years without needing a rebuild. And some of them even frequent track days!

Marcus